de Puisieux. Mademoiselle did not dare to lift up her eyes;
and, as for myself, I had the most good-for-nothing face!"

Who this Mademoiselle was, Madame de Sevigne shall herself tell. The
following, one of the most curious of her letters, is addressed to her
cousin, De Coulanges: "I am going to tell you a thing, which, of all
things in the world, is the most astonishing, the most surprising, the
most marvellous, the most miraculous, the most triumphant, the most
bewildering, the most unheard-of, the most singular, the most
extraordinary, the most incredible, the most unexpected, the most
exalting, the most humbling, the most rare, the most common, the most
public, the most private,--till this moment,--the most brilliant, the
most enviable, in short, a thing of which no example is to be found in
past times; at least, nothing quite like it;--a thing which we do not
know how to believe in Paris; how, then, are you to believe it at
Lyons? a thing which makes all the world cry out, 'Lord, have mercy on
us!' a thing which has transported Madame de Rohan and Madame
d'Hauterive; a thing which is to be done on Sunday, and yet perhaps
will not be completed till Monday. I cannot expect you to guess it at
once. I give you a trial of three times; do you give it up? Well,
then, I must tell you. M. de Lauzun is to marry, next Sunday, at the
Louvre; guess whom. I give you four times to guess it; I give you six;
I give you a hundred. 'Truly,' cries Madame de Coulanges, 'it must be
a very difficult thing to guess; 'tis Madame de la Valliere.' 'No, it
isn't, madame.' ''Tis Mademoiselle de Retz, then.' 'No, it isn't,
madame; you are terribly provincial.' 'O, we are very stupid, no
doubt,' say you; ''tis Mademoiselle Colbert.' Farther off than ever.
'Well, then, it must be Mademoiselle de Crequi?' You are not a bit
nearer. Come, I see I must tell you at last. Well, M. de Lauzun
marries, next Sunday, at the Louvre, with the king's permission,
Mademoiselle--Mademoiselle de--Mademoiselle de--guess the name!--he
marries 'MADEMOISELLE,'--the _great_ Mademoiselle; Mademoiselle, the
daughter of the late Monsieur; Mademoiselle, granddaughter of Henry
the Fourth; Mademoiselle d'Eu, Mademoiselle de Dombes, Mademoiselle
de Montpensier, Mademoiselle d'Orleans, Mademoiselle, cousin of the
king, Mademoiselle, destined to the throne, Mademoiselle, the only
woman in France fit to marry Monsieur! Here's pretty news for your
_coteries_! Exclaim about it a