Maintenon

I hope and trust, Sire," cried Madame de Maintenon, clasping her hands earnestly, "I hope and trust that your Majesty has not suffered insult on my account.

"But now, when you will, Charles, I am ready to go on; we may soon reach Maintenon."

The Secret Correspondence of Madame de Maintenon with the Princess des Ursins, from the original manuscripts in the possession of the Duke of Choiseul.

Madame De Maintenon, his married mistress, hideously caricatured, follows.

Ninon had "played politics" just once—and with far-reaching results to history; as De Maintenon's future influence over her husband was to prove.