Letter 243. To Mademoiselle de Chantal

her daughter. Paris, 13 April [1620]. Vive > Jésus!

My dearest Daughter,—God be blessed for having so wisely and so happily guided you in the preliminaries of your approaching marriage. May His divine goodness give you perfect peace. I assure you, my darling, the more matters progress the more I feel satisfied. M. de Toulonjon is, in my opinion, the kindest of men. He has come back as contented as possible, and we have every reason to be the same. Oh! certainly, my dear Francon, you have indeed given me great pleasure by showing me such entire confidence, but on my part, oh! good God, how I have prayed and longed to see you happily settled, and how much more have I felt your troubles than my own. Truly your satisfaction always comes first with me, but of that there is no question. It is my love for you, you may be quite sure, that carried me away on this occasion, because I saw it was for your happiness. We certainly owe it all to the goodness of our Lord, who has taken care of you and me and heard our prayers. The enclosed letter will show you how much his Lordship of Bourges also desires this marriage. Well, now, you must remain firm, and if apprehensions about this or that try to take hold of you, shut the door resolutely upon them, and do not entertain them under any pretext whatsoever. Be led in everything by reason and by my poor counsel, which, believe me, my dear child, is very good for you, and if you continue to follow it you will find it is wise. Write out fully, as you promised me, all the sentiments of your heart and tell me if (as I hope) God has united it to that of M. de Toulonjon; for _ this, beyond all else, I desire, and I trust that God will in this way have blessed your first interview. As for me, my darling, I tell you in all truth what I have already written to you, that I find him altogether to my liking. I have more cordial affection for him than I can express. In short, all our relatives and friends who know him could not be more satisfied about it than we are.

As to your rings, M. de Toulonjon is very keen about them, and wants to send here a good part of the precious stones of Paris, so that I may buy all I like for you, and what I should like is that you purchase none of them, for to speak candidly, my dearest daughter, ladies of quality no longer wear them in this Court. They leave them to the wives of the townsfolk; however, you will have to choose as you like when you come. But I know not how I am to persuade M. de Toulonjon to this, for he begs of me, at least at the beginning, to send you pearls and ear-rings and a box of paints covered all over with diamonds, which is all that ladies carry now on their gown. Verily, we ought not to let M. de Toulonjon have his way in wanting to purchase so many things, for he has such an intense desire to please you in every possible way that there is nothing he would not get for you. If ever a wife ought to be perfectly happy, it is you. But you see how necessary discretion is on your side that you may hold him back. It will be much better to be a little careful and spend your money usefully than on such trinkets and vanities. As for me, I have no desire that my Francon should give herself up to such things, and my reputation is involved, for, being my daughter, you are called upon to be discreet and circumspect and prudently and usefully to set in order your affairs.

I can see very well that you know you are lady and mistress of both the heart and the goods of our dear and most kind M. de Toulonjon, and for this reason you should use discretion and a prudent carefulness. He wishes you to send a rough pattern here. Do so, but I am only going to allow one gown to be sent you; for more than that, considering all the other things he gets you, would be in no way reasonable. You can, if M. de Toulonjon wishes to help you, get one also made, though I would rather that he sent you the money. We will have it made according to the present fashion and of fashionable material, so that it can be worn anywhere.

See that Foretz is sold. To conclude, you ought not to get a wedding dress; it is ridiculed both amongst the Court ladies and the gentry, and besides, I most earnestly wish your marriage to be without any parade, and this I say bluntly. M. de Toulonjon told me that you do not wish to be married in the month of May. Have you no scruple about this? It is a superstition; however, I do not think you can be married in May, although he greatly wishes it; but notwithstanding his desire, at whatever cost, he wants to satisfy you; and so do I, provided you get rid of your scruple. He is writing you an account of how he was prevented from getting here as quickly as he desired, but he does not tell you how he came. As he was waiting at the post-house, a friend of his, a councillor of State, passed in his carriage, into which he threw himself without a sword and without having had any food, and arrived here like that. He is disappointed not to have been able to send you anything to-day, but will for Thursday. In a word, the more I see of this gentleman the more I like him, and I feel how you and I should thank God for this happy engagement. Send him a very courteous, cordial reply, and treat frankly and openly with him, showing him a reciprocal affection, for the time of ceremony is passed. His man is waiting downstairs for my letter. My desire, my dearest Fran¢on, is that you should love your betrothed with all your heart.

Adieu, my well-beloved daughter; write to me quite openly.

P.S.—A thousand salutations to our dear relatives. Adieu. Again I repeat, my dear Frangon, love absolutely him whom God has given us.