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the grand subject of discussion-—the perpetual theme to which all referred, was the fête about to be given by Mademoiselle de Montpensier. It was to be a bal costumé; and the taste and ingenuity of the whole court were to be taxed to their utmost. So, although every fête to which she had gone had been duly declared to be the last, yet Madame de Mercœur felt obliged to attend this one, as the very last indeed. It was a sort of visible sign that the heroine of La Fronde was reinstated in royal favour, and meant to be, as she had no longer any hopes of being Queen, a loyal and devoted subject for the rest of her life.

Mademoiselle Montpensier's history and character could only have belonged to her time,—a period devoted to, and distracted by, the very