The crooked atoms of Descartes triumphed; to the man without compassion was united a woman without heart.

The marquise perceived, with sorrow rather than indignation, that the king was an accomplice in the plot which betrayed the duplicity of Louis XIII.

in his advanced age, and the avarice of Mazarin at a period of life when he had not had the opportunity of gorging himself with French gold.

The spirit of this courageous woman soon resumed its energy, no longer overwhelmed by indulgence in compassionate lamentations.

The marquise was not one to weep when action was necessary, nor to waste time in bewailing a misfortune as long as means still existed of relieving it.