of artifice, can be imagined to do.  The straitest ties of blood could not secure any one from his detraction.  His nephew, the Count de Guiche, was a victim:  he had in truth, offended the Count de Grammont, by having supplanted him in the affection of the Countess de Fiesque, whom he loved afterwards for the space of twelve years.  Here was enough to irritate the self-love of a man less persuaded of his own merit.”  Hamilton does not describe the exterior of the count, but accuses Bussi-Rabutin of having, in the following description, given a more agreeable than faithful portrait of him:  “The chevalier had laughing eyes, a well-formed nose, a beautiful mouth, a small dimple in the chin, which had an agreeable effect on his countenance, a certain delicacy in his physiognomy, and a handsome shape, if he had not stooped.”]

“You are sensible how much gallantry has cost you; and every person here is not so well acquainted with that matter as yourself.  Play boldly:  entertain the court with your wit:  divert the king by your ingenious and entertaining stories; but avoid all engagements which can deprive you of this merit, and make you forget you are a stranger and an exile in this delightful country.

“Fortune may bow weary of befriending you at play.  What would have become of you, if your last misfortune had happened to you when your money had been at as low an ebb as I have known it?  Attend carefully then to this necessary deity, and renounce the other.  You will be missed at the court of France before you grow weary of this; but be that as it may, lay up a good store of money:  when a man is rich he consoles himself for his banishment.  I know you well, my dear Chevalier:  if you take it into your head to seduce a lady, or to supplant a lover, your gains at play will by no means suffice for presents and for bribes:  no, let play be as productive to you as it can be, you will never gain so much by it as you will lose by love, if you yield to it.

“You are in possession of a thousand splendid qualifications which distinguish you here:  generous, benevolent, elegant, and polite; and for your engaging wit, inimitable.  Upon a strict examination, perhaps, all this would not be found literally true; but these are brilliant marks; and since it is granted that you possess them, do not show yourself here in any other light:  for, in love, if your manner of paying your addresses can be so denominated, you do not in the least resemble the picture I have just now drawn.”

“My little philosophical monitor,” said the Chevalier de Grammont, “you talk here as if you were the Cato of Normandy.”  “Do I say anything untrue?” replied Saint Evremond:  “Is it not a fact, that as soon as a woman pleases you, your first care is to find out whether she has any other lover, and your second how to plague her; for the gaining her affection is the last thing in your thoughts.  You seldom engage in intrigues, but to disturb the happiness of others:  a mistress