The Bastille was once the Bastille Castle, and the square in front of the castle is still a place where people are happy to gather today, it is more suitable for actors and dancers than the Boulevard of the Queens, their performances are easy to be vulgar, but definitely not boring, and even make people laugh, the people gather in a circle, either applauding or whistling, and the Medici Anna sees a bohemian woman training a group of white rats to drill into the ring of fire, climb the rope ladder, and can barely move her steps. The Duke of Colonna stood beside her, took off his hat, and waved at a window, knowing that his mother would always stand at the window where the Louvre could be seen, hoping to see her king and husband.

It took Anna to realize what a mistake she had made after watching the whole play, and she apologized uneasily to the Duke of Colonna, but the Duke of Colonna just shook his head, "I'll take you to meet someone." He said, "Someone who is very important to me." ”

The Duke of Colonna said this, which made the Medici princess can't help but arouse a little curiosity, and as she followed the Duke all the way, she kept hearing the sound of someone leaving with heavy steps, which should have been deliberately turned away, and the black-clad priest walked ahead of them, with his hands in his cuffs— The clergy were a necessary part of the court, or an indispensable part of the court, not only the lords of the Roman Church, but also the ministers of the king, but this seemingly amiable clergyman, even the Duke of Colonna, showed enough respect and caution to him—was he also a relative of the Bourbon family, or was he an unspeakable honor? Princess Anna guessed this, not noticing that her pace was slowing down, and the Duke of Colonna glanced at her, remembering that Anna was only a child, and that Marie Mancini's room was at the top, and that the castle's spiral staircase was often deliberately made different in order to prevent the enemy from attacking, so that the enemy would suffer in an unfamiliar environment (of course, his own people were familiar and accustomed to it in advance) - an adult male would be out of breath when he climbed the highest room, let alone a child.

So he whispered "rude" and lifted Anna up and placed her on his shoulder.

The Duke of Colonna inherited Louis's height, and with Anna, he almost touched the bottom of the upper staircase, and Anna had to bow her head and hold the head of the Duke of Colonna, which was also a new experience for her, Cosimo III was a good father, but he was weak and barely held any of his children.

They continued to climb for more than ten minutes before they came to a walkway, the priest took out the key and opened the door, and Princess Anna saw that it was actually an en-suite, the curtain leading to the bedroom was hanging, the blue-gray stone bricks were covered with a thick woolen carpet, although there was no fire in the fireplace, but a thick layer of soot could be seen, indicating that it was used very frequently, and the furniture in the small hall was complete, the triangular cupboard, the inclined desk, the small round table and three or four chairs, and a man with a velvet mask was standing in front of the window," Look at them.

The Duke of Colonna put the princess down, stepped forward quickly, took the man's hand and kissed it, the man reached out and stroked the duke's curly hair and shoulders affectionately, and his back, and he spoke, not French but Italian, with a Sienese accent, and Princess Anna looked at them in amazement, she really couldn't guess what kind of relationship this man had with the duke.

Their guide for today, the black-clad priest and the duke finally took a step back, and stepped forward—the princess could not see how he moved, perhaps it was so simple that she took off the velvet mask, and under the mask—the princess thought she would see a face that belonged to a young or old gentleman, but no, hidden behind the mask turned out to be a woman, probably about the same age as Anna's current lady, Madame d'Aubigne, and she looked at Anna with delight and a little surprise," This is the Duke's fiancée?" she asked the Duke of Colonna, who coughed a little embarrassed.

"Probably yes. Elarius said that he also looked at Marie, and perhaps he thought that he would see reluctance and remorse in this Mancini, but if he were to say that the Duchess of Colonna, the Duchess of Cologna, seemed to be in a better situation than she had been in Calais or Versailles—he hoped that she had really woken up, and that she had not had other unpleasant thoughts.

Mary took two steps, and Princess Anna's eyes were full of curiosity - the church would tell people that as long as witches wear men's pants, this crime was even written in Joan of Arc's verdict - but this was not wrong, because Marie Mancini was indeed a witch.

Mary took a deep breath first, although the mask was a product of magic, and it did not interfere with her sight, breathing, eating, etc., but it was still a shackle, and it was good to be able to get rid of it for a while, she wanted to go to Anna and take a closer look at her, but as if she had thought of something, she picked up an apple from the round table on the side, put it on a silver plate, and tapped it with her fingertips, and the apple automatically split apart and became a shaved rabbit - the ears of the apple peel were still fluttering.

"Wow!" Princess Anna exclaimed uncontrollably, "Thank you," she shyly addressed the ...... Madame curtsied her knees, and although she did not yet know the identity of the other party, the Duke of Colonna had already set an example.

"This is my mother. The Duke of Colonna said: "Duchess of Colonna. ”

"The Duchess of Colonna has been laid to rest in a Roman mausoleum, and now I am only a nameless prisoner," said Marley, and when she saw a hint of confusion in the girl's eyes, she smiled, "Don't think too much, child, just think that today's visit is just a strange dream," she sighed softly, and turned to Elelius, "please thank your majesty for me." ”

"Your Majesty says there is no need to thank you," said Elarius, "and when he made such arrangements for the Duke of Colonna, he decided that you must see the Duke's future wife with your own eyes." ”

Mary turned her head suddenly, even if she could only see her back, she knew that she had taken several deep breaths to calm her emotions, the three people at the end of the room tacitly did not disturb her, and when Mary turned around a few minutes later, she already looked as usual: "Can you let them sit with me?"

"Of course," said Elarius, "you have an afternoon." ”

The afternoon was indeed a wonderful dream for the Medici Anna, who shared many magics, sweets and jokes with the Duke of Colonna in a high-security prison, in a splendid cell, with a noble lady in men's clothes, and in the twilight the little princess took a nap, she was carried down by the silent Duke of Colonna, and before boarding the carriage, she was awakened, and drank a small bottle of potion.

The potion would have blurred her previous memories, and she would only remember that the Duke of Colonna had taken her on a tour of half of Paris, and she would have a good time, and maybe one day she would remember what had happened today, but at that point, it wouldn't matter much.

————

When Princess Anne awoke, it was noon the next day, and her nurse, Madame Barbie, complained that the Parisians were too ...... Indulgence, while serving the princess a rich breakfast, for the king has to summon them this afternoon, "It is said that Your Majesty wishes you to be guided by the teachers with the princess and the princess. ”

"But I already have Madame d'Aubigne. Madame d'Aubigne was Anna's teacher, and she was in charge of several subjects, from needlework to French.

"Unlike this one," said Madame d'aubigne, who walked in at this moment, "this is the Duchess of Orleans's junior school for girls, and you will have more teachers and classmates. ”

"That's a bit out of place," muttered Madame Barbie, for it was a bit absurd that most of the ladies of the age were educated in monasteries or at home, rather than sitting with a bunch of strange girls in some "school" and learning what only men studied.

"I think it's good. Madame d'aubigne said that her tone was soft, but on the contrary she had a pair of sharp, determined eyes: "I think that would be a good thing." ”

——————

"What do Parisians think?" asked Louis.

"They think it's a bit ridiculous. Said the Duke of Orleans. "You've got classes like that—if kids between the ages of six and 10 were just learning to draw, read and write, and do some simple calculations that they could understand—the older girls were learning almost as much as they were taught in college. ”

"In other words, how many people refuse to enroll?"

"On the contrary," said the Duke of Orleans, "they flocked to it, and now a place is probably equivalent to a vineyard – still a price." ”

"Did anyone transfer it?"

"No one has done such a foolish thing, brother," said the Duke of Orleans, "and everyone knows that you made the list yourself. ”

Louis nodded, indeed, he was not so eager as to think that he could do it overnight, not only was there no male in this school—from students to teachers, not to mention students, there were never many scandals between teachers and students—he had read the collection of letters between Father Abelard and Heloris, who was the teacher of the young girl Heloris, and Louis XIV never tested human nature lightly.

Not only that, but the students of the school were also selected so as not to be hired by those who wanted to, and Louis was not afraid, but he was worried that his primary education would not be carried out.

It was not impossible for him to prepare only for boys, but the Huguenots did not send boys and girls to school because they found that education in both was indispensable for the healthy and stable development of a community. After all, in addition to the father, the mother also plays an important role in the family, and it can even be said that before the age of six, the children's initial ideas and beliefs are created by the mother.

In addition, he asked the Duchess of Orleans to preside over the matter, also in the hope that she would be able to escape from the shadow of being nearly murdered by his brother.

————

Although Parisians have a lot of talk about this girls' school, they still flock to it for many reasons, such as the school is located on the Île de la Cité in the Seine, on which Notre-Dame Cathedral and Chapel are located, and the location of the school is opposite the Louvre, although the king now lives more often in the Palace of Versailles, he still lives in the Louvre for a few weeks every once in a while, and his court and court will also move to the Seine.

Then there was the king's list, and the list of princes, dukes, but also officers and officials, without exception, were people who were trusted by the king, who had either fought with the king or had served the king for many years, and who sent their daughters to the king's school almost without hesitation, even if the reacting ones offered a price that was almost impossible to refuse.

This desire became even more fervent after the Duchess of Orleans explicitly declared that only girls on the list could be enrolled.

As for those lucky girls, it is needless to say how shocked and ecstatic they were when they saw the eldest princess and the princess in their own class.

In fact, there were only a hundred pupils, a dozen teachers—no way, there could be more, but there were too few ladies who could be teachers, and most of the teachers here were from the École des Sciences Française, to put it simply, the wives and daughters of the bachelors and professors, who had the privilege of being exposed to the flowers, and who had a lot of free time and books, so that they did not know how to juggle between the living room, the bedroom, and the kitchen, as other women did.

There were also some teachers from the aristocracy—ladies who were as talented as pearls and could not be covered by dust.

For example, the Duchess of Montpensier's companion, Madame Lafayette, who had been humiliated by Felipe Jules Mancini, after the death of the former, escaped his magic and went to the countryside to recuperate for a few years, and then the Duchess of Montpensier was pardoned and returned to Paris, where she was invited to accompany the Duchess.

It was only the Duchess of Montpensier who did not expect that the Duchess of Orleans revealed her intention to recruit female teachers, and Madame Lafayette immediately recommended herself.

Madame Lafayette had by this time completed two books, teaching classics in the school, and was in charge of the senior students, the girls between the ages of ten and fourteen, and the lower students were in charge of another foreign teacher, Madame Françoise Aubigne, who was said to have been originally French, but later went to Italy, and some said that she was from humble beginnings, but Madame Lafayette had tea with her, and talked with her, and thought that this lady was not inferior to herself, or to other teachers.

It can only be said that there are too many people who prefer to spread rumors and slander others.