Evening star., 1909-09-12
HAD BEAUTY AND TALENT
Three Of the Girls Wore the Coronet
of Duchess.
HoRTENsE BORN C0URTIEE
Young Ladies Fascinated the Proud
est Dignitaries of the Court Of .
Grand Monarch Of France.

ing to small group Of bright-eyed,
laughing maidens, the center OF an ad-
miring crowd of Louis XIV's courtiers
in the Palais Royal. ''They are poor
enough now, but they will soon have
splendid chateaux, large incomes. mag
nificent jewels, and perhaps great digni-
ties" And seldom has q prophecy been
more literally fulfilled, for the girls
whose charm and beauty were winning
the homage of Louis proudest subjects
were the nieces Of Cardinal Mazarin. who
were destined to shine among the bright
est stars in the social armament Of Eu-
rope. Three Of them were to wear the
coronet Of a duchess. one to dazzle the
world as Comtesse de Soissons, and the
fifth to become the wife Of Constable CO.
lonna. one Of the greatest mobiles of Italy.
When Mazarin had established himself
on his pedestal as the most powerful and
wealthy man in France. and as the friend
of Queen Anne Of Austria, he had sent
to Italy for his five pretty nieces. daugh-
ters Of his widowed sister. Signora Man
cini. to bask in the splehdor Of his pro-
lection and. by the alliances he would
provide for them, to extend his influence
and strengthen his position.
As the .proteges Of the all-powerful
cardinal they had been received at the
herself petted them as If they had been
her own children; they were the favorite
playmates Of the young King Louis xiv
and his brother, the little Due d'Anjou:
to the meanest palace servant, all con-
spired to surround them with flattery and
attentions. RI
A Born Courtier.,
Beautiful. without exception. as the
cardinals nieces were. the most lovely
and winsome Of them all. by common
stalled herself as prime fayorite with
her uncle, whom she alone. In all France.
could metaphorfcaily ''twist round her
thumb" AS q, child Of ten her letters
to the cardinal display all the arts of
born csuTtier and .,r,;o coauette stssr .n am am
succeeded in wheedling handsome pres
ent out Of him. ito find that you have
done your little Hortense the honor to
think Of her. Monseigneur de Coutances
and especially when he gave me the
present on your behalf. I believed that
1t was true what he told me. that you
always love me little. 1t Is that which
makes me pray with all my heart tnat
you may have the kindness to continue
that favor
Even at this early age the precocious
and fascinating HOrtense was beginning
to play sad havoc with mems hearts
Armande de Ia Porte. only SON OF the
less victim to the charms of this coquefte
OF ten summers. and vowed that II he
could not marry her he would forsWear
the world and spend the rest OF his days
The cardinal frowned on his suit and
laughed at his protestations would
rather give Hortense to lackey he
declared, than allow him to marry her"
Even the Duke OF Savoy, Charles
Paris to WOO no less exalted lady than
mademoiselle. the kings sister, but the
moment he set eyes on Hortense ne had
not glance to spare for the princess:
He must have -Hortense or no other, and
his suit might have prospered. for even
Mazarin could look for no more exalted
husband for his favorite niece, had he not
made stipulations to which the cardinal
could not consent.
Even Louis himself and his brother, the
Due d'Anjou, had neither the power nor
the wish to resist her charms. She CO.
quetted with both, and brought both to
her feet, and might, had she so desired.
have chosen which she would wed; at
least until Louis. despairing OF winning
her, turned for consolation to her less
beautiful but more plant sister, Marie.
AS Hortense grew to young womanhood
her childish promise for rare beauty
was more than fulfilled. Her charms.
Wlon
thus been catalogued by Saint -Evremond.
one of her greatest admirers and her
loyal friend to the last: The color OF
her eyes has no name; 1t Is neitner
blue. nor gray, nor altogether PACK, Du.
a combination of all the three: they have
the sweetness OF blue. the gaiety OF gray.
and, above all. the fire of the black. There
Is none so sweet In the world. Her smiles
would soften the hardest heart. The tone
of her voice Is SO harmonious ana agree
h0r
out being sensibly moved. Her complex
ion is so delicately clear that 1 cannot
believe that any one who examines II
closely can deny It to be whittier than the
driven snow. Her hair is OF glossy
black, whose curls seem TO re1olce 10
shade SO lovely q head"
Besieged by Lovers.
Never was maiden more besieged with
lovers than this supremely beautiful niece
of the cardinal: but though her heart
was. no doubt. touched by more than one
of them. Mazarin was hard to please.
and promptly sent them one and all about
their business. although among them were
two who were destined to wear crowns
Pedro II of Portugal and Charles II of
England. Charles, to whom his crown
had not yet fallen, saw in Hortense not
only the hope of winning the most beau
tiful consort In Europe. but the means
since 1t was an open secret that she
would inherit the bulk of her uncle's
enormous riches-of replenishing his
empty Golfers. 1t Is, indeed. very pos
sible that Hortense might have worn the
crown of Englands queen had the car
dinal foreseen that Charles would 80 soon
come to his kingdom. and IL he had not
been SO fearful of offending the govern
ment then in power.
Not many months later. when the dis
carded wooer had recovered his throne.
Mazarin sent over post haste to England
to offer him Hortense as bride and
the offer came too late. Charles as king.
politely declined what, as an exile, he had
solicited so humbly.
Heiress to Five Millions.
But Mazarin's days were now drawing
to their close, and he realized the urgent
importance of finding a husband for his
favorite niece, who was to inherit most
of his wealth. There was no lack of
choice, but, for different reasons. one
after another was dismissed as ineligible.
until, by a curious irony of fate, he found
the list reduced to the Marquis Meiller-
aye. the very man whose suit he had SO
contemptuously rejected few years ear
lier, but who had still remained loyal to
Hortense- On his death bed he consented
to the alliance. persuaded the king to
having thus at last provided his niece
with a protector, breathed his last.
1t was very richly lowered bride that
the new-fiedged DUO de Mazarin led to
the altar. for of her uncle's vast wealth
her share was at least the equivalent Of
f5, 100000, in addition to the greater part
Of the Palais Mazarin. with it's priceless
contents; but few brides have ever en-
tered on a less happy welded life
The Due de Mazarin was not only one OF