Free Louis the Well-Beloved by Jean Plaidy Page B

as her carriage rolled southwards.
    Louis had not said goodbye to her. She had not known at first that she was being sent away. She had merely thought that she was going on a visit.
    Now she had been told. ‘You are going home. Will that not be delightful? You will see your dear family; and how much more pleasant it will be to live in your own country!’
    ‘Is Louis coming?’ she had asked.
    ‘No. Louis must stay in France. You see, he is the King.’
    ‘But I am to be the Queen.’
    ‘Perhaps of some other country, eh, my little one?’
    Then she had understood, and she could not speak for crying. Ever since that day at the firework display, when he had spoken to her, she had always believed that one day he would love her. He had spoken to her several times since then – not much, but when she had said to him it was a fine day he had agreed, and she adored him.
    But it was all over. She was no longer the affianced bride of the beautiful King of France.
    So, though she stared at the French countryside, the little Infanta was aware of nothing but her own grief.

    Madame de Prie laughed when she heard of the reactions of Philip V.
    ‘He is so furious,’ declared Bourbon, ‘that he is ready to go to war. He declares that he will not allow his daughter to be so insulted.’
    ‘Let us not concern ourselves with him.’
    ‘He is sending back the Regent’s daughter, widow of Luis.’
    Madame de Prie snapped her fingers. ‘That for the Regent’s daughter! Let her come back. We will accept her in exchange for their silly little Infanta. Come, we must find Louis a wife quickly.’
    The persistent Madame de Prie had already made a list of ninety-nine names; among these were the fifteen- and thirteen-year-old daughters of the Prince of Wales – Anne and Amelia Sophia Eleanor.
    Bourbon hesitated over these two before he said: ‘But they are Protestants! The French would never accept a Protestant Queen.’
    Even Madame de Prie was ready to concede that he was right on that point.
    ‘There is young Elizabeth of Russia . . .’ she began; then she stopped.
    She must be very careful in this choice of a bride for the King. If a dominating woman were chosen, all her efforts would be in vain. Who knew what influence a wife might not wield over one as young and impressionable as the King.
    Then she turned to her lover, her eyes shining.
    She said slowly: ‘When I was searching for a bride for you I selected the most humble woman I could find.’
    ‘Marie Leczinska,’ said Bourbon.
    ‘My friend,’ cried Madame de Prie, ‘I am going to ask you to relinquish your bride. The King shall have her instead.’
    ‘Impossible!’ murmured Bourbon; but a light of excitement had begun to shine in his eyes.
    ‘Have I not told you that nothing shall be impossible?’
    ‘The people will never accept her.’
    She threw herself into his arms. She was laughing so much that he believed she was on the verge of hysteria.
    ‘I have decided,’ she said. ‘I swear that in a very short time Marie Leczinska shall be Queen of France.’

  Chapter III  
    MARIE LECZINSKA – QUEEN OF FRANCE
    I t was quiet in the sewing-room of the Wissembourg house. Mother and daughter stitched diligently; they were both working on a gown of the daughter’s, which caused them many a grimace, for the gown should by now have been consigned to the rag-bag or at least to a lower servant.
    How tired I am, thought the ex-Queen of Poland, of living in such poverty!
    The younger woman had not the same regrets, for she could not remember anything but a life of exile and poverty. She had been mending her clothes and getting the last weeks of wear out of them for the greater part of her life.
    ‘Perhaps,’ sighed the Queen, ‘our luck will change one day.’
    ‘Do you think my father will be recalled to Poland?’
    Queen Catherine laughed bitterly. ‘I see no reason whatsoever why he should be.’
    ‘Then,’ said Marie Leczinska, ‘how could it