She was faithful to her friends, so long as they were in favor with the king; if they had the misfortune to displease him, she, at the very least, gave up seeing them; without courage or hardihood to withstand the caprices and wishes of Louis XIV., she had gained and preserved her empire by dint of dexterity and far-sighted suppleness beneath the externals of dignity.
She never forgot her origin.

"I am not a grandee," she would say; "I am a mushroom." Her life, entirely devoted to the king, had become a veritable slavery; she said as much to Mdlle.

d'Aumale at St.Cyr.

"I have to take for my prayers and for mass the time when everybody else is still sleeping.

For, when once they begin coming into my room, at half past seven, I haven't another moment to myself.