she failed in her ultimate ambition to elevate him to the
ministry, and her intrigues were so much feared that Cardinal
Fleury sent her away from Paris for a short time. Her
disappointments, which it is not the purpose to trace here, left
her one of the disaffected party, and on her return her drawing
room became a rallying point for the radical thinkers of France.

Such was the woman who courted, flattered, petted, and patronized
the literary and scientific men of Paris, called them her
menagerie, put them into a sort of uniform, gave them two suppers
a week, and sent them two ells of velvet for small clothes at New
Year's. Of her salon, Marmontel gives us an interesting glimpse.
He had been invited to read one of his tragedies, and it was his
first introduction.

"I saw assembled there Montesquieu, Fontenelle, Mairan, Marivaux,
the young Helvetius, Astruc, and others, all men of science or
letters, and, in the midst of them, a woman of brilliant
intellect and profound judgment, who, with her kind and simple
exterior, had rather the appearance of the housekeeper than the
mistress. This was Mme. de Tencin. . . . I soon perceived that
the guests came there prepared to play their parts, and that
their wish to shine did not leave the conversation always free to
follow its easy and natural course. Every one tried to seize
quickly and on the wing the moment to bring in his word, his
story, his anecdote, his maxim, or to add his dash of light and
sparkling wit; and, in order to do this opportunely, it was often
rather far-fetched. In Marivaux, the impatience to display his
finesse and sagacity was quite apparent. Montesquieu, with more
calmness, waited for the ball to come to him, but he waited.