In early days they always called me sister-pacificator, because I did my best to keep the peace between Monsieur and his cousin la Grande Mademoiselle, and also her sister, the Grand-duchess of Tuscany. They quarrelled often, and like children, for the merest nonsense. Monsieur was very jealous of his children; he kept them as much as he could away from me; he let me have more authority over my daughter and the Queen of Sicily than over my son; but he could not prevent me from telling him plain truths. My daughter never in her life did anything to cause me uneasiness. Monsieur did not like hunting. He never could bring himself to mount a horse--except at the wars. He wrote so badly that he frequently brought me the letters he had written to get me to read them to him, saying with a laugh, "You are so accustomed to my writing, madame, do read that to me, for I don't know what I said." We often laughed over this with all our hearts. The Duc du Maine thought he could have married my daughter, but certain merchants who were in Mme. de Montespan's apartment overheard her speaking to Mme. de Maintenon of the marriage,--those ladies thinking such common persons would not understand them. But the merchants spoke up and said, "Mesdames, don't try that; it will cost you your lives if you make that marriage." That prevented the thing; for Mme. de Montespan was so frightened she went to the king and begged him not to think of it any longer. The King of Denmark, Frederick IV., seems to me rather a fool; he wants to pass himself off as being in love with my daughter; in dancing he presses her hand and rolls his eyes up to heaven; he began a minuet at one end of the hall and ought to have ended it at the other, but he stopped in the middle to be told what to do. That distressed me for him; so I rose, took him by the hand, and led him back to his place; I think without that he would be still in the same spot. The good soul does not know what is and what is not the thing to do. The Pretender has been well received in Scotland and proclaimed king; but I cannot tell you more, for we have very little news from England. The Queen of England is so happy in hearing of her son's safe arrival and good reception. The poor woman is not accustomed to rejoice; her satisfaction has been so great that a fever which she had has passed off. I know from a good source that the pope and the King of Spain furnished the money for the Pretender. The pope gave thirty thousand crowns, and the king three hundred thousand; as for my son, he did not give a penny.