and when one of her admirers was not to her
taste, neither prayers nor entreaties could move her. Hers was not a
case of vendible charms, it was le bon appetit merely, an Epicurean
virtue. The Grand Prior of Vendome had reason to comprehend this trait
in her character.

The worthy Grand Prior was an impetuous wooer, and he saw with great
sorrow that Ninon preferred the Counts de Miossens and de Palluan to
his clerical attractions. He complained bitterly to Ninon, but instead
of being softened by his reproaches, she listened to the voice of some
new rival when the Grand Prior thought his turn came next. This put
him in a great rage and he resolved to be revenged, and this is the
way he fancied he could obtain it. One day shortly after he had left
Ninon's house, she noticed on her dressing table a letter, which she
opened to find the following effusion:

"Indigne de mes feux, indigne de mes larmes,
Je renonce sans peine a tes faibles appas;
Mon amour te pretait des charmes,
Ingrate, que tu n'avais pas."

Or, as might be said substantially in English:

Unworthy my flame, unworthy a tear,
I rejoice to renounce thy feeble allure;
My love lent thee charms that endear,
Which, ingrate, thou couldst not procure.

Instead of being offended, Ninon took this mark of unreasonable spite
good naturedly, and replied by another quatrain based upon the same
rhyme as that of the disappointed suitor:

"Insensible a tes feux, insensible a tes larmes,
Je te vois renoncer a mes faibles appas;
Mais si l'amour prete des charmes,
Pourquoi n'en empruntais-tu pas."

Which is as much as to say in English:

Caring naught for thy flame, caring naught for thy tear,
I see thee renounce my feeble allure;
But if love lends charms that endear,
By borrowing thou mightst some procure.

CHAPTER VII

Effect of Her Mother's Death

It is not to be wondered at that a girl under such tutelage should
abandon herself wholly, both mind and body, to a philosophy so
contrary in its principles and practices to that which her mother had
always endeavored to instill into her young mind. The father was
absent fighting for Heaven alone knew which faction into which France
was broken up, there were so many of them, and the mother and daughter
lived apart, the disparity in their sentiments making it impossible
for them to do otherwise. For this reason, Ninon was practically her
own mistress, and not interfered with because the husba