126 MEMOIES OF THE DUKE OF SAINT-SIMOST.

Jesuits; and made the P&re de Trevoux our partisan. Nothing
is indifferent to the Jesuits. They became a powerful instrument.
As a last ally I obtained the co-operation of the Marechal de-
Boufflers. Such were the machines that my friendship for
those to whom I was attached, my hatred for Madame la
Duchesse, my care of my present and future situation, enabled
me to discover, to set going, with an exact and compassed
movement, a precise agreement, and the strength of a lever—
which the space of one Lent commenced and perfected—all
whose movements, embarrassments, and progress in their divers
lines I knew; and which I regularly wound up in reciprocal
cadence every day!

Towards the end of the Lent, the Duchesse de Bourgogne,.
having sounded the King and Madame de Maintenon, had
found the latter well disposed, and the former without any
particular objection. One day that Mademoiselle had been
taken to see the King at the apartments of Madame de-
Maintenon, where Monseigneur happened to be, the Duchesse de
Bourgogne praised her, and when she had gone away, ventured,,
with that freedom and that predetermined impulsiveness
and gaiety which she sometimes made use of, to say: " What
an excellent wife for M. le Due de Berry!" This expression
made Monseigneur redden with anger, and exclaim, "that
would be an excellent method of recompensing the Due
d'Orleans for his conduct in Spain 1" "When he had said these
words he hastily left the company, all very much astonished ;.
for no one expected a person seemingly so indifferent and so
measured to come out so strongly. The Duchesse de Bourgogne,.
who had only spoken so to feel the way with Monseigneur in
presence of the King, was bold and clever to the end. Turning
with a bewildered look towards Madame de Maintenon, " My
Aunt," quoth she to her, " have I said something foolish ?""
The King, piqued, answered for Madame de Maintenon, and
said, warmly, that if Madame la Duchesse was working upon
Monseigneur she would have to deal with him. Madame de
Maintenon adroitly envenomed the matter by wondering at a
vivacity so uncommon with Monseigneur, and said that if