retaining only those which will give a little rapidity to the
blood; of the pleasures preferring those that are mild and without
violence—the love of gain and the pursuit of money; hence, there was
absence of soul. Another phase was the cultivation of the body, the
body and its beauty uniquely cared for by virile treatment and a rigid
régime which is the guardian of life—not weakly adored as by women
who kill themselves by excessive self-love." M. Saint-Amand continues,
after quoting the above: "At all seasons of the year, Diana plunges
into a cold bath on rising. As soon as day breaks, she mounts a horse,
and, followed by swift hounds, rides through dewy verdure to her royal
lover to whom—fascinated by her mythological pomp—she seems no
more a woman but a goddess. Thus he styles her in verses of burning
tenderness:

"'Hélas, mon Dieu! combien je regrette
Le temps que j'ai perdu en ma jeunesse!
Combien de fois je me suis souhaité
Avoir Diane pour ma seule maîtresse.
Mais je craignais qu'elle, qui est déesse,
Ne se voulût abaisser jusque là.'"

[Alas, my God! how much I regret the time lost in my youth! How often
have I longed to have Diana for my only mistress! But I feared that
she who is a goddess would not stoop so low as that.]

Catherine remained quietly in the palace, preferring her position,
unpleasant as it was, to the persecution and possible incarceration in
a convent which would result from any interference on her part between
the king and his mistress. Without power or privileges, she was a mere
figurehead—a good mother looking after her family. However, she