; that it is with its favours as with too much
health; I mean that one is never so near falling sick as when one
feels oneself so remarkably well, nor so near being unfortunate as
when our measure of happiness is full to the brim. I reverse the
medal, and I await some consolation which may effectually alleviate
my sorrows. I wish, Madame, that you would do the same, and that
your temperament were your best friend, as mine is that on which I
can surest reckon; for I think, to speak frankly, that I have more
obligation to it than to my reason, and that there is no great
merit in possessing that tranquillity of mind, of which you are
disposed, in your extreme kindness, to think me possessed, and on
which you bestow so much praise."

Madame de Maintenon, in fact, who, strong-minded as she might be, was
nevertheless perpetually tormenting herself and wailing about something
or other, continually eulogised that natural equanimity which she
envied, that courage allied with good temper, that amiability, and that
_beau sang qui ne laissait rien d'apre et de chagrin en elle_.

Her letters to Madame de Maintenon from Burgos, admirably paint this
characteristic tranquillity of mind. "To enliven you," she writes, "I
must give you a description of my quarters. They consist of a single
room, which may measure twelve or thirteen feet at most. One large
window which will not shut, facing the south, occupies almost entirely
one side. A somewhat low door gives me admittance to the Queen's
chamber, and another still smaller opens into a winding passage, into
which I dare not go, although it always has two or three lamps lighted
in it, because it is so badly _paved_ that I should break my neck there.
I cannot say that the walls are whitewashed, for they are so dirty. My
travelling bedstead is the sole piece of furniture I have in it, besides
a folding stool and a deal table, which latter serves me alternately for
a toilette, to write upon, or to hold the Queen's dessert--there being
no receptacle in the kitchen or elsewhere wherein to put it. I laugh at
all this ... and amidst all the sombre occurrences which have befallen
us, I console myself with my own reflections. I imagine that fortune may
take a good turn, and I calmly and trustfully wait for those
consolations which are powerful to assuage all my trouble."[38] "Action
becomes you," Madame de Maintenon might remark with great trut