After the death of Louis XIII., when the minority of Louis XIV. afforded an excuse for the troubles of the Fronde, when the great ladies meddled with politics, directed insurrectionary movements, and acquired the name of “belles frondeuses,” masks played a most important part. Conspiracies that had been hatched in boudoirs broke out in the streets, and women took up arms and placed themselves at the head of seditious parties. Cardinal Mazarin used to say: “There are three women in France capable of governing or of upsetting three kingdoms: the Duchesse de Longueville, the Princesse Palatine, and the Duchesse de Chevreuse.” These ladies used to go, masked, to the councils of Beaufort or of Condé, so as to escape the observation of the enemies of their cause. There are portraits in existence of that arch-Frondeuse the Duchesse de Longueville. She is represented with helmet and cuirass; her air and attitude are those of a heroine. Several princesses took her for their model; and the period is one of note as regards fashion, especially for great diversity in dress. No commands were laid on great lords and ladies in those times of anarchy among the nobles. There was ample liberty, not to say licence, in dress. “The women,” says a contemporary writer, “shone in jewels at a ball given by Anne of Austria, and as much as they could in beauty also; and others in embroidery, feathers, ribbons, and good looks, each according to her means and the gifts of nature.” But for them liberty in dress was not destined to be of long duration. [Illustration] CHAPTER XV. REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. 1643 TO 1705. Louis XIV. commands—Court luxury and pleasure; disguises—The Temple jewellery—Fashion and etiquette—Successive fashions—Royal edicts—The “Tombeau du sens commun”—Dress of La Vallière—Of Mme. de Montespan—Costume of a lady of rank in 1668—The “échelles de Mme. de la Reynie”—“Transparencies”—Manufactures—Champagne, the hair-dresser—Female hair-dressers—“Hurluberlus” and Mme. de Sévigné—Moustaches for women; patches—Palatines—Slippers; high heels—Corsets; fans; sweet lemons—Dog-muffs—Hair dressed “à la Fontanges”—English style of dressing hair—“Esther”—Steinkerks—“Crémonas”—“Amadis” and Jansenist sleeves—Hair dressed “à l’effrontée”—Dresses of the Duchesse de Bourgogne—Mignardises. A king who knows how to command now appears upon the scene. In his youth Louis XIV. ruled over pleasure, in his old age over conscience. But whether in youth, middle age, or at the close of life, Louis XIV. could not dispense with a numerous company of courtiers of both sexes, whom he attracted by means of fêtes and fashion, by continual amusements, and by pleasures of every kind.