Page:A Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women of Every Age and Country (1804).djvu/799

Rh of [sic] religion and virtue. She was taught very young the Latin, Spanish, and Italian languages, and soon read with facility the best authors in each. She was married, in 1644, to the Marquis de Sevigné, by whom she had a son and one daughter; he was naturally inconstant, and frequently neglected her, which as she tenderly loved him gave her great affliction, aggravated by his untimely death, for he fell in a duel, in 1651.

Madame de Sevigné had now no other care or views than the education of her children, the advancement of their fortune, and their future happiness. She was left a widow at the age of thirty-five, possessed of sufficient charms to engage her admirers; but nothing could ever induce her to think of a second marriage. Charles, Marquis de Sevigné, her son, distinguished himself by his military talents, his engaging manners and elegant address; and her daughter did not appear with less advantage, inheriting all the amiable qualities of her virtuous mother. Mlle. de Sevigné was married to Francis, Count de Grignan, Lieutenant-general of the King's forces and governor of Provence. Mde. de Sevigné flattered herself, that by marrying her daughter to a nobleman of the court, she should have been able to pass the remainder of her life near her beloved child; but Monsieur de Grignan received an order from the King to repair to Provence, where he was always obliged to command in the absence of the Duke de Vendome. This circumstance greatly chagrined Madame de Sevigné, and caused much inquietude both to her, and the Countess de Grignan, her daughter, who were obliged to make frequent and long journies to enjoy the satisfaction of seeing each other. This