is episode in Ninon's life is in direct contrast with one which
occurred when the Queen Regent, Anne of Austria, listening to the
complaints of her jealous maids of honor, attempted to dispose of
Ninon's future by immuring her in a convent. Ninon's celebrity
attained such a summit, and her drawing rooms became so popular among
the elite of the French nobility and desirable youth, that sad inroads
were made in the entourage of the Court, nothing but the culls of
humanity being left for the ladies who patronized the royal functions.
In addition to this, she excited the envy and jealousy of a certain
class of women, whom Ninon called "Jansensists of love," because they
practiced in public the puritanic virtues which they did not even have
tact enough to render agreeable. It is conceivable that Ninon's
brilliant attractions, not to say seductive charms, and her
unparalleled power to attract to her society the brightest and best
men of the nation, engendered the most violent jealousy and hatred of
those whose feebler charms were ignored and relegated to the
background. The most bitter complaints and accusations were made
against her to the Queen Regent, who was beset on all sides by loud
outcries against the conduct of a woman whom they were powerless to
imitate, until, to quiet their clamors, she deemed it her duty to act.

Anne of Austria accordingly sent Ninon, by special messenger, a
peremptory order to withdraw to a convent, giving her the power of
selection. At first Anne intended to send her to the convent of
Repentant Girls (Filles Repenties), but the celebrated Bauton, one of
the Oiseaux des Tournelles, who loved a good joke as well as he did
Ninon, told her that such a course would excite ridicule because Ninon
was neither a girl nor a repentant (ni fille, ni repentie), for which
reason, the order was changed leaving Ninon to her own choice of a
prison.

Ninon knew the source of the order, and foresaw that her numerous
distinguished admirers would not have any difficulty in protecting
her, and persuading the Queen Regent to rescind her order, and
therefore gave herself no concern, receiving the order as a
pleasantry.

"I am deeply sensible of the goodness of the court in providing for my
welfare and in permitting me to select my place of retreat, and
without hesitation, I decide in favor of the Grands Cordeliers."

Now it so happened that the Grands Cordeliers was a monastery
exclusively for men, and from whic