Effect of Her Mother's Death
It is not to be wondered at that a girl under such tutelage should
abandon herself wholly, both mind and body, to a philosophy so
contrary in its principles and practices to that which her mother had
always endeavored to instill into her young mind. The father was
absent fighting for Heaven alone knew which faction into which France
was broken up, there were so many of them, and the mother and daughter
lived apart, the disparity in their sentiments making it impossible
for them to do otherwise. For this reason, Ninon was practically her
own mistress, and not interfered with because the husband and wife
could not agree upon any definite course of life for her to follow.
Ninon's heart, however, had not lost any of its natural instincts, and
she loved her mother sincerely, a trait in her which all Paris learned
with astonishment when her mother was taken down with what proved to
be a fatal illness.
Madame de l'Enclos, separated from both her husband and daughter, and
devoting her life to pious exercises, acquired against them the
violent prejudices natural in one who makes such a sacrifice upon the
altar of sentiment. The worldly life of her daughter gave birth in her
mind to an opinion which she deemed the natural consequence of it.
The love of pleasure, in her estimation, had destroyed every vestige
of virtue in her daughter's soul and her neglect of her religious
duties had converted her into an unnatural being.
But she was agreeably diverted from her ill opinion when her malady
approached a dangerous stage. Ninon flew to heir mother's side as soon
as she heard of it, and without becoming an enemy of her philosophy of
pleasure, she felt it incumbent upon her to suspend its practice.
Friendship, liaisons, social duties, pleasure, everything ceased to
amuse her or give her any satisfaction. The nursing of her sick mother
engaged her entire attention, and her fervor in this dutiful
occupation astonished Madame de l'Enclos and softened her heart to the
extent of acknowledging her error and correcting her estimate of her
daughter's character. She loved her daughter devotedly and was happy
in the knowledge that she was as devotedly loved. But this was not the
kind of happiness that could prolong her days.
Notwithstanding all her philosophy, Ninon could not bear the spectacle
presented by her dying parent. Her soul was rent with a grief which
she did not conceal, unashamed that philosophy was impotent to
restrain an exhibition of such a natural weakness. Moreover, her dying
mother talked to her long and earnestly, and with her last breath gave
her loving counsel that sank deep into her heart, already softened by
an uncontrollable sorrow and weakened by long vigils.
Scarcely had Madame de l'Enclos closed her eyes upon the things of
earth, than Ninon conceived the project of withdrawing from the world
and entering a convent. The absence of her father left her absolute
mistress of her conduct, and the few friends who reached her, despite
her express refusal to see any one, could not persuade her to alter
her determination. Ninon, heart broken, distracted and desolate, threw
herself bodily into an obscure convent in the suburbs of Paris,
accepting it, in the throes of her sorrow, as her only refuge and home
on earth.
Saint-Evremond, in a letter to the Duke d'Olonne, speaks of the
sentiment which is incentive to piety:
"There are some whom misfortunes have rendered devout through a
certain kind of pity for themselves, a secret piety, strong enough to
dispose men to lead more religious lives."
Scarron, one of Ninon's closest friends, in his Epistle to Sarrazin,
thus alludes to this conventual escapade:
"Puis j'aurais su * * *
* * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * *
Ce que l'on dit du bel et saint exemple
Que la Ninon donne à tous les mondains,
En se logeant avecque les nonais,
Combien de pleurs la pauvre jouvencelle
A répandus quand sa mère, sans elle,
Cierges brûlants et portant écussons,
Prêtres chantant leurs funèbres chanson,
Voulut aller de linge enveloppée
Servir aux vers d'une franche lippée."
Which, translated into reasonable English, is as much as saying:
But I might have known * * *
* * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * *
What they say of the example, so holy, so pure,
That Ninon gives to worldlings all,
By dwelling within a nunnery's wall.
How many tears the poor lorn maid
Shed, when her mother, alone, unafraid,
Mid flaming tapers with coats of arms,
Priests chanting their sad funereal alarms,
Went down to the tomb in her winding sheet
To serve for the worms a mouthful sweet.
But the most poignant sorrow of the human heart is assuaged by time.
Saint-Evremond and Marion de Lormes, Richelieu's "belle amie,"
expected to profit by the calm which they knew would not be long in
stealing over the heart of their friend. Marion, however, despaired of
succeeding through her own personal influence, and enlisted the
sympathies of Saint-Evremond, who knew Ninon's heart too well to
imagine for a moment that the mournful, monotonous life she had
embraced would satisfy her very long. It was something to be admitted
to her presence and talk over matters, a privilege they were accorded
after some demur. The first step toward ransoming their friend was
followed by others until they finally made great strides through her
resolution. They brought her back in triumph to the world she had
quitted through a species of "frivolity," so they called it, of which
she was never again guilty as long as she lived.
This episode in Ninon's life is in direct contrast with one which
occurred when the Queen Regent, Anne of Austria, listening to the
complaints of her jealous maids of honor, attempted to dispose of
Ninon's future by immuring her in a convent. Ninon's celebrity
attained such a summit, and her drawing rooms became so popular among
the élite of the French nobility and desirable youth, that sad inroads
were made in the entourage of the Court, nothing but the culls of
humanity being left for the ladies who patronized the royal functions.
In addition to this, she excited the envy and jealousy of a certain
class of women, whom Ninon called "Jansensists of love," because they
practiced in public the puritanic virtues which they did not even have
tact enough to render agreeable. It is conceivable that Ninon's
brilliant attractions, not to say seductive charms, and her
unparalleled power to attract to her society the brightest and best
men of the nation, engendered the most violent jealousy and hatred of
those whose feebler charms were ignored and relegated to the
background. The most bitter complaints and accusations were made
against her to the Queen Regent, who was beset on all sides by loud
outcries against the conduct of a woman whom they were powerless to
imitate, until, to quiet their clamors, she deemed it her duty to act.
Anne of Austria accordingly sent Ninon, by special messenger, a
peremptory order to withdraw to a convent, giving her the power of
selection. At first Anne intended to send her to the convent of
Repentant Girls (Filles Repenties), but the celebrated Bauton, one of
the Oiseaux des Tournelles, who loved a good joke as well as he did
Ninon, told her that such a course would excite ridicule because Ninon
was neither a girl nor a repentant (ni fille, ni repentie), for which
reason, the order was changed leaving Ninon to her own choice of a
prison.
Ninon knew the source of the order, and foresaw that her numerous
distinguished admirers would not have any difficulty in protecting
her, and persuading the Queen Regent to rescind her order, and
therefore gave herself no concern, receiving the order as a
pleasantry.
"I am deeply sensible of the goodness of the court in providing for my
welfare and in permitting me to select my place of retreat, and
without hesitation, I decide in favor of the Grands Cordeliers."
Now it so happened that the Grands Cordeliers was a monastery
exclusively for men, and from which women were rigidly excluded.
Moreover, the morals of the holy brotherhood was not of the best, as
the writers of their history during that period unanimously testify.
M. de Guitaut, the captain of the Queen's guard, who had been
intrusted with the message, happened to be one of the "Birds," and he
assured the Regent that it was nothing but a little pleasantry on the
part of Ninon, who merited a thousand marks of approval and
commendation for her sterling and brilliant qualities of mind and
heart rather than punishment or even censure.
The only comment made by the Queen Regent was: "Fie, the nasty
thing!" accompanied by a fit of laughter. Others of the "Birds" came
to the rescue, among them the Duc d'Enghien, who was known not to
value his esteem for women lightly. The matter was finally dropped,
Anne of Austria finding means to close the mouths of the envious.