The incensed woman carried
the scene to a ridiculous point, refusing to listen to reason or
explanation.
"No, he said 'Ninon,' and Ninon it was."
The story spread all over Paris, and when it reached Ninon, she
laughed immoderately, her friends dubbing her "The successor of
Belus." Ninon told Moliere the ridiculous story and he turned it to
profit in one of his comedies in the character of Countess
d'Escarbagnas.
At the expiration of three years, peace had come to France after a
fashion, the cabals were not so frequent and the rivalry between the
factions not so bitter. Whatever differences there had been were
patched up or smoothed over. Ninon's return to the house in the Rue
des Tournelles was hailed with joy by her "Birds," who received her as
one returned from the dead. Saint-Evremond composed an elegy beginning
with these lines:
Chere Philis, qu'etes vous devenues?
Cet enchanteur qui vous a retenue
Depuis trois ans par un charme nouveau
Vous retient-il en quelque vieux chateau?
CHAPTER XIII
The Marquis de Sevigne
It has been attempted to cast odium upon the memory of Mademoiselle de
l'Enclos because of her connection with the second Marquis de Sevigne,
son of the celebrated Madame de Sevigne, whose letters have been read
far and wide by those who fancy they can find something in them with
reference to the morals and practices of the court of Versailles
during her period.
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