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| Chapter I | [1] |
| Birth—Parentage—“Arms and the Man”—A Vain Hope—Contraband
Novels—A Change of Educational System—Ninon’s
Endowments—The Wrinkle—A Letter to M. de L’Enclos and
What Came of it—A Glorious Time—“Troublesome Huguenots”—The
Château at Loches, and
a New Acquaintance—“When Greek
meets Greek”—The Prisoners—“Liberty”—The Shades of
Night—Vagabonds? or Two Young Gentlemen of Consequence?—Tired
Out—A Dilemma—Ninon Herself Again—Consolation. | |
| | |
| Chapter II | [14] |
| Troublesome Huguenots—Madame de L’Enclos—An Escapade and
Nurse Madeleine—Their Majesties—The Hôtel Bourgogne—The
End of the Adventure—St Vincent de Paul and his Charities—Dying
Paternal Counsel—Ninon’s New Home—Duelling—Richelieu
and the Times. | |
| | |
| Chapter III | [27] |
| A Life-long Friend—St Evrémond’s Courtly Mot—Rabelais v.
Petronius—Society and the Salons—The Golden Days—The Man
in Black. | |
| | |
| Chapter IV | [36] |
| A “Delicious Person”—Voiture’s Jealousy—A Tardy Recognition—Coward
Conscience—A Protestant Pope—The Hôtel de Rambouillet—St
Evrémond—The Duel—Nurse Madeleine—Cloistral
Seclusion and Jacques Callot—“Merry Companions Every One”—and
One in Particular. | |
| | |
| Chapter V | [51] |
| An Excursion to Gentilly—“Uraniæ Sacrum”—César and Ruggieri—The
rue d’Enfer and the Capucins—Perditor—The Love-philtre—Seeing
the Devil—“Now You are Mine!” | |
| | |
| Chapter VI | [61] |
| Nemesis—Ninon’s Theories—Wits and Beaux of the Salons—Found
at Last—“The Smart Set”—A Domestic Ménage—Scarron—The
Fatal Carnival—The Bond of Ninon—Corneille and
The Cid—The Cardinal’s Jealousy—Enlarging the Borders—Monsieur
l’Abbé and the Capon Leg—The Grey Cardinal—A
Faithful Servant. | |
| | |
| Chapter VII | [81] |
| Mélusine—Cinq-Mars—An Ill-advised Marriage—The Conspiracy—The
Revenge—The Scaffold—A Cry from the Bastille—The
Lady’s Man—“The Cardinal’s Hangman”—Finis—Louis’s Evensong—A
Little Oversight—The King’s Nightcap—Mazarin—Ninon’s
Hero. | |
| | |
| Chapter VIII | [91] |
| “Loving like a Madman”—A Great Transformation—The Unjust
Tax—Parted Lovers—A Gay Court and A School for Scandal, and
Mazarin’s Policy—The Regent’s Caprices—The King’s Upholsterer’s
Young Son—The Théâtre Illustre—The Company of
Monsieur and Molière. | |
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| Chapter IX | [103] |
| The Rift in the Lute—In the Vexin—The Miracle of the Gardener’s
Cottage—Italian Opera in Paris—Parted Lovers—“Ninum”—Scarron
and Françoise d’Aubigné—Treachery—A Journey to
Naples—Masaniello—Renewing Acquaintances—Mazarin’s
Mandate. | |
| | |
| Chapter X | [115] |
| The Fronde and Mazarin—A Brittany Manor—Borrowed Locks—The
Flight to St Germains—A Gouty Duke—Across the Channel—The
Evil Genius—The Scaffold at Whitehall—Starving in the
Louvre—The Mazarinade—Poverty—Condé’s Indignation—The
Cannon of the Bastille—The Young King. | |
| | |
| Chapter XI | [124] |
| Invalids in the rue des Tournelles—On the Battlements—“La
Grande Mademoiselle”—Casting Lots—The Sacrifice—The Bag
of Gold—“Get Thee to a Convent”—The Battle of the Sonnets—A
Curl-paper—The Triumph and Defeat of Bacchus—A Secret
Door—Cross Questions and Crooked Answers—The Youthful
Autocrat. | |
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| Chapter XII | [135] |
| The Whirligig of Time, and an Old Friend—Going to the Fair—A
Terrible Experience—The Young Abbé—“The Brigands of La
Trappe”—The New Ordering—An Enduring Memory—The King
over the Water—Unfulfilled Aspirations—“Not Good-looking.” | |
| | |
| Chapter XIII | [144] |
| Christina’s Modes and Robes—Encumbering Favour—A Comedy
at the Petit-Bourbon—The Liberty of the Queen and the Liberty
of the Subject—Tears and Absolutions—The Tragedy in the
Galérie des Cerfs—Disillusions. | |
| | |
| Chapter XIV | [154] |
| Les Précieuses Ridicules—Sappho and Le Grand Cyrus—The
Poets of the Latin Quarter—The Satire which Kills—A Lost Child—Periwigs
and New Modes—The Royal Marriage and a Grand
Entry. | |
| | |
| Chapter XV | [163] |
| Réunions—The Scarrons—The Fête at Vaux—The Little Old
Man in the Dressing-gown—Louise de la Vallière—How the Mice
Play when the Cat’s Away—“Pauvre Scarron”—An Atrocious
Crime. | |
| | |
| Chapter XVI | [175] |
| A Lettre de Cachet—Mazarin’s Dying Counsel—Madame Scarron
Continues to Receive—Fouquet’s Intentions and What Came of
Them—The Squirrel and the Snake—The Man in the Iron Mask—An
Incommoding Admirer—“Calice cher, ou le parfum n’est
plus”—The Roses’ Sepulchre. | |
| | |
| Chapter XVII | [185] |
| A Fashionable Water-cure Resort—M. de Roquelaure and his
Friends—Louis le Grand—“A Favourite with the Ladies”—The
Broken Sword—A Billet-doux—La Vallière and la Montespan—The
Rebukes from the Pulpit—Putting to the Test—Le Tartufe—The
Triumphs of Molière—The Story of Clotilde. | |
| | |
| Chapter XVIII | [199] |
| A Disastrous Wooing—Fénelon—“Mademoiselle de L’Enclos”—The
Pride that had a Fall—The Death of the Duchesse d’Orléans—Intrigue—The
Sun-King and the Shadows—The Clermont Scholar’s
Crime—Monsieur de Montespan—Tardy Indignation—The Encounter—The
Filles Répenties—What the Cards Foretold. | |
| | |
| Chapter XIX | [212] |
| “In Durance Vile”—Molière’s Mot—The Malade Imaginaire—“Rogues
and Vagabonds”—The Passing of Molière—The
Narrowing Circle—Fontenelle—Lulli—Racine—The Little
Marquis—A Tardy Pardon—The Charming Widow Scarron—A
Journey to the Vosges, and the Haunted Chamber. | |
| | |
| Chapter XX | [228] |
| The Crime of Madame Tiquet—A Charming Little Hand—Aqua
Toffana—The Casket—A Devout Criminal—The Sinner and the
Saint—Monsieur de Lauzun’s Boots—“Sister Louise”—La Fontange—“Madame
de Maintenant”—The Blanks in the Circle—The
Vatican Fishes and their Good Example—Piety at Versailles—The
Periwigs and the Paniers—Père la Chaise—A Dull Court—Monsieur
de St Evrémond’s Decision. | |
| | |
| Chapter XXI | [241] |
| A Distinguished Salon—The Duke’s Homage—Quietism—The
Disastrous Edict—The Writing on the Window-pane—The Persecution
of the Huguenots—The Pamphleteers—The Story of Jean
Larcher and The Ghost of M. Scarron—The Two Policies. | |
| | |
| Chapter XXII | [251] |
| Mademoiselle de L’Enclos’ Cercle—Madeleine de Scudéri—The
Abbé Dubois—“The French Calliope,” and the Romance of her
Life—“Revenons à nos Moutons”—A Resurrection?—Racine and
his Detractors—“Esther”—Athalie and St Cyr—Madame Guyon
and the Quietists. | |
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| Chapter XXIII | [263] |
| A Grave Question—The Troublesome Brother-in-Law—“No
Vocation”—The Duke’s Choice—Peace for “La Grande Mademoiselle”—An
Invitation to Versailles—Behind the Arras—Between
the Alternatives—D’Aubigné’s Shadow—A Broken Friendship. | |
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| Chapter XXIV | [275] |
| The Falling of the Leaves—Gallican Rights—“The Eagle of
Meaux”—Condé’s Funeral Oration—The Abbé Gedouin’s Theory—A
Bag of Bones—Marriage and Sugar-plums—The Valour of
Monsieur du Maine—The King’s Repentance—The next Campaign—La
Fontaine and Madame de Sablière—MM. de Port Royal—The
Fate of Madame Guyon—“Mademoiselle Balbien.” | |
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| Chapter XXV | [288] |
| The Melancholy King—The Portents of the Storm—The Ambition
of Madame Louise Quatorze—The Farrier of Provence—The Ghost
in the Wood—Ninon’s Objection—The King’s Conscience—A
Dreary Court—Racine’s Slip of the Tongue—The Passing of a
Great Poet, and a Busy Pen Laid Down. | |
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| Chapter XXVI | [301] |
| Leaving the Old Home—“Wrinkles”—Young Years and Old
Friends—“A Bad Cook and a Little Bit of Hot Coal”—Voltaire—Irène—Making
a Library—“Adieu, Mes Amis”—The Man in
Black. | |