“THE FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE,” “TRAITOR OR PATRIOT,” “THORNDYKE
MANOR,” “MONSIEUR DE PARIS,” ETC. ETC.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
BRENTANO’S
NEW YORK
HURST & BLACKETT, LIMITED
LONDON
1910
Printed in Great Britain
CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 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.” | |
| 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. | |
| 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. |