As for the Regent’s own daughters, from the Duchesse de Berry, to Louise, Queen of Spain, each has left behind her a record almost as scandalous as that of her father.  It was, in fact, an era of corruption in high places, when, in the reaction that followed the dismal and decorous last years of Louis XIV.’s reign, Pleasure rose phoenix-like from the ashes of ruin and flaunted herself unashamed in every guise with which vice could deck her.

It must be said for the Regent, corrupt as he was, that he never abused his position and his power in the pursuit of beauty.  His mistresses flocked to him from every rank of life, from the stage to the highest Court circles, but remained no longer than inclination dictated.  And the fascination is not far to seek, for Philippe d’Orleans was of the men who find easy conquests in the field of love.  He was one of the handsomest men in all France; and to his good-looks and his reputation for bravery he added a manner of rare grace and courtliness, a supple tongue, and that strange magnetic power which few women could resist.

No King ever boasted a greater or more varied list of favourites, in which actresses and duchesses vied with each other for his smiles, in a rivalry which seems to have been singularly free from petty jealousy.  Among the beauties of the Court we find the Duchesse de Fedari, the Duchesse de Gesores, the Comtesse de Sabran at one extreme; and actresses like Emilie, Desmarre, and La Souris at the other, pretty butterflies of the footlights who appealed to the Regent no more than Madame d’Averne, the gifted pet of France’s wits and literary men, the most charming “blue-stocking” of her day.  And all, without exception—­duchesses, countesses, and actresses—­were as ready to give their love to Philippe, the man, as to the Duc d’Orleans, Regent of France.

Even in his relations with these ministers of pleasure, the Regent’s better qualities often exhibit themselves agreeably.  To the pretty actress, Emilie, whose heart was so completely his, he always acted with a characteristic generosity and forbearance; and her conduct is by no means less pleasing than his.  Once, we are told, when he expressed a wish to give her a pair of diamond ear-rings at a cost of fifteen thousand francs, she demurred at accepting so valuable a present.  “If you must be so generous,” she pleaded, “please don’t give me the ear-rings, which are much too grand for such as me.  Give me, instead, ten thousand francs, so that I may buy a small house to which I can retire when you no longer love me as you now do.”

Emilie had scarcely returned home, however, when a Court official appeared with a package containing, not ten thousand, but twenty-five thousand francs, which her lover insisted on her keeping; and when she returned fifteen thousand francs, he promptly sent them back again, declaring that he would be very angry if she refused again to accept them.