lady.  Among those who were drawn to the Hotel Rambouillet by this pleasing entertainment was the Duke d’Enghien, afterward known as the “Great Conde,” a prince of the highest renown as a victorious warrior.  He was a great acquisition, and the Garland Play was repeated every night in the expectation that his pleasure would continue, and the constant attraction prove adequate to hold him.  Once or twice, however, was sufficient for the Duke, its constant repetition becoming flat and tiresome.  He did not scruple to express his dissatisfaction with a society that could not originate something new.  He was a broad minded man, with a comprehensive knowledge, but had little taste for poetry and childish entertainments.  But the good ladies of Rambouillet, unable to devise any other entertainment, persisted in their Garland Play, until the Duke’s human nature rebelled at the monotony, and he begged his friends de Moissens and Saint-Evremond to suggest some relief.  They immediately brought him in touch with the Birds of the Tournelles, with the result that he abandoned the Hotel Rambouillet and found scope for his social desires at Ninon’s house and in her more attractive society.  The conquest of his heart followed that of his intelligence, the hero of Rocroi being unable to resist a tenderness which is the glory of a lover and the happiness of his mistress.

It is a curious fact, known to some, that all the heroes of Bellona are not expert in the wars of Venus, the strongest and most valiant souls being weak in combats in which valor plays an unimportant part.  The poet Chaulieu says upon this point: 

“Pour avoir la valeur d’Hercule,
On n’est pas oblige d’en avoir la vigueur.”

(To have the valor of Hercules, one need not have his vigor.)

The young Prince was born to attain immortal glory on the field of Mars.  To that all his training had tended, but notwithstanding his robust physique, and the indicia of great strength with which nature had endowed him, he was a weakling in the field of Venus.  He came within the category of a Latin proverb with which Ninon was familiar:  “Pilosus aut fortis, aut libidinosus.” (A hairy man is either strong or sensual.) Wherefore, one day when Ninon was enjoying his society, she looked at him narrowly and exclaimed:  “Ah, Monseigneur, il faut que vous soyez bien fort!” (Ah, Monseigneur, you must be very strong.)

Notwithstanding this, the two dwelt together for a long time in perfect harmony, the intellectual benefit the Duke derived from the close intimacy being no less than the pleasure he derived from her affection.  Naturally inclined to deserve the merit and esteem as well as the love of her admirers, Ninon used all the influence she possessed to regulate their lives and to inspire them with the true desire to perform faithfully the duties of their rank and station.  What power over her intimates does not possess a charming woman disembarrassed of conventional prudery, but vested with grace, high sentiments, and mental attainments!  It was through the gentle exercise of this power that the famous Aspasia graved in the soul of Pericles the seductive art of eloquent language, and taught him the most solid maxims of politics, maxims of which he made so noble a use.