Among the courtiers who so eagerly sought the favour of Richelieu no one was more obsequious than the Prince de Condé, who had not only willingly consented, contrary to all ancient usage, that the Princes of the Blood should yield precedence to cardinals, but had even, it is asserted, carried his servility to such a point as to raise the tapestry and hold it when the all-powerful Minister passed through a door. Omnipotent though Richelieu was, he could hardly have flattered himself with the hope of an alliance with the Princes of the Blood; and it must therefore have been with feelings of astonishment and contempt mingling with gratification that “he beheld M. de Condé ask of him almost on his knees the hand of his niece, and plead for this object as eagerly as though he had in view for his son the sovereignty of the world.”[176]
The niece in question was Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé, daughter of the Maréchal Duc de Brézé, who had married “solely for her beauty,” as he was never tired of reminding the Cardinal, Richelieu’s pretty but eccentric sister, Nicole du Plessis. Born on 28 February, 1628, Claire-Clémence’s infancy was passed with her parents at the Château of Milly, in Anjou. But when the unfortunate Nicole’s eccentricity turned to madness,[177] and the marshal began to console himself openly with the widow of one of his valets de chambre, the Cardinal decided that it was time to remove his niece; and, in 1633, took advantage of an epidemic which was then ravaging Anjou to send her to the Château des Caves, near Nogent-sur-Seine, to the Bouthilliers, whose fortune he had made, and who were entirely devoted to him.
It is probable that Richelieu would not have shown himself so solicitous for the welfare of the little girl had he not already foreseen that she would become an instrument of his policy. In point of fact, most flattering proposals for her hand had already been made him. The first was from the Duc de la Trémoille, on behalf of his eldest son, afterwards the Prince de Tarente; and the Cardinal appears to have been on the point of returning a favourable answer, when the Prince de Condé intervened and solicited the hand of this child of four for the Duc d’Enghien, then twelve years of age.
So anxious was Monsieur le Prince to be reconciled with the Minister whom he had failed to conquer, and to convert his former adversary into a complaisant ally—or rather a beneficent patron, that he had already taken the precaution to assure himself of the consent of Louis XIII. The Cardinal, on his side, who saw in this union the most dazzling proof of his influence and of the triumph of his policy, received his Highness’s overtures very graciously, and, early in 1633, gave him the promise he desired.
The joy of Monsieur le Prince was such that Richelieu had all the difficulty in the world to prevent him from confirming the rumours of the Court and publicly announcing his good fortune; but the Cardinal insisted that it should remain a secret between them until the bride-elect had reached a marriageable age, and, very reluctantly, the other consented. As for the Maréchal de Brézé, Richelieu did not even think it worth while to mention the arrangement to him, deeming that the right of disposing of his niece’s hand belonged to himself alone.
Thus matters remained until the end of the year 1640, when Condé, having gone through the form of obtaining the consent of the Maréchal de Brézé, acquainted his son with the honour in store for him. The Duc d’Enghien, as might be supposed, protested strongly against the sacrifice that was demanded of him, but Monsieur le Prince, always terribly in earnest when it was a question of pleasing those in power, was inexorable; and eventually the duke gave a reluctant consent, somewhat consoled by the reflection that, as the Cardinal’s nephew by marriage, advancement in his profession must be both sure and speedy.
Under date 11 February, 1640, we find Condé writing to Richelieu from Dijon:
“My son, who burns with the same desire as myself to be allied to you, will write to you on the instant, and will set out with me to-morrow for Paris, to offer his services to his mistress. I have spoken to him about it, and have received from him not only the proofs of the obedience that he owes me, but also those of very great joy on this subject.”[178]
The Duchesse d’Aiguillon, the Cardinal’s beloved niece, conducted Mlle. de Brézé to Paris, where the Duc d’Enghien and his father arrived shortly afterwards. The young duke was “presented to his mistress,” as was said then, and authorized to visit and to write to her, while awaiting their marriage, which, much to the disappointment of Monsieur le Prince, Richelieu had decided to postpone until the following year, on account of the extreme youthfulness of the bride-elect.
The Prince de Condé overwhelmed Claire-Clémence with attentions and declared that he was all impatience to call her his daughter-in-law. On presenting her fiancé to her, he assured her “it would never be possible for her to espouse a person who would show her more respect or more affection;” and when Enghien was about to take the armchair that was offered him, he stopped him, saying sharply: “That is not the place for a serviteur; go and sit down on a little placet with your mistress.”[179]