years, "she had succeeded in making the devotee take
precedence of the lover, when piety had overcome passion, when
religion had effected its change, then Louis the Great offered his
hand in marriage to her who had only veneration, gratitude, and
devotion for him, but no passion or love." Reasons of state demanded
the secrecy of the marriage; for had he raised her to the throne,
political complications would have arisen and disturbed his subsequent
career; Mme. de Maintenon fully appreciated the intricacies of the
situation, and was therefore content to remain what she was.

She came to the king when he was beginning to feel the effects of his
former mode of life; he needed fidelity and friendship, and he saw
these in her. His feelings for her are well described in the following
extract by M. Saint-Amand:

"To sum up: the king's sentiment for her was of the most complex
nature. There was in it a mingling of religion and of physical love, a
calculation of reason and an impulse of the heart, an aspiration after
the mild joys of family life and a romantic inclination--a sort of
compact between French good sense, subjugated by the wit, tact, and
wisdom of an eminent woman, and Spanish imagination allured by the
fancy of having extricated this elect woman from poverty in order to
make her almost a queen. Finally, it must be noted that Louis XIV.,
always religiously inclined, was convinced that Mme. de Maintenon
had been sent to him by Heaven for his salvation, and that the pious
counsels of this saintly woman, who knew how to render devotion so
agreeable and attractive, seemed to him to be so many inspirations
from on High."

It must not be inferred, however, that the feeling for Mme. de
Maintenon was purely ideal. "He was unwilling to remarry," says
the Abbe de Choisy, "because of tenderness for his people. He had,
already, three grandsons, and wisely judged that the princes of a
second marriage might, in course of time, cause civil wars. On the
other hand, he could not dispense with a wife and Mme. de Maintenon
pleased him greatly. Her gentle and scintillating wit promised him
an agreeable intercourse which would refresh him after the cares of
royalty. Her person was still engaging and her age prevented her from
having children."

As his wife, Mme. de Maintenon took more interest in the king and his
family than she did in the affairs of the kingdom. To be the wife of
the hearth and home, to educate the princes, to re