On this day, Louis XV writes to the Duke of Parma:
“My very dear grandson, I looked in vain for your last letter in order to reply to it. I must have left it at Saint-Hubert, or burnt it by mistake; I will let you know about it in about 8 days. I embrace you very tenderly my dear grandson.
Louis
PS The last letters from Spain apprise us that your grandmother received the last sacraments on the 19th and that there is nothing more to hope for.”
Commentary:
The King says that he will let his grandson know what happened to the letter in 8 days because he will be back at Saint-Hubert by then.
Saint-Hubert is one of the many small private houses owned by Louis XV. Courtiers may only follow him to his private houses when invited. Most of them are no more than hunting lodges, and in some cases mere pavilions. Saint-Hubert is in the forest of Rambouillet and the King leases it from his cousin the Duc de Penthièvre. Louis XVI will later buy the whole Rambouillet domain from Penthièvre.
Pictured: The château of Saint-Hubert painted on the lid of a snuff box.
The King is very fond of Saint-Hubert and has used it regularly for decades. Even though he only has it on lease, he has spent a lot of money on it and enlarged it considerably. It no longer exists.
The grandmother that the King refers to is Ferdinand of Parma’s paternal grandmother, Elisabeth of Parma. She is the widow of Philip V and the mother of the present King of Spain, Charles III. She is the grandmother not only of the Duke of Parma but of the King of Naples, too. Both are named Ferdinand. She was born the niece of the last Duke of Parma of the house of Farnese; it is through her that Duke Ferdinand derives his claim to Parma.
Pictured: Elisabeth of Parma (1692-1766), the last living Farnese, at this date Dowager Queen of Spain.
Queen Elisabeth, known as Isabel in Spain, has only 3 days to live as of the date of this letter, which means she will already be dead when Ferdinand receives it.
The translation from the French is my own, as it always is unless I credit someone else. If you have questions that I have not addressed in the commentary, please ask in the comments.