On this day, a Sunday, Louis XV leaves Versailles for La Meutte, where he will stay until Tuesday. While there, he entertains Mademoiselle, Mlle de Clermont, Mme d’Antin, the Maréchale d’Estrées, and Mme de Mailly to supper. The latter’s sister, Mlle de Nesle, is also present. It is her first time.
Commentary:
La Meutte, nowadays spelled La Muette, is one of Louis XV’s private houses. It is only a hunting lodge, so the ladies usually stay nearby at the old but spacious royal château of Madrid. The King usually invites the gentlemen who hunt with him to supper at the end of the day. Ladies, who may or may not have followed the hunt, are often but not always invited to join them.
Pictured: The château of La Meutte.
Mademoiselle and her sister Mlle de Clermont are princesses of the Blood, cousins of the King from the Condé branch of the Bourbon clan. Mademoiselle is the appellation at court of the King’s senior unmarried female relation who is not his own descendant. Louis XV has no nieces, so Mademoiselle is in this case his eldest unmarried Condé cousin. Beautiful, amusing, and somewhat older than the King, she is very close to him during these years and more or less organizes his private social life. She is believed to have introduced him to Mme de Mailly, who has been his mistress for years although their relationship only became public within the last year or two.
Pictured: A presumed portrait of Louise-Julie de Mailly-Nesle, Comtesse de Mailly, by Nattier or one of his followers.
Mlle de Nesle’s presence at this supper is telling. Not only has she just made her debut in the King’s private circle, it is also the first time that she is mentioned by our diarist. She will soon take her sister’s place in the King’s bed if she has not already done so. She is better remembered by her married name, Mme de Vintimille. We will hear much more about her in the coming months and years.
Pictured: A portrait of Pauline-Félicité de Mailly-Nesle, Marquise de Vintimille, by Nattier.
The King’s stay at La Meutte is very short this time. On Tuesday, he will proceed to Chantilly for a brief stay with his cousin the Prince de Condé. The final destination is Compiègne, where the court goes every year in late spring and early summer for up to 6 weeks.
If you have questions that I have not addressed in the commentary, please ask in the comments.
Condé Nast was an American publisher and entrepreneur whose eponymous publishing company is the parent company of publications like Vogue.
Curious, I did a little digging and found that his grandfather was a banker named Louis Auguste Benoist, a descendant of "a prominent French family" who emigrated to Canada, then to Missouri. That's all I can find, but I wonder... if his grandfather Louis is descended from a prominent French family, might there be any aristocratic connection, at some point, to the Condé branch? Hence the name being given as a first name, in honor of those roots, perhaps?
Dig that Nattier portrait. She has a very...frank...gaze.