Ninon de l'Enclos - Influential Women in History

By Anon Anon

This book is part of a series on historical female figures. It features the French author and courtesan, Ninon de l'Enclos who lived between 1620 and 1705. She was a figure of wit and beauty in the literary salons of the epoch.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Sep 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473353855

Book preview

Ninon de

l’Enclos

Influential Women in History

Contents

Ninon de l’Enclos

NINON DE L’ENCLOS

PREMIERE SIREN OF TWO CENTURIES.

THIS story opens with the account of a deathbed scene; somewhat different from any other you may have read. It is brought in to throw a light on what heredity and careful instruction can do in molding a young mind. But don’t necessarily skip it for that reason.

One day in 1630, the Sieur de L’Enclos lay dying in his great, dreary bedroom in his great, dreary Touraine castle. There was no especial tragedy about the closing of his life. He was elderly, very rich, and possessed of a record for having used, to the full, every minute of a long and exciting life.

Beside his bed stood a fifteen-year-old girl, his only daughter, Anne; affectionately nicknamed by him—and later by all Europe and still later by all history—Ninon. She was something below medium height, plump, with a peachblow complexion, huge dark eyes, and a crown of red-gold hair. Ninon and her father had been chums, kindred spirits, from the girl’s babyhood.

The dying noble opened his eyes. They rested lovingly on the daughter who had bent down to hear the whispered sounds his white lips were striving to frame. Then, with a mighty effort, De L’Enclos breathed his solemn last words of counsel to the girl—counsel intended to guide her through the future that he knew must lie before so rich and so beautiful a