Memoirs of Louis XIV and His Court and of the Regency — Volume 02Saint-Simon, Louis de Rouvroy, duc de
History
Memoirs of Louis XIV and His Court and of the Regency — Volume 02
Saint-Simon, Louis de Rouvroy, duc de
France -- Court and courtiers; France -- History -- Louis XIV, 1643-1715; France -- History -- Regency, 1715-1723
de Cambrai with all the authorities
possible, would insist upon this opinion of M. de La Trappe being
printed.
It may be imagined what triumphing there was on the one side, and what
piercing cries on the other. The friends of M. de Cambrai complained
most bitterly that M. de La Trappe had mixed himself up in the matter,
and had passed such a violent and cruel sentence upon a book then under
the consideration of the Pope. M. de La Trappe on his side was much
afflicted that his letter had been published. He wrote to M. de Meaux
protesting against this breach of confidence; and said that, although he
had only expressed what he really thought, he should have been careful to
use more measured language, had he supposed his letter would have seen
the light. He said all he could to heal the wounds his words had caused,
but M. de Cambrai and his friends never forgave him for having written
them.
This circumstance caused much discussion, and M. de La Trappe, to whom I
was passionately attached, was frequently spoken of in a manner that
caused me much annoyance. Riding out one day in a coach with some of my
friends, the conversation took this turn. I listened in silence for some
time, and then, feeling no longer able to support the discourse, desired
to be set down, so that my friends might talk at their ease, without pain
to me. They tried to retain me, but I insisted and carried my point.
Another time, Charost, one of my friends, spoke so disdainfully of M. de
La Trappe, and I replied to him with such warmth, that on the instant he
was seized with a fit, tottered, stammered, his throat swelled, his eyes
seemed starting from his head, and his tongue from his mouth. Madame de
Saint-Simon and the other ladies who were present flew to his assistance;
one unfastened his cravat and his shirt-collar, another threw a jug of
water over him and made him drink something; but as for me, I was struck
motionless at the sudden change brought about by an excess of anger and
infatuation. Charost was soon restored, and when he left I was taken to
task by the ladies. In reply I simply smiled. I gained this by the
occurrence, that Charost never committed himself again upon the subject
of M. de La Trappe.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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