ive country."

"Have you reckoned the distance? Did the Princess confess that she was
going to carry you off to the other end of the world? For her city of
Lisbon, surrounded by precipices, is more than three hundred leagues from
Paris."

"At the age of three I voyaged to America, returning hither when I was
eleven."

"I am vexed with Mademoiselle d'Aumale--

[Mademoiselle d'Aumale, daughter of the Duc de Nemours, of the House of
Savoy. She was a blonde, pleasant-mannered enough, but short of stature.
Her head was too big for her body; and this head of hers was full of
conspiracies and coups d'etat. She dethroned her husband in order to
marry his brother.--EDITOR'S NOTE.]

for wanting to rob us of so charming a treasure. But has she any right
to act in this way? Do you think her capable of contributing to your
pleasure or your happiness? This young Queen of Portugal, under the
guise of good-humour, hides a violent and irascible temperament. I
believe her to be thoroughly selfish; suppose that she neglects and
despises you, after having profited by your company to while away the
tedium of her journey? Take my word for it, madame, you had better stay
here with us; for there is no real society but in France, no wit but in
our great world, no real happiness but in Paris. Draw up another
petition as quickly as possible, and send it to me. I will present it
myself, and to tell you this is tantamount to a promise that your plea
shall succeed."

Mademoiselle d'Aubigne, all flushed with emotion, assured me of her
gratitude with the ingenuous eloquence peculiar to herself. We embraced
as two friends of the Albret set should do, and three days later, the
King received a new petition, not signed with the name of Scarron, but
with that of D'Aubigne.

The pension of two thousand francs, granted three years before her death
by the Queen-mother, was renewed. Madame Scarron had the honour of
making her courtesy to the King, who thought her handsome, but grave in
demeanour, and in a loud, clear voice, he said to her, "Madame, I kept
you waiting; I was jealous of your friends."

The Queen of Portugal knew that I had deprived her of her secretary,
fellow-gossip, reader, Spanish teacher, stewardess, confidante, and
lady-in-waiting. She wrote to me complaining about this, and on taking
leave of the King to go and reign in Portugal, she said, with rather a
forced air of raillery:

"I shall hate you as long as I live, and if ever y