l Jeanne
was twenty.

* * * * *

It is always the custom that the young girls or novices should spend a
year in the convent they wish to enter before they take the vows, which
are for life. During that time they can find out if they really wish to
leave the world for ever, or if it was only a passing fancy; while the
abbess, on the other hand, can tell whether their characters are suited
to a secluded existence, or if it would only make them--and therefore
other people--restless and unhappy. When Jacqueline became a novice in
1599, her father invited all his friends, and a very grand company they
were. The child was delighted to feel that she was the most important
person present, and no doubt amused her grandfather by her satisfaction
at being 'first.' No such fuss seems to have been made over Jeanne on a
similar occasion, but in a few weeks both little girls were sent for
eight months to Saint-Cyr.

Abbesses though they might be, they were still the children who had
played in their father's garden only a few weeks before. Jacqueline and
her elder sister Catherine, the one who was 'to be married,' and very
unhappily, were chief in all the games and mischief. They were very
daring, and were always quick at inventing new plays. They were very
sensible, too, and if one of their brothers or sisters hurt themselves
during their games, these two knew what was best to be done without
troubling their mother. They were all fond of each other, and never had
any serious quarrels; but Jacqueline was generally the leader, and the
others, especially the shy and dreamy Jeanne, let themselves be ruled by
her. At Saint-Cyr, Jacqueline, who felt no difference, and speedily
became a favourite of the other novices, ordered her sister about as she
had been accustomed to do, and generally Jeanne obeyed her meekly; but
at last she rebelled and informed Jacqueline, much to her surprise, that
it was _her_ abbey, and that if Jacqueline did not behave properly she
might go away to her own.

* * * * *

Some months of Jacqueline's noviciate had still to run when she was sent
to the abbey of Maubuisson, which belonged to the same order of nuns as
Port Royal, whereas the nuns of Saint-Cyr belonged to another community.
The abbess, Angelique d'Estrees, was a famous woman, and her nuns were
some of the worst and most pleasure-loving in the whole of France. Most
likely madame Arnauld h