been the victim of such terrible proceedings." The trial of the murderers was conducted in secret, and Madame de Montespan was al lowed to depart from Paris. She had not been away from the capital long before Louis sent for her and promised her royal protec tion, destroying with his own hands much of the evidence against her. He wa's careful to break off his attachment for her in truly royal and diplomatic manner, allowing her a pension of .one million two hundred thousand dollars a year as long as she lived, together with all her personal belongings, furniture, china, pictures, and plate which she had amassed in her apartments at Paris and Versailles. The king then turned his back on her and she was not even allowed to attend the wedding of her daughter to the Duke de Chartres. La Voisin was the only one of the mur derous gang to suffer the death penalty. Guibourg and his horrible paramour, Chanfrain, escaped the torture and the stake to die in prison, and scores of innocent persons who were guilty only of having spoken with them in their preliminary confinement, so great was the king's dread of scandal, were condemned to a similar fate to ensure their silence regarding any chance information they might have learned. One of the gang,
a woman named La Guesdon, lingered in prison, chained to the wall of her cell, for thirty-six years, her companion, in the same cell, La Chappelain, another prisoner, sur vived for forty years. Madame de Montespan survived the trial twenty-seven years and devoted her life to good works. She even humiliated herself so far as to visit Mile, de la Valliere, who was in a convent and known as Sister Louise de la Misericorde, living a life of great aus terity. Madame de Maintenon, who had been in the service of Montespan as gov erness of her son, and who had supplanted her in the affections of the king, took charge of the fallen favorite's children and did her duty by them, bringing them up as though they had been her own. Madame de Mon tespan died May 27, 1707, truly penitent, and respected by all who had known her in the last years of her life. Her sons were ennobled and the daughters made most bril liant alliances. The trial of La Voisin brought out thac besides Madame de Montespan one hundred and sixty-five of the leading people of France were accused of murderous malpractice, in cantations, and sorceries. It was fortunate for them that the king's mistress was one of the accused.
