Louise, whose fate was so closely linked with her mothers, was one of those gentle, saintly characters, who scarcely seem to belong to this earth; whose thoughts, interests, and aspirations are in another world. But perhaps the most striking amongst them was Adrienne, the second girl, who besides being very handsome, was the most intellectual and talented of the sisters, and of whom the Duchess was as proud as the severity of her ideas permitted her to be.
DAlembert was one of the most constant and intimate habitus of the salon of Mme. Geoffrin, then the stronghold of the philosophers and encyclop?dists, as that of the Duchesse de Luxembourg was of the aristocratic beau monde.It was dearly bought, however. For some time, for prudence sake, the Marquis kept up his pretence of madness, but after the fall of Robespierre and the Terror he resumed the apparent use of his reason. But the next heir had taken possession of the estates of the family in consequence of the declared madness of its head. The Marquis appealed to the law, but his own notoriety and the last will and letter of the Chevalier decided the case against him. He was shut up in the asylum of Charenton, where [320] he lived for many years, resigning himself after a time to his fate, and dying in extreme old age.
FORE:THE first family in France after the royal family, is evidently that of Lorraine; the second without dispute that of Rohan, and the third La Tour dAuvergne, or Bouillon-Turenne, after that La Trmoille, [66] and then come a whole string of illustrious names, Mailly-de-Nesle, Crquy, Harcourt, Clermont-Tonnerre, Saint Jean, Thoury; Sabran, La Rochefoucauld, Montmorency, Narbonne-Pelet, Bthune, Beauvoir, Beauffremont, Villeneuve (premier Marquis de France), and many others.
ONE:What the devil of a story are you telling me, Chevalier de ? cried his tormentor. Where did you have supper last night? I believe you have drunk too much.
TWO:Why prevent his coming back? his affair will be settled all the sooner, was the answer. [132]
It was no wonder that Napoleon was anxious to get his court and society civilised, and the person to whom he chiefly turned for help and counsel in this matter was Mme. de Montesson, who knew all about the usages of great society and court etiquette.Mme. de Tess, who knew nothing about a sick room, was very anxious and busy, and insisted on helping to nurse Pauline. In spite of her free-thinking professions, she would be observed to make the sign of the cross behind the curtain of the bed. She made various mistakes, and in her haste poured a bottle of eau de Cologne instead of water over the head of the new-born infant.He and Vergennes were said to have wasted the revenues of France, but at any rate he spent money like a gentleman, and when, in 1787, he was dismissed from office, he did not possess an cu.M. de Montbel had waited for nearly an hour, when suddenly a suspicion seized him. Springing [276] up suddenly he ran to the cottage, opened the door of one room, then another, then a third, and stood still with a cry of consternation.Alexander, seeing the fearful danger hanging over his mother, his brother, and himself, was silent; and Pahlen, who was the director of the plot, took care that it should go much further than restraint.The Duc de Montpensier came to Tournay to see his brother and sister and then left for Nice.
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