her, among whom was Mademoiselle de Pisselen, who was since duchess d'Etampes; the king fell in love with her, though she was inferior in birth, wit and beauty to the duchess of Valentinois, and had no advantage above her but that of being very young. I have heard her say several times, that she was born the same day Diana de Poitiers was married; but she spoke this in the malice of her heart, and not as what she knew to be true; for I am much mistaken, if the duchess of Valentinois did not marry monsieur de Breze, at the same time that the king fell in love with madam d'Etampes. Never was a greater hatred than that between these two ladies; the duchess could not pardon madam d'Etampes for having taken from her the title of the king's mistress; and madam d'Etampes was violently jealous of the duchess, because the king still kept correspondence with her. That prince was by no means constant to his mistresses; there was always one among them that had the title and honours of mistress, but the ladies of the small band, as they were styled, shared his favour by turns. The loss of the dauphin, his son, who died at Tournon, and was thought to be poisoned, extremely afflicted him; he had not the same affection and tenderness for his second son, the present king; he imagined he did not see in him spirit and vivacity enough, and complained of it one day to the duchess of Valentinois, who told him, she would endeavour to raise a passion in him for her, in order to make him more sprightly and agreeable. She succeeded in it, as you see, and this passion is now of above twenty years' duration, without being changed either by time or incidents.
The late king at first opposed it; and whether he had still love enough left for the duchess of Valentinois to be jealous, or whether he was urged on by the duchess d'Etampes, who was in despair upon seeing the dauphin so much attached to her enemy, it is certain he beheld this passion with an indignation and resentment, that showed itself every day by something or other. The dauphin neither valued his anger or his hatred,
