[390] Dreux du Radier, vol. vi, p. 104.
CHAPTER VIII
1609
Death of the Grand Duke of Tuscany--The Queen's ballet--Mademoiselle de Montmorency--Description of her person--She is betrothed to Bassompierre--Indignation of the Duc de Bouillon--Contrast between the rivals--The Duc de Bellegarde excites the curiosity of the King--The nymph of Diana--The rehearsal--Passion of the King for Mademoiselle de Montmorency--The royal gout--Interposition of the Duc de Roquelaure--Firmness of the Connétable--The ducal gout--Postponement of the marriage--Diplomacy of Henry--The sick-room--An obedient daughter--Henry resolves to prevent the marriage--The King and the courtier--Lip-deep loyalty--Henry offers the hand of Mademoiselle de Montmorency to the Prince de Condé--The regal pledge--The Prince de Condé consents to espouse Mademoiselle de Montmorency--Invites Bassompierre to his betrothal--Royal tyranny--A cruel pleasantry--The betrothal--Court festivities--Happiness of the Queen--Royal presents to the bride--The ex-Queen's ball--Jealousy of the Prince de Condé--Indignation of the Queen--Henry revenges himself upon M. de Condé--Madame de Condé retires from the Court--The King insists on her return--The Prince de Condé feigns compliance--The Prince and Princess escape to the Low Countries--The news of their evasion reaches Fontainebleau--Birth of a Princess--Unpleasant surprise--Henry betrays his annoyance to the Queen--He assembles his ministers--He resolves to compel the return of the Princess to France--Conflicting counsels--M. de Praslin is despatched to Brussels--Embarrassment of the Archduke Albert--He refuses an asylum to M. de Condé, who proceeds to Milan--The Princess remains at Brussels--She is honourably entertained--Interference of the Queen--Philip of Spain promises his protection to the Prince de Condé--He is invited to return to Brussels--The Marquis de Coeuvres endeavours to effect the return of the Prince to France--His negotiation fails--Madame de Condé is placed under surveillance--Her weariness of the Court of Brussels--The Duc de Montmorency desires her return to Paris--M. de Coeuvres is authorized to effect her escape from Brussels--The plot prospers--Indiscretion of the King--The Queen informs the Spanish minister of the conspiracy--Madame de Condé is removed to the Archducal palace--Mortification of the King--The French envoys expostulate with the Archduke, who remains firm--Henry resolves to declare war against Spain and Flanders--Fresh negotiations--The King determines to head the army in person--Marie de Medicis becomes Regent of France--She is counselled by Concini to urge her coronation--Reluctance of the King to accede to her request--He finally consents--"The best husband in the world"--Fatal prognostics--Signs in the heavens--The Curé of Montargis--The Papal warning--The Cardinal Barberino--The Sultan's message--Suspicious circumstances--Supineness of the Austrian Cabinet--Prophecy of Anne de Comans--Her miserable fate--The astrologer Thomassin--The Béarnais noble--The Queen's dream--Royal presentiments--The hawthorn of the Louvre--Distress of Bassompierre--Expostulation of the King--Melancholy forebodings.
In the year upon which we are now about to enter the subject of our biography occupies, unfortunately, but a small space, destined as it was to give birth to the most violent and the most dangerous passion of the whole life of Henri IV, and that which left the most indelible stain upon his memory, both as a man and as a monarch.
On the 7th of February the Court went into mourning for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the uncle of the Queen, to whom she was ardently attached, and all the Carnival amusements were consequently suspended, but not before the Queen had resolved upon the performance of the ballet which she had previously refused to sanction, when her royal consort had proposed as one of its performers the Comtesse de Moret, his late favourite. The rehearsal of this entertainment took place on the 16th of January, and the nymphs of Diana were represented by the twelve reigning beauties of the Court, among whom the most lovely was Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency[391]. So extraordinary, indeed, were her personal attractions, combined with a modesty of demeanour more than unusual at the Court in that age, that even the most experienced of the great nobles were compelled to confess that they had never heretofore seen any person who could compete with her. "The purity of her complexion," says Dreux du Radier, quoting from one of the old chroniclers, "was admirable; her eyes, lively and full of tenderness, inspired passion in the most careless hearts; she had not a feature in her face which was not gracefully moulded. The tones of her voice, her bearing, her slightest movements, had a charm which compelled admiration, and it was yielded the more willingly that it was elicited by no artifice on her part, but was a tribute to her natural merits. Nature had, indeed, done everything for her, and she had no occasion to resort to any adventitious aid however innocent." [392]
This lady, thus richly gifted with youth, beauty, and high birth, had been, even before her appearance at Court, promised in marriage by her father to the Maréchal de Bassompierre, to whom indeed he had himself offered her hand,[393] but she was no sooner seen by Henry in the circle of the Queen than he became violently enamoured of her person, and resolved to prevent the alliance; a determination in which he found himself strengthened by the remonstrances of the Duc de Bouillon, the nephew of the Connétable, and consequently the cousin of the young beauty, whose favour Bassompierre had, in the excess of his happiness, neglected to conciliate, and who represented to the King that he could not conceal his astonishment on ascertaining that his Majesty was about to permit the union of Mademoiselle de Montmorency with a mere noble, however deserving of such distinction, when the Prince de Condé had attained to a marriageable age, and that it would be imprudent to countenance his alliance with a foreign princess; while as regards himself, he could not discover another eligible match save his cousin or Mademoiselle du Maine; and he was inclined to believe that none of the advisers of his Majesty would counsel him to authorize his own marriage with the latter, while the remnant of the League continued so formidable as to threaten a still more forcible and dangerous demonstration should they once find themselves under a leader with the power which he possessed to further their cause. He then represented that his alliance with Mademoiselle de Montmorency would involve no such results, as the allies and interests of the Connétable were his own, and concluded by entreating that his Majesty, before he sanctioned the marriage of Bassompierre with his cousin, would give the matter ample reflection.[394]
This contention, there can be no doubt, piqued the curiosity of the King, who in the course of the day mentioned the circumstance to the Duc de Bellegarde. The chance of the rivals in the favour of the lady herself could scarcely be doubtful, as the Duc de Bouillon, Prince of the Blood though he was, possessed few personal attractions, while the gay, the gallant, the magnificent Bassompierre was the cynosure of all eyes; superb in person, he was moreover of high birth, great wealth (although his profusion occasionally fettered his means), in high favour with the monarch, and celebrated alike for his wit and his attainments. Unfortunately, however, for his interests, M. le Grand had already seen Mademoiselle de Montmorency, and the animated description which he volunteered to the King of the coveted beauty was far from proving favourable to the views of Bassompierre, as Henry, before he came to any decision upon so important a question, resolved to decide for himself the value of the prize which he was about to adjudge to one or other of the contending parties. For this purpose he therefore joined the evening circle of the Queen, where he first saw the daughter of the Connétable, but apparently without the effect which had been anticipated by the Duc de Bellegarde.