_Monsieur le Duc_ appeared to find himself thrown back upon his sisters. Both possessed all the physical and mental qualifications that could be desired in a queen; but the younger, Mlle. de Sens, was very much under the domination of her mother, and Madame de Prie feared that _Madame la Duchesse_ might exercise through her an influence hostile to her own. The same objection did not apply to her elder sister, and there is a tradition that the favourite went, under an assumed name, to the Abbey of Fontevrault, of which Mlle. de Vermandois was a _pensionnaire_, to inform her, on behalf of _Monsieur le Duc_, of the honour in store for her; that, in the course of their conversation, she inquired if she had ever heard of Madame de Prie, to which the young princess replied, in a horrified tone, that the said lady was a “_méchante créature_,” whom no one ever mentioned in the convent without making the sign of the Cross; that it was deplorable that her brother should have fallen under the influence of a person who was detested by all France, and that he would be well advised to get rid of her as soon as possible. Whereupon, we are told, Madame de Prie abruptly quitted the room, exclaiming furiously: “_Va! tu ne seras pas reine de France._” In a monotonous age it seems a pity to spoil so striking a story, but, in the interests of truth, we feel bound to mention that, some three months after the date at which this incident is supposed to have occurred, Mlle. de Vermandois wrote to the favourite a letter couched in the most cordial terms, and concluding thus: “I cannot too often repeat to you, Madame, what are the sentiments of confidence, friendship, and consideration that I entertain for you.”[270] The fact of the matter is that Mlle. de Vermandois did not become the bride of Louis XV., because she preferred to become the bride of Heaven, in which she perhaps showed a wise discretion. The refusal of Mlle. de Vermandois was probably a relief to _Monsieur le Duc_, who was aware that the bitterness and jealousy aroused by the elevation of his sister would go far to outweigh the advantages which he would gain from his close connexion with the King. At the same time, it threatened to prolong a situation the dangers of which had been brought home to him very forcibly by the recent serious illness of his young Sovereign. It was at this moment that he received, from the Empress Catherine of Russia, an offer which contributed indirectly to give to the great affair of the marriage of Louis XV. the most unexpected _dénoûment_. Catherine proposed that her daughter Elizabeth should wed the King of France, and that _Monsieur le Duc_ himself should marry Marie Leczinska--with whom she was no doubt aware that he had already opened matrimonial negotiations--and become the Russian candidate for the throne of Poland, in succession to Augustus III.