ity to
participate in debauchery, licentiousness, and intrigue, as had the
mistresses of their husbands; they had no power, were not consulted on
state or social affairs, and had granted to them only those favors to
the conferring of which the mistresses did not object.

Maria Theresa was a perfect example of the self-sacrificing mother and
devoted wife. Her feelings toward the king are best expressed by the
Princesse Palatine: "She had such an affection for the king that she
tried to read in his eyes whatever would give him pleasure; providing
he looked kindly at her, she was happy all day." Mme. de Caylus
wrote: "That poor princess had such a dread of the king and such great
natural timidity that she dared neither to speak to him nor to run the
risk of a tete-a-tete with him. One day, I heard Mme. de Maintenon say
that the king having sent for the queen, the latter requested her to
go with her so that she might not appear alone in his presence: but
that she (Mme. de Maintenon) conducted her only to the door of the
room and there took the liberty of pushing her so as to make her
enter, and that she observed such a great trembling in her whole
person that her very hands shook with fright."

From about 1680, especially after the death of Mlle. de Fontanges, his
last mistress, Louis XIV. began to look with disfavor upon the women
of doubtful morality and to advance those who were noted for their
conjugal fidelity. He became more attentive to the queen--a change of
attitude which was due partly to the influence of Mme. de Maintenon
and partly to the fact that he was satiated with the excesses of his
debauches, by which his physical system had been almost wrecked. He
would not have dared to legitimatize his bastard children, had he not
been so thoroughly idolized by his greatest heroes and most powerful
ministers. As an illustration, it may be remarked that the Great Conde
proposed the marriage of his son to the king's daughter by Mlle. de La
Valliere.

The queen became so religious that she derived more enjoyment from
praying at the convents or visiting hospitals than from remaining
at her magnificent apartments. She waited upon the sick with her own
hands and carried food to them; she never meddled in political affairs
or took much interest in social functions.

Timidity, an instinctive shrinking from the slanders, calumnies,
and intrigues of the court, appeared to be the most pronounced
characteristic of queens who