As an Abbess of Montivilliers is not rigorously cloistered, my aunt, who was perfectly charitable and courageous, thought herself obliged to go out to the first court, and did so, at any rate with a cortge suitable to her dignity.
TWO years after her marriage the Duchesse dAyen had a son who, to her great grief, lived only a few months, and whose death was followed by the birth of Louise, called Mlle. de Noailles, Adrienne Mlle. dAyen, Thrse Mlle. dEpernon, Pauline Mlle. de Maintenon, and Rosalie Mlle. de Montclar.
It had been remarked that at the moment of the birth of this most unfortunate of princes, the crown which was an ornament on the Queens bed fell to the ground, which superstitious persons looked upon as a bad omen.They then returned to Lyon, where they parted company; Flicits aunt and cousin returning to Paris, while she and her mother went back to Burgundy.The child died at five oclock one morning. At the same hour, she writes, of the same day, I was alone with my nurse, and, raising my eyes to the canopy of my bed, I distinctly saw my son in the form of an angel ... holding out his arms to me. This vision, without exciting any suspicions, caused me great surprise. I rubbed my eyes several times, but always saw the same figure. My mother and M. de Genlis came at about eleven; they were overcome with grief, but I was not surprised, for I [391] knew I was ill enough to make them very anxious. I could not help looking always at the canopy of my bed with a sort of shudder, and my mother, knowing that I was afraid of spiders, asked if I saw one ... at last I said I would not tell them what I saw lest they should think my brain was deranged, but they pressed me until I told them.As Trzia was walking in the town with her two uncles they were suddenly surrounded by a furious crowd, who, with shouts of La voil! La voil! celle qui a sauv les aristocrates, surrounded her, and in a moment she was separated from her uncles, her mantilla torn off, while angry voices, with fierce threats, demanded the list of fugitives.Then, taking the hand of Mme. de Polignac she turned it over several times, examining it carefully, and said: You are, like the other, in the service of the same lady, who loves you so much that she confides to you her most precious jewels. You love her just as much, but still, in a short time you will leave that lady in haste, and what is more, you will not feel tranquil until you have put three great rivers between you and her. She will cry bitterly when you leave her and yet be very glad of the separation.
