Her most frank letters are those which she did not send by post, but which she was able to give to travelers to Germany. In letters like this she doesn't mince her words and vent her heart when Monsieur's favorites in the Palais Royal tyrannize her or the hatred she had for Madame de Maintenon. She knew that the "Cabinet noir" opened her letters to copy critical passages and translate them; hence, she sometimes even incorporated derisive remarks addressed directly to the government, particularly to her favorite enemy, Foreign Secretary Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquess of Torcy.