duchess! . . . Let him make her a princess, even a highness, if he
likes; he has all the power in his hands. I am only a twig; he is an
oak.

If madame is fostering ambition, mine has been satisfied for forty years;
I was born a marquis; a marquis--apart from some unforeseen
catastrophe--I will die; and Madame la Marquise, as long as she does not
alter her conduct, has no need to alter her degree.

I will, however, waive my severity, if M. le Duc du Maine will intervene
for his mother, and call me his father, however it may be. I am none the
less sensible, my lord, of the honour of your acquaintance, and since you
form one of the society of Madame la Marquise, endeavour to release
yourself from her charms, for she can be an enchantress when she
likes.... It is true that, from what they tell me, you were not quite
king in your England.

I am, from out my exile (almost as voluntary as yours), the most obliged
and grateful of your servants,

DE GONDRIN MONTESPAN.

The Marquise de Thianges felt a certain irritation at the reading of this
letter; she offered all our excuses for it to the English Chancellor, and
said to me: "I begin to fear that the King of Versailles is not acting
with good faith towards you, when he makes your advancement depend on the
Marquis de Montespan; it is as though he were giving you a duchy in the
moon."

I sent word to the King that the Marquis refused to assist his generous