Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-26

who had been peeping around the cor
ner during the test.
With the husband safe in rural retire
nent, Nine. du Deffand sought new
ITCHY and license Now she turned to
literature and wit. At Sceaux, just out
of Paris. the Duchesse du Maine held
her court of Wit. and thither she betook
herself There she mingled with such
commanding figures in French intel
lectual life as Voltaire, the sneering phi
lOsOpher: Mile. de Launay after
ward Nine. de Stael; Nine de Lam
bert and the President Henault, whom
she presently snapped up for her own,
making amends for her indiscretion in
living six weeks with her husband by
calmly setting up her own menage in
the presidents home. Brilliant as the
company was she shOne pre-eminent in
IT and soon, not content with playing
second fiddle. she set up a salon of her
own, finding her home for twenty-seven
years in the Convent of ST Joseph, in
the heart of the then fashionable quarter
of Paris.
Convent Quarters Were Cheap.
1t was the practice of the Partisan
converts of that day to rent out as
apartments some portion of their ex-
tenslVe edificeS. The custom led to
singular contrasts between what was
supposed TO be the asceticism of con-
ventual life and the gayety of the con-
vents The rooms occupied by Nine
Du Deffand had been tenanted earlier by
NINE de Montespan, one of the mistresses
OF Louis XIV. and her arms were still
embiaZoned above the fireplace Beside
the door OF Sanctity that attached to
an apartment in convent, the rent was
cheap and the tenant was absolved from
inuch or the expensive pOmp and state
tnat residents of the more fashiona BILE
MONIES were forced to maintain
Here Nine. Du Deffand gave on Mon
DAY nights those little suppers'' which
Naipoie commended. There gathered a
women who would sooner break any
commandment than be guilty of STU
pidlty- Though she firmly refused TO let
poiitlcs have place. her guests included
t aoiii.esquie' the ENJOYS from many neigh
boring states and sometimes their kings.
A star among the men was d'Alembert
the most erudite of mathematicians who
AFTER a day spent in study, would sally
iortn at night ike released schoolboy
seeking pleasure, temperng the purely
intellectual with the spice of nauphtiness
ne was sure to find at this convent
court.
About 100 the great disaster of the
loss OF her eyeSight fell upon Nine nm
Deffand, but 1t neither clouded her life
nor embittered her wit. Her salon was
maintained with its accustomed gayety
and. despite rivals, showed no deterioria-
uon. The first reverse came in a pe-
culiar way. The great salonist had taker
as a sort of companion to soothe her
blindness certain Mile. Espinasse. who
being penn1less, grasped eagerly at the
oner of comfortable quarters and an
allowance At this time madame's habits
OF NE We're not easy for a compa MON
she refused to seek her bed before dawn
or to leave II until in the evening. Suf-
fer1ng from insomnia, she exacted from
the companion hours of reading aloud.
Mile. Espinasse Expelled.
Under this system Mile Espinasse chafed.
having pretty wit of her own. she
took advantage OF her patrons hours
ana held little personal salon of her
own IN Du Deffands own apartment an
hour before that lady was presentable.
When this treachery was discovered rage
ruled the convent. The traitor was ex-
peiled. put, finding new patron. set