when, at the age of nearly forty, she
had become "a Colossus"--to use Tallemant's phrase. At the same time it
is true that, even in youth, she had less grace than strength, less
delicacy than majesty. It is also true that she was free of speech, and
in tone was bold and offhand; but those very defects for which she was
remarkable only the better assured her empire over what, in modern
parlance, would be termed the "fast" portion of the Court, and the
sentiments to which she gave utterance revealed the most singular
extravagance. But not a single voice protested when the Duke
d'Hocquincourt proclaimed her _la belle des belles_. In the eyes of the
foreigner she was the marvel which the generals who dreamed of the
capture of Paris coveted; in other words, she was _par excellence_ "the
booty" most desirable, on the subject of which the Duke of Weimar
perpetrated a thoroughly German joke, which we must be pardoned for not
repeating: Anne of Austria might have smiled at it without blushing, but
it is too gross to risk raising a laugh by its repetition in our days.

She had a great number of adorers, and of happy adorers, from Gaston
Duke of Orleans, and the Count de Soissons, slain at Marfee, to Rance,
the young and gallant editor of Anacreon, and the future founder of La
Trappe. M. de Longueville had been for some time her lover by title, and
he afforded her considerable advantages. When he married Mademoiselle de
Bourbon, Madame the Princess exacted--without, however, being very
faithfully obeyed--the discontinuance of all intercourse with his old
mistress. Hence, in that interested soul, an irritation, which wounded
vanity redoubled, when she saw this young bride, with her great name,
her marvellous mind, her indefinable charms, advance into the world of
gallantry, without the least effort draw after her all hearts, and take
possession of, or at least share that empire of beauty of which she was
so proud, and which was to her so precious. On the other hand, the Duke
de Beaufort had not been able to restrain a passionate admiration for
Madame de Longueville, which had been very coldly received. He was
wounded by it, and his wound bled for a long time, as his friend, La
Chatre, informs us,[2] even after he had transferred his homage to
Madame de Montbazon. The latter, as may be easily imagined, was again
exasperated. Finally, the Duke de Guise, recently arrived in Paris,
placed himself in the party of the _Importants_ and at