The Life of Marie de Medicis Volume I Part 23

[374] Ba.s.sompierre, _Mem_. p. 51.

[375] Marie de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Montpensier, who, after the decease of the Duc d'Orleans, married (in 1626) Gaston Jean Baptiste de France.

[376] Ba.s.sompierre, _Mem_. p. 51.

[377] Sully, _Mem_. vol. vii. p. 8.

[378] Sully, _Mem_. vol. vii. pp. 8, 9.

[379] _Mercure Francais_, 1608, p. 231. L'Etoile, vol. iii. pp. 444, 445.

[380] Sully, _Mem_. vol. vii. pp. 25-28.

[381] Perefixe, vol. ii. pp. 463, 464.

[382] Ba.s.sompierre, _Mem_. pp. 50, 51.

[383] Gaston Jean Baptiste de France, originally named Duc d'Anjou, and subsequently Duc d'Orleans, died in 1660. Before his birth, Henri IV declared his intention of making him a churchman, and causing him to be ent.i.tled Cardinal de France.

[384] _Mercure Francais,_ 1608, p. 231. Sully, _Mem_. vol. vii. p. 37.

L'Etoile, vol. iii. p. 471.

[385] Mademoiselle de Mercocur was the only daughter and heiress of Philippe Emmanuel de Lorraine, Duc de Mercocur, the brother of Louise de Lorraine, Queen of Henri III. By that monarch he was appointed Governor of Brittany, but in 1589 he revolted against him, and persisted in his rebellion until 1598, when he entered into a treaty with Henri IV, by which he bound himself to bestow the hand of his daughter, and the reversion of his government, upon Cesar de Vendome, a condescension by which he subsequently felt himself so much disgraced that he withdrew from the Court and engaged in the war of Hungary. Pining, however, to see once more his wife and daughter, he was on his way to France for that purpose, when he was attacked by fever at Nuremberg, where he expired in March 1602, at the age of forty-three years.

[386] Don Pedro de Toledo, Constable of Castile, and general of the galleys of Naples, was a relative of Marie de Medicis, whose grandfather, the Comte de Medicis, had married Eleonora de Toledo, the daughter of the Viceroy of Naples. He was, moreover, a grandee of Spain, and one of the most confidential friends of Philip III.

[387] Bonnechose, vol. i. p. 445. Perefixe, vol. ii. p. 564.

[388] L'Etoile, vol. iii. pp. 474-477. _Mercure Francais,_ 1608, p. 232.

Daniel, vol. vii. p. 488.

[389] _Memoires,_ vol. vii. pp. 72-74.

[390] Dreux du Radier, vol. vi, p. 104.

CHAPTER VIII

1609

Death of the Grand Duke of Tuscany--The Queen's ballet--Mademoiselle de Montmorency--Description of her person--She is betrothed to Ba.s.sompierre--Indignation of the Duc de Bouillon--Contrast between the rivals--The Duc de Bellegarde excites the curiosity of the King--The nymph of Diana--The rehearsal--Pa.s.sion of the King for Mademoiselle de Montmorency--The royal gout--Interposition of the Duc de Roquelaure--Firmness of the Connetable--The ducal gout--Postponement of the marriage--Diplomacy of Henry--The sick-room--An obedient daughter--Henry resolves to prevent the marriage--The King and the courtier--Lip-deep loyalty--Henry offers the hand of Mademoiselle de Montmorency to the Prince de Conde--The regal pledge--The Prince de Conde consents to espouse Mademoiselle de Montmorency--Invites Ba.s.sompierre to his betrothal--Royal tyranny--A cruel pleasantry--The betrothal--Court festivities--Happiness of the Queen--Royal presents to the bride--The ex-Queen's ball--Jealousy of the Prince de Conde--Indignation of the Queen--Henry revenges himself upon M. de Conde--Madame de Conde retires from the Court--The King insists on her return--The Prince de Conde feigns compliance--The Prince and Princess escape to the Low Countries--The news of their evasion reaches Fontainebleau--Birth of a Princess--Unpleasant surprise--Henry betrays his annoyance to the Queen--He a.s.sembles his ministers--He resolves to compel the return of the Princess to France--Conflicting counsels--M. de Praslin is despatched to Brussels--Embarra.s.sment of the Archduke Albert--He refuses an asylum to M. de Conde, who proceeds to Milan--The Princess remains at Brussels--She is honourably entertained--Interference of the Queen--Philip of Spain promises his protection to the Prince de Conde--He is invited to return to Brussels--The Marquis de Coeuvres endeavours to effect the return of the Prince to France--His negotiation fails--Madame de Conde is placed under surveillance--Her weariness of the Court of Brussels--The Duc de Montmorency desires her return to Paris--M. de Coeuvres is authorized to effect her escape from Brussels--The plot prospers--Indiscretion of the King--The Queen informs the Spanish minister of the conspiracy--Madame de Conde is removed to the Archducal palace--Mortification of the King--The French envoys expostulate with the Archduke, who remains firm--Henry resolves to declare war against Spain and Flanders--Fresh negotiations--The King determines to head the army in person--Marie de Medicis becomes Regent of France--She is counselled by Concini to urge her coronation--Reluctance of the King to accede to her request--He finally consents--"The best husband in the world"--Fatal prognostics--Signs in the heavens--The Cure of Montargis--The Papal warning--The Cardinal Barberino--The Sultan's message--Suspicious circ.u.mstances--Supineness of the Austrian Cabinet--Prophecy of Anne de Comans--Her miserable fate--The astrologer Thoma.s.sin--The Bearnais n.o.ble--The Queen's dream--Royal presentiments--The hawthorn of the Louvre--Distress of Ba.s.sompierre--Expostulation of the King--Melancholy forebodings.

In the year upon which we are now about to enter the subject of our biography occupies, unfortunately, but a small s.p.a.ce, destined as it was to give birth to the most violent and the most dangerous pa.s.sion of the whole life of Henri IV, and that which left the most indelible stain upon his memory, both as a man and as a monarch.

On the 7th of February the Court went into mourning for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the uncle of the Queen, to whom she was ardently attached, and all the Carnival amus.e.m.e.nts were consequently suspended, but not before the Queen had resolved upon the performance of the ballet which she had previously refused to sanction, when her royal consort had proposed as one of its performers the Comtesse de Moret, his late favourite. The rehearsal of this entertainment took place on the 16th of January, and the nymphs of Diana were represented by the twelve reigning beauties of the Court, among whom the most lovely was Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency[391]. So extraordinary, indeed, were her personal attractions, combined with a modesty of demeanour more than unusual at the Court in that age, that even the most experienced of the great n.o.bles were compelled to confess that they had never heretofore seen any person who could compete with her. "The purity of her complexion," says Dreux du Radier, quoting from one of the old chroniclers, "was admirable; her eyes, lively and full of tenderness, inspired pa.s.sion in the most careless hearts; she had not a feature in her face which was not gracefully moulded. The tones of her voice, her bearing, her slightest movements, had a charm which compelled admiration, and it was yielded the more willingly that it was elicited by no artifice on her part, but was a tribute to her natural merits.

Nature had, indeed, done everything for her, and she had no occasion to resort to any advent.i.tious aid however innocent." [392]

This lady, thus richly gifted with youth, beauty, and high birth, had been, even before her appearance at Court, promised in marriage by her father to the Marechal de Ba.s.sompierre, to whom indeed he had himself offered her hand,[393] but she was no sooner seen by Henry in the circle of the Queen than he became violently enamoured of her person, and resolved to prevent the alliance; a determination in which he found himself strengthened by the remonstrances of the Duc de Bouillon, the nephew of the Connetable, and consequently the cousin of the young beauty, whose favour Ba.s.sompierre had, in the excess of his happiness, neglected to conciliate, and who represented to the King that he could not conceal his astonishment on ascertaining that his Majesty was about to permit the union of Mademoiselle de Montmorency with a mere n.o.ble, however deserving of such distinction, when the Prince de Conde had attained to a marriageable age, and that it would be imprudent to countenance his alliance with a foreign princess; while as regards himself, he could not discover another eligible match save his cousin or Mademoiselle du Maine; and he was inclined to believe that none of the advisers of his Majesty would counsel him to authorize his own marriage with the latter, while the remnant of the League continued so formidable as to threaten a still more forcible and dangerous demonstration should they once find themselves under a leader with the power which he possessed to further their cause. He then represented that his alliance with Mademoiselle de Montmorency would involve no such results, as the allies and interests of the Connetable were his own, and concluded by entreating that his Majesty, before he sanctioned the marriage of Ba.s.sompierre with his cousin, would give the matter ample reflection.[394]

This contention, there can be no doubt, piqued the curiosity of the King, who in the course of the day mentioned the circ.u.mstance to the Duc de Bellegarde. The chance of the rivals in the favour of the lady herself could scarcely be doubtful, as the Duc de Bouillon, Prince of the Blood though he was, possessed few personal attractions, while the gay, the gallant, the magnificent Ba.s.sompierre was the cynosure of all eyes; superb in person, he was moreover of high birth, great wealth (although his profusion occasionally fettered his means), in high favour with the monarch, and celebrated alike for his wit and his attainments.

Unfortunately, however, for his interests, M. le Grand had already seen Mademoiselle de Montmorency, and the animated description which he volunteered to the King of the coveted beauty was far from proving favourable to the views of Ba.s.sompierre, as Henry, before he came to any decision upon so important a question, resolved to decide for himself the value of the prize which he was about to adjudge to one or other of the contending parties. For this purpose he therefore joined the evening circle of the Queen, where he first saw the daughter of the Connetable, but apparently without the effect which had been antic.i.p.ated by the Duc de Bellegarde.

On the morrow, however, he proved less insensible to the surpa.s.sing loveliness of the young maid of honour; her modest dignity in a private _salon_ offering, in all probability, little attraction to the licentious monarch who was accustomed to see every eye turned towards himself, and every art exerted to fascinate his notice; but on the day of the rehearsal, when the graceful and blushing nymph of Diana was presented to him in her cla.s.sic garb, her quiver at her back and her spear in her hand, he at once acknowledged the potency of the spell by which others had been previously subjugated. The rehearsal took place in the great hall of the Louvre, where Henry was attended only by the Due de Bellegarde, and Montespan,[395] the captain of his bodyguard.

The extraordinary loveliness of the young Princess, combined with her exquisite grace and dignified bearing, at once fascinated the King, who declared to the Duc de Bellegarde that he had never before beheld so faultless a face and form; to which a.s.surance M. le Grand replied, says Ba.s.sompierre, "according to his usual manner of extolling everything that was novel, and particularly Mademoiselle de Montmorency, who was indeed worthy of all admiration; and thus infused into the mind of the King, always ready to yield to a new fancy, the pa.s.sion which subsequently caused him to commit so many extravagances." [396]

For the moment, however, Henry was unable to pursue his unworthy purpose, being attacked the same evening by a violent fit of the gout, to which he had been occasionally subject for the last four years, and which declared itself on this occasion with so much acuteness that during fifteen days he was compelled to keep his bed. Meanwhile, the Duc de Bouillon was not idle. Considering himself aggrieved by the Connetable in not having been selected as the husband of his daughter, he complained loudly and bitterly of the slight, and even induced the Duc de Roquelaure to exert his influence with M. de Montmorency to withdraw his promise from Ba.s.sompierre, and to bestow the hand of the Princess upon himself. The Connetable, however, remained firm, declaring that he had already the honour to be the great-uncle of M. de Bouillon, a degree of kindred which quite satisfied his ambition; and that his daughter, being pledged to Ba.s.sompierre, could no longer be an object of pursuit with any prospect of success to any other n.o.ble, however great might be his rank; while, in pursuance of this resolution, the Duke caused preparations to be made for the celebration of the marriage in the chapel of his palace at Chantilly. Ba.s.sompierre was consequently at the summit of happiness; his ambition and his heart were alike satisfied, and he received the congratulations of those around him with an undisguised delight, which, in so proverbially gay and gallant a cavalier, could not fail to prove highly flattering to the object of his attachment.

Unfortunately, before the ceremony could be performed, M. de Montmorency was in his turn attacked by gout, and, greatly to the mortification of the expectant bridegroom, the marriage was necessarily deferred. Still, relying on the a.s.surance of the Connetable that nothing should induce him to rescind his resolution, Ba.s.sompierre endeavoured to await with what patience he might the termination of the inopportune illness of the generous Prince; and in the interim he shared with M. le Grand and the Duc de Grammont the honour of pa.s.sing the night in the royal chamber, where the three n.o.bles alternately read or conversed with the King during his sleepless hours. Throughout the day the monarch received the visits of the Queen and the Princesses of the Blood, among whom the most welcome was the d.u.c.h.esse d'Angouleme, who was on every occasion accompanied by her niece Mademoiselle de Montmorency, whom Henry did not fail to engross whenever the d.u.c.h.ess was engaged in conversation with the members of the Court circle. Still, however, the King was careful not to betray to the young lady herself the peculiar feeling with which she had inspired him, but treated her with a kindness which was almost paternal, alluding without any apparent reluctance to her betrothal to Ba.s.sompierre, and a.s.suring her that she should be as dear to him as a daughter, and that during the tour of duty of her husband, as First Lord of the Bedchamber, she should have a suite of apartments appropriated to her use in the Louvre; but in a few days, when he had accustomed her to converse freely with him upon the subject, Henry put a leading question which must, after all these gracious promises, have tended to startle Mademoiselle de Montmorency, by demanding to know if she personally desired the marriage, as, should it be otherwise, she need only confess the truth with frankness, when he would break off the match, and procure for her an alliance more to her taste; adding that he was even willing to bestow her hand upon his own nephew the Prince de Conde. In reply the Princess modestly but firmly a.s.sured his Majesty that as her union with M. de Ba.s.sompierre was the wish of her father, she felt convinced that her destiny would be a happy one; and there can be no doubt that she said this more emphatically than she had intended, as, from that moment, Henry became convinced that she really loved her intended husband, and he resolved in consequence to prevent the marriage.

Unhappily for all parties, the monarch appeared to have forgotten that he had reached his fifty-sixth year, that he was rapidly becoming a martyr to the gout, and that he was no longer calculated to enter into a successful rivalry with his younger and more attractive n.o.bility; a delusion which was unfortunately encouraged, according to Mezeray, by his confidential friends, the relatives of the lady, and even the members of the Queen's household, who, in the hope of at length triumphing over his former favourites, exerted themselves to increase his pa.s.sion for the daughter of the Connetable;[397] a pa.s.sion which they moreover doubtless imagined could not, from the high rank and peculiar position of Mademoiselle de Montmorency, exceed the limits of propriety. The intentions of Henry himself were, however, as was subsequently proved, of a far less innocuous tendency than those for which others so erroneously gave him credit. At eight o'clock on the following morning he sent for Ba.s.sompierre, and having caused the attendants to leave the room, he motioned him to kneel down upon the cushion beside his bed, when he a.s.sured him that he had been thinking seriously of the propriety of his taking a wife.

"Ah! Sire," said the delighted courtier, perfectly unsuspicious of the real meaning of the monarch, "had not the same unlucky disease under which your Majesty is also suffering attacked the Connetable, I should ere this have been a husband."

"No," was the hurried reply, as the King looked steadfastly at his intended victim, "such is not my meaning. What I desire is to bestow upon you the hand of Mademoiselle d'Aumale, and by this means to revive the duchy of Aumale in your favour."

"But I am betrothed, Sire, and cannot take a second wife!"

"Ba.s.sompierre," said Henry with an emotion which he was unable to conceal, "I have become pa.s.sionately attached to Mademoiselle de Montmorency. If you marry her and she loves you, you will be the object of my hatred; while should I, under such circ.u.mstances, induce her to love me, you would hate me in your turn. You are aware of my attachment towards yourself, and it will be far better to avoid this risk by not placing either party in so trying a position. As regards the lady, I have resolved upon uniting her to my nephew the Prince de Conde, and keeping her at Court. Her presence and intercourse will be the charm and amus.e.m.e.nt of the old age which is fast creeping upon me. I shall give to my nephew, who is young and who prefers a thousand times a hunt to a lady's love, a hundred thousand francs a year with which to amuse himself, and all that I shall ask of his wife in return will be the affection of a child."

The habits and manners of the Court at that age admitted but of one reply to this cold and selfish declaration. Ba.s.sompierre pressed his lips upon the hand which lay upon the velvet coverlet, and a.s.sured the King that it had ever been the desire of his life to find an opportunity of sacrificing his own happiness to that of his Majesty; that he did not seek to deny the extent of his disappointment; but that he nevertheless voluntarily pledged himself never again to renew a suit which counteracted the views and wishes of his sovereign, and trusted that this new pa.s.sion might be productive of as much delight to his Majesty as the loss of such a bride must have grieved himself, had he not been amply consoled by the consciousness of having merited the confidence of his King.

"Then," he says, with a _navete_ at which it is impossible to suppress a smile, "the King embraced me, and wept, a.s.suring me that he would further my fortunes as though I were one of his natural children, that he loved me dearly, as I must be well a.s.sured, and that he would reward my frankness and friendship." [398]

On quitting the royal presence, the discomfited courtier hastened to confide his sorrows to M. d'Epernon, who endeavoured to console him with the a.s.surance that the King's pa.s.sion for Mademoiselle de Montmorency was a mere pa.s.sing caprice, as well as his declared intention of marrying her to the Prince de Conde; reminding him, moreover, that as the admiration of the monarch for the young lady had already become matter of notoriety, it was highly improbable that M. de Conde would, under the circ.u.mstances, accept her as a wife. The worthy minister had, however, forgotten that the Prince was entirely dependent upon his royal relative; that he had not yet been invested with any government or official post; and that he was young, ambitious, and high-spirited.

Ba.s.sompierre bears testimony to his possession of the latter quality by his a.s.surance that, important as the favour of the monarch could not fail to be to the young Prince in his peculiar position, he did not finally give his personal consent to the alliance until he had obtained a solemn declaration from Henry of the perfect purity of his proffered bride.

It is very singular that throughout all the details given of this affair by contemporary writers, no mention is made of the measures adopted by the King to induce or to enforce the violation of the plighted word of the Connetable to Ba.s.sompierre. Even he himself is totally silent upon the subject, whence we are compelled to infer that the will of the sovereign was considered to be beyond appeal, and that his sole pleasure exonerated the Duc de Montmorency from his voluntary engagement. The whole transaction, indeed, is so entangled and incomprehensible, particularly when the high rank of all the persons concerned in it is considered, that it betrays an amount of recklessness and tyranny on the part of the King which it is difficult to realize in our own times.

Mezeray a.s.serts that it was in order to compel the affections of Mademoiselle de Montmorency through her grat.i.tude, that Henry resolved to unite her to the first Prince of the Blood, and thus elevate her to the highest rank at Court save that of the Queen.[399] Be this as it may, it is certain that he prevailed over the reluctance of both parties, and that a week subsequently to the interview described the Prince de Conde declared his willingness to accept the bride proposed to him by the sovereign; while having a short time afterwards met a number of the great n.o.bles at the levee of the King, he personally invited them to a.s.sist at his betrothal that same evening. Among others he thus addressed Ba.s.sompierre, who replied only by a low and ceremonious salutation. Henry had, however, remarked the circ.u.mstance, and beckoning the Marquis to his side, he inquired what had pa.s.sed between them.

"Monseigneur suggested, Sire, a step which I am not inclined to take."

"And what was that?" demanded the King.

"That I should accompany him to witness his betrothal. Is he not old enough to go alone? and can he not be affianced without my presence? For thus much I can answer, that if he have no other companion than myself, his suite will be a small one."

"Nevertheless, Ba.s.sompierre, you must be there," said Henry imperiously.

"I cannot, Sire," expostulated his companion. "I entreat of you not to insist on my compliance, as I shall be driven to disobey you. Let it suffice that I have sacrificed a pa.s.sion which had become the very principle of my existence in order to secure your peace and happiness, and do not ask me to become the witness of my own bitter disappointment."

"The King, who was the best of men," pursues the chronicler, "simply replied: 'I plainly see, Ba.s.sompierre, that you are angry, but I feel sure that you will not fail when you remember that it was my nephew, the first Prince of the Blood, by whom you were invited.'"

Further expostulation was impossible, and Ba.s.sompierre saw himself compelled to drain even to the very dregs his cup of mortification. The ceremony took place in the gallery of the Louvre with almost fabulous pomp. Mademoiselle de Montmorency was attended by all the Princesses of the Blood, and took her place immediately beside the Queen, while the Prince stood upon the right hand of the King; who, being still feeble, with a refinement of cruelty which it is equally difficult to explain and to justify, selected Ba.s.sompierre upon whom to lean, and thus kept him throughout the whole of the ceremonial in the immediate vicinity of the affianced pair.

A few days after the ceremony a ballet was danced at the a.r.s.enal in honour of the event, at which their Majesties and all the Court were present; and on Shrove Tuesday a tilting at the ring took place, where Mademoiselle de Montmorency delivered the prize to the victor. The Queen, who had remarked with apprehension the growing pa.s.sion of her royal consort for the young Princess, was overjoyed at the contemplated marriage, believing as she did that she must have been self-deluded, as it was beyond credibility that, had she been correct in her surmises, Henry would have sought to unite the object of his preference to his own nephew. Thus, therefore, she overwhelmed the bride-elect with the most condescending kindness, and even arranged a ballet in her honour in which she herself appeared. "It was," says Ba.s.sompierre, "at once the most beautiful and the last in which she ever danced." [400]

On Tuesday the 10th of March the marriage took place at Chantilly in the presence of their Majesties and the whole Court; and if the cheek of the bride were pale, and the lip of the gallant Ba.s.sompierre trembled, during the ceremony which made Charlotte de Montmorency the wife of another, all the other actors in the brilliant drama were too fully occupied with their respective parts to heed the silent emotion of the sufferers. The King presented as his offering to the lady two thousand crowns for the purchase of her _trousseau_, and jewels of the value of eighteen thousand livres; while he gave to the Prince a large amount both in plate and money.[401] The Queen was also profuse in her generosity, and several days were spent in the most splendid festivities, after which the royal party returned to Paris, whither they were shortly followed by the Prince and Princesse de Conde, on whose arrival a grand ball was given by the ex-Queen Marguerite, where Henry was once more enthralled by the exquisite dancing of the graceful bride, and so unequivocally betrayed his admiration as to renew all the slumbering apprehensions of the unfortunate Queen.