. Five fair sisters : an Italian episode at the court of Louis XIV. with the Cardinal,having espoused Laure Mancini, my eldest sister, whomhe himself had demanded at Cologne, at the time whenhis Eminence was obliged to withdraw thither. Weremained eight months in this town of Aix, where theduke my brother-in-law entertained us in the mostmagnificent manner conceivable, and where my sister,his wife, came to join us two months later, and con-tributed in every possible way to make the time passagreeably. While the second detachment of the Cardinals familywas at Aix, where Madame de Mercoeur busie
. Five fair sisters : an Italian episode at the court of Louis XIV. with the Cardinal,having espoused Laure Mancini, my eldest sister, whomhe himself had demanded at Cologne, at the time whenhis Eminence was obliged to withdraw thither. Weremained eight months in this town of Aix, where theduke my brother-in-law entertained us in the mostmagnificent manner conceivable, and where my sister,his wife, came to join us two months later, and con-tributed in every possible way to make the time passagreeably. While the second detachment of the Cardinals familywas at Aix, where Madame de Mercoeur busied herselfwith instructing her young sisters and cousin in theetiquette of the French Court, devoting particular atten-tion to Marie, whose early education, partly owing toher ill-health and partly owing to the indifference withwhich her mother regarded her, had been muchneglected, Mazarin was employed in concluding arrange-ments for the union of his family with Royalty itself, 1 This consisted in embracing the women and in allowing the men tokiss the ladys From an engraving by Frosne ARMAND DE BOURBON, PRINCE DE CONTI FIVE FAIR SISTERS 39 by an alliance between Anne-Marie Martinozzi and thePrince de Conti, younger brother of Cond6. Armand de Bourbon, Prince de Conti, who was atthis time about thirty-four years of age, had beenoriginally destined for the Church, and though he hadresisted the imposition of hands ecclesiastical, hadreceived as his appanage many rich abbeys, such asSaint-Denis, Cluny, and L^rens. In person, he wasshort and slightly deformed, defects which were atonedfor by a strikingly handsome face and charming man-ners. Always under the influence of his celebratedsister, Madame de Longueville, he joined the Fronde,and when Mazarin returned from his second exile, wasengaged in defending Bordeaux against the royal troops, incompany with the Due and Duchesse de Longueville andthe Princesse de Conde and her son the Due at length the city surrende
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