She accordingly lent Madame la Duchesse her most devoted adherents, the same whom she was presently to employ on behalf of Louis XV.; and the Courts of Europe were ransacked to find a suitable partner for the chief of the Condés. The search proved to be a difficult one, for Madame de Prie’s requirements naturally caused not a few otherwise eligible young ladies to be passed over by her agents; but, at length, her old admirer Lozilières, formerly secretary to the Embassy at Turin, who journeyed under the name of the Chevalier de Méré and in the character of a wandering artist, reported the discovery of one whom he thought might answer her purpose.
The princess in question was Marie Leczinska, daughter of Stanislaus Leczinski, the dethroned and fugitive King of Poland, who was now vegetating sadly at Weissembourg, in Alsace. She was described as pleasing in appearance, though without any pretensions to beauty, very amiable, very kind-hearted, and entirely devoid of ambition; in short, exactly the kind of young woman to make Monsieur le Duc a good wife, without threatening any danger to his mistress. The favourite’s suggestion of an alliance between the Duc de Bourbon and the Polish princess was well received by Madame la Duchesse, for, though the young lady’s father was at present in exile, it was far from improbable that a turn of fortune might one day restore him to his throne; Monsieur le Duc offered no opposition; Stanislaus gave thanks to Heaven that his daughter’s hand was sought by so powerful a prince; Marie had no other wish than that of her father; and the affair was almost concluded, when events occurred which decided the Government that the marriage of the King to a princess capable of bearing him children was a question which admitted of no delay.
On 30 August, 1724, the young King of Spain died, and Philip V. resumed the crown which he had resigned a few months before. Early in 1725, a despatch from Philip to his Ambassador at the Court of Versailles was intercepted by the agents of Monsieur le Duc, which showed that it was his intention to demand “the public declaration of the nuptial arrangements” between Louis XV. and the Infanta. And, almost immediately after this discovery, the young King fell so ill that for several days he was believed to be in serious danger.
This last event precipitated matters, and the French Government resolved not to wait until the new fiancée was chosen, but to inform the Court of Madrid at once of the resolution at which they had arrived. The Maréchal de Tessé, the French Ambassador, little suitable to undertake so disagreeable a commission, on account of his great attachment to Philip V., was recalled, and it was the Abbé de Livry, chargé d’affaires at Lisbon, who presented to his Catholic Majesty the letter in which Louis XV. endeavoured to justify the affront which he was inflicting on his uncle. “Trembling from head to foot, the abbé presented to the King his master’s letter. The Queen was at the end of the cabinet, occupied with her correspondence. Suddenly, she heard the King strike the table violently, and cry out: ‘Ah! the traitor!’ She ran to him.... The King handed her the letter, saying: ‘Take it, Madame, read it!’ The Queen read it, and then, handing back the letter, she replied with great composure: ‘Well! We must send to receive the Infanta.’”[269]
When the news was known in Madrid, the indignation of the populace knew no bounds; excited crowds paraded the streets; the King of France was burned in effigy, and the French residents trembled for their safety. Philip V. even talked of imprisoning his widowed daughter-in-law and her sister, Mlle. de Beaujolais, in some remote corner of the kingdom, where they should remain as hostages. But afterwards he changed his mind, and at the end of March they were sent back to France, the want of courtesy shown them being in striking contrast to the infinite formalities which marked the journey of the Infanta from Versailles to Bayonne. That little princess departed under the impression that she was merely going to pay a visit to her family.
Meanwhile, the search for the future Queen of France was being busily prosecuted. The claims of over one hundred princesses were discussed by the Council, and one after another eliminated from the list, on the score that they were too old or too young or too poor or too delicate, until the number was reduced to three; the two youngest sisters of Monsieur le Duc, Mlle. de Vermandois and Mlle. de Sens, and the Princess Anne of England.
The idea of a marriage between Louis XV. and one of the Condés displeased Fleury, while Monsieur le Duc feared that it might expose him to the charge of having sent away the Infanta in order to elevate his own family; and it was therefore decided to demand the hand of the English princess. It seems astonishing that Monsieur le Duc and his advisers should not have understood that the question of religion would prove an insuperable obstacle to the proposed alliance. They made it conditional on the Princess Anne’s conversion to Catholicism, although the Hanoverian dynasty occupied the throne of England in virtue of its Protestant professions. As every one but themselves must have foreseen, George I.’s answer was a courteous but firm refusal.
Monsieur le Duc appeared to find himself thrown back upon his sisters. Both possessed all the physical and mental qualifications that could be desired in a queen; but the younger, Mlle. de Sens, was very much under the domination of her mother, and Madame de Prie feared that Madame la Duchesse might exercise through her an influence hostile to her own. The same objection did not apply to her elder sister, and there is a tradition that the favourite went, under an assumed name, to the Abbey of Fontevrault, of which Mlle. de Vermandois was a pensionnaire, to inform her, on behalf of Monsieur le Duc, of the honour in store for her; that, in the course of their conversation, she inquired if she had ever heard of Madame de Prie, to which the young princess replied, in a horrified tone, that the said lady was a “méchante créature,” whom no one ever mentioned in the convent without making the sign of the Cross; that it was deplorable that her brother should have fallen under the influence of a person who was detested by all France, and that he would be well advised to get rid of her as soon as possible. Whereupon, we are told, Madame de Prie abruptly quitted the room, exclaiming furiously: “Va! tu ne seras pas reine de France.”
In a monotonous age it seems a pity to spoil so striking a story, but, in the interests of truth, we feel bound to mention that, some three months after the date at which this incident is supposed to have occurred, Mlle. de Vermandois wrote to the favourite a letter couched in the most cordial terms, and concluding thus: “I cannot too often repeat to you, Madame, what are the sentiments of confidence, friendship, and consideration that I entertain for you.”[270]
The fact of the matter is that Mlle. de Vermandois did not become the bride of Louis XV., because she preferred to become the bride of Heaven, in which she perhaps showed a wise discretion.