souls at the foot of the cross, and laid their earthly hopes upon
the altar of divine love. We follow the devout Jacqueline Pascal
to the cloister in which she buries her brilliant youth to die at
thirty-five of a wounded conscience and a broken heart. Many a
bruised spirit, as it turns from the gay world to the mystic
devotion which touches a new chord in its jaded sensibilities,
finds support and inspiration in the strong and fervid sympathy
of Jacqueline Arnauld, better known as Mere Angelique of Port
Royal. This profound spiritual passion was a part of the intense
life of the century, which gravitated from love and ambition to
the extremes of penitence and asceticism.

A multitude of minor figures, graceful and poetic, brilliant and
spirituelles, flit across the canvas, leaving the fragrance of an
exquisite individuality, and tempting one to extend the list of
the versatile women who toned and colored the society of the
period. But we have to do, at present, especially with those who
gathered and blended this fresh intelligence, delicate fancy,
emotional wealth, and religious fervor, into a society including
such men as Corneille, Balzac, Bossuet, Richelieu, Conde, Pascal,
Arnault, and La Rochefoucauld--those who are known as leaders of
more or less celebrated salons. Of these, Mme. de Rambouillet
and Mme. de Sable were among the best representative types of
their time, and the first of the long line of social queens who,
through their special gift of leadership, held so potent a sway
for two centuries.


CHAPTER II. THE HOTEL DE RAMBOUILLET
Mme. de Rambouillet--The Salon Bleu--Its Habitues--Its