La Grande Mademoiselle, 1627-1652 . ns with her step-daughterwere cordial, but they were limited to a purely con-ventional exchange of civilities. Speaking of thatepoch, Mademoiselle said : I did all that I possiblycould to preserve her good graces, which I shouldnot have lost had she not given me reason to neg-lect them. Mademoiselle could not have lovedher step-mother, nor could she have been loved by her; Madame and Mademoiselle were of differentand distinct orders. II The routine requirements of Mademoisellesperiods of mourning diverted her mind from hermarriage projects, but she soon resu
La Grande Mademoiselle, 1627-1652 . ns with her step-daughterwere cordial, but they were limited to a purely con-ventional exchange of civilities. Speaking of thatepoch, Mademoiselle said : I did all that I possiblycould to preserve her good graces, which I shouldnot have lost had she not given me reason to neg-lect them. Mademoiselle could not have lovedher step-mother, nor could she have been loved by her; Madame and Mademoiselle were of differentand distinct orders. II The routine requirements of Mademoisellesperiods of mourning diverted her mind from hermarriage projects, but she soon resumed her ef-forts. She had no adviser, and no one cared forher establishment; Gaston was too well em-ployed in spending her money to concern him-self with her future, and, as the duties of dailylife fatigued Madame, Mademoiselle could not hopefor assistance from her step-mother; the Queenwas her only hope, and the Queens executor wasjealously guarding her fine principalities and keep-ing close watch over her person. In 1644 the King. >-tr I-z UJ o LJI u UJCO Ul I H o UJ > o _l UJ I( UJ > La Grande Mademoiselle 255 of Spain, Philippe IV., the brother of Anne ofAustria, became a widower. He was the enemy ofFrance, and it would have been folly to give him aright to any portion of French territory ; but Made-moiselle did not consider that fact; her politicalintuitions were not keen. All that she could seewas that the King had a crown, and that it wassuch a crown as would adorn the title of her ownnobility. For some occult reason which, as no onehas ever located it, will probably remain enigmati-cal, Mademoiselle imagined that Philippe IV. desiredto espouse her ; and she passed her time formingplans and waiting for the Spanish envoy who wasto come to France to ask her father for her it is difficult to believe that she ever could havedreamed the story that she tells in her memoirs,we must suppose that there was some foundation forher hopes. Possibly the expectatio
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectmontpen, bookyear1902
