title: Madame Du Barry: The Wages of Beauty
author:  Joan Haslip 
description: Du Barry was the last in a long series of royal favorites doted on by the sexually voracious Louis XV. Her humble origins--she was the illegitimate child of a seamstress from Lorraine--made her unusual. Contemporaries often dismissed her as a mere whore, and most historians have treated her little better, calling her naive, frivolous, and vain. Haslip, author of previous biographies of Catherine the Great and Marie Antoinette, concludes that, except for her rare beauty, du Barry was a quite ordinary person who happened to be thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Despite occasional minor slips, the author's grasp of the Old Regime is generally reliable. Her book provides no surprises for specialists, but offers the general reader a clear, sure guide to life at the royal court of 18th-century France. Recommended for public libraries.<br /><i>- T.J. Schaeper, St. Bonaventure Univ., N.Y.</i><br />Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  ![cover](resources/_cover_.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  # The Jewels of Madame Lantin
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Guy de Maupassant
  
  
  This page copyright © 2001 Munsey's.
  
  
  http://www.munseys.com
  
  
  Monsieur Lantin had met the young girl at a reception at the house of the
  second head of his department, and had fallen head over heels in love with
  her.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  She was the daughter of a provincial tax collector, who had been dead several
  years. She and her mother came to live in Paris, where the latter, who made
  the acquaintance of some of the families in her neighborhood, hoped to find a
  husband for her daughter.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  They had very moderate means, and were honorable, gentle, and quiet.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The young girl was a perfect type of the virtuous woman in whose hands every
  sensible young man dreams of one day intrusting his happiness. Her simple
  beauty had the charm of angelic modesty, and the imperceptible smile which
  constantly hovered about the lips seemed to be the reflection of a pure and
  lovely soul