Note 665 — BOOK IV[649]

Marie Anne de Mailly (1719-1744) married the Marquis de La Tournelle in 1734. He left her a widow at the age of twenty-three, and she became mistress, in succession to her sisters Mesdames de Vintimille and de Mailly, to Louis XV., who created her Duchesse de Châteauroux. She obtained the support of the Duc de Richelieu, and was for a time all-powerful at Court, accompanying Louis at the head of his armies in Flanders and Alsace. In 1744, when the King fell ill, she was sent back to Paris in disgrace, but was restored to favour on his recovery, and was on the point of becoming Superintendent of the Dauphiness' Household, when she died a sudden death, attributed by some to poison.—T.