eserve the sympathy and
approbation of honest persons--such is the direction of all her
efforts. Well dressed, though very simply; discreet and modest,
intelligent and _distingue_, with that patrician elegance which luxury
cannot create, but which is inborn and comes by nature only; pious,
with a sincere and gentle piety; less occupied with herself than with
others; talking well and--what is much rarer--knowing how to listen;
taking an interest in the joys and sorrows of her friends, and skilful
in amusing and consoling them--she is justly regarded as one of the
most amiable as well as one of the superior women in Paris. Economical
and simple in her tastes, she makes her accounts balance perfectly,
thanks to an annual pension of two thousand livres granted her by
Queen Anne of Austria."

When Mme. Scarron was about to leave Paris because of lack of funds
and the loss of her pension, after the death of Queen Anne, her friend
Mme. de Montespan, the king's mistress, interfered in her behalf and
had the pension renewed, thus inadvertently paving the way for her
own downfall. Three years later Mme. Scarron was established in an
isolated house near Paris, where she received the natural children
of Louis XIV. and Mme. de Montespan, as they arrived, in quick
succession, in 1669, 1670, 1672, 1673, and 1674. There, acting as
governess, she hid them from the world. This is the only blemish upon
the fair record of her life. It is maintained by her detractors that
a virtuous woman would not have undertaken the education of the
doubly adulterous children of Louis XIV. (thus, in a way, encouraging
adultery), and that she would have given up her charge upon the first
proposals of love.

However deep this stain may be considered, one must remember that
the standard of honor at the court of Louis XIV. did not encourage
delicacy in matters of love, and Mme. Scarron knew only the standard
of society; her morality was no more extraordinary than was her
intelligence, and it was to her credit that she preserved intact
her honor and her virtue. At first the king looked with much
dissatisfaction 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