o protest to you that I am innocent of
the wickedness of which I have been accused: no person of honour could
utter a calumny such as this. If I had committed a like fault, I should
have submitted to any punishment which it might have pleased the Queen
to inflict upon me; I should never have shown myself again in the
world, and would have asked your pardon. I beg you to believe that I
shall never fail in the respect which I owe to you and in the opinion
which I have of the virtue and of the merit of Madame de
Longueville."[4] That lady was not present at the ceremony, and her
mother, to whom the Duchess addressed herself, made a very short and dry
reply. This reconciliation did not deceive any one of those present; it
was, in fact, only a fresh declaration of war.

[4] Memoires, vol. i. p. 65.

Besides the satisfaction which she had just obtained, the Princess had
asked and had been permitted the privilege of never associating with the
Duchess de Montbazon. Some time after, Madame de Chevreuse invited the
Queen to a collation in the public garden of Renard. This was then the
rendezvous of the best society. It was at the termination of the
Tuileries, near the Porte de la Conference, which abutted on the _Cours
de la Reine_. In the summer, on returning from the _Cours_, which was
the "Rotten Row" of the day, and the spot where the beauties of the time
exercised their powers, it was customary to stop at the garden Renard
for the purpose of taking refreshments, and to listen to serenades
performed after the Spanish fashion. The Queen took pleasure in visiting
this place during fine summer evenings. She desired Madame the Princess
to partake with her the collation offered by Madame de Chevreuse,
assuring her at the same time that Madame de Montbazon would not be
present; but the latter person was really there, and even pretended to
do the honours of the collation as mother-in-law of the lady who gave
it. The Princess wished to withdraw, in order that the entertainment
might not be disturbed: the Queen had no right whatever to detain her.
She, therefore, begged Madame de Montbazon to pretend sickness, and by
leaving the party, to relieve her from embarrassment. The haughty
Duchess would not consent to fly before her enemy, and kept her place.
The Queen, offended, refused the collation and quitted the promenade. On
the morrow an order from the King enjoined upon Madame de Montbazon to
leave Paris. This disgrace irritated