Masquerade and Enigma at the Court of Louis XIV

Abstract

One of the balls at Marly provided another ridiculous scene…. M. and Mme de Luxembourg were at Marly; since there were not enough dancers, Mme de Luxembourg was invited, but only with great difficulty since she lived in such a manner that no woman wanted to see her…. M. de Luxembourg was perhaps the only person in France who did not know of his wife's conduct, since she lived with him with such regard, esteem, and apparent friendship that he had not the least suspicion of her. Because there were too few dancers the King ordered even those beyond the normal age to dance, including M. de Luxembourg. It was a masquerade: [and since] Luxembourg was… on very good terms with M. le Prince [de Conde], who had the most taste in the world for fetes, masquerades, and galanteries, he went to him for a disguise. M. le Prince, more clever than any monkey, and never having friendship for anybody, agreed to it to amuse himself and to give the court a farce: he invited Luxembourg to supper, then disguised him according to...