he will allow
it, and let her youth have the benefit of our experience."

The tone in which the duc d'Aiguillon replied delighted me. He said he
was but too happy to serve me, and begged me to rely on him as I would
on myself.

"But," he continued, "but we have to struggle with a powerful party. The
duchesse de Grammont and her brother are not the persons to give up the
field without striking a blow. But, madame, by the assistance of your
happy and lovely star, I will enter the lists with pleasure, and if a
glance of your eyes will recompense a conqueror, I shall be he."

"Oh," exclaimed the duke, "my nephew's a second Amadis in gallantry, and
of undaunted courage. You will be satisfied with him, madame, much more
than with my son, who only resembles the family in his defects."

The duc de Fronsac was justly hated by his father; he was what is called
a decided scamp, without one redeeming point or virtue. Dissipated
without agreeableness, a courtier without address, a soldier without
courage, he thoroughly deserved his bad reputation. He was not hated,
because hatred implies a species of honor, but he was universally
despised. His father hated him; he hated his father. The reciprocity was
edifying. I have often seen the duc de Fronsac, and always with disgust.
He had incurred the extremity of punishment; when trying to carry off a
butcher's daughter, he rendered himself guilty of the triple crimes of
arson, rape, and robbery. This was the most splendid deed of his life,
at least his father said so, the only one in which he had shown--guess
what for, my friend, I will not pen the cynical word made use of by his
father. It must be confessed that we sometimes kept very bad company at
Versailles. The king, who abhorred degrading actions, did not like
the duc de Fronsac, but was full of kindly feeling towards the duc
d'Aiguillon. The latter experienced the extent of his favor in his
long and obstinate struggle with the parliament of Bretagne. It must be
owned, that if he gained the victory at court, he decidedly lost it in
the city, and I was publicly insulted on this account in the most brutal
manner. However, the friendship which his first interview inspired me
with, I have always preserved unaltered.

The week glided away, and each day my fortune seemed more fully assured.
The love of the king increased, he heaped presents on me perpetually,
and seemed to think he never could do enough for me. The bounties of
Louis X