On this day, at Compiègne, Louis XV goes out to hunt. As usual, he takes the 2 princesses with him in his gondole, but also Mlle de Nesle and Mme de Ségur. Mme de Mailly cannot join them because she is on duty this week, but she is present at the post-hunt supper in the evening. After the hunt, the King inspects the trench that is being dug around the fort.
Commentary:
The King hunts 3 times a week at Versailles, but even more frequently at Compiègne in the summer and at Fontainebleau in the autumn. His guests are conveyed to the starting point of the hunt in gondoles, which are not boats, but extra-large open carriages that can seat up to 10 passengers. Any ladies invited to follow the hunt usually travel in the King’s gondole. At the starting point of the hunt, the guests transfer from the gondoles to horseback or small calèches.
Pictured: A presumed portrait of Louise-Julie de Mailly-Nesle (1710-1751), Comtesse de Mailly by marriage to a cousin, by Grimou.
Mme de Mailly is the King’s first maîtresse-en-titre, or publicly acknowledged “official” mistress. She naively brought one of her sisters, whom our diarist refers to as Mlle de Nesle, into her household and introduced her to the King. It is becoming increasingly clear that the King is beginning to fall under Mlle de Nesle’s spell.
Pictured: Pauline-Félicité de Mailly-Nesle (1712-1741), soon to become Comtesse de Vintimille by marriage.
No doubt Mlle de Nesle is taking full advantage of her sister’s absence from the hunt this week. Why is Mme de Mailly absent? She is a lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie. Ladies-in-waiting serve a week at a time on a rota. It is not unheard of for a lady-in-waiting to ask for leave, but Louis XV’s consort is presumably in no mind to dispense with Mme de Mailly’s services.
The King has not come to Compiègne only to hunt. He is also here to observe the annual army manoeuvres. Among various military exercises being carried out this year is the construction of a fort.
If you have questions that I have not addressed in the commentary, please ask in the comments.
Mlle de Nesle…quite the operator.