Frontenac, on his part, was the most wayward and
headstrong of men. She bore him a son; but maternal cares were not to
her liking. The infant, Francois Louis, was placed in the keeping of a
nurse at the village of Clion; and his young mother left her husband,
to follow the fortunes of Mademoiselle de Montpensier, who for a time
pronounced her charming, praised her wit and beauty, and made her one
of her ladies of honor. Very curious and amusing are some of the
incidents recounted by the princess, in which Madame de Frontenac bore
part; but what is more to our purpose are the sketches traced here and
there by the same sharp pen, in which one may discern the traits of
the destined saviour of New France. Thus, in the following, we see him
at St. Fargeau in the same attitude in which we shall often see him at
Quebec.
The princess and the duke her father had a dispute touching her
property. Frontenac had lately been at Blois, where the duke had
possessed him with his own views of the questions at issue.
Accordingly, on arriving at St. Fargeau, he seemed disposed to assume
the character of mediator. "He wanted," says the princess, "to discuss
my affairs with me: I listened to his preaching, and he also spoke
about these matters to Prefontaine (_her man of business_).
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