“As he concluded these words,” says Bassompierre, “the King called me, and since he saw me looking thoughtful, he inquired of what I was dreaming. ‘I am dreaming, Sire,’ I answered, ‘of an extravagant harangue which Roucellaï has just made me, before M. de Praslin, on behalf of Monsieur le Prince, which has astonished me both on my own account and yours. He declares me incapable of ever possessing his good graces if I do not accept them in the course of to-day, on condition of abandoning the friendship of M. de Puisieux, and says further that he, Schomberg and d’Aligre (who is to-morrow to become Keeper of the Seals) will be three heads in one hood, who will govern the State according to their whim, and, without any contradiction, ruining or aggrandizing their enemies or their partisans or servants at their pleasure. Judge, Sire, the condition to which you and those who desire to depend only upon you will be reduced!’
“It was unnecessary to say any more to the King to exasperate him. ‘They are not where they think they are,’ he replied, ‘and I have a rod in pickle for them.’ I begged him not to detain me longer, lest Roucellaï should believe that I had told him of his harangue, and, without appearing to notice anything, to ask the Maréchal de Praslin whether he had not said this, and more.”
Bassompierre then went back to Roucellaï and told him that “neither threats nor disgrace were able to make him abandon his friends, but, on the contrary, served only to bind him more closely to them,” and that “though he should always be Monsieur le Prince’s very humble servant, he would never do anything unworthy of himself to acquire his good graces.”
Meantime, Praslin had confirmed what Bassompierre had told the King and contrived to anger him still more against Condé and Schomberg; and his Majesty told Bassompierre that he would discuss the matter with him after dinner, when he would decide what must be done.
When the Council rose, Puisieux came up to Bassompierre and said: “The matter is decided; d’Aligre is Keeper of the Seals.” Bassompierre replied that he would believe it when he saw it; and that, meantime, he did not intend to worry about the matter. The Minister, however, declined to be comforted and went away, looking very disconsolate. Louis XIII then spoke to Bassompierre, and told him that he feared that he would be obliged to make d’Aligre Keeper of the Seals, as there was no one else who possessed all the necessary qualifications for so important a post. Bassompierre replied that his Majesty was doing an injustice to Caumartin, one of the oldest Counsellors of State, who had been entrusted in his time with several embassies and other important commissions, of which he had acquitted himself with credit. The King objected that Caumartin stammered, as he did himself, and that, as it was one of the duties of the Keeper of the Seals to prompt his sovereign when he was making a speech, this would entail serious inconvenience. “The man who ought to assist me when I am speaking,” said he, “will require someone to speak for him!”
However, Bassompierre waited in the King’s chamber until his Majesty returned from dinner, when, finding that he was much incensed at Condé’s presumption, he skilfully fanned the flame and then again proposed Caumartin to him, pointing out that, if at the end of three months the King found that he was incapable of discharging the duties of his post to his satisfaction, he could call for his resignation.
After some hesitation, the King told him that he had decided to give the Seals to Caumartin, and would inform him of it when he came to the Council on the following morning, but until then he should say nothing about the matter to anyone. The battle, however, was not yet won, for Louis was so easily influenced that if Condé were to see him in the interval, he would probably have no more difficulty in persuading him to break the promise he had just given Bassompierre than Bassompierre had had to induce him to break the promise he had given Condé. Aware of this, Bassompierre determined to get his Majesty to commit himself in writing, and demanded permission “to send a note on his behalf to console by this good news M. de Puisieux, who had gone to his lodging stricken to the heart.” To this the King consented, provided that Puisieux should be enjoined to keep the affair secret; and Bassompierre, taking Louis’s escritoire, which was on the table, wrote the letter and then begged the King to add a few words in his own hand. And his Majesty wrote at the foot: “I confirm this note.”
In order to get the King to commit himself still further, Bassompierre then asked if he would permit him to write to Caumartin, to which Louis, after making some little difficulty, also consented.
It was well that Bassompierre had taken these precautions, for, next morning, Condé, having learned what was in the wind, came to the King to inquire whether there were any truth in a report that had reached him that his Majesty intended to make Caumartin Keeper of the Seals. Louis, greatly embarrassed, assured him that it was without foundation, and he returned the same answer to several other persons whom the prince had put up to question him on the matter. It is probable, indeed, that had he not been persuaded to commit himself in regard to Caumartin, Condé’s candidate would, after all, have got the Seals. As it was, he had gone too far to draw back, and, to the intense mortification of Monsieur le Prince, he that afternoon gave them to Caumartin.
The appointment of Caumartin in place of his own nominee, notwithstanding the promise which Louis XIII had given him, was a serious rebuff to the presumptuous Condé, nor did he succeed any better in his military than in his political operations. On October 2, against the advice of Bassompierre, he gave orders that an attempt should be made to carry the ravelin by assault. It failed, and the besieged retaliated by a furious sortie on the flank of the Royal troops, which one of the latter’s own mines had laid open, and compelled them to abandon their trenches. Through the united efforts of Bassompierre[12]