The Marquise de Merteuil’s flight follows the unanimous defeat of her lawsuit and makes her legal loss a public financial collapse. Still ill, she departs alone during the night, carrying off her diamonds and other valuables while leaving nearly 50,000 livres in debt; the letter reporting the event places her apparent escape beside the family’s preparations for Cécile Volanges to enter the convent as a postulant.

The lawsuit and its stakes

The lawsuit had been a substantial concern for the Marquise. Before the judgment, she announced that the case would be heard at the beginning of winter and presented herself as confident: her lawyers assured her she was in the right, and she expected to prevail even against the minor children and their elderly guardian. She planned to bring two lawyers with her to the country, where she would supposedly devote herself seriously to the proceedings. Her breezy confidence made the coming defeat a sharp reversal.

Judgment and financial consequences

The case was decided unanimously against her. The court awarded the minors costs, damages, and restitution of the proceeds from the disputed property. The little of her fortune not already at risk in the suit was consumed, and more than consumed, by the resulting expenses. The ruling therefore did not merely deny her claim: it left her facing liabilities that exceeded her remaining resources.

The night departure

On learning the judgment, the Marquise made arrangements and left at night by post, though she was still sick. She went alone; her servants later said that none of them had agreed to follow her. Those around her believed she had taken the road to Holland, but the report presents this destination as a supposition rather than a confirmed fact.

She carried away her diamonds, silverware, jewelry, and everything else she could take. The diamonds were particularly contentious because they were supposed to return to her husband’s estate. Along with the valuables, she left debts of nearly 50,000 livres, a departure the letter calls a genuine bankruptcy. The flight thus compounds the court’s judgment with a new grievance over property and an abrupt abandonment of her creditors.

Aftermath and narrative contrast

The family was to assemble the following day to arrange matters with the creditors. Madame de Volanges offered to take part despite being only a distant relative, but would not attend: the same day, Cécile was to take the habit of a postulant. Her letter links the Marquise’s escape and unpaid debts to a quieter family reckoning, while also recalling that Madame de Volanges regarded her own silence as part of the reason she was obliged to make this sacrifice. The juxtaposition sets the Marquise’s flight from financial consequences against a mother’s presence at her daughter’s withdrawal from social life.