Ritual , Secrecy , and Civil Society
him ; I loved him with an unbridled , unreasoned passion ; he has paid me back with a contempt that is unreasoned and perhaps also unbridled , like my love .” 9
The friendship of other women is an important characteristic of masonry that may well have appealed to the duchess . Like many grande dames of the day , the Duchess de Bourbon often sought the close friendship of another woman , a confidente . She also seemed to talk very openly to the Baroness d ’ Oberkirch . It may well be that the close friendships formed in the masonic lodges served as palliatives for this woman , who had to endure not only the unhappiness of a husband openly flaunting his infidelities with members of her entourage and the inaccessibility of her only child , but also the lack of compassion of many of her peers who expected her to bear her plight with dignity and stoic indifference . The eighteenth-century Court was rife with adultery and stunted mother-child relations , and women were expected to adjust accordingly . There was little sympathy for those who could not .
Another feature of the duchess ’ s interest in freemasonry could well have been her fascination with mysticism , which was also a part of the freemasonic experience . Her problems with the infidelities of the duke reached a climax with one particular incident that , according to the Baroness d ’ Oberkirch , led the Duchess to her “ highly exalted ” mystical ideas . 10 The incident took place at the Mardi Gras Ball in 1778 . The blatantly unfaithful Duke de Bourbon had recently tired of his well-known affair with Mme . de Canilhac . Mme . de Canilhac had once been the Duchess de Bourbon ’ s traveling companion but had been dismissed when her affair with the duke became common Court gossip . The Duchess de Bourbon entered the ball on the arm of Mme . de Canilhac ’ s brother-in-law . They met the Count d ’ Artois , brother of the King , with Mme . de Canilhac herself . The details of what occurred then vary , for the story became quite well known and changed as it spread around the Court . For some reason , the Count d ’ Artois said something offensive to the duchess , who snatched the mask off the count ’ s face . The count in turn crushed the duchess ’ s mask while it was still on her face . The incident was reported by the duchess to her friends , and the count took the story to his friends and to his brother the King . As the Baroness d ’ Oberkirch said , “ It was a shocking scandal .” 11
The criticism at Court and the displeasure of the King appear to have been the catalysts for the Duchess ’ s withdrawal into her flights of mysticism . She became fascinated by Franz Anton Mesmer , who arrived in Paris in 1778 with his theory of animal magnetism . All bodies , Mesmer claimed , were filled with a fluid individuals could control and reinforce by “ mesmerizing .” Because sickness was caused by a blockage to the flow of fluid through the body , mesmerizing or massaging the body ’ s poles could restore health . 12 Mesmer backed his theories with practical application : he helped patients make dramatic recoveries in public performances that included fainting , convulsions , communal self-help sessions , and magnetic baths . Occasionally Mesmer treated his followers to a demonstration of somnambulism , the deep sleep wherein one could communi-
9
Ibid ., 2:22 .
10
Ibid ., 2:21
11
Ibid ., 2:24-5 .
12
Robert Darnton , Mesmerism ( New York : Schocken , 1968 ), pp . 3-4 . 6