[289] This only son of Madame de Sévigné inherited neither her
genius, her virtues, nor her energy of character. She treated him
always with great kindness, but was never blind to his faults.
Her judicious management seems to have had a salutary effect on
him, after the follies of his youth were over. He reformed in a
measure, and, in 1684, married Jeanne Marguerite de Brenant de
Mauron of a noble and rich family. This alliance was a great joy
to Madame de Sévigné, and it is to the illness of this beloved
daughter-in-law that she alludes in the second letter.