PARIS, Wednesday, October 27, 1677.
I shall no longer, my child, ask you why. In three words, my horses are
thin, my tooth is loose, and my preceptor has got the king’s evil. All
this is dreadful. One might well make three grievances of these three
answers, and especially of the second. I shall not ask you after this,
whether your watch goes right, for you will then tell me it is broken.
Paulina answers much better than you do; nothing can be more amusing
than the little rogueries she means to be guilty of, when she says she
will be a _rogue some day or other herself_. Ah, how sorry I am that I
can not see this dear child! I fancy you will soon console me for this,
if you pursue the plan I have laid down to you; you will set out at
furthest in a week, and will not receive this letter at Grignan. M. de
Coulanges is to set out to-day by the stage-coach for Lyons, where you
will find him; he will inform you how delightfully we are accommodated.
There was no hesitation in choosing the upper part of the house for you
and me, and the lower for M. de Grignan and his daughters; so that all
will be perfectly well.
I recommend to all your Grignans, who are so careful of your health,
to see that you do not fall into the Rhône, by the cruel pleasure you
take in exposing yourself to its greatest dangers. I entreat them to
turn cowards, and to land with you. I find, besides, that I shall be
very happy to administer to you some of my chicken-broth. The place you
desire at my table, you may be assured is yours. The regimen which your
Grignans prescribe for you is my ordinary fare. I agree with Grisoni to
banish all ragouts.