rinciple followed by
the better women of the age, such as Mme. de Rambouillet and Mme. de
Sable.

Some time after these occurrences, Mme. de Longueville was stricken
with smallpox which, fortunately, did not impair her beauty; it was
said, on the contrary, that in taking away its first flower it left
all the brilliancy which, joined to her culture and charming
languor, made her one of the most attractive persons in France. La
Rochefoucauld has left the following picture of her: "This princess
had all the advantages of _esprit_ and beauty to as great a degree as
if nature had taken pleasure in completing, in her person, a perfect
work; but these qualities shone less brilliantly on account of one
characteristic which led her to imbibe so thoroughly the sentiments of
those who adored her that she no longer recognized her own."

After her twenty-fifth year, Mme. de Longueville became more and more
imbued with the general spirit of the seventeenth century: coquetry
and _bel esprit_ became her chief occupation. The glory of her
brother, the Duc d'Enghien, who was rapidly becoming a power, and the
probability of the house of Conde becoming dangerous, made Mazarin
realize that Mme. de Longueville was to be reckoned with, inasmuch as
she had full control over D'Enghien and was constantly instilling new
ideas into his mind and requesting from him the distribution of all
sorts of favors. Mazarin, in 1646, succeeded in causing her withdrawal
to Muenster for one year; there she ruled as queen of the Congress. On
the death of her father, the Prince of Conde, and at the request
of her mother to come home for her lying-in, the husband of Mme. de
Longueville consented to her return to Paris.

In the meantime, everything was being done by the Importants to win
over the house of Conde and cause a breach between it and Mazarin.
The court at this time was in full glory; to amuse the queen-regent,
Mazarin was lavishing money on artists from Italy, and the nobility
outdid itself in its attempts to rival royalty in elegance and luxury.
Upon her return, everyone paid homage to Mme. de Longueville; it
was at this period that La Rochefoucauld, who was anxious about his
position at court, as he was accused of being in league with the
Importants and was therefore refused the favors he desired, met Mme.
de Longueville who was in the height of her glory and in full control
of the most prominent house of the time--that of the Duc d'Enghien and
the