Provence. Strength and resignation came with the moment, and she
faced with calmness and courage the final mystery. To the last
she retained her wit, her vivacity, and that eternal youth of the
spirit which is one of the rarest of God's gifts to man. "There
are no more friends left to me," said Mme. de Coulanges; and
later she wrote to Mme. de Grignan, "The grief of seeing her no
longer is always fresh to me. I miss too many things at the
Hotel de Carnavalet."

The curtain falls upon this little world which the magical pen of
Mme. de Sevigne has made us know so well. The familiar faces
retreat into the darkness, to be seen no more. But the picture
lives, and the woman who has outlined it so clearly, and colored
it so vividly and so tenderly, smiles upon us still, out of the
shadows of the past, crowned with the white radiance of immortal
genius and immortal love.


CHAPTER VII. MADAME DE LA FAYETTE
Her Friendship with Mme. de Sevigne--Her Education--Her
Devotion to the Princess Henrietta--Her Salon--La Rochefoucauld
--Talent as a Diplomatist--Comparison with Mme. de Maintenon
Her Literary Work--Sadness of her Last Days--Woman in Literature

"Believe me, my dearest, you are the person in the world whom I
have most truly loved," wrote Mme. de La Fayette to Mme. de
Sevigne a short time before her death. This friendship of more
than forty years, which Mme. de Sevigne said had never suffered
the least cloud, was a living tribute to the mind and heart of
both women. It may also be cited for the benefit of the