Descendants of the Stuarts

226 THE DESCENDANTS
alternatives presented by her marriage settlement ;
and when the Icing sent to inquire which course she
would pursue, she adroitly declared her resolu-
tion to remain near his majesty, from whom she
found it impossible to exist with comfort. The
king was flattered with the compliment, and gave
her leave to follow her inclinations, merely stipu-
lating that sbe should live on better terms with
Madame de Maintenon, to whom, ordinarily speak-
ing, she was barely civil. This she agreed to do,
and the public reconciliation of the two enemies took
place on the eleventh of June.* Madame's account
of it is amusing enough. She says, " The king told
me that I hated Madame de Maintenon, to which
I replied that I did, but that it was only on account
of my attachment to his majesty, and because she
wronged me to him; but that, nevertheless, if it was
agreeable to him I would be reconciled to her.
He then made Madame de Maintenon come forward,
and said to her, ' Madame is willing to make friends
with you;' we then embraced, and the scene ended."
" It mattered not to me," explains the duchess,
" whether I lived at Montargis or not ; but I would
not have the appearance of doing so because I was
disgraced, or as if I had committed some crime for
which I was driven from the Court. I feared,
moreover, that at the end of two days' journey, I
might be left to die of hunger, and to avoid that
risk, I chose rather to be reconciled to the king :
* Dangeau.