year. La Grange was weak and vacillating: sometimes he listened to his
prudent kinswoman, and sometimes to the eager suitor; treated him as a
son-in-law, carried love messages from him to his daughter, and ended
by refusing him her hand, and ordering her to renounce him on pain of
being immured in a convent. Neither Frontenac nor his mistress was of
a pliant temper. In the neighborhood was the little church of St.
Pierre aux Boeufs, which had the privilege of uniting couples without
the consent of their parents; and here, on a Wednesday in October,
1648, the lovers were married in presence of a number of Frontenac's
relatives. La Grange was furious at the discovery; but his anger soon
cooled, and complete reconciliation followed. [Footnote: _Historiettes
de Tallemant des Reaux_, IX. 214 (ed. Monmerque); Jal, _Dictionnaire
Critique_, etc.]

The happiness of the newly wedded pair was short. Love soon changed to
aversion, at least on the part of the bride. She was not of a tender
nature; her temper was imperious, and she had a restless craving for
excitement. Frontenac, on his part, was the most wayward and
headstrong of men. She bore him a son; but maternal cares were not to
her liking. The infant, Francois Louis, was placed in the keeping of a
nurse at the village of Clion; and his young mother left her husband,
to follow the fortunes of Mademoiselle de Montpensier, who for a time
pronounced her charming, praised her wit and beauty, and made her one
of her ladies of honor. Very curious and amusing are some of the
incidents recounted by the princess, in which Madame de Frontenac bore
part; but what is more to our purpose are the sketches traced here and
there by the same sharp pen, in which one may discern the traits of
the destined saviour of New France. Thus, in the following, we see him
at St. Fargeau in the same attitude in which we shall often see him at
Quebec.