Page:Sévigné - Letters to her Daughter and Friends, 1869.djvu/16



10 letters a series of maxims upon the subject, by which it would be seen that, far from adhering to the false methods in vogue in her days, she had foretold many of the improvements of which we are justly vain in "ours."

Though she devoted herself seduously to the duties of her family, yet Madame de Sévigné did not long live a recluse. She saved her property, returned to society, and passed much of her time in Paris, where she was the idol of her circle, people of the first rank in letters and worth of character, as well as stars in the fashionable world. She was also a frequent visitor at court, where the king, Louis XIY, always received her with respect.

Madame de Sévigné had many adorers, among whom were the Seigneur Turenne and the Prince de Oonti, and her friends were most devoted — Fouquet was one of them, and she was true to him in his great misfortune, as her letters show. But she appears never to have had the least intention of a second marriage; to promote the happiness of her children and the enjoyment of her friends, was the object of her life. Her son, the Marquis de Sévigné, who entered the army, was very frivolous, weak, and dissipated in his youth; his mother's watchful care and patient forbearance saved him from utter degradation. About middle age he married an amiable wife of noble family, left the army, and cultivated a taste for literature. To effect this marriage, and thus secure the reformation of her son, Madame de Sévigné gave up to him so large a portion of her estate that she was afterward in comparatively straitened circumstances.

But the daughter, Margaret Frances, was her mother's glory, the idol that seemed to claim the worship of the mother's soul. Passion rather than affection possessed Madame de Sévigné when writing to or of her " infinitely dear child." That the daughter did not reciprocate this love in its full flow has been urged to prove that Madame de Grignan was cold in temperament or selfish in feeling. We do not find evidences to support this charge. The mother, ambitious for her daughter, and wishing to keep her in Paris had married her to the Count de Grignan, who was rich, and of the high nobility, and had a place at court. But he was also Lieutenant-Governor of Provence, and ordered, soon after his marriage, to his government. His wife had to follow him ; she seems to have loved and respected her husband, as was her duty She had children ; she was at the head of a great