till further,
I obtained the concurrence of the Jesuits; and made the Pere de Trevoux
our partisan. Nothing is indifferent to the Jesuits. They became a
powerful instrument. As a last ally I obtained the co-operation of the
Marechal de Boufflers. Such were the machines that my friendship for
those to whom I was attached, my hatred for Madame la Duchesse, my care
of my present and future situation, enabled me to discover, to set going,
with an exact and compassed movement, a precise agreement, and the
strength of a lever--which the space of one Lent commenced and perfected
--all whose movements, embarrassments, and progress in their divers lines
I knew; and which I regularly wound up in reciprocal cadence every day!

Towards the end of the Lent, the Duchesse de Bourgogne, having sounded
the King and Madame de Maintenon, had found the latter well disposed, and
the former without any particular objection. One day that Mademoiselle
had been taken to see the King at the apartments of Madame de Maintenon,
where Monseigneur happened to be, the Duchesse de Bourgogne praised her,
and when she had gone away, ventured, with that freedom and that
predetermined impulsiveness and gaiety which she sometimes made use of,
to say: "What an excellent wife for M. le Duc de Berry!" This expression
made Monseigneur redden with anger, and exclaim, "that would be an
excellent method of recompensing the Duc d'Orleans for his conduct in
Spain!" When he had said these words he hastily left the company, all
very much astonished; for no one expected a person seemingly so
indifferent and so measured to come out so strongly. The Duchesse de
Bourgogne, who had only spoken so to feel the way with Monseigneur in
presence of the King, was bold and clever to the end. Turning with a
bewildered look towards Madame de Maintenon, "My Aunt," quoth she to her,
"have I said something foolish?" the King, piqued, answered for Madame
de Maintenon, and said, warmly, that if Madame la Duchesse was working
upon Monseigneur she would have to deal with him. Madame de Maintenon
adroitly envenomed the matter by wondering at a vivacity so uncommon with
Monseigneur, and said that if Madame la Duchesse had that much of
influence, she would soon make him do other things of more consequence.
The conversation, interrupted in various ways and renewed, advanced with
emotion, and in the midst of reflections that did more injury to
Mademoiselle de Bourbon than the friends