ys bear it in mind.

The King said to us, "Go and see the Chateau de Maintenon, and then you
can tell me all about it. According to an old book, I find that it was
built in the reign of Henri II. by Nicolas de Cointerot, the King's
minister of finance; a 'surintendant's' castle ought to form a noteworthy
feature of the landscape."

Madame de Maintenon hereupon told us a most extraordinary story. The
lady who sold this marquisate had retired two years previously to the
island of Martinique, where she, at the present moment, owned the
residence of Constant d'Aubigne, the same house where the new Marquise de
Maintenon had spent her childhood with her parents, so that while one of
these ladies had quitted the Chateau de Maintenon in order to live in
Martinique, the other had come from Martinique in order to reside at the
Chateau de Maintenon. Truly, the destinies of some are strange in this
world.

The chateau appeared to be large, of solid proportions, and built in a
grandly simple style, befitting a minister of dignity and position. The
governess shed tears of emotion when setting foot there for the first
time. The six priests, whom the surintendant had appointed, officiated
in the large chapel or little church attached to the castle.

They approached us in regular procession, presenting holy water, baskets
of flowers and fruit, an old man, a child, and two little lambs to the
Marquise. The villagers, dressed out with flowers and ribbons, also came
to pay, their respects to her. They danced in the castle courtyard,
under our balcony, to the sound of hautbois and bagpipes.

We gave them money, said pleasant things to everybody, and invited all
the six clerics to sup with us. These gentry spoke with great respect of
the other Madame de Maintenon, who had become disgusted with her
property, and with France generally, because, for two winters running,
her orange-groves and fig-trees had been frost-bitten. She herself,
being a most chilly, person, never left off her furs until August, and in
order to avoid looking at or walking upon snow and ice, she fled to the
other end of the world.

"The other extreme will bring her back to us," observed Madame de
Maintenon to the priests. "Though his Majesty were to give me Martinique
or Saint Domingo, I certainly would never go and live there myself."

When we returned, all these little details greatly amused the King. He,
too, wanted to go and see the castle of another Fouquet, b