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Mis à jour: 22 juin 2025
The scene purports to be laid in the Court of Henry II.; but the manners and the personages, apart from their names are all those of the Court of Louis XIV. Certain critics have endeavored to trace the character of Mme. de La Fayette in that of the Princess of Clèves, of M. de La Rochefoucauld in that of M. de Nemours; but too strict an autobiographical interpretation destroys the charm of the story.
The wreck of the Empire brought to his mind a vision of the dethroned monarchs whom he had seen spending their exile in Paris: the Duke of Brunswick, the blind King of Hanover and the devoted Princess Frederica, Queen Isabella of Spain, and others. "This is the work which cost me most effort," Daudet says, and the reason is not far to seek.
After the breaking-up of the Hôtel de Rambouillet, there were formed various smaller coteries, among which that of Mme. de La Fayette was by no means the least important. From her little circle of précieuses, Mme. de La Fayette was drawn to the Court of Louis XIV. chiefly through the friendship of "Madame," the Princess Henrietta of England.
Perhaps she did; for resentment at the fate of her friend and mistress was natural. True it is, however, that Louis showed more than once his deep respect for the woman who had seen him in his one moment of remorse at the bedside of the dying princess.
The romantic attachment of Don Carlos to her is vividly depicted in Schiller's drama, though it must be borne in mind that Schiller's picture is very far from being an accurate historical representation. Her death took place shortly after that of Don Carlos. "She was," says Brantôme, "the best princess of her time, and was loved by every one.
It was in the arms of Mme. de La Fayette that Madame, her brief day of splendor over, fell into that strange slumber the wakening of which was to be so horrible; and it was Mme. de La Fayette who soothed the princess in those last hours, the torture of which drew tears even from the heart of Louis. M. Anatole France says that he suspects Mme. de La Fayette of having hated the King.
Ardenmohr, Among the Hills, a record of Scenery and Sports in the Highlands of Scotland, by SAMUEL ABBOT. London, Chapman and Hall, 1876. Eldmuir, an Art-Story of Scottish Home-Life Scenery and Incident, by JACOB THOMPSON. London, Samson Low, Marston, etc. 1879. A Princess of Thule, by WILLIAM BLACK. 2 vols. Leipzig, Tauchnitz, 1874. A Daughter of Heth, by WILLIAM BLACK. 2 vols.
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