Thus  he  lived,  environing  his  wife  with  his  mistresses,  and
never  thinking  himself  sufficiently  adored  unless  his  weaknesses
were  included  in  the  worship.  At  length  came  maturity,  and
remorse  succeeded  to  voluptuousness.  He  sought  to  reconcile
the  necessity  of  a  favorite  with  the  demands  of  devotion.  A
woman  formed  expressly  by  nature  and  art  to  fill  such  a  posi-
tion, attracted  his  regard ;  he  cultivated  her  society,  but  when
he  sought  to  conquer,  found  he  could  do  so  only  by  marrying
her.     This  woman  was  Madame  de  Maintenon.
At  the  period  when  Fenelon  was  summoned  to  the  Court,
Madame  de  Maintenon  had  reigned  for  several  years.  Her
destiny  was  less  the  result  of  a  fortunate  chance,  than  of  an
ably-studied  calculation.  Thus  crafty  though  virtuous  women
make  respect  an  auxiliary  of  intrigue,  and  adopt  this  eminent
example  as  the  saint  and  patron  of  ambition.  Men  do  not
sympathize  with  her,  as  passion  held  no  sway  in  her  capitula-
tion with  the  king.  If  she  negotiated  for  a  long  time,  it  was
but  to  sell  herself  at  the  highest  price  to  a  man  whom  she  had
never  loved.
