The hostess upon this occasion was the Princesse Louise de Condé, for the Duchesse de Bourbon, after but a few years of married life, separated herself from her gay young husband. This Princess inherited her father's great qualities. She had been educated in the same convent where a relation of hers, Henriette de Bourbon Condé, was Abbess under the name of Madame de Vermandois--a lady of whom it was rumoured that she had refused to marry Louis XV and had preferred the life of a convent to that of Queen of France! Over the young Princesse de Condé she exercised great influence and Princesse Louise tells us that she looked upon her as a mother, since she had never known her own. Of her father she saw very little; but in her childhood he used to send the Surveyor of the Province to her every Sunday to ask whether she wanted anything. At the age of twelve she left this peaceful life for Paris, where she attached herself to her cousin Princesse Bathilde d'Orléans, who presently became her sister-in-law. These two Princesses had each a royal household of their own, with maids-of-honour and attendants; and they were permitted to receive the visits of relations and certain selected friends. The Duc de Bourbon, whose attachment to his sister was the one redeeming point in his otherwise unsatisfactory character, often came to see her, and it was during one of these visits that he first met his wife. The Princesse Louise de Condé at this time was presented at Court, where her beauty and grace created a great sensation; and she then received the title of "Mademoiselle." The Duc d'Artois, third son of the Grand Dauphin, was greatly attracted by her, and a marriage between them was much discussed in Court circles. It was even said that it was desired by the people; but Louis XV, wishing to revenge himself upon Louis Joseph for having opposed the "_pacte de famine_,"[14] insisted on his grandson marrying Marie Thérèse of Savoy. This bitter disappointment, coming to her in yet tender years, made a deep impression upon the Princess, and from thenceforth she preferred solitude to worldly pleasure. She continued to reside in the Convent, refusing all other proposals of marriage, and devoting herself to literature. Later on in life she indulged in a platonic friendship with the Marquis de Gervaisais, who is said to have collaborated with her in the drama of _Friendman_. They often made excursions together from the watering-place of Bourbon d'Archambault, where the Princess had gone for her health, to visit the old Château de Bourbon; and it was during these excursions, amid ruins clad with ivy "as with a Royal mantle," that the young poet wrote this drama (subsequently acted at Bourbon d'Archambault), wherein he hymned the praises of his adored Princess. "_L'âme n'a pas d'âge, comme elle n'a pas de sexe_" wrote her admirer.