PARIS, Monday, January 3, 1689.
Your dear son arrived this morning. We were delighted to see him and
M. du Plessis; we were at dinner when they came, and they ate very
heartily of our repast, which was already somewhat impaired. Oh, that
you could have heard all the marquis said of the beauty of his company!
He first asked if the company was arrived; and on the question, whether
it was a fine one, this was the answer he received: “Indeed, sir, it
is; it is one of the finest that ever was seen; _it is an old company_,
and more to be prized than the _new ones_.” You may guess the effect
such an encomium must have on a person who was not known to be the
captain. Our boy was in raptures the next day at the sight of his noble
company mounted; the men, made on purpose, as it were, and selected by
you, and the horses cast in the same mold, gave him such high spirits,
that M. de Chalons[240] and Madame de Noailles (his mother) entered
into his feelings of joy. He has been received by these pious persons
as the son of M. de Grignan; but why do I tell you all this? it is the
marquis’ business.
[240] Louis Antoine de Noailles, Bishop de Chalons sur Marne,
afterward Archbishop and Cardinal of Paris.