M. le dauphin [Monseigneur] never really loved or hated, but he was
malicious; his greatest pleasure was in giving pain; when he had a
trick to play on any one he began by treating them graciously. In
every respect he had the most inconceivable character that could be
imagined. When one thought him angry he was often in the best humour;
when he seemed content he was cross; never could we guess correctly.
He had not heart enough to know what true friendship was; he loved
only those persons who procured him amusement, and disliked all
others. For over twenty years, as long as he was in the hands of the
_grande_ Princesse de Conti,[11] I was on very good terms with him
and he had great confidence in me; but after he passed into those of
Mme. la Duchesse he completely changed. He behaved as if he had never
seen or known me in his life, and as, after Monsieur's death, I never
hunted with his Highness I had very few relations with him to his
death. If he had had good sense he would have preferred the Princesse
de Conti to Mme. la Duchesse, for she had a much better heart; she
loved him unselfishly, whereas the other loved nothing in the world,
and thought only of her pleasures, her interests, and her ambition. As
long as she attained her ends she cared very little for the dauphin,
who gave clear proof of his weak-mindedness by his dependence upon
her.
When the King of Spain [his son, the Duc d'Anjou] departed the king
wept bitterly, and the dauphin too, but he had previously never given
to any of his sons the slightest sign of attachment. He never had them
in his apartments morning or evening; when he was not hunting he was
always in those of the Princesse de Conti, or, later, in those of Mme.
la Duchesse. No one would ever have guessed that the sons were his; he
treated them as strangers and never called them "my son," always "M.
le Duc de Bourgogne," "M. le Duc d'Anjou," "M. le Duc de Berry;" and
they called him "Monseigneur."
He lived very well with his wife for two or three years; that is to
say, as long as the old woman was satisfied with the dauphine; but
as soon as there came a little coolness between them she set herself
to make the dauphin believe that his wife did not love him, that she
cared only for Bessola [her maid], and that everybody thought him a
fool for spending his time in a room where more German was talked
than French. He was told also that Bessola was the confidante of the
dauphine's gallantries, and helped her to make pleasure-parties with
the maids-of-honour. I heard all these details from the dauphine
herself [Marie-Anne-Victoire of Bavaria], for her husband, who still
loved her, related them to her. But the old witch returned so often
to the charge, and gave the dauphin so many opportunities, that he
finally became enamoured of Mlle. de Rambure, afterwards Mme. de
Polignac, and as soon as that amour began all his friendship for the
dauphine departed.
At times the dauphine was not ugly, when, for instance, she had a
fine colour. If she had not had such a passion for that faithless
Bessola, she might perhaps have been happy. But that woman, in order
to rule her and to maintain herself with the Maintenon, made the poor
princess the most wretched creature upon earth. She died tranquil and
resigned, but they sent her into another world as surely as if they
had put a pistol to her head. In giving birth to the Duc de Berry she
was so badly managed that she became deformed; before that she had a
very pretty figure. From that time she never had an hour's health. The
evening before her death, while the little Duc de Berry was sitting
on her bed, she said to him: "My dear Berry, I love you much, but you
have cost me dear." M. le dauphin was not affected. They had told him
so much harm of his wife that he did not care for her, and when he
muffled himself up in his great mourning-cloak he burst out laughing.
The old _guenipe_ hoped (as really happened) to govern the dauphin
through his mistresses, which she could not have done had he continued
to love his wife. That old woman had conceived such a terrible hatred
to the poor princess, that I believe she had given orders to Clément,
the _accoucheur_, to manage her ill. What confirms me in this idea is
that she nearly killed the dauphine by going to see her in perfumed
gloves; she afterwards said it was I who wore them, which was not true.
The dauphine often said to me: "We are both unhappy, but the
difference between us is that your Excellency endeavoured as much as
you possibly could to avoid your fate; whereas I did my best to come
here, and so I deserve what has happened to me." She loved the dauphin
as a husband, but more as if he were her son. They tried to make her
pass for crazy when she complained. An hour before her death she said
to me: "I shall prove to-day that I was not crazy when I complained
and said that I was ill." The old _guenipe_ sent her agents among the
populace to spread a rumour that the dauphine hated France and wanted
to create new taxes and lay burdens on the people.
[Illustration: The Dauphine wife of Monseigneur]