“He died, loaded with contempt, ejected and banished from his pupil.”
Godoy declared that his enemies paralyzed his endeavours to free Spain from the dominion of the French. He writes in the same “Mémoires”:
“Determined to impose upon the young Prince that I wished to deprive him of the natural affection of his august parents, my enemies so far succeeded in alarming him that the Prince was brought to look upon me as a dangerous rival who aspired to seat himself on the throne. To such perfidious insinuations they added other indirect practices.
“They made Charles IV. tremble at the bare idea of a war with France, when I had in September, 1806, firmly resolved upon proclaiming it.”
The account of Manuel Godoy’s last visit to the ex-Queen Maria Luisa is characteristic of the devotion of the courtier:
“It was in May, 1808, that my old King, his august lady, and the young infant Francisco, the unhappy victims of the iniquitous faction that called Napoleon to interfere in the matters of Spain, were transported from that country to France, and they remained in the dull, lonely dwelling of Fontainebleau.
“The Queen, a stranger in the royal palace of her ancestors, was in a grand bed. Her eyes were full of sadness but of majesty; her grave and venerable face was stamped with virtue. As she was able to speak openly without the presence of any importunate witnesses, she evidently wished to give expression to her feelings when her eyes fell on those who were with her, and she noted the tears which they vainly strove to stop. At last she broke the silence, and said:
“‘And you (tu), Manuel, my loyal friend, from whom I have had so many proofs that you would always remain so till the end—you will have your customary patience and listen to what I have to say!’”
MARIA LUISA, QUEEN OF CHARLES IV.