The Affair of the Poisons: Murder, Infanticide and Satanism at the Court of Louis XIV (23 page)

However, after Athénaïs had lost a total of 3,400,000 livres,
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he became guilty that so much money was being squandered at a time when many of his subjects were oppressed by heavy taxation. He now virtually ceased to gamble, but Athénaïs’s excesses continued. In early March she lost 4 million livres in one sitting but insisted on playing on through the night. By 8 a.m. she had won it all back and when the bank tried to end the game, she insisted she needed time to recover a further 100,000 pistoles, which she had lost on a previous occasion. Only after regaining this money did she finally retire to bed.
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Having decided that matters had now gone too far, the King announced that he would pay her outstanding gambling debts but that
basset
could no longer be played at court.

By this time Athénaïs had become aware that Louis had taken a new mistress. The King had tried to be secretive, enlisting the aid of the Prince de Marcillac who, despite being one of Athénaïs’s oldest friends, had done all he could to facilitate Louis’s affair with Mlle de Fontanges. Accompanied only by a few bodyguards, the King would travel to Paris under cover of darkness for assignations with Mlle de Fontanges at his brother’s town house, the Palais Royal. However, his attempts to be discreet did not succeed: his movements were observed and Athénaïs was alerted to what was happening.
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At first she did not appear to mind very much but then, on 4 March, it was reported that there was mounting tension between ‘the two sultanas’. The Comte de Bussy prophesied that ‘jealousy will embroil the seraglio’ and, sure enough, after a row with the King, Mme de Montespan stormed from court on 15 March and went to Paris. Some people assumed that because Easter was approaching the King had suggested she retire for a time, but others were sure that it was her jealousy of Mlle de Fontanges that had prompted her departure. The King’s disgust at her frenzied gambling was thought to have exacerbated the estrangement, while heightening his ardour for his new mistress.
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The next few weeks were tempestuous as an angry Athénaïs flitted back and forth between Paris and the court. Since she was being so awkward it was thought that the King would soon oblige her to leave the court permanently but in mid-April an accommodation was reached, which apparently resolved the situation. Although Athénaïs had ceased to be the King’s mistress, Louis thought it fitting that ‘in recompense for past services’ she should be offered a position of great status. For years Athénaïs had coveted the post of
Surintendante
of the Queen’s household, an office which entitled its holder to be ranked as an honorary duchess, bringing with it such privileges as the right to sit on a
tabouret
in the Queen’s presence. Since 1660 the post had been held by the Comtesse de Soissons, who had defied all Athénaïs’s earlier attempts to dislodge her, but the King now summoned the Comtesse and ordered her to relinquish the position. She had no alternative but to obey and was compensated for her loss with a payment of 200,000 écus.
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Athénaïs declared herself satisfied with the way things had turned out. To emphasise his regard for her, the King still paid her brief visits after mass and after supper although, to avoid unpleasantness, he was always accompanied by his brother. Athénaïs told her old friend the Duc de Noailles that this suited her very well. ‘Everything is very calm here … It is much better to see each other seldom and on easy terms than frequently and with awkwardness.’
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For a time it seemed that everything would be civilised. The King was said to be frantically in love with Mlle de Fontanges but he took great pains to conceal it. In public he took no notice of her, reserving his affection for their private meetings. To ensure these went undetected, a small suite of rooms was constructed for Mlle de Fontanges above the King’s bedroom at Saint-Germain, connected by a hidden staircase. Few people were aware of this until, bizarrely, two pet bears belonging to Mme de Montespan found the door open and ‘avenged their mistress’ by devastating the apartment.
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Meanwhile Mme de Montespan was apparently deriving consolation from religion. She ‘went alone to churches’ and had conferences with the King’s confessor, Père de La Chaise, and another priest named Père Cesar. The Queen, at least, was impressed by what she took to be sincere contrition, though cynics believed that Mme de Montespan was hoping to recapture the King’s heart by this moving display of devotion.
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A year later allegations would be made suggesting that Athénaïs had been making more sinister use of her time. One suspect arrested during the Affair of the Poisons would imply that during these months Mme de Montespan met with a woman in Paris named Magdelaine Chapelain. Her intention, it was claimed, was to arrange for a servant to be placed in the household of Mlle de Fontanges in order to poison the young woman.

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Athénaïs’s attempts to convey the impression that she had accepted her altered situation were not wholly successful. It was reported that she frequently broke down in tears and at times she abandoned all pretence of Christian resignation. Apparently without being conscious of any irony, she would rant ‘against the great sin committed by Mlle de Fontanges’.
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At the end of August 1679 the Electress of Hannover attended the marriage by proxy of Monsieur’s daughter to the King of Spain, which took place at Fontainebleau. She was interested to see that Mme de Montespan and Mlle de Fontanges were seated in the same row of the chapel. She noted that the former ‘seemed sullen and to regard with mortification the triumph of her young rival, who was in full dress and apparently in high spirits’. Athénaïs’s dejection was understandable, for the King ‘looked with far greater devotion at Mlle de Fontanges than at the altar, raising his head frequently to look at her in her raised tribune’. A month later Mme de Montespan and the King were overheard having a furious argument in the orangery at Versailles, in the course of which Louis grumbled ‘that he was being tormented excessively and he was sick of it’.
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That autumn arrangements were made for Athénaïs to set up gaming tables in her court apartments. The courtiers commented that she would be well advised to immerse herself in gambling and leave the King in peace. Mme de Scudéry remarked, ‘Provided that she can do without love she will be treated with consideration by the King. That’s all an upright gentleman can do when he is no longer in love.’ To add to Athénaïs’s pain the King was becoming less reticent about showing his passion for Mlle de Fontanges. Work started on a magnificent house for the young woman, and a detachment of guards now escorted her when she travelled from palace to palace. All this led observers to conclude that the King’s love for her was growing stronger every day.
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On New Year’s Day 1680 Mlle de Fontanges appeared at a celebratory mass attended by the King wearing magnificent jewels and looking ‘like a goddess’. It seemed that she and the King were now set on flaunting their love, for her dress was made of the same material as his coat and both outfits were trimmed with blue ribbons. Later that day she confidently presented Mme de Montespan with a New Year’s gift in the shape of an engagement diary studded with precious stones. The Comte de Bussy commented, ‘I doubt whether that brings her her friendship.’
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In view of the fact that Mlle de Fontanges was no longer kept hidden away, there was general surprise a fortnight later when she did not appear at the wedding of Mlle de Blois (the King’s daughter by Louise de La Vallière) to the Prince de Conti. It soon transpired that she had had a miscarriage and, though it was assumed that she would swiftly recover, this turned out to have very serious consequences.

On 22 February 1680 the King left Saint-Germain to travel in slow stages to meet the Princess of Bavaria who had been chosen as a bride for the Dauphin. Mlle de Fontanges was deemed strong enough to go too and set off in a magnificent carriage, pulled by eight horses. It was rumoured that the King had sent her a generous cash endowment prior to departure. This can only have been welcome for, as her magnificently attired servants in grey liveries testified, she was spending at a lavish rate.
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On 27 February Monsieur gave a ball in the King’s honour at Villars Cotteret and Mlle de Fontanges attended, looking marvellous. Astonishingly Mme de Montespan deserved some of the credit for this: she had helped Marie-Angélique to get dressed, a curious echo of the days when Louise de La Vallière had waited on her like a chambermaid. It was clear that Mlle de Fontanges’s health remained delicate, for though she looked lovely she was too weak to do much dancing. However, her love for Louis was undimmed. At another ball a few days later she entered and then approached the King directly, ‘looking neither to left nor right’ as she traversed the ballroom. She had to be prodded into acknowledging the Queen, whose presence she had ignored. Though the King seemed a little embarrassed by his mistress’s blatant display of adoration, onlookers could tell that it also gave him pleasure.
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On 6 April Mlle de Fontanges was created Duchesse de Fontanges and endowed with a pension of 80,000 livres. Athénaïs was furious that her young rival should enjoy an honour which, during the lifetime of her husband, could never be conferred on her. ‘Yesterday she wept a lot,’ reported Mme de Sévigné. ‘You can imagine what a martyrdom her pride is suffering.’ However, some wise observers considered that the ennoblement of Marie-Angélique ‘smells of dismissal’.
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Before long, events proved them right.

There were various reasons why the King’s passion proved so transient. At the start of the affair the Comte de Bussy had presciently observed, ‘Wit is necessary to make love last; and Fontanges is very young to have it.’ She was far too insipid to amuse a man who was so easily bored as the King and one source claimed that her stupidity was such that Louis was actually ashamed when other people heard her speak. As for her physical allure, that had been diminished by her failure to recover from her miscarriage. Louis should have been sympathetic on the grounds that this was ‘a wound received in his service’, but he was always intolerant of ill health in others. The fact that she was suffering from ‘a very stubborn and disobliging loss of blood’ seriously incommoded him, for sleeping with her became problematical. Worse still, after a time her body began to swell and her beautiful face became slightly puffy.
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There were also spiritual pressures on the King. Once again Easter was approaching, so it was the season for the King’s annual attack of guilt. This year his conscience may have been particularly sensitive, for it was whispered that the Pope himself was trying to reform his morals, having apparently sent instructions that the King’s confessor, Père de La Chaise, must resign if Louis continued his affair with Mlle de Fontanges.
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Besides this, in the past three months the Affair of the Poisons had devastated the court, as numerous grand people there had come under suspicion of poisoning and involvement in occult practices. This perhaps inclined the King to ponder matters such as sin and redemption rather more deeply than was usual for him. The long conversations he was having daily with his children’s governess, Mme de Maintenon (the former Mme Scarron), may also have encouraged serious reflections.

Shortly after being created a duchess, Mlle de Fontanges left court to spend Easter at Maubuisson Abbey, where her sister was abbess. While she was away she was treated by the prior of Cabrières, a holy man who claimed to be able to cure persistent ailments and who currently was held in high repute. For a time it seemed that he had worked wonders, for when Mlle de Fontanges arrived back at court on 2 May she appeared fully recovered. On her return the King visited her immediately, all his scruples seemingly having been dispelled now that she was once again in ‘a condition to please’.
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However it turned out that she was only in temporary remission and by the end of the month she was as ill as ever.

On 3 July it was reported that the King now regarded her with ‘extreme indifference’ and that the poor young woman was often in tears as she knew she had lost his love. Since her sister had recently been transferred from Maubuisson to take up the position of Abbess of Chelles, on 17 July Mlle de Fontanges set off to visit her there. Her departure underlined the fact that she had achieved a great deal in material terms, for she travelled in an impressive cavalcade of six coaches, none pulled by fewer than six horses. However, as Mme de Sévigné observed, in other ways the scene was so poignant as to inspire compassion: ‘The beauty losing all her blood, pale, altered, overwhelmed with sadness, thinking nothing of forty thousand écus of income and a
tabouret,
which she has, and desiring health and the King’s heart, which she does not.’
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She was no better by September, and Mlle de Fontanges now began to voice dark suspicions. Claiming that she must have been poisoned, she requested the King to provide her with guards for her own protection.
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However, nothing could halt her decline, which relentlessly continued. When she returned to court at the end of the month she spent most of the time languishing in her room, where the King paid her only fleeting and infrequent visits.

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These developments should have favoured Mme de Montespan, but her fortunes showed no sign of reviving as Mlle de Fontanges’s sank lower. Athénaïs’s relations with the King had, in fact, been tense for most of the year. On 30 April the Comte de Bussy had reported, ‘Mme de Montespan has fallen to a point which is scarcely credible; the King does not look at her and, as you may imagine, the courtiers follow his example.’ The following month the King had a furious altercation with her while they were driving from Saint-Germain to Fontainebleau in the Queen’s carriage. It started when he made a fairly mild protest about her reeking of scent, which, as usual, made him feel sick. Athénaïs at once flared up, whereupon the King lost his temper and an unpleasant row ensued.
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