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