title: Before Versailles: A Novel of Louis XIV
author:  Karleen Koen 
description: <b>Louis XIV is one of the best-known monarchs ever to grace the French throne. But what was he like as a young manthe man before Versailles?</b><br /> <br /> After the death of his prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin, twenty-two-year-old Louis steps into governing France. Hes still a young man, but one who, as king, willfully takes everything he can getincluding his brothers wife. As the love affair between Louis and Princess Henriette burns, it sets the kingdom on the road toward unmistakable scandal and conflict with the Vatican. Every woman wants him. He must face what he is willing to sacrifice for love.<br /><br />But there are other problems lurking outside the chateau of Fontainebleau: a boy in an iron mask has been seen in the woods, and the kings finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet, has proven to be more powerful than Louis ever thoughta man who could make a great ally or become a dangerous foe . . .<br /><br />Meticulously researched and vividly brought to life by the gorgeous prose of Karleen Koen, <i>Before Versailles</i> dares to explore the forces that shaped an iconic king and determined the fate of an empire.
zlib_text: The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Louis XIV., Volume 4 by Duc de
  Saint-Simon
  
  
  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no
  restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the
  terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
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  Title: The Memoirs of Louis XIV., Volume 4 And His Court and of The Regency
  
  
  Author: Duc de Saint-Simon
  
  
  Release Date: December 3, 2004 [EBook #3863]
  
  
  Language: English
  
  
  Character set encoding: ASCII
  
  
  START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MEMOIRS OF LOUIS XIV.,
  
  
  
  
  
  Produced by David Widger
  
  
  
  
  
  ` MEMOIRS OF LOUIS XIV AND HIS COURT AND OF THE REGENCY  
    
  BY THE DUKE OF SAINT-SIMON  
  `
  
  
  
  
  
  VOLUME 4.
  
  
  CHAPTER XXV
  
  
  Canaples, brother of the Marechal de Crequi, wished to marry Mademoiselle de
  Vivonne who was no longer young, but was distinguished by talent, virtue and
  high birth; she had not a penny. The Cardinal de Coislin, thinking Canaples
  