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205:, in which he portrayed Alexander and Mademoiselle de Sévigné Omphale. At a July 1668 supper, both Madame de Sévigné and her daughter were seated at the King's table. As the King was at that time between love affairs, it was widely speculated that Françoise-Marguerite would be his next mistress. The "honor" of royal mistress, however, fell upon the brilliant
242:, 36 years old and twice a widower, hailed from an ancient and distinguished Provençal family. He was remarkably ugly (his ugliness being a frequent family joke), yet tall, graceful, athletic, and charming. By all indications, he and Mademoiselle de Sévigné had fallen in love. They married in Paris on 27 January 1669.
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When Françoise-Marguerite reached the relatively advanced age of 23 without a husband, her mother began to despair of ever marrying off her daughter. However, on 4 December 1668, Madame de Sévigné wrote to her cousin Bussy, "At long last, the prettiest girl in France is marrying – not the prettiest
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On 4 February 1671, Madame de
Grignan left Paris to join her husband in Provence (the baby girl being shipped off to a convent for life.) The separation from Françoise-Marguerite left Madame de Sévigné bereft. "I look in vain for my daughter; I no longer see her, and every step she takes increases
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That same year, Louis XIV named
Monsieur de Grignan the lieutenant general of the King in Provence. Grignan was thus obliged to leave Paris and return to his family castle in the south of France. Madame de Grignan, having become pregnant shortly after the wedding, was convinced by her mother to
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Letter from Bussy-Rabutin to madame de
Seneville, 28 April 1678. ("Cette femme-là a de l'esprit, mais un esprit aigre, d'une gloire insupportable, et fera bien des sottises. Elle se fera autant d'ennemis que sa mère s'est fait d'amis et
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described her thus: "She has a keen mind, but it is a bitter sort of intelligence. She is unbearably vain, which will lead her to all sorts of stupid blunders. She will make as many enemies as her mother had made friends and admirers."
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made light of the situation: "And so the world is just too small / To find in it anyone at all / Who could be deemed worthy of her. / And the belle, knowing it well, / Disdains all, finds none acceptable."
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Thus began their correspondence. Over the span of nearly 30 years, Madame de Sévigné sent well over 1,000 letters to her daughter in the far-away
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the distance between us. (I am) still weeping, still swooning with grief," she wrote to Françoise-Marguerite only hours after her departure.
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Despite Françoise-Marguerite's sharp wit and renowned beauty, she was widely considered to be vain and cold. Her mother's cousin
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133:(10 October 1646 – 13 August 1705), was a French aristocrat, remembered for the letters that her mother,
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Matrimonial prospects presented themselves, but it is likely she repulsed all advances. In a madrigal,
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Correspondance de Roger de
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remain in Paris for the birth of her child. A daughter, Marie-Blanche was born in 1670.
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Françoise-Marguerite was born in Paris, France, on 10 October 1646, in the fashionable
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boy – but one of the most honest men in the kingdom: he is
Monsieur de Grignan".
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referred to
Mademoiselle de Sévigné as "A dazzling young beauty". The
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and the King's attentions drifted away from
Mademoiselle de Sévigné.
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Letter from Madame de Sévigné to Bussy-Rabutin, 4 December 1668.
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After her mother became well-established in the royal court of
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The
Letters of Madame de Sévigné to Her Daughter and Friends
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So-called portrait of
Francoise-Marguerite de Sevigne by
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wrote that she was "a beauty to set the world afire".
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Marie de
Rabutin-Chantal marquise de Sévigné (1874).
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Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné, comtesse de Grignan
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191:The next year, the King's brother, "Monsieur" (
240:François Adhémar de Monteil, comte de Grignan
101:François Adhémar de Monteil, comte de Grignan
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39:Portrait of the Countess of Grignan, after
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285:. Texte établi, présenté et annoté par
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298:Madame de Sevigne: a life and letters
149:Madame de Grignan, engraved portrait
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157:. She was the first child of
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300:. New York: Knopf. 1983.
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353:. Roberts Brothers.
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207:Madame de Montespan
186:Marquis de Tréville
27:comtesse de Grignan
296:Frances Mossiker.
293:. 1973–78. 3 vol..
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203:The Birth of Venus
182:Isaac de Benserade
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289:. Paris:
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81:Marseille
107:Children
83:, France
64:, France
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