friend. Of this she had countless proofs, and when, at long intervals, I
saw her again in her dismal retreat, her good-nature, unchanging as this
was, caused her to receive and welcome me as one welcomes those one
loves.




CHAPTER XIII.

First Vocation of Mademoiselle de la Valliere.--The King Surprises His
Mistress.--She is Forced to Retire to a Convent.--The King Hastens to
Take Her Back.--She Was Not Made for Court Life.--Her Farewell to the
King.--Sacrifice.--The Abbe de Bossuet.


What I am now about to relate, I have from her own lips, nor am I the
only one to whom she made such recitals and avowals.

Her father died when she was quite young, and, when dying, foresaw that
his widow, being without fortune or constancy, would ere long marry
again. To little Louise he was devotedly attached. Ardently embracing
her, he addressed her thus:

"In losing me, my poor little Louise, you lose all. What little there is
of my inheritance ought, undoubtedly, to belong to you; but I know your
mother; she will dispose of it. If my relatives do not show the interest
in you which your fatherless state should inspire, renounce this world
soon, where, separated from your father, there exists for you but danger
and misfortune. Two of my ancestors left their property to the nuns of