is a game,' says Madame de Sevigne, `it is an entertainment, a
liberty-hall day and night, attracting all the world. I never
before beheld the States-general of Bretagne. The States-general
are decidedly a very fine thing.'

The same delightful correspondent relates that one of her
amusements when she went to the court was to admire Dangeau at
the card-table; and the following is the account of a gaming
party at which she was present:--

`29th July, 1676.

`I went on Saturday with Villars to Versailles. I need not tell
you of the queen's toilette, the mass, the dinner--you know it
all; but at three o'clock the king rose from table, and he, the
queen, Monsieur, Madame, Mademoiselle, all the princes and
princesses, Madame de Montespan, all her suite, all the
courtiers, all the ladies, in short, what we call the court of
France, were assembled in that beautiful apartment which you
know. It is divinely furnished, everything is magnificent; one
does not know what it is to be too hot; we walk about here and
there, and are not incommoded anywhere:--at last a table of
reversi[53] gives a form to the crowd, and a place to every one.
_THE KING IS NEXT TO MADAME DE MONTESPAN_, who deals; the Duke
of Orleans, the queen, and Madame de Soubise; Dangeau and Co.;
Langee and Co.; a thousand louis are poured out on the cloth--
there are no other counters. I saw Dangeau play!--what fools we
all are compared to him--he minds nothing but his business, and
wins when every one else loses: he neglects nothing, takes
advantage of everything, is never absent; in a word, his skill