Volume III Part 15 (1/2)

[156] Jean Le Clerc, _Vie du Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu_, Cologne, 1695, vol ii. pp. 7, 8.

[157] Le Va.s.sor, vol. vi. pp. 735-741. _Mercure Francais_, 1631. Siri, _Mem. Rec. vol_. vii. pp. 332-336. Mezeray, vol. xi. p. 392. Sismondi, vol. xxv. pp. 165, 166.

[158] Le Va.s.sor, vol. vi. pp. 735, 736.

[159] Le Va.s.sor, vol. vi. pp. 759-764.

[160] Le Clerc, vol. ii. p. 11.

[161] Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 392-395. Le Clerc, vol. ii. pp. 9-12

[162] Chanteloupe was the confessor, adviser, and secret agent of Marie de Medicis.

[163] Antoine de l'age, Seigneur de Puylaurens, had possessed himself of the entire confidence of Gaston d'Orleans, who, like his royal mother and brother, was always the tool of his favourites; and his influence over the weak and vacillating Prince at length became all-powerful, although it was exercised more than once to the prejudice of his confiding master. Puylaurens was elevated to the peerage after having in some degree sold his patron to Richelieu, who in 1634 bestowed upon him, from policy, the hand of his cousin Mademoiselle de Pont-Chateau; but by whom he was immediately imprisoned, the Cardinal having long indulged a hatred toward his person which he had determined to gratify. Puylaurens died in captivity in the following year.

[164] Le Va.s.sor, vol. vii. pp. 17-22.

[165] Capefigue, vol. v. pp. 121-129.

[166] Gaston d'Orleans, _Mem_. p. 123.

[167] Le Va.s.sor, vol. vii. p. 25.

[168] Siri, _Mem. Rec_. vol. vii. p. 447. Sismondi, vol. xxiii. pp. 182, 183.

CHAPTER IX

1632

Gaston d'Orleans proceeds to Brussels--His reception--Vanity of Monsieur--Exultation of the Spanish Cabinet--Montmorency abandons the interests of Richelieu--Marie de Medicis solicits his support--He consents to second the projects of Monsieur--The Queen-mother and the Duc d'Orleans sell their jewels in order to raise troops for the invasion of France--Trial of the Marechal de Marillac--Marie and Gaston exert themselves to save his life--He is executed--The adherents of the two royal exiles create dissensions between the mother and son--Gaston joins the Spanish army--Munificence of Isabella--Gaston marches upon Burgundy--Remonstrance of Montmorency--An ill-planned campaign--Battle of Castelnaudary--Slaughter of the rebel leaders--Cowardice of Monsieur--Montmorency is made prisoner--Gaston endeavours to make terms with the King--He abandons the cause of his mother, and that of his allies--He stipulates for the pardon of Montmorency--Richelieu refuses the condition--The treaty is signed by Monsieur--Jealousy of Louis XIII--The miniature--Montmorency is conveyed to Toulouse, and put upon his trial--Double-dealing of the Cardinal--Obduracy of the King--Execution of Montmorency--Despair of the Queen-mother--Death of the Comtesse du Fargis--The Jesuit Chanteloupe and Madame de Comballet--A new conspiracy--The Archd.u.c.h.ess Isabella refuses to deliver up the servants of Marie de Medicis--Gaston retires to Burgundy.

By the Treaty of Vic, Charles de Lorraine was, as we have shown, compelled to refuse all further hospitality to his royal brother-in-law; while Gaston found himself necessitated to submit to a separation from his young wife, and to proceed to the Spanish Low Countries, where Isabella had offered him an asylum. The amiable Archd.u.c.h.ess n.o.bly redeemed her pledge; and the reception which she accorded to the errant Duke was as honourable as that already bestowed upon his mother.

The Marquis de Santa-Cruz, who had recently arrived from Italy to command the Spanish forces in Flanders, was instructed to place himself at the head of all the n.o.bility of the Court, and to advance a league beyond the city to meet the French Prince; while the munic.i.p.al bodies of Brussels awaited him at the gates. He was lodged in the State apartments of the Palace, and all the expenses of his somewhat elaborate household were defrayed by his magnificent hostess.

”I am sorry, Sir,” said Isabella gracefully, as Gaston hastened to offer his acknowledgments on his arrival, ”that I am compelled to quarrel with you on our first interview. You should have deferred your visit to me until you had seen the Queen your mother.”

”Madame,” replied the Prince, ”it will be infinitely more easy for me to justify myself for having previously paid my respects to yourself, than to recognize in an efficient manner the debt of obligation which I have incurred towards you.”

After the compliments incident to such a meeting had been exchanged between Isabella and her new guest, Gaston received those of the Spanish grandees and the Knights of the Golden Fleece; and at the close of this ceremony he proceeded to the residence of Marie de Medicis, who embraced him tenderly, and bade him remember that all her hopes of vengeance against Richelieu, and a triumphant return to France, were centred in himself. The vain and shallow nature of the Prince was flattered by the position which he had thus suddenly a.s.sumed. Thwarted and humbled at the Court of his brother by the intrigues of the Cardinal; distrusted by those who had formerly espoused his cause, and who had suffered the penalty of their misplaced confidence; and impoverished by the evil issue of his previous cabals, he had long writhed beneath his enforced insignificance; whereas he had now, in his new retreat, suddenly grown into authority, and been the object of general homage; his wishes had become laws, and his very follies met with applause and imitation. The little Court of Brussels awoke into sudden animation; and pleasure succeeded pleasure with a rapidity which afforded constant occupation to his frivolous and sensual nature.

His arrival had filled the Spanish Cabinet with joy, as they foresaw that the war which he contemplated against his brother promised to weaken the power of the French King, who, while occupied in reducing this new enemy, would for the time be rendered unable to continue the powerful aid which he had hitherto afforded to the opponents of the House of Austria; a circ.u.mstance whence their own prospects in Flanders could not fail to profit largely.

The project of this contemplated war was based upon two conditions: in the first place, on the help promised by Philip of Spain himself; and in the second, upon the pledge given by the Duc de Montmorency[169] to embrace the cause of Monsieur, and to receive him in Languedoc, of which province he was the Governor, and which afforded immense facilities for carrying out his purpose.

Of the defection of the Duc de Montmorency from his interests, Richelieu, generally so well informed upon such subjects, did not entertain the most remote suspicion, as during all the factions of the Court, Montmorency had hitherto acted as a mediator, and had consequently upon several occasions done good service to the minister; but, proud as he was, alike of his ill.u.s.trious descent and of his personal reputation, the Duke, like all the other n.o.bles about him, still sought to aggrandize himself. The descendant of a long line of ancestors who had successively wielded the sword of Connetable de France, he desired, in his turn, to possess it; and disregarding the fact that Richelieu, whose policy led him to oppose all increase of power among the great n.o.bles, had definitely abolished so dangerous a dignity, he suffered himself to be induced, by his representations, to resign the rank which he already held of Admiral of the French fleet, in order that it might prove no impediment to his appointment to the coveted Connetablie. The result of this imprudence had been that while the Cardinal possessed himself of the vacated post under another t.i.tle, Montmorency found that he had resigned the substance to grasp a shadow; as, on his application for the sword so long wielded by the heads of his family, he was met by an a.s.surance that thenceforward no such function would be recognized at the Court of France. The mortified n.o.ble then applied for the post of Marshal-General of the King's camps and armies, which, save in name, would not have differed from the rank to which he had previously aspired; and again he was subjected to a resolute refusal. Indignant at the rejection of his claim, the Duke had, at the close of the preceding year, retired to his government of Languedoc; and his anger against the Court was heightened by a third repulse which he experienced when soliciting the government of the city and fortress of Montpellier.

The irritation which he felt under this complicated disappointment, combined with the consciousness that he had been duped by the Cardinal, and compelled to act as the subordinate of an individual so inferior to himself in rank, created a disgust which, carefully as he endeavoured to conceal it, soon became evident to those about him; nor was it long ere Marie de Medicis and Monsieur were informed of his disaffection.

Confidential messengers were immediately despatched to invite the Duke to espouse their cause, and they found a powerful ally in the d.u.c.h.ess, Maria Felicia d'Ursini, who was a near relative of the Queen-mother.