To the united efforts of Claire-Clemence and of Condé’s devoted friend Lenet, there was also now added the powerful help of Anne de Gonzague, Princess Palatine, whose influence extended from Paris to Warsaw and even to Stockholm. She persuaded no less a person than Queen Christina of Sweden to plead for the Grand Condé’s liberty. Moreover, her sister, Marie de Gonzague, Queen of Poland, who had never ceased to be the hero’s devoted friend, also came to his aid with considerable effect.

Meanwhile France was rent by civil war, and Anne of Austria began to regret the loss of Condé’s strong arm, which had done so much for her infant son, Louis XIV. The disorder, in fact, became so great and the clamour for Condé’s liberation so imperative, that Mazarin was compelled to proceed to Havre with an order under the Queen-Regent’s sign-manual for his unconditional release. The Cardinal entered the cell wherein the Princes were confined in his travelling attire and himself announced to them that their captivity was at an end. Whereupon compliments were exchanged and healths drunk; Mazarin even privately affirming to Condé that it was not to him that he owed his long imprisonment. A carriage was in waiting for the liberated prisoners, and Mazarin, taking his leave of them, bowed so low as to create unbounded mirth amongst those present. Then he himself departed into exile; whence, however, it was not very long ere he returned.

All Paris turned out to welcome Condé, and no less than 5,000 cavaliers, the flower of the French aristocracy, went out to meet the Princes at Saint-Denis. They were conducted by Gaston d’Orléans to the Palais-Royal, where they were received by the Queen-Regent and the young King, who welcomed them with his accustomed warmth, as if nothing had occurred. In the evening a supper was given in their honour by Monsieur the King’s uncle, and a ball by the Duchesse de Chevreuse. Next day a solemn session of the Parlement took place, and for several nights Paris was brilliantly illuminated.

The young Princesse de Condé came from Montroux, accompanied by the Ducs de Bouillon and de Rochefoucauld, and the Prince, who appreciated to the full all that she had done for him, endeavoured to show his gratitude. He met her with a train of twenty carriages to accompany her entry into Paris; and nothing could have touched the Princess’s heart more profoundly than to hear the crowds along the road repeat: “Voici une femme fort chèrie de son mari.” It testified to the sympathy held by the public for this long-neglected wife.

From Paris the reunited pair proceeded to Chantilly, where festivities and hunting-parties followed fast one upon another. Condé, however, felt bound to claim a certain amount of recompense for the great wrong which had been done to him. He demanded for himself the Governments of Burgundy and Champagne, besides other rewards for his friends de Rochefoucauld and Nemours. At first the Queen-Regent promised everything, but presently, upon the remonstrance of the exiled Mazarin, went back on her word.

This was sufficient to enrage Condé once more, and a report spread that amid the rural charms of Chantilly he had opened negotiations with Spain. Gondi, Archbishop of Paris, anxious to obtain a scarlet hat for himself, went secretly to the Queen, and knowing that Her Majesty was lamenting Mazarin’s absence, promised her that he and Gaston d’Orléans would bring the Cardinal back from exile if Condé were once more arrested. Condé, although his freedom was so recent, felt insecure and retired with his wife and son to Saint-Maur, where Madame de Longueville joined them; so that he was not present when Louis XIV was proclaimed King, but was holding council with his adherents at Chantilly. “Il faut pousser M. le Prince” was a stock saying of Mazarin and Gondi (now Cardinal de Retz), both of whom were endeavouring to goad Condé to his own destruction.

Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, along with his many great qualities, had unfortunately inherited also all the faults of the Condés—faults which the Duchesse de Nemours (daughter-in-law of his sister, Madame de Longueville) describes as follows: “Ils avaient des airs si moqueurs, et disaient des choses si offensentes que personne ne les pouvaient souffrir ... quand on leurs déplaisait ils poussaient les gens jusqu’a la dernière extremité, et ils n’etaient capable d’aucune reconnaissance pour les services qu’on leurs avait rendu.” These were the qualities which at this period of his life turned the scale against him. It was not against France or the King that Condé proposed to fight, but against the Italian Cardinal, the trusted confidant of Anne of Austria; and his grievance was that he had not only been deprived of his liberty, but that attempts had even been made upon his life. It was for that reason that Condé did not take part in any of the festive celebrations held at the King’s Proclamation, and he made his excuses in a letter presented to the King by his brother, the Prince de Conti. This was unquestionably a great blunder, and was done against his wife’s wishes, who had given such great proofs of devotion and courage.

On September 13, 1651 Condé retired to Montroux, where his sister, Madame de Longueville, and the leaders of his party triumphed over his last scruples. It was then that he pronounced the famous words: “Vous me forcez à tirer l’epée,—eh bien! soit! mais souvenez vous que je serai le dernier à la remettre dans le fourreau.”

CHAPTER V
CONDÉ’S ALLIANCE WITH SPAIN

CONDÉ’S alliance with Spain against Mazarin was the immediate cause of another civil war in France. The Prince left his wife and son in Bordeaux, where, as we have said, they had already acquired much personal popularity. The history of this town and of its Parlement is of considerable interest. In 1653 the people of Bordeaux sent envoys to England to inquire into the details of the Revolution under Cromwell; whereby we may note what strong Liberal tendencies had already manifested themselves in this place, even at the beginning of the reign of Louis XIII. More than once the townspeople had shown a spirit of rebellion against the Government, and they had espoused, as we have seen, the cause of the Princes against Mazarin during the second Fronde. When the Princesse de Condé returned thither with her husband, she found, to her surprise, that a Republican spirit had developed amongst her former friends, and that they wished to see in Condé an ally rather than a chief. Nor did Condé, although a Prince of the Blood, and well known for his pride of birth, object to signing a Declaration before the Parlement of Bordeaux, whereby he promised not to lay down his arms until he had obtained for his country the following concession, namely: “That the supreme authority should in future be given to a representative of the people, chosen by free men, who were of age and entitled to the vote.”