Part 4 Francois d'Aubigne

The Queen dies! Life is strange in this kingdom. The beautiful little Princess from Spain has succumbed to an illness that brought her down in her youth at the age of 38. She has remained true and faithful to the young prince that she has adored so madly, has cried herself to sleep at nights over his love affairs, has opened her arms to him when he dutifully came to her to bed with her. Her excitement at his lovemaking was always known the next day by her gleefully ringing bells and clapping her hands so that everyone knew that she and the King had made love the night before. Suddenly she was gone! The king expressed the view that she had never given him any trouble. ****Francois must have been devastated to learn this. The relationship between Athenais and the King disappeared when news came to light that members of the court had been using witchcraft, poisons, and enchantments, even black masses with the help of the witches who lived and prospered from the superstitious court and Parisian noblemen. Athenais was named as a purchaser of potions which had been used to seduce the King. The King wisely kept the proceedings upon which all the evidence was presented a secret, but the realization of what happened made him suspicious and cautious. The only woman he could trust it seemed was Francois. Exactly how much Francois was enamored with the King is unknown to be truthful. As any woman would be attracted by the power of the crown, Francois was especially mindful of the duty she had to save his soul from eternal hellfire. She saw herself as a saviour of the King, and for that reason alone, she was able to justify her friendship and love for him. Athenais continued to live in the chateau but she had been demoted and sent to live in another apartment while Francois was promoted and moved to an apartment nearer to the Kings. The children of Athenais were more solidly bonded to Francois than to their natural mother, especially the first child who had suffered a lame leg. Louis's interest in Francois had been due to her unusual care for this young boy. Soon after the King's death, Francois insisted upon a marriage to the king in secret and it is likely that she may have hoped to be acknowledged someday as the Queen. But she was hated and reviled by members of the court, so that none would accept her. ( A bit like Roxanne when Alexander married her.) Louis kept her a secret but it was the secret that everyone knew. They were in actuality husband and wife. (France today has acknowledged and accepted her.) Francois went on to create a girls school for the children of nobility. She spent the remainder of her life as the King's secret wife, and as headmistress of the School of St. Cyr. She survived the King, and went to live at the boarding school, not knowing if she would be treated well by the successors to the King or not. It was there at the school that Peter the Great traveled from Russia to see her. She was believed to be the woman behind the throne!