I Am Louis XIV - Chapter 552

  Chapter 552 Mrs. Montespan bids us farewell (Part 1)

   When people heard that an Indian had a room at Versailles, and became the queen’s lady-in-waiting, they could not help but whisper and talk about it, but soon they saw the reason for what they thought from the courteous visit of the Marquis de Lafayette.

No one can deny that the Sun King Louis XIV was a good man who was full of tenderness and love for women. He not only loved them, but also respected them, and even gave them the right to compete with men. Every woman who accompanied him was bound to get The best arrangement, or just some ordinary and humble women, as long as the king knows their worries, he will definitely try to solve them.

So they all thought that, maybe soon, His Majesty the King would give the daughter of the Indian Earl a title and be their witness, so that the marriage would be decent enough to not be rejected by the class of the Marquis de Lafayette. outer. Sure enough, they got the king’s will very quickly, but it had almost nothing to do with sweet love or marriage – the king’s will did have something to do with the little falcon, but she was only the smallest part of it.

   This will affects more than a million people.

Louis XIV announced in this decree that he would divide America into seventeen districts, divided into governors and viceroys, of which four governors and six governors were sent by officials from France. General rule and management, mainly in the oil, steel and coal production areas of the coastal areas and the Midwest, and the other seven governorships belong to the aborigines, that is, the chiefs of the seven largest tribes in America now, let them serve as governors A post – and some of the French upstarts, will be sent as governors to command the political army on the islands that France has occupied and is currently occupied.

“Cow’s horns”, as the first allied chief with the French, who made great achievements, his name – Indian name, and French name, are clearly written in the king’s will, so the daughter of the governor and Lafayette The marriage of the Marquis is naturally a natural and reasonable one. The governor, the governor and the provincial governor have both military and administrative powers in their jurisdiction, and they can also appoint and dismiss officials according to their own wishes, just like a grand duke or The Duke, the Duke’s daughter can of course become a Marchioness.

  In the past, these positions were handed over to the royal relatives or the people whom the king trusted the most. It is unbelievable that the Sun King did this…

However, as always, no one dared to disobey Louis XIV’s will, but at the banquet that followed, people looked at Madame Montespan other than the mahogany girl beside the queen… Her son is the Duke of Montreal, but the problem is Yes, according to the king’s will, the Duke of Montreal is actually just the governor of the Governorate of Montreal. This is like falling from heaven to the ground all at once. It is said that this lady went mad when she heard this will, and put all the energy in the room. Everything that was smashed was smashed, and even the veil was torn.

The lady’s expression was really bad, and it could be seen that she was trying her best to endure, but she couldn’t hold back her unwillingness. The Duchess of Montpensier held her hand kindly, and joined her without dancing. No words could make her smile.

   “The queen also went over to speak to her in person.”

   “The king invited her to dance… She refused, so bold!”

   “This is the first time. It’s absurd to refuse Your Majesty, she thought…”

   “She’s too arrogant.”

   “Get carried away, disgusting…”

Every pair of eyes saw how Mrs. Montespan didn’t look at the hand that the king held out to her – this was a very serious faux pas, no one could refuse the king, if it were an ordinary lady, even if she was rejected. Even if she was expelled from the court, no one would intercede for her—the queen closed her fan, and the Duke of Orleans walked towards them through the crowd, threateningly, apparently trying to teach a lesson to this man who had dared to be rude to his brother.

But there is someone faster than him, and that is the Duke of Mortmar. Of course, the Duke of Mortmar knew the content of the will earlier than the ladies, and as soon as he heard it, he knew that this nominal daughter would do something wrong. It’s a sensible thing, but I didn’t expect that she would dare not give the king a good face on this occasion. He rushed up and grabbed Mrs. Montespan’s arm and dragged her to the ground.

  People let out a few low exclamations, and then the king’s doctor came over, and Madame Montespan’s biological father just raised his hand and made her faint.

Compared to “not accepting the king’s invitation to dance”, “passing out because of physical discomfort” is obviously better for everyone present, although Louis does not care very much, he is very concerned about the future Montreal of Madame Montespan and their son Augustus The Duke is a bit unfair, and it is normal for her to be angry, not to mention that she is helping the king. One father is a doctor trusted by the king, and the other father is the best representative of “good warriors have no illustrious achievements”, the Duke of Mortmar There is nothing worthy of the poet’s praise, but he is a rare general who is good at defense and fortification. Whether it is Vauban, Viscount Turenne, or even the former Grand Condé, they all praised how to put his back on his back. Leave it to the Duke of Mortmar and you won’t have to worry anymore.

The Duke of Orléans only took a step slower. He looked angrily at his brother who just waved his hand, and then casually extended his hand to the Duchess of Montpensier. The Duchess took it quickly, and the two walked towards the center of the hall together. Lully Bowing to the king, he raised his scepter – at this time, the baton had not yet been invented, and the conductor of the orchestra used a heavy metal pointed scepter to beat the ground to conduct…

   “Your Highness, come to me.”

   “The Duke of Vendôme,” said the Duke of Orleans.

The Duke of Vendôme is a rare long-lived person in Bourbon. He is in his nineties this year. Even the king of the garden would not dare to let him go at this age, let alone the battlefield. Fortunately, although his son is useless, his grandson Joseph. But he has already taken on the heavy responsibility of the family, and he can rest assured. Now he is living in peace at the Palace of Versailles – in addition to the fact that as he grows older, he likes the fun more and more, but also because Versailles has credible wizards and doctors. , and the hospital.

   A hospital is not like a school after all. It is not a place where officials and teachers can be added and can be opened at will.

The old duke often walked slowly up and down the corridor with a cane, always smiling when he saw everyone, as soft and gentle as the kind of old people people liked, especially children and beautiful ladies-so he and Mrs. Montespan has always had a good relationship. ,

   And the old man who often had afternoon tea, walks and chats with Madame Montespan, the first sentence after the Duke of Orleans took his seat was—

   “It’s time for us to pick a new royal lady for the king.”

   The Duke of Orleans paused for a moment, and then saw the dignitaries around the Duke of Vendome all showing approval.

   “That lady has been by His Majesty’s side for over ten years.”

   “She is not so young anymore, although she is still beautiful. We should consider it for Your Majesty, always looking at a flower, we will definitely get tired.”

   “Your Majesty may also ask her to do something.”

“Is there anything that other ladies can’t do?” said the Duke of Vendôme calmly: “Everyone, the war will soon be over, and the Duke of Montreal will soon come of age. When he leaves Versailles, his mother It would be inappropriate to continue to remain in the court, and for so many years, she has not been able to bear more children to His Majesty the King.”

He rubbed the head of his sterling silver staff. The top of the staff was a large diamond, which was also a gift from the king. The king had always had two things in mind for the Duke of Vendôme, one because he was a Bourbon, and the other because Wang The son of the Duke of Dom and the king are half-brothers – he married Marie Mancini’s sister. Even so, the Duke of Vendome never stopped looking for ladies for the king.

   Said from the bottom of his heart, the Dukes of Vendôme felt that their Majesty was perfect, except for one thing – that is, in the eyes of women…

   Not to mention Marie Mancini, although she was the niece of Bishop Mazarin, her father was a commoner, and he was too frivolous and arrogant; what about Madame Lavalier? Not to mention the daughter of an officer, she is also the maid of Henrietta, Princess of England; then Madame Montespan, the Duke of Vendôme thought she should be good at first, but now it seems that she is about to be swayed. The king is spoiled.

   Today’s Mrs. Montespan is not as good as the first two ladies, at least the first two are not as greedy and violent as her.

   “We should choose a lady of noble blood for the king.”

   “Young, beautiful, and childless.”

   “Meek and obedient.”

   “That’s right.” “I agree.” “We’ll start preparing when the banquet is over.” “Duke, can you tell us what kind of ladies your Majesty is interested in now?”

   “Indians?” The person who said this answer was stunned by everyone.

All the young people went to dance, and the Duke of Vendôme was surrounded by elders who were close and distant relatives of the Bourbon family, munching on the fluffy and sweet little cream cakes, as if nothing had happened. Talking about what new royal lady should be chosen for His Majesty the King – the Duke of Orleans looked around, the king’s bed had the same meaning as his desk, and if it wasn’t the Sun King standing here, even the Queen could manipulate or replace.

   This kind of thing is not rare in history.

   “That lady is not a gentle person,” said the Duke of Orleans, “but I agree with you.”

  ———

  This small disturbance disappeared, or seemed to disappear, after His Majesty visited Madame Montespan’s bedroom.

Mrs. Montespan smiled and said goodbye to His Majesty the King. Only her maids were trembling and did not dare to make any extra noise. They were familiar with Mrs. Montespan and knew that she was burning with anger – she wanted to have another child, but The king was reluctant to give it to her.

   “August is almost an adult, healthy, beautiful, smart, isn’t that enough?”

   Of course not enough!

  His Majesty the King has decided to let the Duke of Montreal go to the New World to perform his duties and obligations when he becomes an adult. Madame Montespan will either leave Versailles with him, or be thousands of miles away from her children.

   Did Mrs. Montespan ever love August? This is inevitable, but after the first few months, seeing that August could not bring her more glory and benefits, she, like most ladies at this time, threw the child to the wet nurse, Throw herself into endless dances, gambling, and drinking, and enjoy all the pleasures the king promises her.

Auguste is a little different from the other sons of Louis XIV, because Louis XIV began a long personal expedition soon after he was born. He has been raised by the Queen Mother and the Queen, and did not return to Louis until he was eight or nine years old. Fortunately, The thing is that as long as he is not twisted by Mrs. Montespan, he is a good boy, even if it is a little too naive – the queen mother, the queen intends to do so, and Louis also feels that, compared to the little Louis, Luciano and the Duke of Hallebur, What he gets is the least, so the king has made up his mind to compensate him in terms of territory and income, such as allowing him to pay no taxes to the king, granting various privileges in business, allowing him to mint coins by himself, etc. .

Now he was walking briskly on the long corridor, and when he saw that the attendant outside the door had left, he knew that his father was no longer in his mother’s room. walked in.

As soon as he entered, he saw a large box of velvet jewels on the table in the foyer (Mrs. Montespan’s suite was second only to the King, the Queen Mother, the Queen and the Duke), and it was obvious that they were given in accordance with tradition and etiquette. The jewelry that came, he thought about it, opened it and glanced at it – it was a set of jewelry inlaid with diamonds and garnets. Gust, the Duke of Montreal is relieved, it seems that the father is not angry with the mother because of what happened last night.

   “Madam, please come in.” A maid walked in and said.

August first walked into the bedroom, and then found his mother in the bathroom connected to the bedroom. It was common to entertain guests in the bathroom in this era. It was only when August entered the bathroom, he smelled a Rich milky taste.

   “Are you bathing with mule milk again? Madame?” he asked.

Madame Montespan is much younger than His Majesty the King, but there are always girls younger than her. She can still be said to be the most beautiful lady in Versailles, France, and even Europa, but youth is something that can never be preserved or disguised. , Although she is a witch and has a special bloodline, she still has to defend every part of her body in fear.

Mule milk was one of the solutions she found, in fact she should also drink mule urine, wipe her face with cow dung to keep her skin shiny, and chew candles to whiten her teeth, but who made Louis XIV is known to everyone As for the cleanliness, if she did this, Versailles, which even had ears and tongues on the walls, would spread rumors everywhere, and the king would definitely not touch her again.

   (end of this chapter)