some one who took that
trouble off his hands. Lebel became purveyor in chief to his pleasures;
and controlled in Versailles the house known as the _Parc-aux-Cerfs_.

As soon as the courtiers knew of the existence and purposes of this
house, they intrigued for the control of it. The king laughed at
all their efforts, and left the whole management to Lebel, under the
superintendence of the comte de Saint-Florentin, minister of the royal
household. They installed there, however, a sort of military chief,
formerly a major of infantry, who was called, jestingly, M. de
Cervieres; his functions consisted in an active surveillance, and in
preventing young men from penetrating the seraglio. The soldiers at the
nearest station had orders to obey his first summons. His pay was twelve
thousand livres a year.

A female styled the _surintendante_ had the management of the domestic
affairs; she ruled with despotic sway; controlled the expenses;
preserved good order; and regulated the amusement of her charges,
taking care that they did not mix one with the other. She was an elderly
canoness of a noble order, belonging to one of the best families in
Burgundy. She was only known at the _Parc_ as _Madame_, and no one
ventured to give her any other title. Shortly after the decease of Mme.
De Pompadour, she had succeeded in this employ a woman of low rank, who
had a most astonishing mind. Louis XV thought very highly of her, and
said that if she were a man he would have made her his minister. She put
the harem on an admirable system, and instructed the _odalisques_ in all
the necessary etiquette.

The Madame of my time was a woman of noble appearance, tall, ascetic,
with a keen eye and imperious manner. She expressed a sovereign contempt
for all the low-born beauties confided to her trust. However, she did
not treat her wards ill, for some one of them might produce a passion
in the heart of the king, and she was determined to be prepared
for whatever might fall out. As to the noble ladies, they were her
favourites. Madame did not divide her flock into fair and dark, which
would have been natural, but into noble and ignoble. Besides Madame,
there were two under-mistresses, whose duties consisted in keeping
company with the young ladies who were placed there. They sometimes
dined with new comers, instructed them in polite behaviour, and aided
them in their musical lessons or in dancing, history, and literature
in which these _eleves_ were