Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/576

 LOVE 552 coining of bad money. Secondly, Madame D'Aubigne, a woman worthy of little notice, throughout her life was so much engrossed in complex lawsuits, that she had but little time to attend to the affairs and interests of her children. Fran9oise, therefore, was virtually left an orphan. But eventually one of Constantine's sisters, Madame de Villette, took compassion on the little girl, invited her to her home, the Chateau de Mursay, and there cared for her as a mother. In 1642, however, D'Aubigne was released, and — for he still had influence in high quarters — was appointed Governor of Marie- Galante, an island in the West Indies. But on finding his principality to be the abode of hostile savages, the new governor retired to Martinique, where he secured a subordinate government position. Many romantic stories have been told of Fran9oise's life in Martinique, stories which, unfortunately, appear to be fictitious, for the child remained on the island barely a year. Soon, therefore, "la belle Indienne," as she came to be known, found herself again in France, and, since her father died shortly after his return, under the care of Madame de Villette. With her aunt, however, she was not allowed to remain for long ; Madame de Villette was a devout Protestant, the D'Aubignes were Roman Catholics. Accord- ingly, Madame D'Aubigne entrusted her daughter to a certain Madame de Neuillant, a hard, severe woman, who, hoping to eradi- cate all traces of heretical doctrine, placed her charge in an Ursuline convent in the Faubourg St. Jacques, Paris. Here the child was treated with great severity — how great can be judged from a letter which she wrote to her aunt : " Madam and Aunt, — The remembrance of the wonderful kindness you used to show to poor, forsaken children, induces me to beseech and implore you to use your influence to get me out of this place, where life is worse than death could be. You cannot imagine what a place of torment this house, called a religious house, is to me, nor the severity and cruelty of my custodians. I implore you, my dear aunt, to have pity on your brother's daughter and your humble servant. " FRAN901SE D'Aubigne." To this letter, for some inexplicable reason, Madame de Villette did not reply. The result was that, in due course, Fran9oise became converted to the Roman faith. With her conversion came romance, and with romance came the poet Scarron. Paul Scarron was, perhaps, the most extraordinary man in Paris of the day. He was well born, and began life in affluent circumstances ; a poet, a social genius, the idol of Parisian society, aided by influence, he secured ultimately the Canonry of Mans. His fortune, however, he soon squandered, and, thanks mainly to a fantastic freak, soon dissipated his health and looks. At Mans, during a certain carnival week, he smeared his body with honey, rolled in a bed of feathers, concealed his face behind a mask, and, thus disguised, sat in a sedan- chair at a street corner and poured witticisms on the passers-b3^ At length a crowd assembled, and Scarron, in his endeavours to escape, dived into the river and hid among the reeds. The result was disastrous. His sojourn in the water chilled him to the marrow, his limbs became paralysed, his face distorted, and the man was rendered a' caricature of his former self. In short, nothing about him remained unaffected except his sight and wit. And this was the man who became the first husband of Fran9oise D'Aubigne. His salon at the Hotel de Troyes was the centre of a most brilliant and polished society, and thither Madame de Neuillant often escorted her protege, since, conscious of the girl's beauty and grace, she hoped there to find a suitable husband. The poet first met the child in 1652, and immediately evinced a deep interest in her ; he admired the forlorn maiden immensely, saw that she was unhappy, and understood the reason. " Your beauty and grace," he pointed out to her one day, " procure 3^ou many admirers, but you are not too young to understand that their admiration for a penniless young lady is not likely to lead to matrimony. In a situation like yours, I see only two alter- natives — to accept a husband or to enter a a convent. If you decide for the convent, I will pay your dowry. If you do not wish to become a nun, and if, in spite of my face, figure, and helplessness, you will consent to marry me, to be my companion and bear my name, I will do everything possible to make you happy ; and I guarantee in advance that if you weep in my house, it will only be on the day of my death," And so Fran9oise married Scarron. Why ? It is possible to imagine, but it is impossible to define the motives which prompted the mind of the girl bride. Love and pity are close akin, and at the time of her marriage Fran9oise was but seventeen years of age. But later, in a letter to her brother Charles, she said : " He had a good heart. Everyone admired his wit. Though he was without fortune or other attractions, he drew the best of society to his house." Scarron idolised his wife. Of this there can be no doubt, and his work bears the stamp of her influence, his later writings being marked by a polish and sense of moderation which distinguished them completely from the work of his earlier years. At the time of his marriage, Scarron sold his canonry, but from his work he derived an income sufficient for his requirements. He saved nothing, how- ever, and when he died, in 1660, he left his widow penniless. Of Madame Scarron as a widow. Mademoi- selle de Scudery has drawn a delightful portrait : " She was tall, had a beautiful figure, and air of distinction. Her complexion was pure and perfectly white, her hair of a light