[157] Gaston Henri, the son of Henri IV and of Henriette d'Entragues, Marquise de Verneuil, originally took orders, and became the incumbent of several abbeys, among others that of St. Germain-des-Prés. He was subsequently made Bishop of Metz, and bore that title for a considerable time. On the 1st of January 1662, having been created a knight of the Order of the Holy Ghost, and in the following year a duke and peer, he took the title of Duc de Verneuil, and as such was sent to England in 1665 as ambassador extraordinary. Finally, in 1666, Louis XIV bestowed upon him the government of Languedoc, when he sold his church property, and married (in 1668) Charlotte Séguier, the widow of Maximilien-François de Béthune III, Duc de Sully. He died without issue, at Versailles, on the 28th of May 1682.
CHAPTER III
1602
Court festivities--The Queen's ballet--A gallant prelate--A poetical almoner--Insolence of the royal favourite--Unhappiness of the Queen--Weakness of Henry--Intrigue of Madame de Villars--The King quarrels with the favourite--They are reconciled--Madame de Villars is exiled, and the Prince de Joinville sent to join the army in Hungary--Mortification of the Queen--Her want of judgment--New dissension in the royal ménage--Sully endeavours to restore peace--Mademoiselle de Sourdis--The Court removes to Blois--Royal rupture--A bewildered minister--Marie and her foster-sister--Conspiracy of the Dues de Bouillon and de Biron--Parallel between the two nobles--The Comte d'Auvergne--Ingratitude of Biron--He is betrayed--His arrogance--He is summoned to the capital to justify himself--He refuses to obey the royal summons--Henry sends a messenger to command his presence at Court--Precautionary measures of Sully--The President Jeannin prevails over the obstinacy of Biron--Double treachery of La Fin--The King endeavours to induce Biron to confess his crime--Arrest of the Duc de Biron and the Comte d'Auvergne--The royal soirée--A timely caution--Biron is made prisoner by Vitry, and the Comte d'Auvergne by Praslin--They are conveyed separately to the Bastille--Exultation of the citizens--Firmness of the King--Violence of Biron--Tardy repentance--Trial of Biron--A scene in the Bastille--Condemnation of the Duke--He is beheaded--The subordinate conspirators are pardoned--The Duc de Bouillon retires to Turenne--Refuses to appear at Court--Execution of the Baron de Fontenelles--A salutary lesson--The Comte d'Auvergne is restored to liberty--Revolt of the Prince de Joinville--He is treated with contempt by the King--He is imprisoned by the Duc de Guise--Removal of the Court to Fontainebleau--Legitimation of the son of Madame de Verneuil--Unhappiness of the Queen--She is consoled by Sully--Birth of the Princesse Elisabeth de France--Disappointment of the Queen--Soeur Ange.
The convalescence of the Queen was the signal for a succession of festivities, and the whole winter was spent in gaiety and dissipation; banquets, ballets, and hunting-parties succeeded each other with bewildering rapidity; and so magnificent were several of the Court festivals that even some of the gravest historians of the time did not disdain to record them. The most brilliant of the whole, however, and that which will best serve to exemplify the taste of the period, was the ballet to which allusion has already been made as given in honour of the King by his royal consort, and in which Marie de Medicis herself appeared. In order to heighten its effect she had selected fifteen of the most beautiful women of the Court, Madame de Verneuil being, according to the royal promise, one of the number; and the first part of the exhibition took place at the Louvre. The entertainment commenced with the entrance of Apollo and the nine Muses into the great hall of the palace, which was thronged with native and foreign princes, ambassadors, and ministers, in the midst of whom sat the King with the Papal Nuncio on his right hand. The god and his attendants sang the glory of the monarch, the pacificator of Europe; and each stanza terminated with the somewhat fulsome and ungraceful words:
"Il faut que tout vous rende hommage,
Grand Roi, miracle de notre âge."
Thence the whole gay and gallant company proceeded to the Hôtel de Guise, where the eight maids of honour of the Queen performed the second act; and this was no sooner concluded than the brilliant revellers removed to the archiepiscopal palace, where the Queen appeared in person upon the scene, with her suite divided into four quadrilles. Marie herself represented Venus, and led by the hand César de Vendôme[158] attired as Cupid; when the splendour of her jewels produced so startling an effect that murmurs of astonishment and admiration ran through the hall. Gratified at the sensation caused by the unexampled magnificence and grace of his royal consort, Henry smilingly inquired of the Nuncio "if he had ever before seen so fine a squadron?"
"Bellissimo e pericolosissimo!" was the reply of the gallant prelate.