in a word, I have repose neither night nor day, neither in body
nor in mind. I am no more a person either by one or the other.
I perish visibly. I must end when it pleases God, and I am
submissive. BELIEVE ME, MY DEAREST, YOU ARE THE PERSON IN THE
WORLD WHOM I HAVE MOST TRULY LOVED."

Mme. de La Fayette represents better than any other woman the
social and literary life of the last half of the seventeenth
century. Mme. de Sevigne had an individual genius that might
have made itself equally felt in any other period. Mme. de
Maintenon, whom Roederer regards as the true successor of Mme. de
Rambouillet, was narrowed by personal ambition, and by the
limitations of her early life. Born in a prison, reared in
poverty, wife in name, but practically secretary and nurse of a
crippled, witty, and licentious poet over whose salon she
presided brilliantly; discreet and penniless widow, governess of
the illegitimate children of the king, adviser and finally wife
of that king, friend of Ninon, model of virtue, femme d'esprit,
politician, diplomatist, and devote--no fairy tale can furnish
more improbable adventures and more striking contrasts. But she
was the product of exceptional circumstances joined to an
exceptional nature. It is true she put a final touch upon the
purity of manners which was so marked a feature of the Hotel de
Rambouillet, and for a long period gave a serious tone to the
social life of France. But she ruled through repression, and one
is inclined to accept the opinion of Sainte-Beuve that she does
not represent the distinctive social current of the time. In
Mme. de La Fayette we find its delicacy, its courtesy, its
elegance, its intelligence, its critical spirit, and its charm.