ONE:To which astounding assertion she replied in those terms of flattery in which alone it was safe to address the individuals who were not tyrants, and whose motto was Liberty, equality, and fraternity.Mme. de la Haie treated her daughter as badly as her son. She placed her at six years old in a convent, seldom went to see her, when she did showed her no sign of affection, and at fourteen insisted upon her taking the veil. But the irrevocable vows were not to be pronounced for another year, by which time the young girl declared that they might carry her to the church but that before the altar she would say no instead of yes. The Abbess declared that so great a scandal could not be permitted, the enraged mother had to give way, and the young girl joyfully resumed the secular clothes now much too small for her.
ONE:The family of Noailles was a large and powerful one, and, as Louis XVIII. remarks in his Mmoires, Les Noailles ... etaient unis comme chair et ongle, [53] and having been loaded with favours by Louis XIV. and Louis XV., seemed to think they had a natural right to all the best posts and highest honours. [54]The harmony and affection that had characterised the daughters of the Duchess dAyen were equally conspicuous among her grandchildren, and the numerous relationssons, daughters, nephews, nieces, and cousinsformed one united family. If there existed differences of opinion, they did not interfere with the affection between those who held them.
ONE:Josphine cried and entreated in vain, pointing out the ingratitude he was forcing her to display; but though he always retained his private friendship for Trzia, he told Josphine that only respectable women could be received by the wife of the First Consul.
