stature; but her
spirit and understanding partook of the early maturity of her native
climate, and to exquisite beauty of person and countenance she united
the most captivating manners and graceful deportment." Even after her
attendants had been dismissed and the Princess Orsini had been
definitely installed as her _camerara-mayor_, or head lady in waiting,
with almost unlimited powers, Louis Quatorze still thought it advisable
to write to his young protege and give him some advice relative to his
treatment of his wife. Among his sententious remarks, the following are
of special interest: "The queen is the first of your subjects, in which
quality, as well as in that of your wife, she is bound to obey you. You
are bound to love her, but you will never love her as you ought if her
tears have any power to extort from you indulgences derogatory to your
glory. Be firm, then, at first. I well know that the first refusals will
grieve you, and are repugnant to your natural mildness; but fear not to
give a slight uneasiness, to spare real chagrin in the future. By such
conduct alone you will prevent disputes which would become
insupportable. Shall your domestic dissensions be the subject of
conversation for your people and for all Europe? Render the queen happy,
if necessary, in spite of herself. Restrain her at first; she will be
obliged to you in the end; and this violence over yourself will furnish
the most solid proof of your affection for her.... Believe that my love
for you dictates this advice, which, were I in your place, I should
receive from a father as the most convincing proof of his regard."

The Princess Orsini, or Des Ursins, as she is generally known, was a
most remarkable woman. A member of the old French family of La
Tremouille, she had first married Adrian Blaise de Talleyrand, Prince
de Chalais; and on her husband's banishment as the result of an
unfortunate duel, she went with him in exile to Spain, where she spent
several years and had an opportunity to become familiar with the
language and customs of the country. Going later to Italy, where her
husband died, she was soon married a second time, to Flavio de' Orsini,
Duke of Bracciano and Grandee of Spain, and for several years was a most
conspicuous figure in the court circles of Rome and Versailles, becoming
the intimate friend of Madame de Maintenon. Thus it was that Madame de
Maintenon spoke of her in connection with the Spanish position as soon
as the m