as to be divorced. She had said, further, that
when the King my husband returned to Baviere, he had resolved
to go to Pau, and that I should go with him, whether I would
or not.

This intelligence was far from being agreeable to me, and I knew
not what to think of it. I trusted in the goodness of God, and
I had a reliance on the generosity of the King my husband; yet
I passed the time I waited for his return but uncomfortably,
and often thought I shed more tears than they drank water. The
Catholic nobility of the neighbourhood of Baviere used their utmost
endeavours to divert my chagrin, for the month or five weeks that
the King my husband and Fosseuse stayed at Aigues-Caudes.

On his return, a certain nobleman acquainted the King my husband
with the concern I was under lest he should go to Pau, whereupon
he did not press me on the subject, but only said he should have
been glad if I had consented to go with him. Perceiving, by my
tears and the expressions I made use of, that I should prefer
even death to such a journey, he altered his intentions and we
returned to Nerac.

The pregnancy of Fosseuse was now no longer a secret. The whole
Court talked of it, and not only the Court, but all the country. I
was willing to prevent the scandal from spreading, and accordingly
resolved to talk to her on the subject. With this resolution,
I took her into my closet, and spoke to her thus: "Though you
have for some time estranged yourself from me, and, as it has
been reported to me, striven to do me many ill offices with the
King my husband, yet the regard I once had for you, and the esteem
which I still entertain for those honourable persons to whose
family you belong, do not admit of my neglecting to afford you
all the assistance in my power in your present unhappy situation.
I beg you, therefore, not to conceal the truth, it being both
for your interest and mine, under whose protection you are, to
declare it. Tell me the truth, and I will act towards you as
a mother. You know that a contagious disorder has broken out
in the place, and, under pretence of avoiding it, I will go to
Mas-d'Agenois, which is a house belonging to the King my husband,
in a very retired situation. I will take you with me, and such
other persons as you shall name. Whilst we are there, the King
will take the diversion of hunting in some other part of the
country, and I shall not stir thence before your delivery. By
this means we shall put a stop to th