From  a  Portrait  at  Versailles

From  a  Photograph  by  Messrs.  Neurdein,  Paris


THE    QUEEN    OF    LETTER
WRITERS


CHAPTER  I

The  duel  on  Easter  Sunday  morning  at  the  Porte  Saint-Antoine — The  scandal
in  Paris,  and  its  consequences — The  birth  of  Madame  de  Sevigne— Her  celebrated
grandmother  Sainte-Chantal,  the  disciple  of  Saint  Francis  de  Sales — A  twofold
inheritance

IT  was  the  morning  of  Easter  Day  of  the  year  1624,  and  the
devout  and  faithful  of  the  parish  church  of  Saint  Paul  in
the  Marais,  the  most  fashionable  quarter  of  Paris,  had  gathered
together  to  "make  their  Easter."  The  priests  in  gorgeous
vestments,  with  little  white-robed  acolytes  in  attendance,  were
celebrating  High  Mass  to  a  great  congregation,  for  the  Church's
festivals  were  at  this  period  strictly  observed  by  almost  the
whole  population.
Among  the  crowd  was  the  young  Baron  de  Chantal,  after-
wards the  father  of  Madame  de  SeVigne,  who  had  come  with
his  recently  married  wife,  Marie  de  Coulanges,  and  her  family.
The  Baron  had  just  communicated,  when  a  lackey,  hurriedly
entering  the  church,  found  his  way  to  where  the  young  noble
sat,  and  gave  him  a  message  from  his  friend,  Bouteville  de
Montmorency.
