When the marechal came to see me at Mont-Louis, was uneasy at receiving him and his retinue in my only chamber; not because I was obliged to make them all sit down in the midst of my dirty plates and broken pots, but on account of the state of the floor, which was rotten and falling to ruin, and I was afraid the weight of his attendants would entirely sink it.Less concerned on account of my own danger than for that to which the affability of the marechal exposed him, I hastened to remove him from it by conducting him, notwithstanding the coldness of the weather, to my alcove, which was quite open to the air, and had no chimney.When he was there I told him my reason for having brought him to it; he told it to his lady, and they both pressed me to accept, until the floor was repaired, a lodging at the castle; or, if I preferred it, in a separate edifice called the Little Castle, which was in the middle of the park.This delightful abode deserves to be spoken of.
The park or garden of Montmorency is not a plain, like that of the Chevrette.It is uneven, mountainous, raised by little hills and valleys, of which the able artist has taken advantage, and thereby varied his groves, ornaments, waters, and points of view, and, if Imay so speak, multiplied by art and genius a space in itself rather narrow.This park is terminated at the top by a terrace and the castle; at bottom it forms a narrow passage which opens and becomes wider towards the valley, the angle of which is filled up with a large piece of water.Between the orangery, which is in this widening, and the piece of water, the banks of which are agreeably decorated, stands the Little Castle, of which I have spoken.This edifice, and the ground about it, formerly belonged to the celebrated Le Brun, who amused himself in building and decorating it in the exquisite taste of architectural ornaments which that great painter had formed to himself.The castle has since been rebuilt, but still according to the plan and design of its first master.It is little and simple, but elegant.As it stands in a hollow between the orangery and the large piece of water, and consequently is liable to be damp, it is open in the middle by a peristyle between two rows of columns, by which means the air circulating throughout the whole edifice keeps it dry, notwithstanding its unfavorable situation.When the building, is seen from the opposite elevation, which is a point of view it appears absolutely surrounded with water, and we imagine we have before our eyes an enchanted island, or the most beautiful of the three Borromeans, called Isola Bella, in the greater lake.
In this solitary edifice I was offered the choice of four complete apartments it contains, besides the ground-floor, consisting of a dancing room, billiard room and a kitchen.I chose the smallest over the kitchen, which also I had with it.It was charmingly neat, with blue and white furniture.In this profound and delicious solitude, in the midst of woods, the singing of birds of every kind, and the perfume of orange flowers, I composed, in a continual ecstasy, the fifth book of Emile, the coloring of which I owed in a great measure to the lively impression I received from the place I inhabited.
With what eagerness did I run every morning at sunrise to respire the perfumed air in the peristyle! What excellent coffee I took there tete-a-tete with my Theresa.My cat and dog were our company.
This retinue alone would have been sufficient for me during my whole life, in which I should not have had one weary moment.I was there in a terrestrial paradise; I lived in innocence and tasted of happiness.
At the journey of July, M.and Madam de Luxembourg showed me so much attention, and were so extremely kind, that, lodged in their house, and overwhelmed with their goodness, I could not do less than make them a proper return in assiduous respect near their persons; Iscarcely quitted them; I went in the morning to pay my court to Madam la Marechale; after dinner I walked with the marechal; but did not sup at the castle on account of the numerous guests, and because they supped too late for me.Thus far everything was as it should be, and no harm would have been done could I have remained at this point.But I have never known how to preserve a medium in my attachments, and simply fulfill the duties of society.I have ever been everything or nothing.I was soon everything; and receiving the most polite attention from persons of the highest rank, I passed the proper bounds, and conceived for them a friendship not permitted except among equals.Of these I had all the familiarity in my manners, whilst they still preserved in theirs the same politeness to which they had accustomed me.Yet I was never quite at my ease with Madam de Luxembourg.Although I was not quite relieved from my fears relative to her character, I apprehended less danger from it than from her wit.
