Volume III Part 2 (2/2)

De Luynes, alarmed by the protracted sojourn of the Queen-mother at Angers, and her resolute refusal to return to the capital, became more than ever anxious to effect the liberation of M. de Conde; an anxiety that was moreover heightened by intelligence which reached the Court that a deputation from the Protestants, who were then holding their a.s.sembly at Loudun, had waited upon her Majesty, for the purpose of expressing their joy at her arrival and sojourn in Anjou, and of communicating to her the demands which they were about to make to the King.

It is true that Marie, although she did not disguise her gratification at this mark of respect, was prudent enough not to advance any opinion upon the claims which they set forth, and restricted herself to offering her acknowledgments for their courtesy, coupled with the a.s.surance that they should find her a good neighbour; but even this reply, guarded as it was, did not satisfy the Court, who pretended to discover a hidden meaning in her words, and decided that she should have referred the deputation to the King, in order to place herself beyond suspicion. Nor were they less disconcerted on learning that all the n.o.bility of the province were constant visitors at her Court; and that she had established herself in her government so thoroughly that she evidently entertained no intention of abandoning her post.

As each succeeding day rendered the position of the Queen-mother more threatening towards himself, the favourite resolved towards the middle of October to effect the instant release of the Prince de Conde; and he accordingly obtained the authority of the King to proceed to Vincennes, with full power to open the gates of the fortress, and to liberate the prisoner; while Louis himself proceeded to Chantilly, the chateau of the Duc de Montmorency, who had married the sister of the Prince, to which residence De Luynes was instructed to conduct the emanc.i.p.ated n.o.ble.

It is sickening to be compelled to recapitulate the constant result of such events in that age of servility and moral degradation. The favourite, who by a word could have liberated the first Prince of the Blood from the Bastille before he was transferred to the fortress of Vincennes, bowed his haughty head to the dust before him, and entreated his protection; while Conde, in his turn, on being introduced into the presence of the King, demanded pardon upon his knees for an offence of which he did not even know the nature; and which he could only estimate by the extent of the chastis.e.m.e.nt that had been inflicted on him. This idle ceremony accomplished, M. de Conde immediately found himself a member of the Privy Council; all the honours of his rank as first Prince of the Blood were accorded to him; and the King issued a declaration by which it was a.s.serted that his recent captivity had been the act of ”certain ill-advised persons who abused the name and authority of the sovereign.” [43]

This declaration excited the indignation of the Queen-mother and Richelieu, by whose advice the arrest of Conde had been determined; but while Marie loudly expressed her displeasure, the more cautious prelate endeavoured to disguise his annoyance. He looked farther into the future than his impetuous mistress, and he saw that his hour of revenge had not yet come. De Luynes, anxious to appease the Queen, declared that the obnoxious declaration had not been submitted to him before its publication, and threw the whole blame upon Du Vair, by whom it was drawn up; conjuring her at the same time to return to the capital, where alone she could convince herself of his earnest desire to serve her.

The close alliance formed between Conde and the favourite sufficed, however, to deter Marie from making this concession; while many of those about her did not hesitate to insinuate that the respect with which the Prince affected to regard her person, and the desire that he expressed to see her once more at Court, was a mere subterfuge; and that his real anxiety, as well as that of De Luynes, was to separate her from the n.o.bles of Anjou, and the friends whom she possessed in her own government, in order that she might be placed more thoroughly in their power. The Queen-mother was the more inclined to adopt this belief from the circ.u.mstance that, even while urging her return, Louis had given her to understand the inexpediency of maintaining so numerous a bodyguard, when she should be established in the capital, as that by which she had surrounded herself since her arrival at Angers; and this evident desire on the part of the King to diminish at once her dignity and her security, coupled with her suspicions of Conde and De Luynes, rendered her more than ever averse to abandon the safe position which she then occupied, and to enter into a new struggle of which she might once more become the victim.[44]

On his return to Paris, after his interview with the Queen-mother, Louis bestowed the government of Picardy upon De Luynes, who resigned that of the Isle of France, which he had previously held, to the Due de Montbazon his father-in-law. The two brothers of the favourite were created Marshals of France; Brantes by the t.i.tle of Duc de Piney-Luxembourg--the heiress of that princely house having, by command of the King, bestowed her hand upon him, to the disgust of all the great n.o.bles, who considered this ill-a.s.sorted alliance an insult to themselves and to their order--while Cadenet, in order that he might in his turn be enabled to aspire to the promised union with the widowed Princess of Orange, was created Duc de Chaulnes. The latter marriage was not, however, destined to be accomplished, Eleonore de Bourbon rejecting with disdain a proposition by which she felt herself dishonoured; nor can any doubt exist that her resistance was tacitly encouraged by Conde: who, once more free, could have little inclination to ally himself so closely with a family of adventurers, whose antecedents were at once obscure and equivocal. This mortification was, however, lessened to the discomfited favourite by the servility of the Archduke Albert, the sovereign of the Low Countries; who, being anxious to secure the support of the French king, offered to De Luynes the heiress of the ancient family of Piquigny in Picardy, who had been brought up at the Court of Brussels, as a bride for his younger brother.

Despairing, despite all his arrogance, of effecting the alliance of Cadenet with a Princess of the Blood, the favourite gladly accepted the proffered alliance; and M. de Chaulnes was appointed Lieutenant-General in Picardy, of which province De Luynes was the governor, and where he possessed numerous fine estates.

FOOTNOTES:

[24] Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 449, 450. Mezeray, vol. xi. p. 172.

Matthieu, _Hist, des Derniers Troubles_, book iii. p. 626.

[25] Le Va.s.sor, vol. ii. pp. 71, 72. Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 172, 173.

[26] Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 451, 452. Mezeray, vol. xi. p. 174.

Ba.s.sompierre, _Mem_. p. 129. Matthieu, _Hist. des Derniers Troubles_, book iii. p. 621.

[27] Pierre de Berulle, the descendant of an ancient and n.o.ble family of Champagne, was born on the 14th of February 1575, and soon became remarkable for his virtue and science. He was the friend of St. Francois de Sales, the founder of the Congregation of the Oratory in France, and was promoted to the conclave by Urban VIII in 1627. He did not, however, long enjoy his new dignity, having died at the altar while saying ma.s.s on the 2nd of October 1629, before he had attained his fifty-sixth year.

He was the author of several theological works. An ably-written life of the Cardinal de Berulle is due to the pen of M. Hubert de Cerisy.

[28] Rohan, _Mem_. book i. pp. 116, 117. Richelieu, _Hist, de la Mere et du Fils_, vol. ii. pp. 353, 354. Le Va.s.sor, vol. ii. p. 77. _Mercure Francais_, 1619.

[29] _Vie de Du Plessis-Mornay_, book iv.

[30] Matthieu, _Hist, des Derniers Troubles_, book iii. p. 636.

[31] Le Va.s.sor, vol. ii. p. 102. Deageant, _Mem_. pp. 203, 204. _Vie du Due d'Epernon_, book viii.

[32] Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 179-181. Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 452, 453.

Ba.s.sompierre, _Mem_. p. 129. Richelieu, _Hist. de la Mere et du Fils_, vol. ii. p. 356. Siri, _Mem. Rec_. vol. iv. pp. 626, 627.

[33] Siri, _Mem. Rec_. vol. iv. pp. 631, 632.

[34] _Vie du Duc d'Epernon_, book viii.

[35] Siri, _Mem. Rec_. vol. iv. pp. 632, 633. Le Va.s.sor, vol. ii. p.

115. Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 454. Ba.s.sompierre, _Mem_. p. 129.

Fontenay-Mareuil, _Mem_. pp. 436-450. Richelieu, _Hist, de la Mere et du Fits_, vol. ii. p. 372.

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