I Am Louis XIV

"We watched Mademoiselle Marie fall dead," said Madame Aubigne.

She will probably never forget the scene that night in her life - Mary's maid desperately rushed into St. George's Cathedral and asked for help from the Duchess, the second wife of James II, who was there.

Although James II had shamelessly crowned herself, the lady still very humbly asked others to call herself a duchess. She told James II that this was not because she felt that her husband was not compatible with his master. She should become the king, but because the queen should be canonized by the king instead of making her own decisions. This kind of rhetoric really won the favor of James II, and also made some people have some preliminary changes in her.

But this weak change is nothing compared to the inheritance of the Stuart dynasty. James II's two daughters almost grew up under the protection and care of their mother and grandfather. She didn't have any good impressions, let alone like her, a woman who had taken her mother's place. How could the Duchess like them, but she had to go, otherwise when the dust settled, the crime would fall on her.

Not to mention that once James II achieved his goal, she would become the Queen of England, and her status would be noble. There were not just one or two British queens who were pushed to the guillotine. She and James II had no heirs yet, they were foreigners, and they were Catholics and even James II felt that parricide was detrimental to his reputation, and she would be pushed out to appease the anger of ministers and the people.

St. George's Cathedral is not far from St. James's Palace. The problem is that it was late at night, and the streets were blocked by corpses, collapsed buildings, overturned carriages and haphazardly piled barricades. Don't even think about carriages. Only horses are allowed. But riding a horse in the dark is not an easy task. Mary's maid was the only two attendants who escorted her all the way, but the queen's body is not something that low-class people can touch casually - a joke, she Possibly the only person in the entire court who needs to maintain chastity.

At this time Madame Aubigne stood up.

As for how Madame Aubigne ended up in London—it’s a long story—Madame Aubigne spent a wonderful and leisurely time in Paris, serving as a hostage to Pope Innocent XI and Messenger, she did not have to worry about food, clothing, housing and transportation, and was respected as the Queen's lady-in-waiting. She also contributed to the establishment of a girls' school at the invitation of the Duchess of Montpensier, and later served as the school's Latin teacher. , Later, Mrs. Montespan and the king's son was born, and she took care of him for a while.

During this period, she had more opportunities to meet the king. Not only did Madame Montespan begin to be suspicious and jealous of her, but even people in the Palace of Versailles were speculating whether she would become the next royal lady—— In order to avoid this kind of embarrassment and dishonor, Madame Aubigne, who had always been naked and undressed at all, could only take advantage of Innocent XI's serious illness and take the opportunity to escape back to Rome.

Innocent XI should have left some money and manpower to his only descendant. Just when Madame Aubigne was thinking about whether she should make a request to the Duchess of Montpensier to work in her territory? It is better to accept the invitation of the eldest princess and go to Sweden to live for a few years, or to visit the eldest princess. I heard that she is pregnant. Although Madame Aubigne is not married, she has taken care of Madame Montespan and her child. , I feel like I should be able to help.

The British solved her troubles - James II's emissary, or rather his subordinate, "invited" Madame Aubigne to England to be the governess of the two duchesses. We have said before that in this era, not to mention tutors, even teachers in schools with royal backgrounds are subject to discrimination. Madame Aubigne is certainly not willing to do so, but this is not something she can decide whether she is willing or not - —She has no supporter in Rome.

The situation at that time was very chaotic, and Madame Aubigne could only temporarily succumb. In the past two years, she has been by the side of the two princesses. Fortunately, James II listened to the advice of the daughter of the Duke of Modena and really wanted a wise man. The lady came to educate these two children, and Madame Aubigne deliberately avoided him, so there was no problem - but neither Marie nor her sister was willing to accept Madame Aubigne's guidance - Madame Aubigne was of course also a Catholic. Like their stepmother, they believed that she was sent by their stepmother to monitor and torture them, and turned a blind eye to Madame Aubigne's kindness.

If they had listened to Madame Aubigne...or even to the Duchess, tonight's disaster would never have happened - leaving aside the Duchess, Madame Aubigne was sent to Paris as a papal emissary. Yes, she is surrounded by wily and clever people. Even if she cannot compete with the members of Congress or James II head-on, she will at least teach them to hide where their father can't find them before the conspiracy is completed.

But because they were unwilling to stay with Catholics, they were determined to follow James II...

As soon as Madame Aubigne heard this, she knew that these two children were bound to die. James II had been tortured by Charles II before and was about to go crazy. His obsession with the throne was enough to make him leave everything behind, including the most important things in human nature. Beautiful things, even blood ties between close relatives - after Mary and those MPs agreed to drag him off the throne, no, if earlier, cut him off forever just one step away from the throne. By the time she was there, Mary was no longer his eldest daughter, but his mortal enemy.

But at this time, the wind actually started blowing again and it started to rain.

"It's too bad, it's too bad," said the Duchess's attendant in alarm. "How can we get to St. James's Palace? Maybe this is God's will."

The Duchess glanced anxiously at Madame Aubigne in the flash of thunder and lightning. She did not want to leave such a fatal clue to her husband and the British.

"That's good." Madame Aubigne said. She raised her hands, quickly wrapped the scarf around her bun, and then pulled down the ribbon on the cuffs and the outer skirt - this kind of skirt was Madame Montespan's. Invented, it covered the outside of the skirt like a drawn curtain. It was very beautiful but also cumbersome. As people were dumbfounded, she ordered the attendant to bring her her own horse. At the same time, she was thankful that she might need to escape on horseback, so she wore it. He sewed his own trousers and straddled the saddle. Then he stretched out his hand to the duchess and pulled her onto the horse.

"It's dark, windy, and raining. The fighting soldiers will hide back in the fortress, and the muskets and artillery can't be fired. We just need to watch our feet carefully and don't break the horseshoes." Madame Obieni said, and then directed the attendants to take off the hooves. Glass kerosene lamps hung on the horses' necks to illuminate the road.

Then they set off in a hurry.

Thinking back on it now in a warm and dry room, Madame Aubigne would applaud her own boldness and bravery, walking across the battlefield in a wet, dark, blinding rainy night to face a furious beast—— -If the Duchess hadn't been taking good care of her in the past two years, and she was the kind of person who repaid her kindness, another person would not be willing to participate in it anyway.

The attendants rushed over eagerly and covered them with beaver skin cloaks, which blocked most of the rain. However, the rain came from all directions, and there was still a lot of cold water that poured directly into their open arms and naked bodies. Face, Madame Aubigne's eyes were constantly blurred by the dripping rain, and she could hardly breathe. When she opened her mouth, she felt like she was being water tortured. Madame Aubigne could only lament that she was lucky to be with the eldest princess in Paris. She learned to ride astride and strengthened her body, otherwise she would have fallen down halfway.

Not only did she not fall down, she was able to arch her back and block some of the rain from the Duchess in her arms. Even so, when they arrived at James Palace, the Duchess almost fainted, while Madame Aubigne squeezed her arms tightly. She pinched the seams between her fingers - it was very painful to wake her up. She shouted to several maids hiding in the shadows to help her lead the Duchess to where "Your Majesty" was.

They didn't have to work hard. St. James's Palace was an old palace in the Basilica style, that is, a huge rectangular building. There were walls between the turrets and arrow towers. The houses were built along the walls, and there was an empty space in the middle. As soon as the Duchess entered the square, she saw James II and the guillotine that was so crude that it could be seen at a glance that it was a temporary guillotine.

Madame Aubigne's heart suddenly sank. If James II still remembered to return to the room, no matter how he decided to deal with the two daughters, at least there would still be some sense, but now it seems that even if it is majestic Even the rain could not extinguish his anger. He stood in the rain curtain, as dark as a rock statue, and he must watch his daughter lose her head.

But Miss Mary showed enough courage and courage, or was driven mad by death. It was difficult for the two strong attendants to catch her. The executioner on the side - also a nobleman The person who acted temporarily also showed a troubled look. He was really worried that instead of cutting off Miss Mary's head with one sword strike, he would cut off his own legs or the hands of his colleagues.

It is also possible that he did not want James II, who was likely to become King of England, to remember how he executed a woman of high status.

The Duchess was in a state of ecstasy at that time, but fortunately she had time. She even showed a smile to James II. Madame Aubigne was too late to stop her - James II was furious, and he shouted to his eldest daughter: "You think you are You can survive, right?" He shouted: "No, no one can stop me!"

As he said this, he grabbed the executioner's sword and struck it at the eldest daughter.

This sword also wounded an attendant and Miss Mary's shoulder. The shaking kerosene lamp could only illuminate a small area - a little golden light in the black, a corner of white clothing and a shining sharp blade. If it weren't for Mary's shrill scream, Madame Aubigne wouldn't be able to tell whether she was bleeding, but James II immediately stepped forward and swung the second sword. This sword only cut off half of the Duke's neck. Madame watched her stepdaughter fall down, making vague cooing and hissing noises like a chicken being slaughtered in the kitchen. She suddenly went soft. Madame Aubigne didn't even have time to hold her up. Running to the other side - there the second daughter of James II let out a shrill cry uncontrollably.

Seeing that she was about to attract the attention of James II, Madame Aubigne could only mention the girl - when the attendant next to her tried to stop her, she only shouted: "This is the daughter of Stuart!" He forced them back. James II was completely irrational, but his attendants were still sober. England did not strictly abide by Salic law, and women could also inherit the throne. Who knew how things would develop? After all, it looked like these two kings couldn't give birth to a boy.

In his rage, James II seemed to have forgotten to order his subordinates to arrest his second daughter and Madame Aubigne. He kept chasing after him with his sword, while Madame Aubigne dragged the poor girl around the corridor. Pillar and James II deal...

"Then what?" Duke Vendôme couldn't help but ask: "I'm sorry, we really shouldn't let you recall such terrible things, but how did you..."

Speaking of this, Madame Aubigne couldn't help showing a confused look. "I think," she said, "it's God's blessing."

Just when she exhausted all her strength and saw that she could no longer dodge the next sword - a bolt of thunder struck down, hitting the sword held high by James II... He immediately fell in a ball of bright light. Everyone present shouted in unison, even the Duchess, who had just woken up. She waited for several minutes before a brave attendant went up to check.

James II's skin was scorched, he could not speak, and he could not open his eyes. In a panic, the Duchess ordered people to block the news, move the Duke into the tower, and invite doctors and wizards to visit him. Madame Aubigne and her only stepdaughter temporarily returned to another room to receive treatment, eat, bathe and rest.

“But neither doctors nor wizards,” said Madame Aubigne, “can cure a man who has been struck by lightning, and the wizard says that it is not possible to cure him except by the methods of the black wizards, which, of course, they used on Carlos II. There was no other way, but everyone knew that it was poison to quench thirst. When the Duke was still unable to wake up and express his thoughts, the Duchess was the only one who made the decision. She thought about it for a long time, and finally asked the doctor and wizard to continue the 'treatment', but never mentioned it. That 'last resort.'"

She breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, James II briefly woke up a few days later, but only the duchess talked to him for a while, and then he fainted again until he died of fever. After being able to say another sentence, Madame Aubigne guessed that the Duchess might have some new ideas - although the devilish behavior of Carlos II was guarded by the Spaniards, how could there be an airtight wall in the world? As time goes by, people always learn the truth.

The Duchess had probably thought about taking a gamble, but when she thought about the Duke of York, James II was originally a ruthless and unjust person. He never handed over power to anyone when he was sober, and it was not necessarily the case when he was crazy. If something terrible were to be done, the squire could escape, but the queen could not.

The Duke of Modena and the Roman Church would have been disappointed, but it was clear that the Duchess had chosen a path that was favorable to her.