This morning we left Compiègne and travelled to La Muette, a beautiful little château nestled like a pearl in the verdant Bois de Boulogne on the outskirts of Paris. We stopped en route at the imposing, dark Carmelite convent at Saint Denis so that I could pay my respects to the King’s youngest daughter Louise who came here a few months ago, determined to take the veil and become a nun.
Madame de Mailly told me all about it during the bumpy carriage ride there. ‘It caused the most terrific scandal,’ she whispered with relish. ‘Madame Louise had been saying for a long time that she wanted to leave the court and devote her life to God but of course no one believed her and in fact we all thought that she was being rather melodramatic and attention seeking about the whole thing. However it turned out to be true!’
‘What happened?’ I couldn’t imagine how anyone could possibly prefer the austere life of the cloister to the excitement of court. ‘Did the King know?’
‘Oh, well he apparently knew all about it and had refused his consent for many years until finally one day he decided that enough was enough and gave his permission. She left early the next morning and went straight to the convent where it is said that she spends her days praying for her father’s soul.’
I laughed. ‘How very noble of her! I do hope that he is grateful for her concern!’
Madame de Mailly joined in my laughter but then shook her head and tried to look severe. ‘Oh no, we must not mock! You do not yet know how superstitious the poor King is about such things!’ She smiled. ‘I wish that you could have seen how furious Madame Adélaïde was when she found out. I could hear her screams of chagrin from several rooms away.’
‘Did Madame Louise not wish to marry?’ I asked, still curious about this princess who had abandoned her life to take the veil.
The Comtesse sighed. ‘The King likes to keep his daughters close and only one, Madame Infante was ever sent away to be married.’ She lowered her voice then, which I had come to realize was a sign that she was about to impart some particularly juicy morsel of information. ‘I have heard that he had plans to marry Louise to Charles Edward Stuart, the pretender to the English throne but it didn’t happen after all.’
I was rather disappointed to find that Madame Louise was not the gentle, beautiful heroine that I had imagined her to be but instead a rather dumpy woman with a loud voice, strident manner and the thick black eyebrows that afflicted her nephew, the Dauphin. She looked me swiftly up and down in the brisk way that all Frenchwomen do then gave an approving nod before talking at length about how terrible the dinners in the convent are. I am starting to realize that the Bourbons only really become truly animated when they are on the subject of food.
After I had bowed my head to receive her blessing we all left and drove on to La Muette, entirely bypassing the centre of Paris so that I caught only the merest glimpse from my window despite straining back to see as much as I could of the French capital.
‘I had thought that we would see more,’ I remarked in some annoyance to Madame de Chaulnes.
She gave a small shrug. ‘The King does not like to go there.’
I immediately looked to the Comtesse de Mailly for an explanation but she just pursed her lips and shook her pretty head.
This is the first portrait I have seen of Louis XV’s daughter, Louise….. the insights/information on their family are very interesting!
I have a couple of paintings of her as a nun that I will hopefully be able to use later on.
Oh, good! I remember reading that MA remarked later on that ‘Aunt Louise’ was the most meddlesome nun in the whole of France. Apparently, being in the convent did not deter her from seeking favors from the court!