Mademoiselle d’Orléans, Lotte

Mademoiselle d’Orléans, Lotte is the daughter of Monsieur and Madame, and at court she is both a royal daughter and the young woman whom Marie-Josèphe serves as lady-in-waiting. Her brief appearances establish a relationship that moves between warmth, teasing, and instruction: she draws Marie-Josèphe into the lively social world of court, but sometimes exposes how vulnerable her friend is to its judgments. Lotte’s most revealing gesture is not a display of rank but an apology, offered after her humor has caused hurt.

Identity and Introduction

Lotte first appears beside Marie-Josèphe in the carriage of Monsieur and Madame during the royal procession at Le Havre. The procession stretches fifty carriages along the cobbled street, with the people pressing close to cheer the King and admire the court’s finery. The carriage carrying Monsieur and Madame is second in magnificence only to the King’s. Inside, Monsieur sits opposite Marie-Josèphe, while Lotte sits beside her; the Chevalier de Lorraine occupies the other side of Marie-Josèphe. That seating places Lotte immediately beside the young woman entering a world she has previously only imagined.

The spectacle affects Lotte as it does Marie-Josèphe. She leans out of the carriage window, nearly as excited as her companion. The small, active gesture distinguishes her from the Chevalier de Lorraine, who lounges through the journey, bored. Lotte is not merely carried through a royal display: she responds to it with visible enthusiasm, sharing the excitement of the moment with Marie-Josèphe.

Marie-Josèphe’s own reflection clarifies their courtly positions. Now that she is at court, she must remember to address Lotte as Mademoiselle; she is there as Lotte’s lady-in-waiting. Their closeness therefore exists within a formal hierarchy. Lotte is the royal daughter and Marie-Josèphe her attendant, yet the scenes between them show familiarity that reaches beyond the prescribed roles.

A Familiar Welcome at Court

When Marie-Josèphe returns to the royal family after being away, she curtsies, kisses Madame’s hem, and embraces Lotte. Lotte stoops to kiss Marie-Josèphe on the lips and cheek. The exchange makes their affection visible through contrasting court gestures: Marie-Josèphe performs the deference owed to her mistress, while Lotte bends down to meet her as a close companion.

Even this intimate greeting takes place amid the elaborate demands of appearance. Lotte moves carefully so as not to dislodge her fontanges, the ruffled headdress set above her dressed hair, with ribbons and lace falling down her back. The detail gives the embrace a particular physical delicacy: she welcomes Marie-Josèphe warmly while preserving the elaborate arrangement that court dress requires. Madame greets Marie-Josèphe too, noting that the family missed her at Mass. Lotte’s closeness is thus part of a household setting where affection and public decorum coexist.

The relationship is not wholly private or free from rank. Marie-Josèphe is expected to behave properly toward her royal mistress and her daughter, and that expectation shapes what she feels able to say. But Lotte’s kiss, embrace, and later apology show that the connection is not reducible to the lady-in-waiting’s service. Lotte receives Marie-Josèphe as someone whose presence matters to her.

Teasing, Hurt, and Repair

Lotte also uses humor in ways that place Marie-Josèphe at a disadvantage. After Madame observes that Marie-Josèphe was missed at Mass, Lotte laughs and suggests that she may instead have been with Lucien de Chrétien. Madame tells her daughter to hush. The teasing makes Marie-Josèphe’s private associations a subject of amusement in front of the royal family, even as Lotte delivers the suggestion with delight.

In another exchange, Marie-Josèphe falls silent rather than defend herself against ridicule from her royal mistress. She feels hurt that Lotte takes pleasure in making fun of her, but the courtly position she occupies prevents her from answering freely. Lotte then says that she did not mean it and apologizes. She asks Marie-Josèphe to let her teach her everything about the world, remarking on the ignorance the nuns have left her with. The offer is affectionate, but its phrasing also captures the imbalance between them: Lotte assumes the role of worldly instructor, while Marie-Josèphe is treated as inexperienced and in need of guidance.

Marie-Josèphe answers that the nuns sought to preserve her innocence, and begins to say what she believes the holy sisters themselves do not know before lowering her voice. Lotte supplies the blunt term aloud and offers to tell her about Ninon de L’Enclos, whom she has met, while noting that the information could cause trouble if the King or Madame found out. She distinguishes Madame from a courtesan, showing that her lessons concern not only sexual knowledge but the categories and reputations through which court society understands women. The exchange presents Lotte as bold enough to speak plainly where Marie-Josèphe hesitates, though the warning about discovery also shows that her candor has limits.

Character and Narrative Role

Lotte’s portrayal rests on a revealing tension rather than a single social manner. She can turn Marie-Josèphe into the target of a joke, laugh at the implication, and then recognize the injury and apologize. Her promise to teach her friend about the world is an attempt to restore closeness, though it does not erase the unequal positions from which they speak. Lotte has the confidence to name subjects that Marie-Josèphe can barely voice; Marie-Josèphe, in turn, defends the nuns’ innocence instead of simply accepting Lotte’s judgment of their ignorance.

These moments make Lotte a mediator between courtly intimacy and courtly exposure. She welcomes Marie-Josèphe with a kiss, shares the excitement of a royal procession, and offers lessons in worldly knowledge; she also participates in the teasing that reminds Marie-Josèphe how little freedom her position allows. The selected episodes do not establish a final resolution to their relationship. They do, however, show its characteristic movement: affection draws the two women together, humor tests that bond, and Lotte’s apology opens the way back to companionship.