o whose care her father had entrusted her, the former
introduced her amongst her relations and general society. In that circle
Mademoiselle Querouaille ere long inspired passions, rumours of which
reached the ears of the old wool-merchant. Fearing lest his daughter
might but too thoughtlessly respond to the attentions of which she was
the object, he withdrew her from the boarding-house, and took her to
Paris, where he left her under the care of his sister-in-law, then a
widow. Her husband had been a dependent of the Duke de Beaufort, and she
herself lived, for the most part, upon the bounty of that nobleman, who,
on reconciling himself with the Court after the Fronde, had obtained the
post of high-admiral of France. Shortly after the arrival of Louise in
Paris, in 1669, the Duke seeing her walking in the Tuileries gardens
with her relative, and being struck with the young girl's beauty, and
moreover it is said with the effect which she produced upon the public,
became suddenly enamoured of her. The author of the _Histoire secrete_
relates the manoeuvres resorted to by Beaufort and Louise to deceive the
vigilance, more affected than real, as it would seem, of her old aunt.
In short, the Duke's passion made rapid progress; and the young girl,
yielding to the wishes of a lover who adored her and heaped magnificent
presents upon her, allowed herself to be carried off by him at the
moment that he was about to enter upon his naval command. That
expedition had for its object the succour of the Venetians, who for some
twenty-four years had been blockaded by the Turks in Candia.
Mademoiselle Querouaille, disguised as a page, embarked with the Duke,
who, shortly after landing, was cut to pieces in action. An officer of
the French force, whom the before-cited chronicle merely designates as a
marquis, and to whom Beaufort had confided the secret of his love,
offered to conduct Louise back to France. It appears that Mademoiselle
Querouaille would have preferred to have been accompanied on her return
by a certain smart page who had been in the Duke's service, but the
marquis did not give her the option of such a choice. Yet, though Louise
could not withdraw herself from the protection of the latter, there is
no reason to believe that he forced his love upon her. The anonymous
chronicler concedes that much; but, in his opinion, the Marquis might
have hoped that Louise would have acknowledged his care and respect by
the same favours whic