with all our friends in the other world, it would be a sweet thought."

Madame de Maintenon, then in the height of her power and influence,
had never forgotten the friend of her youth, and now, she offered her
lodgings at Versailles. It is said that her intention was to enable
the king to profit by an intimacy with a woman of eighty-five years
who, in spite of bodily infirmities, possessed the same vivacity of
mind and delicacy of taste which had contributed to her great renown,
much more than her personal charms and frailties. But Ninon was born
for liberty, and had never been willing to sacrifice her philosophical
tranquility for the hope of greater fortune and position in the world.
Accordingly, she thanked her old friend, and as the only concession
she would grant, consented to stand in the chapel of Versailles where
Louis the Great could pass and satisfy his curiosity to see once, at
least, the astonishing marvel of his reign.

During the latter years of her life, she took a fancy to young
Voltaire, in whom she detected signs of future greatness. She
fortified him with her counsel, which he prayed her to give him, and
left him a thousand francs in her will to buy books. Voltaire
attempted to earn the money by ridiculing the memory of his
benefactress.

At the age of ninety years, Mademoiselle de l'Enclos grew feebler
every day, and felt that death would not be long coming. She performed
all her social duties, however, until the very end, refusing to
surrender until compelled. On the last night of her life, unable to
sleep, she arose, and at her desk wrote the following verses:

"Qu'un vain espoir ne vienne point s'offrir,