I Am Louis XIV

When His Majesty the King was in the Limoges neighborhood of Versailles, in the real Limoges, a lady who was as delicate and charming as a rose in midsummer was sitting in front of her dressing table, kissing her lips with her plump lips. Biting the goose feather on the quill lightly, carefully considering the words, there is only one beginning on the letter paper on the table - the venerable princess Montpensier, my dearest friend, my lord, your loyal little The pigeons greet you in Limoges...

Obviously, this letter is addressed to the Duchess of Montpensier. Although the Duchess of Montpensier is far away in Paris and she is still in Limoges, judging from the title and intimate tone at the beginning, this The relationship between the lady and the Duchess of Montpensier has gone beyond the ordinary acquaintance-probably no one thought that, in fact, they met only once, when the Duchess of Montpensier occasionally left Paris to go to Barney. The Duchess "accidentally" saw her in a salon while she was treating her asthma in Auer (a spa resort). Of course, when she saw her, the Duchess immediately understood. The stunner that even women are attracted to will never be buried for too long.

It has always been the duty of noble and important ministers to recommend beauties to His Majesty the King, and sometimes even the Cardinal. Now people say that Mary Mancini was sent to the King by Bishop Mazaran, and that Louise Mrs. La Vallière is the British princess Henrietta, the Duchess of Orleans, who led her to the king in order to consolidate her position in the French court. In this case, the Duchess of Montpensier did not The exception, or rather, the vast majority of French nobles and courtiers are planning to find a Frenchman to replace Madame La Vallière-she is not only a foreigner, but also the maid of the Duchess of Orleans. This relationship is really embarrassing.

As expected, the Duchess of Montpensier immediately expressed her kindness to her. After hearing that she was the daughter of the Duke of Mortemart and the daughter of the Grand Seigne family, she was even more happy, because the Duke of Mortemart was the daughter of the Rochester family. A branch of the Chouart family, the Rochechouart family has a history even surpassing that of Capet, and the Grand Seigne is also a big family that can be traced back five hundred years. The Duchess said frankly that she hoped to see the two in Paris. Since then, although the Duchess of Montpensier hastily returned to Paris, they have not met again, but they have been corresponding.

The emissary of the Duchess of Montpensier sent a letter in which the Duchess invited her to Versailles, and if she wanted to, she could become one of the duchess' companions.

Of course she would. It can even be said that she has longed for this invitation for twenty years.

She is the Marchioness of Montespin, and before she got married, her name was Françoise Atenais de Mortemar—a little earlier, she was just Atenais Vesa inside.

How time flies, Mrs. Montespan sighed in her heart, as if that day twenty years ago was still before her eyes, the young king was standing in front of her, the distance between them was only three steps, At that time, she wanted to touch that young man who was like the scorching sun, but the one standing next to him was the youngest daughter of the Mancini family. She had heard of this name and seen her before. She and her were completely different. It's different. Marie Mancini thinks that she can get what she wants, but Atenais has long known that in this world, you have to pay an equal price for what you want. No, it should be said , Sometimes, even if you pay, you still get nothing.

Just like her biological father, Varo Vesalius.

If there is anything in common between Valo Vesalius and her stepfather, the Duke of Mortmar, there may be only one thing, that is, they refused to let her enter the court together. Ambition has the same profound understanding——Duke Motmar loves their mother deeply and does not allow her to make mistakes—Duke Mottmar told her plainly that the king is not the kind A person who will be deceived by beauty, his three royal wives who are either recognized or not, all have political purposes, or because of the value brought by their own talents, a vain A beautiful woman, the king will also look at it a little bit, just like appreciating a painting or a flower, but he will not keep her by his side.

As for Varo Vesalius, it can be said that after giving everything he had, he was finally able to seek a position as an imperial physician by the king's side. As he got to know the king better, he didn't want his daughter to become another royal wife. "You have to admit," he wrote in his letter, "it's a sad thing not to be loved by the king, but to be loved by him, you will fall into utter despair-he has a long flower. Hairy heart."

The hairy heart, this is a legend among wizards, my mother once told the story to Athenais - the hero of the story is a handsome and arrogant male wizard, whenever he sees someone in love He laughed at the other party as a fool, and his friend said that one day, he would sink into the quagmire of love and marriage. The wizard was furious, and vowed that he would never fall into such a situation. Is it difficult, so he took out his heart and hid it in a glass case.

Since then, he will not be sad or happy, always so rational and calm, he has become stronger, richer, and almost omnipotent.

Finally, one day, a beautiful witch fell in love with him, and she poured out her love to him, but he said that he would not love anyone, so he took the witch to see the heart, and the heart was not only black and shriveled , with wild animal-like black hair—not only was the witch not afraid, but she insisted on letting him put the heart back into her chest and did so.

But that heart had completely gone bad. Driven by the heart, he tore open the witch's chest and took out the fresh, bright red heart. It was so beautiful. The wizard wanted to share his heart Exchange—but his heart was determined not to, so he cut open his chest and dug out the hairy heart.

He fell on top of the witch and died.

"If that's the case," murmured Madame de Montespin, "it's not a bad thing." She put the quill into the inkwell, dipped it in the ink, and began to write a letter. She must be going to Paris, But even though her two fathers and her husband are qualified to meet the king, they are unwilling to bring her before the king, but they don't know that as long as she is willing, she can destroy all the defenses they have set up— — as long as she wants.

She quickly finished writing the letter, sprinkled some sand on the letter to let the ink dry as soon as possible, so as not to cause stains after folding the letter paper, while putting her hand on the rattle, ready to let her personal maid take it out and hand it over to Her faithful servant, sent at once to Paris, to the Duchess of Montpensier.

But as soon as the maid came in, one person recklessly pushed open the door and walked in. The maid turned her back to the door, and immediately stuffed the letter into her corset, then turned around and bowed. Mrs. Montespan's expression suddenly changed It was gloomy, for it was one of her hindrances to come, her husband, the Marquis de Montespan.

"How did you come to Limoges?" Madame Montespan asked displeasedly. "Aren't you supposed to be in Flandres?"

"I asked the Marquis of Loise for leave," the Marquis said with a grim smile. "If I don't come back, I will hold a funeral for my wife."

Mrs. Montespan turned around, "Is such a meaningless curse interesting, sir?" She looked at herself in the mirror, the aging speed of witches was originally slower than that of ordinary people, and she inherited part of her mother's blood. Already twenty-seven years old, with two children, but still as delicate as a girl, "I'm just going to Paris." As for how her husband knew, Mrs. Montespan didn't bother to bother, there were many eyes and ears in the court, Some are for power, some are for money, and some are for love. She is surrounded by her husband's eyeliner. He knows that he has met the Duchess of Montpensier, and there are frequent letters between the two—at this moment Another good time - Madame La Vallière is pregnant and unable to serve the king, while the Duchess of Colonna somehow offended the king and was expelled from Versailles... and because the king had successively conquered Flanders With the Netherlands, there will be no more personal conquests in recent years. Isn't this an opportunity to introduce newcomers?

"Because I know that as long as you enter the court and meet the king, I will lose my wife forever." The Marquis laughed dryly. He came all the way from Flanders: "In that case, shouldn't I be in mourning for my wife?"

"It seems that you either drank too much alcohol or had a high fever, so you started talking nonsense like this." Mrs. Montespan said indifferently, and threw an ivory comb on the table casually.

"Don't go, don't leave me."

"You know it's impossible," said Madame Montespan kindly—though her words pierced her husband's heart like a dagger: "When I was a child, I decided to be the king's lover. .”

The Marquis stared at her, "Child, ah, child!" He cried out in grief: "You still mention the child, you haven't forgotten your child, so what about you and my child?!"

"They have grown up and don't need a mother anymore," said Mrs. Montespan, who was brought up in a convent and married the Marquis de Montespan not long after she came out of the convent, and she accepted the arrangement. , because the wife of the royal family cannot be an unmarried girl, and she kept her own place after marriage and gave birth to a son and a daughter for her husband. She believes that she has fulfilled her duties, and then she should gain her own power.

"How can you treat me like this!" the Marquis couldn't help shouting, "I am your husband!"

"A jealous husband is a source of ridicule." Mrs. Montespan stood up. She might just want to walk away, or sit on the couch in front of the window, but the Marquis rushed up and held her tightly. He hugged her tightly: "Don't go! My dear, don't go!"

"Don't be like this, Louis," Madame Montespin called softly. The Marquis's name was also Louis. When she called him that in the past, his heart was full of tenderness, but since he knew that she was calling for another Louis, every time he hears this name, it's like being bitten by a poisonous snake! Almost unconsciously, he gave Madame Montespan a shove in disgust, causing her to stumble a few steps and fall back on her chair.

Mrs. Montespan shook her head, "Why bother? Although I am not loyal, I am at least honest. As for you, you are not loyal or honest enough. You also have your own lover, so why do you want to interfere with my love?"

"That's just..."

"We are not different. Are you worried that someone will laugh at you? No need, sir, Louis XIV is your master. You have the qualification and obligation to dedicate your wife to him morally and legally. It is a kind of sacrifice and allegiance to the king, of course, you can also get power and money, which is what you deserve in return, just like Madame La Vallière's husband." Madame Montespan persuaded, just Seeing the Marquis's face, she knew that her words should be in vain.

"If you want to go to Versailles," said the Marquis through gritted teeth, "I will go to the king in a black mourning dress and in a carriage with antlers!"

Mrs. Montespan finally stopped talking. If the Marquis really did this desperately, he would of course become the laughing stock of Versailles, and the king would never accept her again—the two fathers’ repeated persuasion to Mrs. Montespan also made her feel ashamed. It's not without any effect. For example, the wife now knows a lot of certain taboos that cannot be broken by Louis XIV.

"I know," said Madame Montespan, "you don't love me, you just treat me as a beautiful decoration, a private property, you don't allow me to go to Versailles, you don't allow me to appear before the king, yes Because you felt threatened by him, you knew I would never love you, so you would rather destroy me than have my wish."

"If you insist on that, so be it," said the Marquis coldly.

"You can't."

"I can!" cried the Marquis angrily and in agony, "after what you have done to me and your benefactor!"

"Benefactor?" Madame Montespan raised her eyebrows.

"Isn't it? You think no one knows? Your mother is not the daughter of Grandseigne! She is only the wife of an apothecary, whom the Duke of Mortemart snatched from his husband and made her a Duchess, and she, her daughter, you and your two sisters, are only the duke's stepdaughter! You have no blood in your body to be proud of! It was I, madam, who accepted the engagement, You have such a lofty status, just because I fell in love with you as soon as I saw you!"

"Ah." To the Marquis' surprise, instead of being angry or terrified, Mrs. Montespan showed a mocking smile: "So you thought so."

"Isn't that true?"

"It is true," said Madame Montespan, "so you think the King does not know that I am only a pharmacist's daughter?"

She stood up from her chair and took a step forward: "So, you say you love me with words, but your heart keeps despising me," she said, and took a step forward, "You therefore I think that you are my benefactor, and our marriage is your reward to me," and took another step forward: "In your heart, I am just a daughter of a commoner. There is no noble blood in my body, and my surname is not It's just the Duke of Mortmar's mercy." In the last step, she almost touched the Marquis's chest, but now, the Marquis took a step back.

Mrs. Montespan laughed lightly: "Then why should I beg for a little favor from you here? Since you have spoken your heart, then you think that what you can give me is better than the king's." How much?" She raised her hand and put it on the Marquis's chest, "No, you don't even have the qualifications to be compared with my majesty, sir, forever, forever, forever!"

She pushed lightly, and the Marquis fell down.

he died.