By the Treaty of Vic, Charles de Lorraine was, as we have shown, compelled to refuse all further hospitality to his royal brother-in-law; while Gaston found himself necessitated to submit to a separation from his young wife, and to proceed to the Spanish Low Countries, where Isabella had offered him an asylum. The amiable Archduchess nobly redeemed her pledge; and the reception which she accorded to the errant Duke was as honourable as that already bestowed upon his mother.
The Marquis de Santa-Cruz, who had recently arrived from Italy to command the Spanish forces in Flanders, was instructed to place himself at the head of all the nobility of the Court, and to advance a league beyond the city to meet the French Prince; while the municipal bodies of Brussels awaited him at the gates. He was lodged in the State apartments of the Palace, and all the expenses of his somewhat elaborate household were defrayed by his magnificent hostess.
"I am sorry, Sir," said Isabella gracefully, as Gaston hastened to offer his acknowledgments on his arrival, "that I am compelled to quarrel with you on our first interview. You should have deferred your visit to me until you had seen the Queen your mother."
"Madame," replied the Prince, "it will be infinitely more easy for me to justify myself for having previously paid my respects to yourself, than to recognize in an efficient manner the debt of obligation which I have incurred towards you."
After the compliments incident to such a meeting had been exchanged between Isabella and her new guest, Gaston received those of the Spanish grandees and the Knights of the Golden Fleece; and at the close of this ceremony he proceeded to the residence of Marie de Medicis, who embraced him tenderly, and bade him remember that all her hopes of vengeance against Richelieu, and a triumphant return to France, were centred in himself. The vain and shallow nature of the Prince was flattered by the position which he had thus suddenly assumed. Thwarted and humbled at the Court of his brother by the intrigues of the Cardinal; distrusted by those who had formerly espoused his cause, and who had suffered the penalty of their misplaced confidence; and impoverished by the evil issue of his previous cabals, he had long writhed beneath his enforced insignificance; whereas he had now, in his new retreat, suddenly grown into authority, and been the object of general homage; his wishes had become laws, and his very follies met with applause and imitation. The little Court of Brussels awoke into sudden animation; and pleasure succeeded pleasure with a rapidity which afforded constant occupation to his frivolous and sensual nature.
His arrival had filled the Spanish Cabinet with joy, as they foresaw that the war which he contemplated against his brother promised to weaken the power of the French King, who, while occupied in reducing this new enemy, would for the time be rendered unable to continue the powerful aid which he had hitherto afforded to the opponents of the House of Austria; a circumstance whence their own prospects in Flanders could not fail to profit largely.
The project of this contemplated war was based upon two conditions: in the first place, on the help promised by Philip of Spain himself; and in the second, upon the pledge given by the Duc de Montmorency[169] to embrace the cause of Monsieur, and to receive him in Languedoc, of which province he was the Governor, and which afforded immense facilities for carrying out his purpose.
Of the defection of the Duc de Montmorency from his interests, Richelieu, generally so well informed upon such subjects, did not entertain the most remote suspicion, as during all the factions of the Court, Montmorency had hitherto acted as a mediator, and had consequently upon several occasions done good service to the minister; but, proud as he was, alike of his illustrious descent and of his personal reputation, the Duke, like all the other nobles about him, still sought to aggrandize himself. The descendant of a long line of ancestors who had successively wielded the sword of Connétable de France, he desired, in his turn, to possess it; and disregarding the fact that Richelieu, whose policy led him to oppose all increase of power among the great nobles, had definitely abolished so dangerous a dignity, he suffered himself to be induced, by his representations, to resign the rank which he already held of Admiral of the French fleet, in order that it might prove no impediment to his appointment to the coveted Connétablie. The result of this imprudence had been that while the Cardinal possessed himself of the vacated post under another title, Montmorency found that he had resigned the substance to grasp a shadow; as, on his application for the sword so long wielded by the heads of his family, he was met by an assurance that thenceforward no such function would be recognized at the Court of France. The mortified noble then applied for the post of Marshal-General of the King's camps and armies, which, save in name, would not have differed from the rank to which he had previously aspired; and again he was subjected to a resolute refusal. Indignant at the rejection of his claim, the Duke had, at the close of the preceding year, retired to his government of Languedoc; and his anger against the Court was heightened by a third repulse which he experienced when soliciting the government of the city and fortress of Montpellier.
The irritation which he felt under this complicated disappointment, combined with the consciousness that he had been duped by the Cardinal, and compelled to act as the subordinate of an individual so inferior to himself in rank, created a disgust which, carefully as he endeavoured to conceal it, soon became evident to those about him; nor was it long ere Marie de Medicis and Monsieur were informed of his disaffection. Confidential messengers were immediately despatched to invite the Duke to espouse their cause, and they found a powerful ally in the Duchess, Maria Felicia d'Ursini, who was a near relative of the Queen-mother.
Weary of inaction, anxious for revenge, and, perhaps, desirous of emulating the generous example of the Duc d'Epernon, who had previously declared himself the champion of Marie, Montmorency was at length prevailed upon to consent to their solicitations, and even to pledge himself to receive Gaston in Languedoc; although at the same time he urged him not to quit Brussels until the end of August, in order that he might have time to complete the necessary preparations.