Memoirs of the Princesse de Ligne, Vol. 1 (of 2)Massalska, Apolonia Helena
History
Memoirs of the Princesse de Ligne, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Massalska, Apolonia Helena
Ligne, Charles Joseph, prince de, 1735-1814; Massalska, Apolonia Helena, 1763-1815
[65] Jacques de Choiseul, Comte de Stainville, youngest brother of the
Duc de Choiseul. He became a Marshal of France, and died in 1789.
[66] Beatrix de Choiseul-Stainville, born at Lunéville in 1730. She
was Canoness of Remiremont, and had no other income but that derived
from her prebendary. She was ambitious, and united to a stern and hard
character a masculine intellect, capable of grappling with affairs
and intrigues. She soon formed the project of ruling her brother, but
for this purpose a great name and a large fortune were indispensable;
moreover the man who would bring her these advantages was bound to be
a mere cipher, in order not to overshadow the Duc de Choiseul. She
found all these requisites united in the person of the Duc de Gramont,
whom she married the 16th of August 1759. The Duchesse de Gramont’s
influence over her brother became absolute, to the great despair of the
Duchesse de Choiseul, who was devoted to her husband, and found herself
supplanted by her domineering sister-in-law.
[67] Thérèse Félicité de Choiseul-Stainville, born in 1767, married in
1782 the Prince Grimaldi-Monaco. From contemporary accounts she appears
to have been pretty, and endowed with a captivating personality. She
was guillotined in 1793.
[68] The 3d April 1761.
[69] She had left the Choiseul family mansion, and was living at No. 7
Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
[70] The 31st January 1767.
[71] The time came, however, when, thanks to the efforts of the
Duchesse de Choiseul, Madame de Stainville’s home was again opened to
her; but she refused to return, and died in the Convent, in great piety.
[72] M. Durfort de Cheverny, in his _Memoirs_, says that the Duc de
Choiseul having severely reprimanded his sister-in-law on account of
her intimacy with Clairval, the Countess had solemnly declared that
the child she had just given birth to was a legitimate daughter of the
Count. (See the _Memoirs of the Comte Durfort de Cheverny_. Paris,
1886.)
[73] The family mansion of the Choiseuls was at No. 3 Rue de la Grange
Batelière, and occupied the site of the former Opera House. The gardens
and outer buildings extended as far as the Rue Neuve Saint Augustin;
the Opera Comique (burnt down in May 1887) was built on land belonging
to the Duc de Choiseul. We can hardly realise at present the size and
importance of the hôtels of the eighteenth century, many of which were
regular palaces. The little hôtel of Madame de Gramont was next to her
brother’s.
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