She would laugh and twinkle and
rub her little hands. She had such a love for the King that she tried
to catch in his eyes every hint of the things that would give him
pleasure. If he ever looked at her kindly, that day was bright."
Madame De Caylus tells us that the Queen had such a dread of her royal
husband and such an inborn timidity that she hardly dared speak to him.
Madame de Maintenon relates that the King, having once sent for the
Queen, asked Madame to accompany Her Majesty so that she might not have
to appear alone in the presence of her royal husband, and that when
Madame de Maintenon conducted the Queen to the door of the King's room,
and there took the liberty of pushing her ahead so as to force her to
enter, she observed that Marie Therese fell into such a great tremble
that her very hands shook with fright. And why should not the Queen
tremble with unhappy apprehension when even the greatest favorite of
all, Madame de Maintenon, found nothing in the life of the Court but
bitter striving and heart misery? In the very midst of her splendor
she exclaimed to a friend, "If I could only make clear to you the
hideous _ennui_ that devours all of us, the troubles that fill our
days! Do you not see that I am dying of sadness in the midst of a
fortune that passes all imagination? I have had youth and beauty, I
have sated myself with pleasure, I have had my hours of intellectual
satisfaction, I have enjoyed royal favor, and yet I protest to you, my
good friend, that all these conditions leave only a dreadful void.
Pages:
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94