Let us now see what was taking place under Nanon's roof while Baron de
Canolles was vainly seeking some one to sup with him, until, growing
weary of the profitless quest, he decided at last to sup by himself.
Nanon, whatever her enemies may have said or written--and among her
enemies must be accounted the great majority of the historians who have
devoted any space to her--was, at this period, a charming creature of
some twenty-five or twenty-six years; small of stature, dark-skinned,
but with a supple, graceful figure, bright, fresh coloring, eyes of
deepest black, in whose limpid depths all the passions and emotions
found expression: gay on the surface, in appearance a laughing siren.
But Nanon was very far from giving her mind to the whims and follies
which embroider with fantastic designs the silky and golden woof of
which the life of a _petite-maîtresse_ ordinarily consists. On the
contrary, the most weighty conclusions, long and laboriously reasoned
out in her shapely head, assumed an aspect no less seductive than clear
when enounced by her vibrating voice, in which the Gascon accent was
very marked. No one would have divined the untiring perseverance, the
invincible tenacity, and the statesmanlike depth of insight which lay
beneath that rosy, smiling mask, behind that look overflowing with
voluptuous promise, and glowing with passion. And yet such were Nanon's
qualities, good or bad according as we look at the face or the reverse
of the medal. Such was the scheming mind, such the ambitious heart, to
which her seductive body served as envelope.
Nanon was of Agen. Monsieur le Duc d'Épernon, son of that inseparable
friend of Henri IV. who was in his carriage when Ravaillac's knife
struck him, and was the object of suspicions which did not stop short
of Marie de Médicis--Monsieur le Duc d'Épernon, appointed governor of
Guyenne, where his arrogance, his insolence, and his exactions caused
him to be generally execrated, was captivated by the little creature,
who was the daughter of a simple attorney. He paid court to her, and
conquered her scruples with great difficulty, and after a long defence
maintained with the skill of a consummate tactician determined that the
victor shall pay the full price of his victory.
But, as the ransom of her thenceforth ruined reputation, Nanon had
despoiled the duke of his power and his freedom. At the end of the
first six months of her liaison with the governor of Guyenne, she was
the _de facto_ ruler of that fair province, returning with interest the
injuries and insults she had received from all those who had slighted
or humiliated her. A queen by chance, she became a tyrant by design,
shrewdly realizing the advisability of supplementing the probable
brevity of her reign by abusing her power.
As a consequence, she seized upon everything she could
reach,--treasure, influence, honors. She was enormously wealthy,
distributed appointments, received visits from Mazarin and the leading
noblemen at court. With admirable skill she made of the various
elements that she had at her disposal a combination useful to her
credit, and profitable to her fortune. Every service that Nanon
rendered had its stated price. There was a regularly established
tariff for appointments in the army and in the magistracy: Nanon would
procure this position or that for some fortunate individual, but it
must be paid for in hard cash or by a royal gift; so that when she
relaxed her hold upon a fragment of power for the benefit of one person
or another, she recouped the fragment in another form, giving up the
authority, but retaining the money, which is its active principle.
This explains the duration of her reign; for men, in their hatred,
hesitate to overthrow an enemy who will have any consolation remaining
in his downfall. Vengeance thirsts for total ruin, for complete
prostration. Nations are reluctant to expel a tyrant who would carry
away their money, and depart with smiling face. Nanon de Lartigues had
two millions.
And so she lived in a species of security over the volcano which was
unceasingly shaking everything about her to its foundations. She had
felt the popular hatred rise like the tide, increase in force, and
assail with its waves the power of Monsieur d'Épernon, who, when
hunted from Bordeaux in a day of wrath, had carried Nanon in his wake,
as the ship carries the skiff. Nanon bent before the storm, ready to
stand erect again when it should have passed; she had taken Monsieur
de Mazarin for her model, and, an humble pupil, she practised at a
distance the political tactics of the clever and pliable Italian.
The cardinal's notice was attracted by this woman, who waxed great
and wealthy by the same method which had made him a prime minister,
possessed of fifty millions. He admired the little Gasconne; he
did more than that,--he let her do as she chose. Perhaps we shall
eventually know why.
Notwithstanding all this, and although some who claimed to be better
informed averred that she corresponded directly with Monsieur de
Mazarin, but little was said of the fair Nanon's political intrigues.
Canolles himself, who, however, being young and rich and handsome,
could not understand the need of intriguing, did not know what to
think upon that point. As to love-affairs, whether it was that Nanon,
in her preoccupation by more serious matters, had postponed them
to a more convenient season, or that the gossip caused by Monsieur
d'Épernon's passion drowned whatever noise any secondary amours might
have made, even her enemies were not lavish of scandalous reports in
her regard, and Canolles was justified in believing, as a matter of
personal and national self-esteem, that Nanon was invincible before
his appearance upon the scene. It may be that Canolles was, in truth,
the beneficiary of the first real passion of that heart, hitherto
accessible to ambition only; it may be that prudence had enjoined upon
his predecessors absolute silence. At all events, Nanon, as mistress,
was a fascinating woman; Nanon, insulted, was like to be a redoubtable
foe.
The acquaintance between Nanon and Canolles had come about in the
most natural way. Canolles, a lieutenant in the Navailles regiment,
aspired to the rank of captain; in order to obtain the promotion,
he was obliged to write to Monsieur d'Épernon, colonel-general of
infantry. Nanon read the letter, and replied in the ordinary way,
making a business appointment with Canolles. He selected from among
his family jewels a magnificent ring, worth some five hundred pistoles
(it was less expensive than to purchase a company), and betook
himself to the place appointed for the meeting. But on this occasion
Canolles, preceded by the renown of his previous triumphs, upset all
Mademoiselle de Lartigues' calculations. It was the first time that
he had seen Nanon; it was the first time that Nanon had seen him; they
were both young, handsome, and clever. Their conversation consisted
chiefly of reciprocal compliments; not a word was said concerning the
business which brought them together, and yet the business was done.
The next day Canolles received his captain's commission, and when the
ring passed from his finger to Nanon's it was not as the price of
gratified ambition, but as a pledge of mutual love.