The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, vol 6 | Page 8

and essences of the seraglio, under the pretence of
politeness and as a remembrance. I wrote two lines to the Marquise,
engaging her to come and sacrifice half an hour to me to admire with
me these curiosities. Suspecting nothing, she came to my apartments,
when she accepted some perfumes, and found all these stuffs divine.
My sister, Madame de Thianges, said to her:
"Madame, I do not wish to be the last to congratulate you on that
boundless confidence and friendship that our Queen accords you.
Assuredly, no one deserves more than you this feeling of preference; it
appears that the princess is developing, and that, at last, she is taking a
liking for choice conversation and for wit."
"Madame," answered the lady in waiting, "her Majesty does not prefer
me to any one here. You are badly informed. She has the goodness to
accord to me a little confidence; and since she finds in me some facility
in the Spanish tongue, of which she wishes to remain the idolater all
her life, she loves to speak that tongue with me, catching me up when I
go wrong either in the pronunciation or the grammar, as she desires to
be corrected herself when she commits some offence against our
French."
"You were born," added Madame de Thianges, "to work at the
education of kings. It is true that few governesses or tutors are as
amiable. There is a sound in your voice which goes straight to the heart;
and what others teach rudely or monotonously, you teach musically and
almost singing. Since the Queen loves your French and your Spanish,

everything has been said; you are indispensable to her. Things being so,
I dare to propose to you, Madame, a third occupation, which will suit
you better than anything else in the world, and which will complete the
happiness of her Majesty.
"Here is Madame de Montespan, who is growing disgusted with
grandeur, after having recognised its emptiness, who is enthusiastically
desiring to go and enjoy her House of Saint Joseph, and wishes to get
rid of her superintendence forthwith, at any cost."
"What!" said Madame de Maintenon. Then to me, "You wish to sell
your office without having first assured yourself whether it be pleasing
to the King? It appears to me that you are not acting on this occasion
with the caution with which you are generally credited."
"What need has she of so many preliminary cautions," added the
Marquise, "if it is to you that she desires to sell it? Her choice
guarantees the consent of the princess; your name will make everything
easy."
"I reason quite otherwise, Madame la Marquise," replied the former
governess of the princes; "the Queen may have her ideas. It is right and
fitting to find out first her intention and wishes."
"Madame, madame," said my sister then, "everything has been
sufficiently considered, and even approved of. You will be the
purchaser; you desire to buy, it is to you that one desires to sell."
Madame de Maintenon began to laugh, and besought the Marquise to
believe that she had neither the desire nor the money for that object.
"Money," answered my sister, "will cause you no trouble on this
occasion. Money has been coined in pour family."
[Constant d'Aubigne, father of Madame de Maintenon, in his wild
youth, was said to have taken refuge in a den of comers.--Ed. Note]
Madame de Maintenon, profoundly moved, said to the Marquise:
"I thought, madame, that I had come to see Madame de Montespan, to
look at her stuffs from the seraglio, and not to receive insults. All your
teasing affects me, because up to to-day I believed in your kindly
feeling. It has been made clear to me now that I must put up with this
loss; but, whatever be your injustice towards me, I will not depart from
my customs or from my element. The superintendence of the Queen's
Council is for sale, or it is not; either way, it is all the same to me. I
have never made any claim to this office, and I never shall."

These words, of which I perceived the sincerity, touched me. I made
some trifling excuses to the lady in waiting, and, tired of all these
insignificant mysteries, I went and took the anonymous letter from my
bureau and showed it to the governess.
She read it thoughtfully. After having read it, she assured me that this
script was a riddle to her.
Madame de Maintenon, on leaving us, made quite a deep courtesy to
my sister, which caused me pain, preserving an icy gravity and
exaggerating her salutation and her courtesy.
When we were alone, I confessed to the Marquise de Thianges that her
words had passed all bounds, and that she could have