s to King Charles my
brother, and returned with great honour and additional reputation.
This meeting, so honourable to me, and so much to my satisfaction,
was damped by the grief and concern occasioned by the loss of
Mademoiselle de Tournon, whose story, being of a singular nature,
I shall now relate to you, agreeably to the promise I made in
my last letter.

I must begin with observing to you that Madame de Tournon, at
this time lady of my bedchamber, had several daughters, the eldest
of whom married M. de Balencon, governor, for the King of Spain,
in the county of Burgundy. This daughter, upon her marriage,
had solicited her mother to admit of her taking her sister, the
young lady whose story I am now about to relate, to live with
her, as she was going to a country strange to her, and wherein
she had no relations. To this her mother consented; and the young
lady, being universally admired for her modesty and graceful
accomplishments, for which she certainly deserved admiration,
attracted the notice of the Marquis de Varenbon. The Marquis,
as I before mentioned, is the brother of M. de Balencon, and
was intended for the Church; but, being violently enamoured of
Mademoiselle de Tournon (who, as he lived in the same house, he
had frequent opportunities of seeing), he now begged his brother's
permission to marry her, not having yet taken orders. The young
lady's family, to whom he had likewise communicated his wish,
readily gave their consent, but his brother refused his, strongly
advising him to change his resolution and put on the gown.

Thus were matters situated when her mother, Madame de Tournon, a
virtuous and pious lady, thinking she had cause to be offended,
ordered her daughter to leave the house of her sister, Madame
de Balencon, and come to her. The mother, a woman of a violent
spirit, not considering that her daughter was grown, up and merited
a mild treatment, was continually scolding the poor young lady,
so that she was for ever with tears in her eyes. Still, there
was nothing to blame in the young girl's conduct, but such was
the severity of the mother's disposition. The daughter, as you
may well suppose, wished to be from under the mother's tyrannical
government, and was accordingly delighted with the thoughts of
attending me in this journey to Flanders, hoping, as it happened,
that she should meet the Marquis de Varenbon somewhere on the road,
and that, as he had now abandoned all thoughts of the Chur