Mary of Modena, unlike her sister-in-law Catherine, was not a doormat where her husband’s infidelities were concerned. She confronted James several times over his mistresses while they lived in England, and succeeded in having Catherine Sedley sent away from court. Although James learned to appreciate his wife during their exile and stopped taking mistresses, Mary remained suspicious. Liselotte wrote that:
“At Marly I went hunting on horseback, and the dear King and our King followed the chase in a carriage with the Queen of England. I am sure she wishes that her husband may never see any ladies more beautiful than I am! Then her mind will be at rest and she won’t be troubled with jealousy, and dear King James won’t have his ears boxed.”
Mary was willing to criticize James for other things as well. Liselotte recorded an argument that James and Mary had while on a visit to Saint-Cloud:
“Last Friday the poor King and Queen were here. … I overheard a dialogue in the carriage which amused me very much. Monsieur was talking as usual about his jewels and furniture, and at length said to the King: ‘And has your Majesty, who had such great wealth, not built and furnished some beautiful home?’ ‘Money?’ exclaimed the Queen ‘he never had any. I never knew him to have a halfpenny.’ To which the King replied: ‘I had lots, but I never bought gems or furniture with it. Nor did I build palaces. I spent it all on making great ships and cannons and guns.’ ‘Yes,’ said the Queen, ‘and a lot of good they did you. Why, they have all been used against you!’”
Louis XIV made much of Mary and James, frequently inviting them to visit him at Versailles and Marly. Louis also encouraged his children and grandchildren to befriend the Old Pretender and Louise-Marie, la Consolatrice. After James's death, Mary hoped to arrange marriages between her children and members of the French royal family, but it didn't work out.
