The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-16

mont 81 her anole,s.unst wealth and bad
TOT her residences the nnest part OF that
Aohhtyflls PalAhs Mizarth, = which Whs'
filed with priceless pictures and the rareSt
marbles, and which surpassed the Louvre
itself in. the richness OF la interior. Her
husband had been made q duke for the
expreas purpose Of making her a duchess
Moreover. she was married To a man who
loved her p~assiohateIy, and for whom
at tho tune OF her marriage, at least, abe
seems TO have entertained a strong liking.
Her life, then, ought TO have been one OF
the hApplsst: the, very reverse was the
The author Of this book comedies that
for the unfortunate outcome Of the marriage
HortenAe herself was in great measure to
blame, Her coquetry, incurable friVolity,
fooliahness and complete .atsence Of moral
sense we're not calculated TO please even the
most complacent OF husbands. In justice
to her, however, Mr.. Williams adds that
sven a paragon Of virtue would have found
Il difficult TO live on amicable terms with
the Duo de Mazarin. 1t Is true that In
some respects he seemed likely to make
an excellent huSband. His life in a IL
c~entioUa age had been beyond reproach;
he was, well educated, open handed, a
charming, companion and distinguished for
his courtly mIHmers. Or 'the other hand
he had a singulArly unprcpossessins coun-
~tenance; according to Nine. de SeviRne
he bore on his FACE the justification OF his
wife's conduct" Then. too. some latent
germ o. insanity must have been lurking IN
his temperament, which under, the influence
OF conjugal jealousy and religious fervor
changed him before he had been married
many months (onIy' a few weeks after the
marriage he intercepted a very compromis-
ing note from .Hortense to the Chevalier
de Rohan) into one. OF the most ridiculous
and, at tho same time, the most %tyrannical
Of husbands to b, met with outside the
domain OF fiction: II ne was held TO fall
just short OF being mad enough TO be shut
up IL may have been because Louis XIV.
found the inexhaustible purse Of the dis
penser Of Mazarin's hoard too. convenient
to borrow from. 1T was. his unfortunate
young wife who had to bear the brunt Of
his vagaries., II We are to believe only half
OF what she tells us in her Memories" he
must have led her a truly terrible life. He
began by conceiving a violent jealousy Of
the attentions paid her by the King and,
in order to shield her from this Supposed
udIAkC NUPb NC III 0NNN "
Iocomotion. AS he feared for me to remain
IN Paris" she writes. "be continually
marched me about 10 his estates and gov
~ernments.' During the first three or four
years OF. our marriage l made three or four
jo~urneysto Alsaoe and rs many into Brittany,
besides several others to other Places
These inoessant journeys, however, were
only a small part OF what the lady had to
R~- - Anr h,akonIsa handG H0 uyaR
Jealous OF every one who approached her,
high or low. nan or woman.
Il could not speak to a servant but no
was dismissed the next day. | could not
receive two visits in succession from the
same man but he was forbidden the house.
II l showed any preference for one OF my
maids she was at once taken away from
me. He would have liked ME to see no one
lin the world except himself. Above all.
he could not endure that l should see either
his relations or my own-the latter, because
they had begun to take my part; his own,
because they no more approved OF his con-
duct than did mine" He would not even
suffer her to sleep in peace. mo sooner
were the beautiful eyes Of his companion
closed" says the Duchess's friend, Saint
Evremond. 'than' this smiable husband,
to whose black Imagination the devil was
always present, awoke her to make her
share his nocturnal visions. They lighted
torches, they searched everywhere, but
the only levi whom Nine. de Mazarin found
was the one who was with her in bed.
He found fault with everything h did
THE innocence OF my recreations, she pro.
tests, 'occasioned him as much annoyance
az II they had been criminal Sometimes
he said it vas a sin to play with my ser
wants at cocktail. At other times he said
il was a helnous crime to 60 to Q late
He often declared that one could not in
conscience go to court, and much less tC
the play. Sometimes my devotions were
too short. In fne. his pe~evishness upon my
account was such hat l verify believe J
any one had seriously asked him how anC
in what manner ne desired me to live, hi
would not rave been able to agree with him
self about the matter" Hortense, accord
ing to her Il account, bore her husbands
eccentricities with the most exemplary
patience, but the facts indicate that, driver
frantic by the crazed victim OF jealousy L
whom she was yoked, she made up he
mind to give him something to be jealou'
for. In the course of a moderately short
hfe-she died at the age of 53-she had in
Vulnerable lovers. Notorious was the violen
fancy which she conceived for a fellow o.
mean birth named Couberville, the equerr!
whom the Chevalier de Rohan gave her t.
escort her to Italy, and who gained sucf
ascendancy over her that she even denieC
herself to her brother and sister when h
happened to be with her. Her brother-in
Law, the Constable Colonna, had the MAJ
imprisoned In a fortress. The termination
OF this affair seems, however, to have ha'
no Christening effect upon the volatil
Duchess. '.
At the fates which, followed the election
Of Cardinal Rospigliosi Clement X) a
Pope in 1910. she was perpetually sur
rounded by a crowd of adorers. Anon,
those whom she most favored for a time wa
a certain Jacques de Belbeuf, a handsom
young man, the son OF a counsellor OF tn
Parliament OF Normandy. Nor did he lon
retain the post Of homo in the lady's afiec
tons, being replaced by the Marquis d
Grillo, who in his turn was succeeded b
the Comte de Marsan. Altogether, he
si~ster-in-law Marie and the Constable muf
have found the fair HOrtense a handful
S~ubaeouentlv in the ducal chateau a