When presently Louis XIV made his entry into Paris the Prince de Condé and the Duc d’Enghien appeared amongst the Royal retinue, whilst the Princesse de Condé sat in the State coach with the Queen.
Yet, although established once more as a Prince of the Blood, with all the prerogatives and appurtenances of his rank—even his Government of Burgundy—many years had still to pass before Condé could regain the entire confidence of the King. Nor did Mazarin ever cease to distrust him. And when, before his death, the Minister presented him with a valuable diamond ring, assuring him of his sincere friendship, it was merely a proof of his own power of dissimulation; for, with his last breath, he warned the King to protect his crown from the insatiable ambition of the Grand Condé.
If Condé had hoped to play a prominent part in the public affairs of France after the death of Mazarin, he was mistaken; for the young King, himself full of ambition, announced at the outset that he meant henceforth to rule alone. In accordance with his famous saying “L’Etat c’est moi” Louis now began to reign himself.
For Condé retirement from public life had come too early. His sword which had rendered such great services to France was no longer needed; and he therefore retired to his Château at Chantilly. Here he almost immediately began to make extensive restorations, the completion of which occupied over twenty years, and greatly changed the aspect of the old place, so long abandoned and unoccupied. The financial difficulties in which he found himself on his return were happily overcome by Gourville, who acted energetically as his agent. The celebrated Le Nôtre was called in to lay out the gardens; the vast grounds were converted into parks, interspersed by the charming pieces of water which still exist. With great ingenuity a channel was dug to receive the waters of the streamlet Nonette, an affluent of the Oise, and a hydraulic machine invented by Condé himself—who was as skilled an engineer as he was a soldier—was constructed by Le Manse, under whom all these wonderful waterworks were kept in order. The courtyard which forms the present entrance to the Château dates from that time.
Letters have come down to us in which Condé expresses to Le Nôtre the highest satisfaction with his work. The latter was quite overcome by the Prince’s appreciation, and replied to him: “Jamais l’Honneur que je receu d’embraser nostre Saint Pere, le pape, et de baiser sa mule ne m’a fait tant de bien ny donne tant de joie que celle que je ressenty par la bonté que vous avez eu de me donner le benefice que votre Altesse a refusé a tant de testes couronnees.... Je continueray a eslever mes pensées pour l’embellissement de vos parterres, fontaines, cascades de vostre grand jardin de Chantilly.”
In 1684 Mansart was entrusted with the entire transformation of the interior of the Petit Château; the first floor being arranged for the use of the Grand Condé, whilst the ground floor was reserved for his son, the Duc d’Enghien. The exterior of this exquisite building was fortunately left intact, and has remained unchanged since the time of Anne de Montmorency. Nor has the interior changed since Mansart’s alterations. When the visitor passes through these apartments to-day, he can feel that they are in the same state as when the Grand Condé dwelt there. The Grand Cabinet with its exquisite Beauvais tapestry, its Boulle table, and its Louis XVI consoles and lustres, and the Petit Cabinet where the victor of Rocroy came to rest from his labours, still exist, to recall their former owner. In an adjacent apartment we may admire a fine piece of furniture, companion to the famous Louis XV bureau in the Louvre, upon which is placed the Grand Condé’s own despatch-box. Then there is the Long Gallery, where the painter Sauveur Lecomte has illustrated, under the hero’s own directions, all his victories from the battles of Rocroy, Nördlingen, and Fribourg to the conquest of the Franche Comté, and the campaign and passage of the Rhine.
Mansart, once installed at Chantilly, did not leave it for many years. He unfortunately attempted to tamper with the old feudal castle of the Orgemonts and the mediæval architecture which combined so well with Montmorency’s Petit Château, creating an inordinately lofty building, with a straight line of innumerable windows and attics all precisely similar in form. It was this structure which was razed to the ground at the time of the Revolution, and which was reconstructed in a far more suitable style by the late Duc d’Aumale.
CHAPTER VI
FESTIVITIES AT CHANTILLY
SINCE there was no prospect for Condé to take any prominent lead in the affairs of his own country his name was proposed as a possible successor to the throne of Poland. He declined, however, to accept a crown which had been the cause of so much misery to King Wladislav IV and to his brother Jean Casimir. There being no heir-apparent to that throne the eyes of Marie de Gonzague, Queen of Poland, turned upon the Duc d’Enghien, Condé’s only surviving son, and it was in connection with this idea that a marriage was arranged between Henri Jules de Bourbon and Anne of Bavaria, eldest daughter of the Princess Palatine, sister to the Polish Queen. Claire-Clemence was not over-pleased at the idea of this marriage, since she did not share her husband’s ambitions. The uneasy throne of Poland for her only son was a proposal which she could not face with equanimity.
The union that she would have preferred was one with Mademoiselle d’Alençon, youngest daughter of Gaston d’Orléans, a Princess whom Henri Jules often saw and greatly admired, for the Orléans family at that time lived in the sumptuous Palais d’Orléans, not far from the Palais Condé, which was built on the site now occupied by the Odéon Théâtre. But the Princess could not prevail upon her masterful husband, who had not only taken his son’s education, but also his entire future, into his own hands. The brave lady, who had played so important a part during the Fronde, and had shown so much courage and determination under her many difficulties and trials, had at this time completely broken down in health. She only appeared at Court festivities at long intervals, and although she was present at her son’s marriage she did not join the young couple at Chantilly. The Grand Condé, surrounding himself with friends, lived there from choice; and there Anne de Gonzague paid him frequent visits, whilst Claire-Clemence was left neglected in Paris. Society soon followed suit; and such neglect and isolation told upon a constitution naturally delicate. This Princess, once so full of admiration for her hero, now began to cherish resentment against him; and she who for long years had, in spite of his neglect, never uttered one word of complaint, at last broke out into bitter recrimination. We gather from Condé’s letters that she suffered from violent fits of passion, and that a secret fear lest he should make away with her became more and more a fixed idea. It is said, however, that when she appeared at the baptism of the Dauphin her attitude was full of dignity and commanded involuntary respect. Two years after this an unfortunate incident happened, never entirely explained, which reduced Claire-Clemence to imprisonment for the rest of her life. Condé had compelled her to dismiss a page, named Duval, who had been in her service. She had, however, promised him a pension which it seems was left unpaid. One day, whilst the rest of the servants were at their meals, he penetrated into the Princess’s apartments to beg for his pension. His voice was heard by the page on duty in the next room, who at once entered the chamber in order to protect Her Highness from his importunities. A violent quarrel arose between the two men, and the Princess, in her endeavours to separate them, was severely wounded. When the rest of the servants, on hearing the noise, rushed into the apartment, Her Highness was found unconscious on the floor. This was the version put about in Paris; but Condé, on being informed of it, was beside himself with rage, and caused Duval to be arrested and condemned to the gallows.