Let us hasten over his marriage with Mademoiselle de Lorges, who proved
a good wife. It was this time a grandmother, the Marechale de Lorges,
who managed the treaty; and Saint-Simon became the happy husband of an
innocent blonde, with a majestic air, though only fifteen years of age.
Let us hasten on, passing over his presents; his six hundred louis,
given in a corbeille full of what he styles 'gallantries;' his mother's
donation of jewellery; the midnight mass, by which he was linked to the
child who scarcely knew him; let us lay all that aside, and turn to his
court life.
At this juncture Louis XIV., who had hitherto dressed with great
simplicity, indicated that he desired his court should appear in all
possible magnificence. Instantly the shops were emptied. Even gold and
silver appeared scarcely rich enough. Louis himself planned many of the
dresses for any public occasion. Afterwards he repented of the extent to
which he had permitted magnificence to go, but it was then impossible to
check the excess.
Versailles, henceforth in all its grandeur, contains an apartment which
is called, from its situation, and the opportunities it presents of
looking down upon the actors of the scene around, _L'OEil de Boeuf_.
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