sfaction upon her appointment, not admiring the extreme gravity
and reserve of the young widow; however, the unusual order of her
talents and wisdom soon attracted his attention, and her entrance at
court was speedily followed by quarrels between the mistress and Louis
XIV. In 1674 the king, wishing to acknowledge his recognition of
her merits, purchased the estate of Maintenon for her and made her
Marquise de Maintenon.

Her primary object became the gaining of the favor of Mme. de
Montespan; for this purpose she taught herself humility, while
toward the king she directed the forces of her dignity, reserve, and
intellectual attainments. Being the very opposite of the mistress who
won and retained him by sensuous charms (in which the king was fast
losing pleasure and satisfaction), she soon effected a change
by entertaining her master with the solid attainments of her
mind--religion, art, literature.

Mme. de Maintenon was always amiable and sympathetic, kind and
thoughtful, never irritating, crossing, or censuring the king;
wonderfully judicious, modest, self-possessed, and calm, she was
irreproachable in conduct and morals, tolerating no improper advances.
Although the characteristics and general deportment of Mme. de
Montespan were entirely different from those of Mme. de Maintenon, the
latter entertained true friendship for her benefactress, displaying
astonishing tact, shrewdness, and self-control.

If Mme. de Maintenon were not, at first, loved by the king, it was
because she appeared to him too ideal, sublime, spirituelle, too
severely sensible. Then came the turning point; at forty years of age
she was "a beautiful and stately woman with brilliant dark eyes, clear
complexion, beautiful white teeth, and graceful manners;" sedate,
self-possessed, and astonished at nothing, she had learned the art of
waiting, and studied the king--showing him those qualities he desired
to see.

Her aim became to take the king from his mistress and lead him back
to the queen. After gaining his confidence by her sincerity and
trustworthiness, and making herself indispensable to him, she
succeeded in bringing about the desired separation, through the medium
of the dauphiness, whom she won over to her cause. Thus, without
perfidy, hypocrisy, intrigue, or manoeuvring, by simply being herself,
she replaced the haughty and beautiful Mme. de Montespan.

When, after the queen's death, and after having lived about the king
for fifteen