Montespan

Mabille particularly likes Mata Hari or The Marquise de Montespan as women of intrigue.

Yet after the dismissal of Montespan she seemed to be such, until she had with transcendent art and tact attained her end.

And this appeared even long before Madame de Montespan had lost her ascendency.

The court which she adorned and ruled was not so brilliant as it had been under Madame de Montespan, but was still magnificent.

Maintenon always appealed to the higher nature of the King; Montespan to the lower.

If the palace was not so gay as during the reign of Madame de Montespan, it was more decorous and more intellectual.