. Old Paris : its court and literary salons . extol her charming manners, amiability, andbeauty. Not that Madame Scarron really was was tall, well formed, fresh and fair, and inthe heyday of youth — la beaute dii diable — which,with her assiduity to please, gained for her thepatronizing approval of her own sex, and the admi-ration and homage of the other. She was exposedto many temptations, no doubt, but the coldnessof her nature was her safeguard, and, besides, shewas looking forward to a position of considerationin the world, as she herself has told us. If sheever loved any one
. Old Paris : its court and literary salons . extol her charming manners, amiability, andbeauty. Not that Madame Scarron really was was tall, well formed, fresh and fair, and inthe heyday of youth — la beaute dii diable — which,with her assiduity to please, gained for her thepatronizing approval of her own sex, and the admi-ration and homage of the other. She was exposedto many temptations, no doubt, but the coldnessof her nature was her safeguard, and, besides, shewas looking forward to a position of considerationin the world, as she herself has told us. If sheever loved any one, it was probably the Marquisde Villarceaux. But St. Simon has, in that re-spect, been particularly unjust towards her. Ofher early years he knew nothing, except from thereports of those who were jealous of the influenceshe later in life acquired at court. The povertyshe was reduced to after the death of Scarron, anduntil she obtained, through the interest of Madamede Montespan, a small pension from Louis XIV., fll^a^amc t)e flDaintenon. CHARACTER OF MADAME SCAR RON 5 I is of itself a denial of the conduct he attributes toher. Yet neither as Madame Scarron nor Madame deMaintenon did she display qualities that usuallyexcite much love or esteem. She was a model ofthe ge7ire convenable. She had thoroughly studiedher own character, and knew what points of it tokeep in the shade and what to bring forward forthe worlds inspection. She prudently availed her-self of every opportunity of cultivating her mind,of acquiring knowledge, and during her nine yearswith Scarron she had had great facilities for doingso. She was better read than most women of hertime ; she wrote with more correctness, and farmore elegance, than Sevigne, and might, had shechosen, or had it suited her purpose, have shoneas a bcl esprit, as her letters attest. But her singleaim was to rise in the world, to be considered, tobe looked up to; and, to further her aim, she knewhow to efface herself in the presence of
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