There was, however, another reason for his numerous surprise visits: no less an object than Charlotte, Duke Henry’s beautiful daughter. Bereft of her mother, as we have seen, at an early age, she was presented at the French Court by her aunt, the Duchesse d’Angoulême, and her beauty, as described by Bentivoglio, seems to have been of so irresistible a charm that it made a deep impression on the fancy of the gallant King. So great indeed was the admiration which he displayed for the young Charlotte de Montmorency that it became a matter of public notoriety, and throws a curious light upon the famous personages of that period and their morals.
Although Charlotte had not yet attained her fifteenth year, a marriage had been arranged for her with the brilliant Bassompière, at that time a great favourite with the King. His Majesty had given his consent to the marriage; but he nevertheless one day made the following proposals to Bassompière: “Listen! I wish to speak to you as a friend. I am in love with Mademoiselle de Montmorency, and that even madly. If you marry her and she loves you, I should hate you; if she loved me, she would hate you. Now, for the sake of our mutual friendship, it would be better that this marriage should not take place, for I love you with real affection and inclination. I have therefore resolved to arrange a marriage between Mademoiselle de Montmorency and my nephew the Prince de Condé in order to keep her near me. She will thus be the consolation of my old age. To my nephew, who prefers the chase to the ladies, I shall give 100,000 francs a year and claim nothing for it in return but the affection of the newly-married couple!” After this confession, poor Bassompière understood that he had better comply with the King’s wishes, and the fair Charlotte was therefore married to Henri II de Bourbon, third Prince de Condé. The wedding was celebrated at Chantilly with much pomp, and the King lavished splendid jewels and rich dresses upon his new niece, making no secret of the admiration he cherished for her. He spoke of it as only a fatherly affection; but in spite of his good intentions his fancy took the character of so violent a passion that he could not control it. Condé, not insensible to what was going on, purposely retired to his remotest country-seats so as to protect his wife from the gallantries of the King; but, unable to endure her absence, Henri appeared disguised as a falconer at one of the hunting parties, whereupon Charlotte, who was present, fainted on recognising him. His distress at being separated from his “bel ange” was so great that even the Queen, Marie de Medicis, took pity on him, and entreated Condé to return with his charming wife to Court, and Malesherbes sang the amours of the King in glowing love-poems. Condé, considering the honour of his young wife at stake, carried her off instead to the Netherlands, on a visit to his sister the Princess of Orange. When the King heard of this he was furious, and asserted that the charming Princess had been compelled to leave her country by force. He sent a captain of his own Guard to explain the matter to the Archduchess Isabella, at that time Governess of the Netherlands, whilst Chaussé, a police official, was ordered to follow up the fugitives and prevent their reaching Belgium. Chaussé actually overtook the Princess, who, having been obliged to leave her carriage near the River Somme, had broken down after a fifteen hours’ ride on horseback.
Plate V.
HENRI II DE BOURBON, PRINCE DE CONDÉ. GENEVIÈVE DE BOURBON.
Musée Condé.
But we cannot digress here to pursue this love-affair of Henri IV and Charlotte de Montmorency. Suffice it to say that, transferred to foreign territory, it immediately became a cause célèbre, and even threatened for a time to create serious political disturbances between France and Spain. The fact that the Regent of the Netherlands, in order to please both parties, allowed the Princesse de Condé to prolong her visit to the Princess of Orange but at the same time ordered her husband to leave the Netherlands within three days, was severely commented upon by the Marchese Ambrogio di Spinola, at that time representative at Brussels of the Spanish Court.