[245] Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 374.
[246] Ponce de Lauzière, Marquis de Thémines, Sénéchal de Quercy, and subsequently Maréchal de France.
[247] Bassompierre, Mém. p. 117.
[248] Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 375, 376.
[249] Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 541, 542. Mém. de la Régence de Marie de Medicis.
[250] On Twelfth-Night in France a bean is introduced into the cake, and the person selecting the slice in which it has been concealed is elected King for the evening.
[251] Bassompierre, Mém. p. 117.
[252] Rohan, Mém. p. 141. Fontenay-Mareuil, p. 350. D'Estrées, p. 414. Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 542, 543. Brienne, Mém. vol. i. pp. 315, 316.
[253] Manuscript Memoirs of the Cardinal de Richelieu in the archives of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
[254] M. de Saint-Géran was an ensign of the gendarmes of the King's bodyguard, and one of the nobles who were known by the soubriquet of The Seventeen, among whom were the Marquis de Créquy and Bassompierre. He was a devoted ally of the Duc de Sully.