CHAPTER XX

Louis Henri de Bourbon-Condé--He assumes the title of Duc de Bourbon, instead of that of Prince de Condé, and is known as _Monsieur le Duc_--His personal appearance--He loses an eye by a shooting accident--His military career--He becomes President of the Council of Regency on the death of Louis XIV.--His protection of John Law--His wealth--His character--His marriage with Marie Anne de Bourbon-Conti--Singular intrigue which precedes it--His indifference to his wife--His amours--The financier Berthelot de Pléneuf--Gallantries of Madame de Pléneuf--Saint-Simon’s portrait of her--Her daughter, Agnès de Pléneuf--Singular beauty and intelligence of this young girl--Violent jealousy which her mother conceives for her--Marriage of Agnès to the Marquis de Prie, who is soon afterwards appointed Ambassador at Turin--Her life at Turin--Disgrace and bankruptcy of Berthelot de Pléneuf--Financial straits of the de Pries--Madame de Prie comes to Paris to intercede with the Government on her husband’s behalf--Calumnies concerning her spread by her mother and her partisans--Her relations with the Regent 281–295

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