for the Court, even of the hopes which, however chimerical, had always flattered her.  She was persuaded that nothing but the fear of the devil had forced the King to separate himself from her, that it was nothing but this fear that had raised Madame de Maintenon to the height she had attained; that age and ill-health, which she was pleased to imagine, would soon clear the way; that when the King was a widower, she being a widow, nothing would oppose their reunion, which might easily be brought about by their affection for their children.  These children entertained similar hopes, and were therefore assiduous in their attention to her for some time.

Pere de la Tour made her perform a terrible act of penitence.  It was to ask pardon of her husband, and to submit herself to his commands.  To all who knew Madame de Montespan this will seem the most heroic sacrifice.  M. de Montespan, however, imposed no restraint upon his wife.  He sent word that he wished in no way to interfere with her, or even to see her.  She experienced no further trouble, therefore, on this score.

Little by little she gave almost all she had to the poor.  She worked for them several hours a day, making stout shirts and such things for them.  Her table, that she had loved to excess, became the most frugal; her fasts multiplied; she would interrupt her meals in order to go and pray.  Her mortifications were continued; her chemises and her sheets were of rough linen, of the hardest and thickest kind, but hidden under others of ordinary kind.  She unceasingly wore bracelets, garters, and a girdle, all armed with iron points, which oftentimes inflicted wounds upon her; and her tongue, formerly so dangerous, had also its peculiar penance imposed on it.  She was, moreover, so tormented with the fear of death, that she employed several women, whose sole occupation was to watch her.  She went to sleep with all the curtains of her bed open, many lights in her chamber, and her women around her.  Whenever she awoke she wished to find them chatting, playing, or enjoying themselves, so as to re-assure herself against their drowsiness.

With all this she could never throw off the manners of a queen.  She had an arm-chair in her chamber with its back turned to the foot of the bed.  There was no other in the chamber, not even when her natural children came to see her, not even for Madame la Duchesse d’Orleans.  She was oftentimes visited by the most distinguished people of the Court, and she spoke like a queen to all.  She treated everybody with much respect, and was treated so in turn.  I have mentioned in its proper place, that a short time before her death, the King gave her a hundred thousand francs to buy an estate; but this present was not gratis, for she had to send back a necklace worth a hundred and fifty thousand, to which the King made additions, and bestowed it on the Duchesse de Bourgogne.