even
during the reign of this pomp-loving monarch. Thirty thousand men
marched in the van and rear of the royal party; some of them destined to
reinforce the garrisons of the conquered country, others to work upon
the fortifications, and others again to level the roads. It was a
continued series of fetes, banquets, and triumphs, the ostensible
honours being chiefly for Madame de Montespan; the real object of this
famous journey, well-nigh unparalleled for its lavish and luxurious
ostentation, was known only to Henrietta of England, who enjoyed in
secret her own importance, and this gave a new zest to the pleasures
with which she was surrounded.

On reaching Dunkirk, the Duchess of Orleans embarked for England with
her maid-of-honour and a small but chosen retinue, and met Charles at
Dover, where this secret negotiation was initiated. The result
anticipated came to pass, and proved that Louis had not miscalculated
the power of his sister-in-law over her easy-going and unscrupulous
brother. Charles fell into the snare laid for him, and Henrietta carried
most of the points of that disgraceful treaty, which rendered the King
of England the pensioned tool of France, and his reign the most abject
in the annals of her native country.

Aiming rather to stimulate than gratify the languid desires of her
brother for fresh feminine novelty, the Duchess of Orleans, with
finished finesse, appeared not to perceive the attention which the
piquant charms and almost childish grace of her young maid-of-honour won
from the captivated King. Nor did she, at her departure, leave Louise in
England, as some historians have erroneously supposed. In order to
render the impression which her fair attendant had made upon Charles
more deep and lasting, it was sought by her absence to incite the desire
felt by her royal brother to retain her in his Court. The secret
negotiation with which Louis had entrusted his sister-in-law had not
been, in fact, yet completed. To conduct it to a prosperous termination,
to preserve perfect harmony between France and England, it was still
needful to make use of another kind of female influence. It was
necessary, moreover, that such influence should become permanent--a
thing hitherto very difficult at courts wherein the fair sex disputed
strenuously and shamelessly for the royal favour. But thus much seemed
certain--that the key to the will of the sovereign of Great Britain had
been found in Mademoiselle Louise Quer