h women were rigidly excluded.
Moreover, the morals of the holy brotherhood was not of the best, as
the writers of their history during that period unanimously testify.
M. de Guitaut, the captain of the Queen's guard, who had been
intrusted with the message, happened to be one of the "Birds," and he
assured the Regent that it was nothing but a little pleasantry on the
part of Ninon, who merited a thousand marks of approval and
commendation for her sterling and brilliant qualities of mind and
heart rather than punishment or even censure.

The only comment made by the Queen Regent was: "Fie, the nasty
thing!" accompanied by a fit of laughter. Others of the "Birds" came
to the rescue, among them the Duc d'Enghien, who was known not to
value his esteem for women lightly. The matter was finally dropped,
Anne of Austria finding means to close the mouths of the envious.

CHAPTER VIII

Her Increasing Popularity

Ninon's return to the gayeties of her drawing rooms was hailed with
loud acclamations from all quarters. The envy and jealousy of her
female enemies, the attempt to immure her in a convent, and her
selection of the Grands Cordeliers as her place of retreat, brought
her new friends and admirers through the notoriety given her, and all
Paris resounded with the fame of her spirit, her wit, and her
philosophy.

Ladies of high rank sought admission into her charming circle, many of
them, it is to be imagined, because they possessed exaggerated ideas
of her influence at court. Had she not braved the Queen Regent with
impunity? Her drawing rooms soon became the center of attraction and
were nightly crowded with the better part of the brilliant society of
Paris. Ninon was the acknowledged guide and leader, and all submitted
to her sway without the slightest envy or jealousy, and it may also be
said, without the slightest compunctions or remorse of conscience.

The affair with the Queen Regent had one good effect, it separated the
desirable from the undesirable in the social scale, compelling the
latter to set up an establishment of their own as a counter
attraction, and as their only hope of having any society at all. They
established a "little court" at the Hotel Rambouillet, where
foppishness was a badge of distinction, and where a few narrow minded,
starched moralists, poisoned metaphysics and turned the sentiments of
the heart into a burlesque by their affectation and their unrefined,
even vulgar attempts at