“Madame d’Orléans, seeing by this speech and the attitude of the nuns that she had nothing to hope for from them, got up like a fury and returned to her rooms.
“A few days later M. de la Tourdonnet, secretary for the commands of the Regent, and Madame la Duchesse de Villequier, came to tell her that her father’s carriages were ready, and that she must leave for Chelles; but she declared she would not go. In vain Madame la Duchesse de Villequier tried every form of persuasion, she could not prevail on her to leave. So they returned to M. le Régent, who said ‘that when gentle measures failed, strong ones must be used.’ He then sent with M. de la Tourdonnet and Madame de Villequier his captain of the guards, M. de Lyonne, and two officers; and Madame d’Orléans was informed that these persons had orders to put her in the carriage. When she heard this, she completely undressed herself, got into bed, sent for M. de Lyonne, and asked who would be bold enough to lay hands on a daughter of the royal blood of France. M. de Lyonne, much embarrassed, returned to M. le Régent, who sent Madame la Princesse de Conti with orders to try and call his daughter to reason, and if she did not succeed to have her wrapped up in her mattresses and carried away. So Madame la Princesse de Conti came, and by tears and entreaties at length prevailed on her to leave. She was conducted to Chelles, a distance of four leagues from Paris, where she retained the title of Lady Abbess, but without any authority. Some time after, the Abbey of Saint Anthony of Paris becoming vacant, she asked for it, and it was granted to her, but under the same conditions, namely, that she should have merely an honorary title. She died a few years later, and asked to be buried at the Abbaye-aux-Bois, which request was granted. Her body lies in the choir, under a mausoleum of white marble.[78]
“There was in the Abbaye-aux-Bois, over the fireplace in the Community Hall, a very fine portrait of Madame d’Orléans. She was represented standing, with crowns and sceptres trampled beneath her feet; in one hand holding a crucifix, and with the other taking from an altar a crown of thorns. A peculiarity of this picture was, that though she was dressed as a nun, her feet were bare.”
It hardly seems likely that the Abbess of Chelles would have busied herself with theological discussions. She, however, professed very decided Jansenist opinions. Her father the Regent strongly supported the Jansenists, out of opposition to the Court party, who belonged to the opposite sect; he probably inculcated his ideas to his daughter, and either under the influence of their Abbess, or that of their directors, the Abbaye-aux-Bois had become entirely Jansenist. The nuns expressed their opinions so openly that the Convent was put under an interdict during the last years of Madame de Richelieu’s rule. However, they got back into favour, and Monseigneur de Beaumont,[79] who was the avowed enemy of the Jansenists, consented to give confirmation to the young pupils of the Abbaye-aux-Bois in the year 1777. Hélène gives a faithful account of this event, which agitated the whole Convent, and not one detail of which escapes her keen observation.
“I was at that time being prepared for my confirmation, for I was to be confirmed at Whitsuntide.
“His Grace the Archbishop was to come that day, and as Mother Quatre Temps was supposed to be very Jansenist, I bethought myself to say, in order to please her, that I feared his Grace the Archbishop, instead of confirming me in the Holy Spirit, would confirm me in the evil one. Instead of scolding me, Mother Quatre Temps laughed extremely at this joke, and, delighted at having said such a witty thing, I went and repeated it all over the house. Mother Saint Ambrose, regent of the abbey-house, held very strong Molinist opinions, and when my joke came to her ears she complained to Madame de Rochechouart, who sent for me and rated me soundly. She decided that I should not be confirmed then, and I was only confirmed the following year. I took at my confirmation the names of Alexandrienne-Emanuelle. On Whitsunday, after having officiated at Mass and confirmed the pupils, His Grace the Archbishop entered the Abbey. The Lady Abbess, with her crozier and all the community, received him at the gate, and he visited all the establishment, even the schoolrooms. It is the custom for all the nuns to come forward, one after the other, and kiss his episcopal ring, but many of them avoided doing so. I even saw several, who, carried away by party feeling, stood behind his back and put out their tongues at him. He went into the library, which is very fine; it consists of three rooms opening into each other containing thirty thousand volumes, and some very curious manuscripts. It is said that the nuns possess Jansenius’s writings in the original edition, but they are not in the library, and are no doubt carefully concealed. When his Grace the Archbishop came to the library he sat down. Madame Sainte Delphine, who was head librarian, did the honours of the place. He was shown some handsome books, bound in vellum and ornamented with miniatures. He saw that some of the presses had their curtains drawn, and inquired what was in them. He was told that they contained romances and books on literature. He desired to see them, so the presses were opened and he admired the beauty of the editions, amongst others The Romance of the Rose and the Holy Grail, which had magnificent miniatures. He asked how it came that books of that kind formed part of a convent library, for they had certainly not been purchased. Then Madame Sainte Delphine replied that formerly a great many people had on their death bequeathed their libraries to the Convent; that Madame d’Orléans had for her part given hers, which contained a great many books of this kind. Passing on to the shelves where the works of Nicole, Arnaud, Pascal, and other Fathers of Port Royal were ranged, the Archbishop said: ‘These have turned many a brain, and will turn many more.’ On passing the division containing the works of the Fathers of the Church, he remarked that many shelves were empty, and asked the reason. Madame Sainte Delphine said that several of the ladies had got the books. He expressed his surprise that women should take pleasure in reading scholastic works written in Latin, and said: ‘I am not astonished at my curates telling me that they are a better match for the doctors of the Sorbonne than for the ladies of the Abbaye-aux-Bois.’ He asked laughingly where Jansenius and the writings of Father Quesnel were usually kept. Madame Sainte Delphine replied that those books were not in the catalogue which was under her charge.
“Then he inquired whether she had ever seen these works in the house. She replied that for some years past they had been so questioned about this Jansenius that, even if they had not possessed his works, they would have tried to procure them, as it is against all conscience to speak evil of a person unless you are certain that he deserves it; and that it could only be the obligation under which they were to answer questions which made them read works so far from entertaining as those of Jansenius. After this the Archbishop left. Two days later he sent his curates, who had all the theological books returned to the library, locked up the shelves, and sealed them with the Archbishop’s seal, which the ladies were forbidden to remove. The ladies then said that in the interior of their establishment they recognised no authority but that of the Abbot of Cîteaux or Clairvaux, their superior. They wrote to him on the subject; he immediately sent two visitors of the order, who complained to his Grace the Archbishop, telling him that his authority could only be exercised with regard to the steps the nuns might take outside their Convent, but that the interior was under the sole jurisdiction of Cîteaux or Clairvaux.[80] As his Grace the Archbishop was afraid the affair might be brought before Parliament, he sent to remove the seals; then the visitors assembled the Chapter. I do not know what took place; I only know that when they separated they left the Abbey as well pleased with the nuns as the nuns were with them. Shortly after the Abbot of Clairvaux sent an immense quantity of Burgundy wine as a present to the Convent.
“We resolved at that time to give a performance in honour of Madame de Rochechouart, on her fête or Saint’s Day, which was the 15th of August, Mary being her name. We wanted to get it up with more care than usual, so that it might be a success. So we acted Esther. I took that part. Mademoiselle de Choiseul was Mordecai, Mademoiselle de Châtillon Ahasuerus, and Mademoiselle de Chauvigny was Haman. Our costumes were copied from those of the Comédie Française. I had a white and silver dress, the skirt of which was fastened with diamonds from top to bottom; I had on more than one hundred thousand écus’[81] worth of diamonds, having all those of Mesdames de Mortemart, de Gramont, and of Madame la Duchesse de Choiseul. It was the Vicomtesse de Laval who dressed me. I had a mantle of pale blue velvet and a gold crown. All the pupils in the chorus had white muslin dresses and veils. Before the play, still wearing the simple costume of the Convent, I advanced and pronounced the following words:—
“Nous sommes en un lieu par la grâce habité,
Où l’on vit dans la paix et la tranquillité.