THE KING OF SPAIN A WIDOWEK.

263

CHAPTER XXVI.

The King of Spain a Widower—Intrigues of Madame des Ursins—Choice
K of the Princess of Parma—The King of France kept in the dark—Cele-
bration of the Marriage—Sudden Fall of the Princesse des Ursins—Her
Expulsion from Spain.

THE Queen of Spain, for a long time violently attacked with,
the king's evil around the face and neck, was just now at the
point of death. Obtaining no relief from the Spanish doctors,
she wished to have Helvetius, and begged the King by an ex-
press command to send him to her. Helvetius much incon-
venienced,, and knowing besides the condition of the princess,
did not wish to go, but the King expressly commanded him.
He set out then in a post chaise, followed by another in case
his own should break down, and arrived thus at Madrid on the
lltli of February, 1714. As soon as he had seen the Queen, he
said there was nothing but a miracle could save her. The
King of Spain did not discontinue sleeping with her until the
9th, On the 14th she died, with much courage, consciousness,
and piety.

Despair was general in Spain, where this queen was univer-
sally adored. There was not a family which did not lament
her, not a person who has since been consoled. The King of
Spain was extremely touched, but somewhat in a royal manner.
Thus, when out shooting one day, he came close to the convoy
by which the body of his queen was being conveyed to the
Escurial; he looked at it, followed it with his eyes, and continued
his sport! Are these princes made like other human beings ?

The death of the Queen led to amazing changes, such as the