well, I don't know by what means, that she obtained her father's
life; the pardon was brought him at the moment he was expecting
the fatal blow; but the pardon availed little, for fear had
seized him so deeply, that it bereft him of his senses, and he
died a few days after. His daughter appeared at Court as the
King's mistress; but the Italian expedition, and the imprisonment
of the present Prince, were interruptions to his love affair.
When the late King returned from Spain, and Madam the Regent went
to meet him at Bayonne, she brought all her maids of honour with
her, among whom was Mademoiselle de Pisselen, who was since
Duchess d'Etampes; the King fell in love with her, though she was
inferior in birth, wit and beauty to the Duchess of Valentinois,
and had no advantage above her but that of being very young. I
have heard her say several times, that she was born the same day
Diana de Poitiers was married, but she spoke this in the malice
of her heart, and not as what she knew to be true; for I am much
mistaken, if the Duchess of Valentinois did not marry Monsieur de
Breze, at the same time that the King fell in love with Madam
d'Etampes. Never was a greater hatred than that between these
two ladies; the Duchess could not pardon Madam d'Etampes for
having taken from her the title of the King's mistress; and Madam
d'Etampes was violently jealous of the Duchess, because the King
still kept correspondence with her. That Prince was by no means
constant to his mistresses; there was always one among them that
had the title and honours of mistress, but the ladies of the
small band, as they were styled, shared his favour by turns. The
loss of the Dauphin, his son, who died at Tournon, and was
thought to be poisoned, extremely afflicted him; he had not the
same affection and tenderness for his second son, the present
King; he imagined he did not see in him spirit and vivacity