Madame de Maintenon was the second wife of Louis XIV.
When Louis XIV left to besiege Mons, Madame de Maintenon questioned the Marquis of Louvois, his minister of war:
— “Sir, do you guarantee his life?”
— “No, Madam, but I guarantee him glory.”
François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, Secretary of State for War for a significant part of the reign of Louis XIV.
Edmond Guérard, Dictionnaire encyclopédique d’anecdotes (Paris: Firmin Didot, 1872),
Vol. 2, 318. (Nobility.org translation.)
Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 380
