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 Marguerite de Valois^ queen consort of 
 Henry IV, king of France, 1553-1615. 
 Memoirs of Margaret de Valois, queen of 
 
 Navarre ••• written by herself, in a series 
 
 of letters. London, Nichols, 1895. 
 xxiv, 286 p. front, (port.) cCourt 
 
 memoir series. 9^ 
 
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 I 
 
 M E M O I R S 
 
 OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
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 MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
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 Five extra copies have been printed on Japanese vellum, hut 
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 I 
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 OUEEN OF NAVARRE 
 
 Containinfr the Secret History of the Court of France for 
 
 Seventeen Years, viz., from 1565 to 1582, during 
 
 the Reipis of Charles IX. and Henry HI. 
 
 WRITTEN BY HERSELF. IN A SERIFS OF LETTERS 
 
 LONDON 
 
 M. ^. NU HOLS c\: CO. 
 
 3 SOHO SQUARE and 62a PICCADILLY W. 
 
 MDCCCXCV 
 
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 Printed and Published by 
 
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 AT 3, SOHO SQUARE. LONDON, \V. 
 
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 PUBLISHERS' NOTE. 
 
 1 
 
 
 This the Ninth Work of the Court Memoir 
 Series will, it is confidently anticipated, prove to 
 be of an interest at least equal to that of any of 
 its predecessors. These Letters first appeared in 
 French, in 1628, just thirteen years after the death 
 of their witty and beautiful Authoress, who, 
 whether as the wife for many years of the Great 
 Henry of France, or on account of her own 
 charms and accomplishments, has always been 
 the subject of romantic interest. 
 
 The Letters contain many particulars of 
 nearly the first half of her life, z.^., up to her 
 twenty-ninth year, together with many anecdotes 
 hitherto unknown or forgotten, told with a saucy 
 vi\acity which is charming, and an air vividly 
 recalling the sprightly, arch demeanour, and black, 
 sparkling eyes of the fair Queen of Navarre. 
 There remain, unfortunately, some thirty-four years 
 of her life of which but little is known. She 
 died in 1615, aged sixty-three. 
 
 These Letters, however, contain the Secret 
 History of the Court of France during the seven- 
 teen eventful years 1565-82. They end seven 
 
I 
 
 \l 
 
 VIU 
 
 PUBLISHERS NOTE 
 
 years before the assassination by Clement of 
 Henry III., the Queen's brother ; and, conse- 
 quently, although they relate many particulars of 
 the early part of the life of Henry IV., they 
 take in no part of his reign. 
 
 The events, however, of the seventeen years 
 referred to are of surpassing interest, including, 
 as they do, the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew, 
 the formation of the League, the Peace of Sens, 
 and an account of the religious struggles which 
 agitated that period. They, besides, afford an 
 instructive insight into royal life at the close 
 of the sixteenth century, the modes of travelling 
 then in vogue, manners and customs of the time, 
 and a picturesque account of the city of Liege 
 and its Sovereign Bishop. 
 
 As has been already stated, these Memoirs 
 first appeared in French, in 1628. They were, 
 thirty years later, printed in London in English, 
 and were again there translated and published 
 in 1813. This last-named translation is made 
 use of for the present edition. 
 
 London, 12th August , 1895. 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE 
 
 The Memoirs, of which a new translation is now 
 presented to the public, are the undoubted composition 
 of the celebrated Princess whose name they bear, the 
 contemporary of our Queen Elizabeth ; of equal abilities 
 with her, but of far unequal fortunes. Both Elizabeth 
 and Margaret had been bred in the school of adversity ; 
 both profited by it, but Elizabeth had the fullest op- 
 portunity of displaying her acquirements in it. Queen 
 Elizabeth met with trials and difficulties in the early 
 part of her life, and closed a long and successful reign 
 in the happy possession of the goodwill and love of 
 her subjects. Queen Margaret, during her whole life, 
 experienced little else besides mortification and dis- 
 appointment ; she was suspected and hated by both 
 Protestants and Catholics, with the latter of whom, 
 though, she invariably joined in communion, yet was 
 she not in the least incHned to persecute or injure the 
 former. Elizabeth amused herself with a number of 
 suitors, but never submitted to the yoke of matrimony. 
 Margaret, in compliance with the injunctions of the 
 Queen her mother and King Charles her brother, 
 married Henry, King of Navarre, afterwards Henry 
 IV. of France, for whom she had no inclination ; and 
 this union being followed by a mutual indifference and 
 
 b 
 
 
TRANSLATOR S PREFACE 
 
 XI 
 
 X translator's preface 
 
 dislike, she readily consented to dissolve it ; soon after 
 which event she saw a princess, more fruitful but less 
 prudent, share the throne of her ancestors, of whom 
 she was the only representative. Elizabeth was polluted 
 with the blood of her cousin, the Queen of Scots, widow 
 of Margaret's eldest brother. Margaret saved many 
 Huguenots from the massacre of Saint Bartholomew's 
 Day, and, according to Brantome, the life of the 
 King her husband, whose name was on the list of the 
 proscribed. To close this parallel, Elizabeth began 
 early to govern a kingdom, which she ruled through 
 the course of her long life with severity, yet gloriously, 
 and with success. Margaret, after the death of the 
 Queen her mother and her brothers, though sole heiress 
 of the House of Valois, was, by the Salic law, excluded 
 from all pretensions to the crown of France; and 
 though for the greater part of her life shut up in a 
 castle, surrounded by rocks and mountains, she has 
 not escaped the shafts of obloquy. 
 
 The Translator has added some notes, which give 
 an account of such places as are mentioned in the 
 Memoirs, taken from the itineraries of the time, but 
 principally from the " Geographie Universelle" of 
 Vosgien; in which regard is had to the new division 
 of France into departments, as well as to the ancient 
 one of principalities, archbishoprics, bishoprics, gener- 
 alities, chatellenies, balliages, duchies, seignories, &c. 
 
 In the composition of her Memoirs, Margaret has 
 evidently adopted the epistolary form, though the work 
 came out of the French Editor's hand, divided into 
 three (as they are styled) books ; these three books, 
 
 4 
 
 or letters, the Translator has taken the liberty of sub- 
 dividing into twenty-one ; and, at the head of each of 
 them, he has added a short table of the contents. 
 This is the only liberty he has taken with the original 
 Memoirs, the translation itself being as near as the 
 present improved state of our language could be brought 
 to approach the unpolished strength and masculine 
 vigour of the French of the age of Henry IV. 
 
 This translation is styled a new one, because, after 
 the Translator had made some progress in it, he found 
 these Memoirs had already been made English, and 
 printed, in London, in the year 1656, thirty years 
 after the first edition of the French original. This 
 translation has the following title : " The grand Cabinet 
 Counsels unlocked ; or, the most faithful Transaction 
 of Court Affairs, and Growth and Continuance of the 
 Civil Wars in France, during the Reigns of Charles 
 the last, Henry III. and Henry IV., commonly called 
 the Great. Most excellently written, in the French 
 Tongue, by Margaret de Valois, Sister to the two lirst 
 Kings, and Wife of the last. Faithfully translated 
 by Robert Codrington, Master of Arts," and again as 
 " Memorials of Court Affairs," &c., Lond., 1658. 
 
 The Memoirs of Queen Margaret contain the secret 
 history of the Court of France during the space of 
 seventeen years, from 1565 to 1582, and they end seven 
 years before Henry HI., her brother, fell by the hands 
 of Clement, the monk; consequently, they take in no 
 part of the reign of Henry IV. (as Mr. Codrington 
 has asserted in his title-page), though they relate many 
 particulars of the early part of his life. 
 
 b—2 
 
 I 
 
xu 
 
 translator's preface 
 
 ',. 
 
 translator s preface 
 
 XIU 
 
 \ 
 
 Margaret's Memoirs include likewise the history 
 nearly of the first half of her own life, or until she 
 had reached the twenty-ninth year of her age ; and as 
 she died in 1616, at the age of sixty-three years, there 
 remain thirty-four years of her life, of which little is 
 known. In 1598, when she was forty-five years old, 
 her marriage with Henry was dissolved by mutual 
 consent; she declaring that she had no other wish 
 than to give him content, and preserve the peace of 
 the kingdom; making it her request, according to 
 Brantome, that the King would favour her with his 
 protection, which, as her letter expresses, she hoped 
 to enjoy during the rest of her life. Sully says she 
 stipulated only for an estabUshment and the payment 
 of her debts, which were granted. After Henry, in 
 16 10, had fallen a victim to the furious fanaticism of 
 the monk, Ravaillac, she lived to see the kingdom 
 brought into the greatest confusion by the bad govern- 
 ment of the Queen Regent, Marie de Medici, who 
 suffered herself to be directed by an Italian woman 
 she had brought over with her, named Leonora Galligai. 
 This woman marrying a Florentine, called Concini, after- 
 wards made a marshal of France, they jointly ruled 
 the kingdom, and became so unpopular that the mar- 
 shal was assassinated, and the wife, who had been 
 quaUfied with the title of Marchioness d'Ancre, burnt 
 for a witch. This happened about the time of Mar- 
 garet's decease. 
 
 It has just before been mentioned how little has 
 been handed down to these times respecting Queen 
 Margaret's history. The latter part of her life, there 
 
 is reason to believe, was wholly passed at a considerable 
 distance from Court, in her retirement (so it is called, 
 though it appears to have been rather her prison) at 
 the castle of Usson. This castle, rendered famous by 
 her long residence in it, has been demolished since the 
 year 1634. It was built on a mountain, near a little 
 town of the same name, in that part of France called 
 Auvergne, which now constitutes part of the present 
 Departments of the Upper Loire and Puy-de-D6me, 
 from a river and mountain so named. These Memoirs 
 appear to have been composed in this retreat. Mar- 
 garet amused herself likewise, in this solitude, in 
 composing verses, and there are specimens still re- 
 maining of her poetry. These compositions she often 
 set to music, and sang them herself, accompanying her 
 voice with the lute, on which she played to perfection. 
 Great part of her time was spent in the perusal of 
 the Bible and books of piety, together with the works 
 of the best authors she could procure. Brantome 
 assures us that Margaret spoke the Latin tongue with 
 purity and elegance ; and it appears, from her Memoirs, 
 that she had read Plutarch with attention. 
 
 Margaret has been said to have given in to the 
 gallantries to which the Court of France was, during 
 her time, but too much addicted ; but, though the 
 Translator is obliged to notice it, he is far from being 
 inclined to give any credit to a romance entitled, *' Le 
 Divorce Satyrique ; ou, les Amours de la Reyne Mar- 
 guerite de Valois," which is written in the person of 
 her husband, and bears on the title-page these initials, 
 viz., D. R. H. Q. M.; that is to say, " du Roi Henri 
 
 .' If ."*^!,i,«Mt"iiK' .aptwi 
 
XIV 
 
 TRANSLATOR S PREFACE 
 
 translator's PREFACE 
 
 XV 
 
 Quatre, Mari." This work professes to give a relation 
 of Margaret's conduct during her residence at the castle 
 of Usson ; but it contains so many gross absurdities and 
 indecencies that it is undeserving of attention, and ap- 
 pears to have been written by some bitter enemy, who 
 has assumed the character of her husband to traduce 
 her memory.^ 
 
 Messire Pierre de Bourdeille, Seigneur de Bran- 
 tome, better known by the name of Brantome, wrote 
 the Memoirs of his own times. He was brought up 
 in the Court of France, and Hved in it during the 
 reigns of Margaret's father and brothers, dying at the 
 advanced age of eighty or eighty-four years, but in 
 what year is not certainly known. He has given anec- 
 dotes- of the life of Margaret, written during her 
 
 1 " Le Divorce Satyrique " is said to have been written by 
 Louisa Margaretta de Lorraine, Princess of Conti, who is hke- 
 wise the reputed author of "The Amours of Henry IV.," disguised 
 under the name of Alcander. She was the daughter of the Duke 
 de Guise, assassinated at Blois in 1588, and born the year her 
 father died. She married Francis Prince de Conti, and was 
 considered one of the most ingenious and accompHshed persons 
 belonging to the French Court in the age of Louis XIII. She 
 was left a widow in 1614, and died in 1631. 
 
 2 The author of the " Tablettes de France," and "Anecdotes 
 des Rois de France," thinks that Margaret alludes to Brantome's 
 "Anecdotes" in the beginning of her first letter, where she says: 
 " I should commend your work much more were I myself not so 
 much praised in it." (According to the original: " Je louerois 
 davantage votre ceuvre, si elle ne me louoit tant.") If so, these 
 letters were addressed to Brantome, and not to the Baron de la 
 Chataigneraye, as mentioned in the Preface to the French 
 Edition. In Letter I. (page 9) mention is made of Madame de 
 Dampierre, whom Margaret styles the aunt of the person the letter 
 is addressed to. She was dame d'honneur, or lady of the bed-chamber, 
 
 V 
 V) 
 
 t 
 
 
 before - mentioned retreat, when she was, as he says 
 (" f^lle unique maintenant restee, de la noble maison de 
 France"), the only survivor of her illustrious house. 
 Brantome praises her excellent beauty in a long string 
 of laboured hyperboles. Ronsard, the Court poet, has 
 done the same in a poem of considerable length, wherein 
 he has exhausted the whole of his wit and fancy. From 
 what they have said, we may collect that Margaret 
 was graceful in her person and figure, and remarkably 
 happy in her choice of dress and ornaments to set 
 herself off to the most advantage; that her height 
 was above the middle size, her shape easy, with that 
 due proportion of plumpness which gives an appearance 
 of majesty and comeliness. Her eyes were full, black 
 and sparkhng ; she had bright, chestnut-coloured hair, 
 and a complexion fresh and blooming. Her skin was 
 delicately white, and her neck admirably well formed ; 
 and this so generally admired beauty the fashion of 
 dress, in her time, admitted of being fully displayed. 
 
 Such was Queen Margaret, as she is portrayed, 
 with the greatest luxuriance of colouring, by these 
 authors. To her personal charms were added a readi- 
 
 to the Queen of Henry III., and Brantome. speaking of her, calls 
 her his aunt. Indeed, it is not a matter of any consequence to 
 whom these Memoirs were addressed ; it is, however, remarkable 
 that Louis XIV. used the same words to Boileau, after hearmg 
 him read his celebrated epistle upon the famous Passage of the 
 Rhine • and yet Louis was no reader, and is not supposed to have 
 adopted them from these Memoirs. The thought is. in reality, fine 
 but might easily suggest itself to any other. " Cela est beau," said 
 the monarch, " et je vous louerois davantage. si vous m'aviez moms 
 loue." (The poetry is excellent, and I should praise you more had 
 you praised me less.) 
 
XVI 
 
 TRANSLATOR S PREFACE 
 
 ness of wit, an ease and gracefulness of speech, and 
 great affability and courtesy of manners. This de- 
 scription of Queen Margaret cannot be dismissed 
 without observing, if only for the sake of keeping the 
 fashion of the present times with her sex in counten- 
 ance, that, though she had hair, as has been already 
 described, becoming her and sufficiently ornamental in 
 itself, yet she occasionally called in the aid of wigs. 
 Brantome's words are : ** L'artifice de pemiques bien 
 gentiment fa^onnees."^ 
 
 I shall conclude this Preface with a letter from 
 Margaret to Brantome ; the first, he says, he received 
 from her during her adversity [son adversite are his 
 words), being, as he expresses it, so ambitious (pre- 
 somptiieux) as to have sent to enquire concerning her 
 health, as she was the daughter and sister of the 
 Kings, his masters. (D'avoir envoye s9avoir de ses 
 nouvelles, mais quoy elle estoit fiUe et soeur de mes 
 roys.) 
 
 The letter here follows: "Par la souvenance que 
 vous avez de moy (qui m'a este bien moins nouvelle 
 qu'agreable), je connois que vous avez bien conserve 
 
 I Ladies in the days of Ovid wore periwigs. That poet says 
 to Corinna : — 
 
 " Nunc tibi captivos mittet Germania crines ; 
 
 Culta triumphatae munere gentis eris." 
 (Wigs shall from captive Germany be sent ; 
 'Tis with such spoils your head you ornament.) 
 
 These, we may conclude, were flaxen, that being the prevailing 
 coloured hair of the Germans at this day. The Translator has 
 met with a further account of Margaret's headdress, which de- 
 scribes her as wearing a velvet bonnet ornamented with pearls 
 and diamonds, and surmounted with a plume of feathers. 
 
 'I. 
 
 i 
 
 •') 
 
 V 
 
 translator's preface 
 
 xvu 
 
 I'affection qu'avez tousjours eue a nostre maison, a 
 ce peu qui reste d'un miserable naufrage, qui en 
 quelque estat qu'il puisse estre, sera tousjours dispose 
 de vous servir, me sentant bien heureuse que la for- 
 tune n'ait pu eflfacer mon nom de la memoire de mes 
 plus anciens amis, comme vous estes. J 'ay S9eu que, 
 comme moi, vous avez choisi la vie tranquille, en la 
 quelle j'estime heureux qui s'y pent maintenir, comme 
 Dieu m'en a fait la grace depuis cinq ans, m'ayant 
 logee en une arche de salut, ou les orages de ces 
 troubles ne peuvent, Dieu mercy, me nuire, a la quelle 
 s'il me reste quelque moyen de pouvoir servir a mes 
 amis, et a vous particulierement, vous m'y trouverez 
 entierement disposee et accompagnee d'une bonne 
 volonte." That is to say, "From the attention and 
 regard you have shown me (which to me appears less 
 strange than it is agreeable), I find you still preserve 
 that attachment you have ever had to my family, in a 
 recollection of these poor remains which have escaped 
 its wreck. Such as I am, you will find me always 
 ready to do you service, since I am so happy as to 
 discover that my fortune has not been able to blot out 
 my name from the memory of my oldest friends, of 
 which number you are one. I have heard that, like 
 me, you have chosen a life of retirement, which I 
 esteem those happy who can enjoy, as God, out of 
 His great mercy, has enabled me to do for these last 
 five years; having placed me, during these times of 
 trouble, in an ark of safety, out of the reach, God be 
 thanked, of storms. If, in my present situation, I am 
 able to serve my friends, and you more especially, I 
 
XVUl 
 
 translator's preface 
 
 shall be found entirely disposed to it, and with the 
 
 greatest goodwill." 
 
 There is such an air of dignified majesty in the 
 foregoing letter, and, at the same time, such a spirit of 
 genuine piety and resignation, that it cannot but give 
 an exalted idea of Margaret's character, who appears 
 superior to ill-fortune and great even in her distress. 
 If, as I doubt not, the reader thinks the same, I shall 
 not need to make an apology for concluding this Preface 
 
 with it. 
 
 The following Latin verses, or call them, if you 
 please, epigram, are of the composition of Barclay, or 
 Barclaius, author of " Argenis," &c. 
 
 Neither has George Buchanan been wanting in 
 paying Margaret the tribute of some Latin verses. An 
 epigram is to be found amongst his Latin poems. See 
 p. 407, ed. London, 1686. See likewise pp. 416 and 430. 
 
 ( 
 
 ,') 
 
 'f 
 
 translator's preface 
 DE MARGARETA VALESIA, 
 
 NAVARRiE REGINA. 
 
 O patria, O arces, O dulcia tecta parentum, 
 Unde avus. unde pater, tres unde ex ordine fratres 
 Sceptra tulere mei. mene O agnoscitis arces ? 
 Ilia ego sum, cui vos cunabula cara dedistis, 
 Et patrio ingentem cultu jactastis alumnam ; 
 Stirpe Deas, et fronte Deas et sidera vultu 
 Cum premerem, amborum spes ambitiosa procorum, 
 Nunc conjux vidua, et vani cum nomine regni, 
 Rupibus e nudis. longique e carcere montis 
 Excedo. Sed et hie causas infesta dolendi 
 Disponit fortuna mihi, monstratque colendam 
 Quse mihi successit, quique, ah, de corpore nostro 
 Debuit esse puer. Nee jam contendere promptum 
 Damnavit dudum miseram fecitque nocentem 
 Cum tali certasse viro. Jam credere divis 
 Felicesque sequi juvat, et subscribere fato. 
 O dolor ! an potui victos inflectere vultus 
 Despectosque orasse viros ? Ne credite, vivam. 
 Jamdudum peril, jamdudum extincta supersum ; 
 Et vivo, et morior toties ; me funere longo 
 Nempe mori decuit, qu^ tot per secula clarum 
 Induco tumulis suprema Valesia nomen. 
 
 XIX 
 
 TRANSLATION. 
 
 ON 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS, 
 
 QUEEN OF NAVARRE. 
 
 Dear native land ! and you, proud castles ! say 
 (Where grandsire.i father.'^ and three brothers-' lay. 
 Who each, in turn, the crown imperial wore). 
 
 1 Francis I. 
 
 2 Henry II. 
 
 3 Francis II., Charles IX. and Henry III. 
 
 III) 
 
XX 
 
 translator's preface 
 
 Me will you own. your daughter whom you bore ? 
 
 Me once your greatest boast and chiefest pride, 
 
 By Bourbon and Lorraine.^ when sought a bride ; 
 
 Now widowed wife,-^ a queen without a throne, 
 
 Midst rocks and mountains » wander I alone. 
 
 Nor yet hath Fortune vented all her spite, 
 
 But sets one up,* who now enjoys my right, 
 
 Points to the boy,'' who henceforth claims the throne 
 
 And crown, a son of mine should call his own. 
 
 But ah, alas ! for me 'tis now too late« 
 
 To strive 'gainst Fortune and contend with Fate ; 
 
 Of those I slighted, can I beg relief ? ^ 
 
 No ; let me die the victim of my grief. 
 
 And can I then be justly said to live ? 
 
 Dead in estate, do I then yet survive ? 
 
 Last of the name, I carry to the grave 
 
 All the remains the House of Valois have. 
 
 ] 
 
 1 Henry, Duke of Guise, and Henry, King of Navarre. 
 
 2 Alluding to her divorce from Henry IV. 
 
 3 The castle of Usson. 
 
 4 Marie de Medici, whom Henry married after his divorce from Margaret. 
 
 5 Louis XHL, the son of Henry and his queen, Marie de Medici. 
 
 6 Alluding to the differences betwixt Margaret and Henry, her husband. 
 
 7 This is said with allusion to the supposition that she was rather inclined to 
 favour the suit of the Duke of Guise and reject Henry for a husband. 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Translator's Preface 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ix 
 
 
 Letter I 
 
 Introduction -Anecdotes of Margaret;s -^-y-f;,^;-^ 
 used to convert her to the new rehg:on-She '^ ~f "^^^f " 
 Catholicism -The Court on a progress -A grand festivity 
 suddenly interrupted-The confusion in consequence . 
 
 Letter II 
 
 her chUdren-Their interview-Anjou's eloquent harangue-The 
 Jueen mother's character-Discourse of 'he Du^e of Anpu h 
 Marearet-She discovers her own importance-Engages to serve 
 her brother Anjou-ls in high favour with the Queen-mother . 
 
 Letter III 
 
 r r- „=» His character-Anjou affects to be jealous of the 
 r .s DUsuades the Queen-mother from reposing confidence 
 n M™t-!.She OSes the favour of the Queen-mother and 
 fallfsck- Anion's hypocrisy -He introduces de Gu.se into 
 ia'e's sTck chamber-Margaret demanded in -arriage by 
 Ae rang of Portugal-Made uneasy on that account-Contrives 
 to relteve herself-lThe match with Portugal broken oft . • ^3 
 
 13 
 
XXll 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Letter IV 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Letter VIII 
 
 What happened at Lyons 
 
 Letter IX 
 
 33 
 
 43 
 
 Death of the Queen of Navarre- Margaret's marriage with her 
 son, the King of Navarre, afterwards Henry IV. of France— The 
 preparations for that solemnization described — The circum- 
 stances which led to the massacre of the Huguenots on Samt 
 Bartholomew's Day 
 
 Letter V 
 The massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day 
 
 Letter VI 
 
 Henry, Duke of Anjou, elected King of Portugal, leaves France- 
 Huguenot plots to withdraw the Duke of Alen9on and the King 
 of Navarre from Court— Discovered and defeated by Margaret's 
 vigilance— She draws up an eloquent defence, which her husband 
 delivers before a Committee from the Court of Parliament— 
 Alen9on and her husband under a close arrest, regain their 
 liberty by the death of Charles IX 
 
 Letter VII 
 
 Accession of Henry III— A journey to Lyons— Margaret's faith in 
 supernatural intelligence 57 
 
 51 
 
 62 
 
 Fresh intrigues— Marriage of Henry III.— Bussi arrives at Court, 
 and narrowly escapes assassination 71 
 
 Letter X 
 
 Bussi is sent from Court— Margaret's husband attacked with a fit 
 of epilepsy— Her great care of him— Torigni dismissed from 
 Margaret's service — The King of Navarre and the Duke of 
 Alen9on secretly leave the Court 81 
 
 I 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Letter XI 
 
 XXlll 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Queen Margaret under arrest— Attempt on Torigni's life— Her 
 fortunate deliverance ^^ 
 
 Letter XII 
 The Peace of Sens, betwixt Henry III. and the Huguenots 
 
 100 
 
 — Queen 
 
 112 
 
 Letter XIII 
 
 The League — War declared against the Huguenots 
 Margaret sets out for Spa 
 
 Letter XIV 
 
 Description of Queen Margaret's equipage-Her journey to Liege 
 described— She enters with success upon her mission— Strikmg 
 instance of maternal duty and affection in a great lady-Disasters 
 near the close of the journey ^^ 
 
 Letter XV 
 
 The City of Liege described-Affecting story of Mademoiselle de 
 Tournon- -Fatal effects of suppressed anguish of mind . . 149 
 
 Letter XVI 
 
 Queen Margaret, on her return from Liege, is in danger of being 
 made a prisoner-She arrives, after some narrow escapes, at 
 _ i-«» .••■•* jy 
 
 La Fere 
 
 Letter XVII 
 
 Good effects of Queen Margaret's negotiation in FJ^^^ers-She 
 obtains leave to go to the King of Navarre her husband but 
 her journey is delayed-Court intrigues and plots-The Duke 
 of Alen9on again put under arrest 7 
 
 Letter XVIII 
 The brothers reconciled-Alen9on restored to his liberty 
 
 192 
 
 4 
 

 XXIV 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Letter XIX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Duke of AleiKjon makes his escape from Court— Queen 
 Margaret's fideUty put to a severe trial 205 
 
 Letter XX 
 
 Queen Margaret permitted to go to the King her husband — Is 
 accompanied by the Queen-mother— Margaret insulted by her 
 husband's secretary— She harbours jealousy— Her attention to 
 the King her husband during an indisposition — Their recon- 
 ciliation — The war breaks out afresh — Affront received from 
 Marshal de Biron 217 
 
 Letter XXI 
 
 Situation of affairs in Flanders— Peace brought about by Duke 
 Alen9on's negotiation— Marshal de Biron apologizes for firing 
 on Nerac — Henry desperately in love with Fosseuse — Queen 
 Margaret discovers Fosseuse to be pregnant, which she denies— 
 Fosseuse in labour— Margaret's generous behaviour to her— 
 Margaret's return to Paris 236 
 
 Alphabetical List of Places mentioned in the Memoirs, with their 
 Descriptions 255 
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 LETTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTION — ANECDOTES OF MARGARET'S INFANCY — 
 ENDEAVOURS USED TO CONVERT HER TO THE NEW 
 
 RELIGION SHE IS CONFIRMED IN CATHOLICISM THE 
 
 COURT ON A PROGRESS A GRAND FESTIVITY SUDDENLY 
 
 INTERRUPTED — THE CONFUSION IN CONSEQUENCE. 
 
 I SHOULD commend your work much more 
 were I myself less praised in it; but I am un- 
 willing to do SO, lest my praises should seem 
 rather the effect of self-love than to be founded on 
 reason and justice. I am fearful that, like Themis- 
 tocles, I should appear to admire their eloquence 
 the most who are most forward to praise me. It 
 is the usual frailty of our sex to be fond of flattery. 
 I blame this in other women, and should wish 
 
2 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 not to be chargeable with it myself. Yet I con- 
 fess that I take a pride in being painted by the 
 hand of so able a master, however flattering the 
 likeness may be. If I ever were possessed of the 
 graces you have assigned to me, trouble and vexa- 
 tion render them no longer visible, and have even 
 effaced them from my own recollection. So that 
 I view myself in your Memoirs, and say, with old 
 Madame de Rendan, who, not having consulted 
 her glass since her husband's death, on seeing her 
 own face in the mirror of another lady, exclaimed, 
 **Who is this?" Whatever my friends tell me 
 when they see me now, I am inclined to think 
 proceeds from the partiality of their affection. I 
 am sure that you yourself, when you consider more 
 impartially what you have said, will be induced to 
 believe, according to these lines of du Bellay— 
 
 " C'est chercher Rome en Rome, 
 Et rien de Rome en Rome ne trouver." 
 
 ('Tis to seek Rome, in Rome to go, 
 And Rome herself at Rome not know.) 
 
 But as we read with pleasure the history of the 
 Sie^e of Troy, the magnificence of Athens, and 
 other splendid cities, which once flourished, but 
 
 f 
 
 it 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 are now so entirely destroyed that scarcely the 
 spot whereon they stood can be traced, so you 
 please yourself with describing these excellencies 
 of beauty which are no more, and which will be 
 only discoverable in your writings. 
 
 If you had taken upon you to contrast Nature 
 and Fortune, you could not have chosen a happier 
 theme upon which to descant, for both have made 
 a trial of their strength on the subject of your 
 Memoirs. What Nature did, you had the evidence 
 of your own eyes to vouch for, but what was done 
 by Fortune, you only know from hearsay ; and 
 hearsay, I need not tell you, is liable to be in- 
 fluenced by ignorance or malice, and, therefore, not 
 to be depended on. You will, for that reason, I 
 make no doubt, be pleased to receive these Memoirs 
 from the hand which is most interested in the 
 truth of them. 
 
 I have been induced to undertake writing my 
 Memoirs the more from five or six observations 
 which I have had occasion to make upon your 
 work, as you appear to have been misinformed 
 respecting certain particulars. For example, in 
 that part where mention is made of Pau, and of 
 
4 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 my journey in France ; likewise, there where you 
 speak of the late Marshal de Biron, of Agen, and 
 of the sally of the Marquis de Camillac from that 
 place. 
 
 These Memoirs might merit the honourable 
 name of history from the truths contained in them, 
 as I shall prefer truth to embellishment. In fact, 
 to embellish my story I have neither leisure nor 
 ability ; I shall, therefore, do no more than give a 
 simple narration of events. They are the labours 
 of my evenings, and will come to you an unformed 
 mass, to receive its shape from your hands, or as 
 a chaos on which you have already thrown light. 
 Mine is a history most assuredly worthy to come 
 from a man of honour, one who is a true French- 
 man, born of illustrious parents, brought up in the 
 Court of the Kings my father and brothers, allied 
 in blood and friendship to the most virtuous and 
 accomplished women of our times, of which society 
 I have had the good fortune to be the bond of 
 union. 
 
 I shall begin these Memoirs in the reign of 
 Charles IX., and set out with the first remarkable 
 event of my life which fell w ithin my remembrance. 
 
 / 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 5 
 
 Hereby I follow the example of geographical wTiters, 
 who, having described the places within their know- 
 ledge, tell you that all beyond them are sandy deserts, 
 countries without inhabitants, or seas never navi- 
 gated. Thus I might say all prior to the com- 
 mencement of these Memoirs was the barrenness 
 of my infancy, w^hen w^e can only be said to vegetate 
 like plants, or live, like brutes, according to instinct, 
 and not as human creatures, guided by reason. 
 To those who had the direction of m} earliest 
 years I leave the task of relating the transactions 
 of my infancy, if they find them as worthy of being 
 recorded as the infantine exploits of Themistocles 
 and Alexander ; the one exposing himself to be 
 trampled on by the horses of a charioteer, who 
 would not stop them when requested to do so, 
 and the other refusing to run a race unless kings 
 were to enter the contest against him. Amongst 
 suchlike memorable things might be related the 
 answer I made the King my father, a short time 
 before the fatal accident which deprived France 
 of peace, and our family of its chief glory. I was 
 then about four or five years of age, when the 
 King, placing me on his knee, entered familiarly 
 
 ^^vy 
 
^^^y 
 
 6 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 into chat with me. There were, in the same room, 
 playing and diverting themselves, the Prince of 
 Joinville, since the great and unfortunate Duke of 
 Guise, and the Marquis of Beaupreau, son of the 
 Prince de la Roche - sur - Yon, who died in his 
 fourteenth year, and by whose death his country 
 lost a youth of most promising talents. Amongst 
 other discourse, the King asked which of the two 
 Princes that were before me I liked best. I 
 replied: '^The Marquis." The King said: '^ Why 
 so? he is not the handsomest." The Prince of 
 Joinville was fair, with light -coloured hair, and 
 the Marquis de Beaupreau brown, with dark hair. 
 I answered : '' Because he is the best behaved ; 
 w^hilst the Prince is always making mischief, and 
 will be master over everybody." 
 
 This was a presage of what we have seen 
 happen since, when the whole Court was infected 
 with heresy, about the time of the Conference of 
 Poissy. It was with great difficulty that I resisted 
 and preserved myself from a change of religion at 
 that time. Many ladies and lords belonging to 
 Court strove to convert me to Huguenotism. The 
 Duke of Anjou, since King Henr\' III. of France, 
 
 s 
 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 7 
 
 then in his infancy, had been prevailed on to 
 change his religion, and he often snatched my 
 ** Hours" out of my hand, and flung them into 
 the fire, giving me Psalm Books and books of 
 Huguenot prayers, insisting on my using them. I 
 took the first opportunity to give them up to my 
 governess, Madame de Curton, whom God, out 
 of His mercy to me, caused to continue steadfast 
 in the Catholic religion. She frequently took me 
 to that pious, good man, the Cardinal de Tournon, 
 who gave me good advice, and strengthened me 
 in a perseverance in my religion, furnishing me 
 with books and chaplets of beads in the room of 
 those my brother Anjou took from me and burnt. 
 Many of my brother's most intimate friends had 
 resolved on my ruin, and rated me severely upon 
 my refusal to change, saying it proceeded from a 
 childish obstinacy; that if I had the least under- 
 standing, and would listen, like other discreet 
 persons, to the sermons that were preached, I 
 should abjure my uncharitable bigotry ; but I was, 
 said they, as foolish as my governess. My brother 
 Anjou added threats, and said the Queen my mother 
 would give orders that I should be whipped. But 
 
 1 
 
 ^-^~i-..,ji=.«s^?». ^.w^^ym-'" ■*-aei^r^-ts>--'«*'=**"- "■ 
 

 ( 
 
 I 
 
 t i. 
 
 > 
 
 I 
 
 8 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 this he said of his own head, for the Queen my 
 mother did not, at that time, know of the errors 
 he had embraced. As soon as it came to her 
 knowledge, she took him to task, and severely 
 reprimanded his governors, insisting upon their 
 correcting him, and instructing him in the holy 
 and ancient religion of his forefathers, from which 
 she herself never swerved. When he used those 
 menaces, as I have before related, I was a child 
 of seven or tight years old, and at that tender age 
 would reply to him. '^Well, get me whipped if you 
 can ; I will suffer whipping, and even death, rather 
 
 than be damned." 
 
 I could furnish you with many other replies of 
 the like kind, which gave proof of the early ripeness 
 of mv judgment and my courage: but I shall not 
 trouble myself with such researches, choosing rather 
 to begin these Memoirs at the time when I resided 
 constantly with the Queen my mother. 
 
 Immediately after the Conference of Poissy, the 
 civil wars commenced, and my brother Alen9on 
 and myself, on account of our youth, were sent to 
 Amboise, whither all the ladies of the country 
 repaired to us. With them came your aunt. 
 
 L! 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 9 
 
 Madame de Dampierre, who entered into a firm 
 friendship with me, which was never interrupted 
 until her death broke it off. There was likewise 
 your cousin, the Duchess of Rais, who had the 
 good fortune to hear there of the death of her 
 brute of a husband, killed at the battle of Dreux. 
 The husband I mean was the first she had, named 
 M. d'Annebaut, who was unworthy to have for a 
 wife so accomplished and charming a woman as 
 your cousin. She and I were not then such 
 intimate friends as we have become since, and 
 shall ever remain. The reason was that, though 
 older than I, she was yet young, and young girls 
 seldom take much notice of children, whereas 
 your aunt was of an age when women admire 
 their innocence and engaging simplicity. 
 
 I remained at Amboise until the Queen my 
 mother was ready to set out on her grand progress, 
 at which time she sent for me to come to her 
 Court, which I did not quit afterwards. 
 
 Of this progress I will not undertake to give 
 you a description, being still so young that, though 
 the whole is within my recollection, yet the par- 
 ticular passages of it appear to me but as a 
 
\ 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 II 
 
 
 ' 
 
 dream, and are now lost. I leave this task to 
 others, of riper years, as you were yourself. You 
 can well remember the magnificence that was dis- 
 played everywhere, particularly at the baptism of 
 my nephew, the Duke of Lorraine, at Bar-le-Duc ; 
 at the meeting of M. and Madame of Savoy, in 
 the city of Lyons ; the interview at Bayonne 
 betwixt my sister the Queen of Spain, the Queen 
 ni}- mother, and King Charles ni) brother. In 
 your account of this interview you would not forget 
 to make mention of the noble entertainment given 
 by the Queen niv mother on an island, with the 
 grand dances, and the form of the saloon, which 
 seemed appropriated by Nature for such a purpose, 
 it being a large meadow in the middle of the island, 
 in the shape of an oval, surrounded on every side 
 by tall spreading trees. In this meadow the Queen 
 my mother had disposed a circle of niches, each of 
 them large enough to contain a table of twelve 
 covers. At one end a platform was raised, ascended 
 by four steps formed of turf. Here Their Majesties 
 were seated at a table under a lofty canopy. The 
 tables were all served by troops of shepherdesses 
 dressed in cloth of gold and satin, after the fashion 
 
 
 of the different provinces of France. These shep- 
 herdesses, during the passage of the superb boats 
 from Bayonne to the island, were placed in separate 
 bands, in a meadow on each side of the causeway, 
 raised with turf, and whilst Their Majesties and the 
 company were passing to the great saloon they 
 danced. On their passage by water, the barges 
 were followed by other boats, having on board vocal 
 and instrumental musicians, habited like Nereids, 
 singing and playing the whole time. After landing, 
 the shepherdesses I have mentioned before received 
 the company in separate troops, with songs and 
 darfces, after the fashion and accompanied by the 
 music of the provinces they represented — the 
 Poiterins pla}'ing on bagpipes ; the Proven^ales on 
 the viol and cymbal; the Burgundians and Cham- 
 pagners on the hautboy, bass viol, and tambourine ; 
 in like manner the Bretons and other provincialists. 
 After the collation was served and the feast at an 
 end, a large troop of musicians, habited like satyrs, 
 was seen to come out of the opening of a rock, 
 well lighted up, whilst nymphs were descending 
 from the top in rich habits, who, as they came 
 down, formed into a grand dance — when, lo ! 
 
 tf 
 
 . - ^-i 
 
1 
 
 ■I ' 
 
 i 
 
 12 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 fortune no longer favouring this brilliant festival, 
 a sudden storm of rain came on, and all were glad 
 to get off in the boats and make for town as fast 
 as they could. The confusion in consequence of 
 this precipitate retreat afforded as much matter to 
 laugh at the next day as the splendour of the 
 entertainment had excited admiration. In short, 
 the festivity of this day was not forgotten, on one 
 account or the other, amidst the variety of the 
 like nature which succeeded it in the course of 
 this progress. 
 
 .'-Y 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 13 
 
 LETTER II 
 
 MESSAGE FROM THE DUKE OF ANJOU, AFTERWARDS 
 HENRY III., TO KING CHARLES HIS BROTHER AND 
 
 THE QUEEN -MOTHER HER FONDNESS FOR HER 
 
 CHILDREN THEIR INTERVIEW ANJOU'S ELOQUENT 
 
 HARANGUE — THE QUEEN - MOTHER'S CHARACTER — DIS- 
 COURSE OF THE DUKE OF ANJOU WITH MARGARET 
 
 SHE DISCOVERS HER OWN IMPORTANCE ENGAGES TO 
 
 SERVE HER BROTHER ANJOU IS IN HIGH FAVOUR 
 
 WITH THE QUEEN -MOTHER. 
 
 At the time my magnanimous brother Charles 
 reigned over France, and some few years after our 
 return from the grand progress mentioned in my 
 last letter, the Huguenots having renewed the 
 war, a gentleman, despatched from my brother 
 Anjou (afterwards Henry III. of France), came to 
 Paris to inform the King and the Queen my 
 mother that the Huguenot army was reduced to 
 such an extremity that he hoped in a few days 
 to force them to give him battle. He added his 
 earnest wish for the honour of seeing them at 
 Tours before that happened, in case Fortune, 
 
'; 
 
 H 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 15 
 
 envying him the glory he had already achieved at 
 so early an age, should, on the so much looked- 
 for day, after the good service he had done his 
 religion and his King, crown the victory with his 
 death, he might not have cause to regret leaving 
 this world without the satisfaction of receiving 
 their approbation of his conduct from their own 
 mouths ; a satisfaction which would be more valu- 
 able, in his opinion, than the trophies he had 
 gained by his two former victories. 
 
 I leave to your own imagination to suggest 
 to you the impression which such a message 
 from a dearly beloved son made on the mind of a 
 mother who doted on all her children, and was 
 always ready to sacrifice her own repose, nay, 
 even her life, for their happiness. 
 
 She resolved immediately to set off and take 
 the King with her. She had, besides myself, her 
 usual small company of female attendants, together 
 with Mesdames de Rais and de Sauve. She flew 
 on the wings of maternal affection, and reached 
 Tours in three days and a half. A journey from 
 Paris, made with such precipitation, was not un- 
 attended with accidents and some inconveniences, 
 
 of a nature to occasion much mirth and laughter. 
 The poor Cardinal de Bourbon, who never quitted 
 her, and whose temper of mind, strength of body, 
 and habits of life were ill suited to encounter pri- 
 vations and hardships, suffered greatly from this 
 rapid journey. 
 
 We found my brother Anjou at Plessis-les- 
 Tours, with the principal officers of his army, who 
 were the flower of the princes and nobles of 
 France. In their presence he delivered a harangue 
 to the King, giving a detail of his conduct in the 
 execution of his charge, beginning from the time 
 he left the Court. His discourse was framed with 
 so much eloquence, and spoken so gracefully, that 
 it was admired by all present. It appeared matter 
 of astonishment that a youth of sixteen should 
 reason with all the gravity and powers of an 
 orator of ripe years. The comeliness of his per- 
 son, which at all times pleads powerfully in favour 
 of a speaker, was in him set off by the laurels ob- 
 tained in two victories. In short, it was difficult 
 to say which most contributed to make him the 
 admiration of all his hearers. 
 
 It is equally as impossible for me to describe 
 
 >ai4«« 
 
i6 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 17 
 
 in words the feelings of my mother on this occa- 
 sion, who loved him above all her children, as it 
 was for the painter to represent on canvas the 
 grief of Iphigenia's father. Such an overflow of 
 joy would have been discoverable in the looks 
 and actions of any other woman, but she had 
 her passions so much under the control of pru- 
 dence and discretion that there was nothing to 
 be perceived in her countenance, or gathered from 
 her words, of what she felt inwardly in her mind. 
 She was, indeed, a perfect mistress of herself, and 
 regulated her discourse and her actions by the 
 rules of wisdom and sound policy, showing that 
 a person of discretion does upon all occasions 
 only what is proper to be done. She did not 
 amuse herself on this occasion with listening to 
 the praises which issued from every mouth, and 
 sanction them with her own approbation ; but, 
 selecting the chief points in the speech relative to 
 the future conduct of the war, she laid them be- 
 fore the Princes and great lords, to be deliberated 
 upon, in order to settle a plan of operations. 
 
 To arrange such a plan a delay of some days 
 was requisite. During this interval the Queen my 
 
 mother, walking in the park with some of the 
 Princes, my brother Anjou begged me to take a 
 turn or two with him in a retired walk. He then 
 addressed me in the following words : " Dear sis- 
 ter, the nearness of blood, as well as our having 
 been brought up together, naturally, as they 
 ought, attach us to each other. You must already 
 have discovered the partiality I have had for you 
 above my brothers, and I think I have perceived 
 the same in you for me. We have been hitherto 
 led to this by nature, without deriving any other 
 advantage from it than the sole pleasure of con- 
 versing together. So far might be well enough for 
 our childhood, but now we are no longer children. 
 You know the high situation in which, by the 
 favour of God and our good mother the Queen, 
 I am here placed. You may be assured that, as 
 you are the person in the world whom I love and 
 esteem the most, you will always be a partaker 
 of my advancement. I know you are not want- 
 ing in wit and discretion, and I am sensible 
 you have it in your power to do me service 
 with the Queen our mother, and preserve me 
 
 in my present employments. It is a great point 
 
 2 
 
 
i8 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 obtained for me, always to stand well in her 
 favour. I am fearful that my absence may be 
 prejudicial to that purpose, and I must neces- 
 sarily be at a distance from Court. Whilst I am 
 away, the Kin- my brother is with her, and has 
 it in his power to insinuate himself into her good 
 -races. This I fear, in the end, may be of dis- 
 service to me. The King my brother is growing 
 older every day. He does not want for courage, 
 and, though he now diverts himself with hunting, 
 he may grow ambitious, and choose rather to chase 
 men than beasts; in such a case I must resign to 
 him my commission as his lieutenant. This would 
 prove the greatest mortification that could happen 
 to me, and I would even prefer death to it. 
 Under such an apprehension I have considered of 
 the means of prevention, and see none so feasible 
 as having a confidential person about the Queen 
 my mother, who shall always be ready be espouse 
 and support my cause. I know no one so proper 
 for that purpose as yourself, who will be, I doubt 
 not, as attentive to my interest as I should be 
 myself. You have wit, discretion and fidelity, 
 which are all that are wanting, provided you will 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 19 
 
 be so kind as to undertake such a good office. 
 In that case I shall have only to beg of you not 
 to neglect attending her morning and evening, to 
 be the first with her and the last to leave her. 
 This will induce her to repose a confidence and 
 open her mind to you. To make her the more 
 ready to do this, I shall take every opportunity 
 to commend your good sense and understanding, 
 and to tell her that I shall take it kind in her 
 to leave off treating you as a child, which, I shall 
 say, will contribute to her own comfort and satis- 
 faction. I am well convinced that she will listen to 
 my advice. Do you speak to her with the same 
 confidence as you do to me, and be assured that 
 she will approve of it. It will conduce to your 
 own happiness to obtain her favour. You may do 
 yourself service whilst you are labouring for my 
 interest; and you may rest satisfied that, after 
 God, I shall think I owe all the good fortune 
 which may befall me to yourself." 
 
 This was entirely a new kind of language to 
 me. I had hitherto thought of nothing but amuse- 
 ments, of dancing, hunting and the Hke diversions; 
 
 nay, I had never yet discovered any inclination 
 
 2 — 2 
 
/ 
 
 20 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 of setting myself off to advantage by dress, and 
 exciting an admiration of my person and figure. 
 I had no ambition of any kind, and had been so 
 strictly brought up under the Queen my mother 
 that I scarcely durst speak before her ; and, if she 
 chanced to turn her eyes towards me I trembled, 
 for fear that I had done something to displease 
 her. At the conclusion of my brother's harangue, 
 I was half inclined to reply to him in the words 
 of Moses, when he was spoken to from the burn- 
 ing bush : '' Who am /, that I should go tmto Pha- 
 raoh ? Send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom 
 
 thou wilt send.'' 
 
 However, his words inspired me with resolu- 
 tion and powers I did not think myself possessed 
 of before. I had naturally a degree of courage, 
 and, as soon as I recovered from my astonish- 
 ment, I found I was quite an altered person. His 
 address pleased me, and wrought in me a con- 
 fidence in myself; and I found I was become of 
 more consequence than I had ever conceived I 
 had been. Accordingly, I replied to him thus: 
 ** Brother, if God grant me the power of speaking 
 to the Queen our mother as I have the will to 
 
 \ 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 21 
 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 
 do, nothing can be wanting for your service, and 
 you may expect to derive all the good you hope 
 from it, and from my solicitude and attention for 
 your interest. With respect to my undertaking 
 such a matter for you, you will soon perceive 
 that I shall sacrifice all the pleasures in this 
 world to my watchfulness for your service. You 
 may perfectly rely upon me, as there is no one 
 that honours or regards you more than I do. Be 
 well assured that I shall act for you with the 
 Queen my mother as zealously as you would for 
 
 yourself." 
 
 These sentiments were more strongly im- 
 pressed upon my mind than the words I made 
 use of were capable of conveying an idea of. 
 This will appear more fully in my following letters. 
 
 As soon as we were returned from walking, 
 the Queen my mother retired with me into her 
 closet, and addressed the following words to me : 
 '* Your brother has been relating the conversation 
 you have had together; he considers you no 
 longer as a child, neither shall I. It will be a 
 great comfort to me to converse with you as I 
 would with your brother. For the future you will 
 
/ 
 
 22 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 I 
 
 „/ 
 
 freely speak your mind, and have no apprehen- 
 sions of taking too great a Hberty, for it is what 
 I wish." These words gave me a pleasure then 
 which I am now unable to express. I felt a satis- 
 faction and a joy which nothing before had ever 
 caused me to feel. I now considered the pastimes 
 of my childhood as vain amusements. I shunned 
 the society of my former companions of the same 
 age. I disliked dancing and hunting, which I 
 thought beneath my attention. I strictly complied 
 with her agreeable injunction, and never missed 
 being wath her at her rising in the morning and 
 going to rest at night. She did me the honour, 
 sometimes, to hold me in conversation for two 
 and three hours at a time. God was so gracious 
 with me that I gave her great satisfaction ; and 
 she thought she could not sufficiently praise me to 
 those ladies who were about her. I spoke of my 
 brother's affairs to her, and he was constantly 
 apprised by me of her sentiments and opinion; so 
 that he had every reason to suppose I was firml}- 
 attached to his interest. . 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 LETTER III 
 
 LE GUAST HIS CHARACTER ANJOU AFFECTS TO BE 
 
 JEALOUS OF THE GUISES DISSUADES THE QUEEN- 
 MOTHER FROM REPOSING CONFIDENCE IN MARGARET 
 
 SHE LOSES THE FAVOUR OF THE QUEEN -MOTHER 
 
 AND FALLS SICK ANJOU'S HYPOCRISY HE INTRO- 
 DUCES DE GUISE INTO MARGARET S SICK CHAMBER 
 
 MARGARET DEMANDED IN MARRIAGE BY THE KING 
 
 OF PORTUGAL MADE UNEASY ON THAT ACCOUNT 
 
 CONTRIVES TO RELIEVE HERSELF — THE MATCH WITH 
 PORTUGAL BROKEN OFF. 
 
 I CONTINUED to pass my time with the 
 Queen my mother greatly to my satisfaction, 
 until after the battle of Moncontour. By the 
 same despatch that brought the news of this 
 victory to the Court, my brother, w^ho was ever 
 desirous to be near the Queen my mother, wrote 
 her word that he was about to lay siege to 
 Saint-Jean d'Angely, and that it would be necessary 
 that the King should be present whilst it was 
 going on. She, more anxious to see him than he 
 could be to have her near him, hastened to set out 
 
'■■) 
 
 • • 
 
 24 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 on the journey, taking me with her, and her 
 customary train of attendants. I Hkcwise expe- 
 rienced great joy upon the occasion, having no 
 suspicion that any mischief awaited me. I was 
 still young and without experience, and I thought 
 the happiness I enjoyed was always to continue ; 
 but the malice of Fortune prepared for me at this 
 interview a reverse that I little expected, after the 
 fidelity with which I had discharged the trust my 
 brother had reposed in me. 
 
 Soon after our last meeting, it seems, my 
 brother Anjou had taken le Guast to be near his 
 person, who had ingratiated himself so far into his 
 favour and confidence that he saw only with his 
 eyes, and spoke but as he dictated. This evil- 
 disposed man, whose whole life was one con- 
 tinued scene of wickedness, had perverted his 
 mind and filled it with maxims of the most atro- 
 cious nature. He advised him to have no regard 
 but for his own interest ; neither to love or put 
 trust in any one ; and not to promote the views 
 or advantage of either brother or sister. These 
 and other maxims of the like nature, drawn from 
 the school of Machiavelli, he was continually sug- 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 25 
 
 gesting to him. He had so frequently inculcated 
 them that they were strongly impressed on his 
 mind, insomuch that, upon our arrival, when 
 after the first compliments my mother began to 
 open in my praise and express the attachment I 
 had discovered for him, this w^as his reply, which 
 he delivered with the utmost coldness : *' He was 
 well pleased," he said, *' to have succeeded in the 
 request he had made to me ; but that prudence 
 directed us not to continue to make use of the 
 same expedients, for what was profitable at one 
 time might not be so at another." She asked 
 him why he made that observation. This ques- 
 tion afforded the opportunity he wished for, of 
 relating a story he had fabricated, purposely to 
 ruin me with her. 
 
 He began with observing to her that I was 
 grown very handsome, and that M. de Guise 
 wished to marry me ; that his uncles, too, were 
 very desirous of such a match ; and, if I should 
 entertain a like passion for him, there would be 
 danger of my discovering to him all she said to 
 me ; that she well knew the ambition of that 
 house, and how ready they were, on all occasions. 
 
/ 
 
 = c^- -r . f t-^^ -- 
 
 26 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 1 
 
 f 
 
 >« 
 
 to circumvent ours. It would, therefore, be proper 
 that she should not, for the future, communicate 
 any matter of State to me, but, by degrees, with- 
 draw her confidence. 
 
 I discovered the evil effects proceeding from 
 this pernicious advice on the very same evening. 
 I remarked an unwillin-ness on her part to speak 
 to me before my brother ; and, as soon as she 
 entered into discourse with him, she commanded 
 me to go to bed. This command she repeated 
 two or three times. I quitted her closet, and left 
 them together in conversation ; but, as soon as 
 he was gone, I returned and entreated her to let 
 me know if I had been so unhappy as to have 
 done anything, through ignorance, which had given 
 her offence. She was at first inclined to dissemble 
 with me ; but at length she said to me thus : 
 ** Daughter, your brother is prudent and cautious ; 
 you ought not to be displeased with him for what 
 he does, and you must believe what I shall tell 
 you is right and proper." She then related the 
 conversation she had with m\' brother, as I have 
 just written it; and she then ordered me never 
 to speak to her in my brother's presence. 
 
 ij 
 
 i 
 
 «> 
 
 ^ 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 27 
 
 These words were like so many daggers plunged 
 into my breast. In my disgrace, I experienced as 
 much grief as I had before joy on being received 
 into her favour and confidence. I did not omit 
 to say everything to convince her of my entire 
 ignorance of what my brother had told her. I 
 said it was a matter I had never heard mentioned 
 before ; and that, had I known it, I should cer- 
 tainly have made her immediately acquainted with 
 it. All I said was to no purpose ; my brother's 
 words had made the first impression ; they were 
 constantly present in her mind, and outweighed 
 probability and truth. When I discovered this, 
 I told her that I felt less uneasiness at being 
 deprived of my happiness than I did joy when 
 I had acquired it ; for my brother had taken it 
 from me, as he had given it. He had given it 
 without reason ; he had taken it away without 
 cause. He had praised me for discretion and 
 prudence when I did not merit it, and he sus- 
 pected my fidelity on grounds wholly imaginary 
 and fictitious. I concluded with assuring her that 
 I should never forget my brother's behaviour on 
 this occasion. 
 
 i 
 
28 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 29 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 k 
 
 I 
 
 j|. /I 
 
 Hereupon she liew into a passion and com- 
 manded me not to make the least show of resent- 
 ment at his behaviour. From that hour she 
 gradually withdrew her favour from me. Her son 
 became the god of her idolatry, at the shrine of 
 whose will she sacrificed everything. 
 
 The grief which I inwardly felt was very 
 great and overpowered all my faculties, until it 
 wrought so far on my constitution as to contribute 
 to my receiving the infection which then prevailed 
 in the army. A few days after I fell sick of a 
 raging fever, attended with purple spots, a malady 
 which carried off numbers, and, amongst the rest, 
 the two principal ph}sicians belonging to the King 
 and Queen, Chappelain and Castelan. Indeed, few 
 got over the disorder after being attacked with it. 
 
 In this extremity the Queen my mother, who 
 partly guessed the cause of my illness, omitted 
 nothing that might serve to remove it ; and, with- 
 out fear of consequences, visited me frequently. 
 Her goodness contributed much to my recovery ; 
 but my brother's hypocrisy was sufficient to de- 
 stroy all the benefit I received from her attention, 
 after having been guilty of so treacherous a pro- 
 
 I 
 
 ceeding. After he had proved so ungrateful to me, 
 he came and sat at the foot of my bed from morn- 
 ing to night, and appeared as anxiously attentive 
 as if we had been the most perfect friends. My 
 mouth was shut up by the command I had re- 
 ceived from the Queen our mother, so that I 
 only answered his dissembled concern with sighs, 
 like Burrus in the presence of Nero, when he 
 was dying by the poison administered by the 
 hands of that tyrant. The sighs, however, which 
 I vented in my brother's presence might convince 
 him that I attributed my sickness rather to his 
 ill offices than to the prevailing contagion. 
 
 God had mercy on me, and supported me 
 through this dangerous illness. After I had kept 
 my bed a fortnight, the army changed its quarters, 
 and I was conveyed away with it in a litter. At 
 the end of each day's march, I found King Charles 
 at the door of my quarters, ready, with the rest 
 of the good gentlemen belonging to the Court, 
 to carry my litter up to my bedside. In this 
 manner I came to Angers from Saint-Jean d'Angely, 
 sick in body, but more sick in mind. Here, to 
 my misfortune, M. de Guise and his uncles had 
 
7 
 
 
 B 
 
 30 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 arrived before me. This was a circumstance 
 which gave my good brother great pleasure, as it 
 afforded a colourable appearance to his story. I 
 soon discovered the advantage my brother would 
 make of it to increase my already too great 
 mortification ; for he came daily to see me, 
 and as constantly brought M. de Guise into 
 my chamber with him. He pretended the sin- 
 cerest regard for de Guise, and, to make him 
 believe it, would take frequent opportunities of 
 embracing him, crying out at the same time, 
 " Would to God you were my brother ! " This 
 he often put in practice before me, which M. 
 de Guise seemed not to comprehend ; but I, who 
 knew his malicious designs, lost all patience, yet 
 did not dare to reproach him with his hypocrisy. 
 
 As soon as I was recovered, a treaty was set 
 on foot for a marriage betwixt the King of Portu- 
 gal and me, an ambassador having been sent for 
 that purpose. The Queen my mother commanded 
 me to prepare to give the ambassador an audi- 
 ence ; which I did accordingly. My brother had 
 made her believe that I was averse to this mar- 
 riage ; accordingly, she took me to task upon it, 
 
 ♦ 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 31 
 
 and questioned me on the subject, expecting she 
 should find some cause to be angry with me. I 
 told her my will had always been guided by her 
 own, and that whatever she thought right for me 
 to do, I should do it. She answered me angrily, 
 according as she had been wrought upon, that I 
 did not speak the sentiments of my heart, for she 
 well knew that the Cardinal de Lorraine had per- 
 suaded me into a promise of having his nephew. 
 I begged her to forward this match with the 
 King of Portugal, and I would convince her of 
 my obedience to her commands. Every day some 
 new matter was reported to incense her against 
 me. All these were machinations worked up by 
 the mind of le Guast. In short, I was constantly 
 receiving some fresh mortification, so that I hardly 
 passed a day in quiet. On one side, the King of 
 Spain was using his utmost endeavours to break 
 off the match with Portugal, and M. de Guise 
 continuing at Court, furnished grounds for per- 
 secuting me on the other. Still, not a single 
 person of the Guises ever mentioned a word to 
 me on the subject ; and it was well known that, 
 for more than a twelvemonth, M. de Guise had 
 
32 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 been paying his addresses to the Princess de 
 Porcian; but the slow progress made in bringing 
 this match to a conclusion was said to be owing 
 to his designs upon me. 
 
 As soon as I made this discovery I resolved 
 to write to my sister, Madame de Lorraine, who 
 had a great influence in the House of Porcian, 
 be^^in^ her to use her endeavours to withdraw 
 M. de Guise from Court, and make him con- 
 clude his match with the Princess, laying open 
 to her the plot which had been concerted to ruin 
 the Guises and me. She readily saw through it, 
 came immediately to Court, and concluded the 
 match, which delivered me from the aspersions 
 cast on my character, and convinced the Queen 
 my mother that what I had told her was the 
 real truth. This at the same time stopped the 
 mouths of my enemies and gave me some repose. 
 At length the King of Spain, unwilling that 
 the King of Portugal should marry out of his 
 family, broke off the treaty which had been 
 entered upon for my marriage with him. 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 33 
 
 LETTER IV 
 
 DEATH OF THE QUEEN OF NAVARRE MARGARET's MAR- 
 RIAGE WITH HER SON, THE KING OF NAVARRE, AFTER- 
 WARDS HENRY IV. OF FRANCE THE PREPARATIONS FOR 
 
 THAT SOLEMNISATION DESCRIBED THE CIRCUMSTANCES 
 
 WHICH LED TO THE MASSACRE OF THE HUGUENOTS ON 
 
 SAINT Bartholomew's day. 
 
 Some short time after this a marriage was 
 projected betwixt the Prince of Navarre, now our 
 renowned King Henry IV., and me. 
 
 The Queen my mother, as she sat at table, 
 discoursed for a long time upon the subject 
 with M. de Meru, the House of Montmorency 
 having first proposed the match. After the Queen 
 had risen from table, he told me she had com- 
 manded him to mention it to me. I replied that 
 it was quite unnecessary as I had no will but 
 her own ; however, I should wish she would be 
 pleased to remember that I was a Catholic, and 
 that I should dislike to marry an3^one of a con- 
 trary persuasion. 
 
 Soon after this the Queen sent for me to 
 
34 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 35 
 
 attend her in her closet. She there informed me 
 that the Montmorencys had proposed this match 
 to her, and that she was desirous to learn my 
 sentiments upon it. I answered that my choice 
 was governed by her pleasure, and that I only 
 beeired her not to forget that I was a good Catholic. 
 
 oo 
 
 This treaty was in negotiation for some time 
 after this conversation, and w^as not finally settled 
 until the arrival of the Queen of Navarre, his 
 mother, at Court, where she died soon after. 
 
 Whilst the Queen of Navarre lay on her 
 death-bed, a circumstance happened of so whim- 
 sical a nature that, though it is not of conse- 
 quence to merit a place in the history, may very 
 well deserve to be related by me to you. Madame 
 de Nevers, whose oddities you well know, attended 
 the Cardinal de Bourbon, Madame de Guise, the 
 Princess of Conde, her sisters and myself to the 
 late Queen of Navarre's apartments, whither we 
 all went to pay those last duties which her rank 
 and our nearness of blood demanded of us. We 
 found the Queen in bed with her curtains undrawn, 
 the chamber not disposed with the pomp and 
 ceremonies of our religion, but after the simple 
 
 manner of the Huguenots ; that is to say, there 
 were no priests, no Cross nor any holy water. We 
 kept ourselves at some distance from the bed, but 
 Madame de Nevers, whom you know the Queen 
 hated more than any woman besides, and which 
 she had shown both in speech and by actions — 
 Madame de Nevers, I say, approached the bed- 
 side, and, to the great astonishment of all present, 
 who well knew the enmity subsisting betwixt them, 
 took the Queen's hand, with many low curtseys, 
 and kissed it ; after which, making another curtsey 
 to the very ground, she retired and rejoined us. 
 
 A few months after the Queen's death, the 
 Prince of Navarre, or rather, as he was then 
 styled, the King, came to Paris in deep mourning, 
 attended by eight hundred gentlemen, all in 
 mourning habits. He was received with every 
 honour by King Charles and the whole Court, 
 and, in a few days after his arrival, our marriage 
 was solemnised with all possible magnificence ; 
 the King of Navarre and his retinue putting off 
 their mourning and dressing themselves in the 
 most costly manner. The whole Court, too, was 
 richly attired ; all which you can better conceive 
 
 3—2 
 
36 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 than I am able to express. For my own part, 
 I was set out in a most royal manner: I wore a 
 crown on my head with the coet, or regal close 
 gown of ermine, and I blazed in diamonds. My 
 blue-coloured robe had a train to it of four ells in 
 length, which was supported by three Princesses. 
 A platform had been raised, some height from the 
 ground, which led from the Bishop's palace to the 
 church of Notre Dame. It was hung with cloth 
 of gold ; and below it stood the people in throngs 
 to view the procession, stifling with heat. We 
 were received at the church door by the Cardinal 
 de Bourbon, who officiated for that day, and pro- 
 nounced the nuptial benediction. After this we 
 proceeded on the same platform to the tribune 
 which separates the nave from the choir, where 
 was a double staircase, one leading into the choir, 
 the other through the nave to the church door. 
 The King of Navarre passed by the latter and 
 went out of church. 
 
 But fortune, which is ever changing, did not 
 fail soon to disturb the felicity of this union. This 
 was occasioned by the wound received by the 
 admiral, w^hich had wrought the Huguenots up 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 37 
 
 to a degree of desperation. The Queen my 
 mother was reproached on that account in such 
 terms by the elder Pardaillan and some other 
 principal Huguenots, that she began to apprehend 
 some evil design. Monsieur de Guise and my 
 brother the King of Poland, since Henry HI. of 
 France, gave it as their advice to be beforehand 
 with the Huguenots. King Charles was of a 
 contrary opinion. He had a great esteem for 
 M. de Rochefoucauld, Teligny, la Noue, and 
 some other leading men of the same religion; 
 and, as I have since heard him say, it was with 
 the greatest difficulty he could be prevailed upon 
 to give his consent, and not before he had been 
 made to understand that his own life and the 
 safety of his kingdom depended upon it. 
 
 The King having learned that Maurevel had 
 made an attempt upon the admiral's life, by firing 
 a pistol at him through a window; in which 
 attempt he failed, having wounded the admiral 
 only in the shoulder ; and supposing that Maurevel 
 had done this at the instance of M. de Guise, 
 to revenge the death of his father, whom the 
 admiral had caused to be killed in the same 
 
38 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 manner by Poltrot, he was so much incensed 
 against M. de Guise, that he declared with an 
 oath that he would make an example of 
 him ; and, indeed, the King would have put 
 M, de Guise under an arrest, if he had not 
 kept out of his sight the w^hole day. The 
 Queen my mother used every argument to con- 
 vince King Charles that what had been done 
 was for the good of the State ; and this because, 
 as I observed before, the King had so great a 
 regard for the admiral, la None and Teligny, on 
 account of their bravery, being himself a prince 
 of a gallant and noble spirit, and esteeming others 
 in whom he found a similar disposition. More- 
 over, these designing men had insinuated them- 
 selves into the King's favour by proposing an 
 expedition to Flanders, with a view of extending 
 his dominions and aggrandising his power, pro- 
 positions which they well knew would secure to 
 themselves an influence over his royal and 
 generous mind. 
 
 Upon this occasion, the Queen my mother 
 represented to the King, that the attempt of 
 M. de Guise upon the admiral's life was ex- 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 39 
 
 cusable in a son who, being denied justice, 
 had no other means of avenging his father's 
 death. Moreover, the admiral, *she said, had 
 deprived her by assassination, during his minority 
 and her regency, of a faithful servant in the person 
 of Gharri, commander of the King's body-guard, 
 which rendered him deserving of the like treat- 
 ment. 
 
 Notwithstanding that the Queen my mother 
 
 spoke thus to the King, discovering by her ex- 
 pressions and in her looks all the grief which she 
 inwardly felt on the recollection of the loss of 
 persons who had been useful to her ; yet, so much 
 was King Charles inclined to save those who, as 
 he thought, would one day be serviceable to him, 
 that he still persisted in his determination to 
 punish M. de Guise, for whom he ordered strict 
 
 search to be made. 
 
 At length Pardaillan, disclosing by his men- 
 aces, during the supper of the Queen my mother, 
 the evil intentions of the Huguenots, she plainly 
 perceived that things were brought to so near a 
 crisis, that, unless steps were taken that very 
 night to prevent it, the King and herself were in 
 
rnjip i li0mmmmMl 
 
 m ' 1 ^ ' ■ 
 
 \\ 
 
 40 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 41 
 
 danger of being assassinated. She, therefore, came 
 to the resolution of declaring to King Charles his 
 real situation. For this purpose she thought of 
 the Marshal de Rais as the most proper person 
 to break the matter to the King, the marshal 
 being greatly in his favour and confidence. 
 
 Accordingly the marshal went to the King in 
 his closet, between the hours of nine and ten, and 
 told him he was come as a faithful servant to dis- 
 charge his duty, and lay before him the danger 
 in which he stood, if he persisted in his reso- 
 lution of punishing M. de Guise; as he ought 
 now to be informed that the attempt made upon 
 the admiral's life was not set on foot by him 
 alone, but that his (the King's) brother the 
 King of Poland, and the Queen his mother, had 
 their shares in it : that he must be sensible how 
 much the Oueen lamented Gharri's assassination, 
 for which she had great reason, having very 
 few servants about her upon whom she could 
 rely, and as it happened during the King's 
 minority; at the time, moreover, when France was 
 divided between the Catholics and the Huguenots, 
 M. de Guise, being at the head of the former, 
 
 and the Prince of Conde of the latter, both 
 alike striving to deprive him of his crown : 
 that, through Providence, both his crown and 
 kingdom had been preserved by the prudence and 
 good conduct of the Queen Regent, who, in this 
 extremity, found herself powerfully aided by the 
 ?aid Charri, for which reason she had vowed to 
 avenge his death: that, as to the admiral, he 
 must be ever considered as dangerous to the 
 State, and whatever show he might make of affec- 
 tion for His Majesty's person, and zeal for his 
 service in Flanders, they must be considered as 
 mere pretences, which he used to cover his real 
 design of reducing the kingdom to a state of 
 
 confusion. 
 
 The marshal concluded with observing that 
 the original intention had been to make away with 
 the admiral only, as the most obnoxious man in the 
 kingdom ; but Maurevel having been so unfortu- 
 nate as to fail in his attempt, and the Huguenots 
 becoming desperate enough to resolve to take up 
 arms, with design to attack, not only M. de 
 Guise, but the Queen his mother, and his brother 
 the King of Poland, supposing them, as well as 
 
1 
 
 42 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 43 
 
 11 
 
 His Majesty, to have commanded Maurevel to 
 make his attempt, he saw nothing but cause of 
 alarm for His Majesty's safety ; as well on the 
 part of the Catholics, if he persisted in his re- 
 solution to punish M. de Guise, as of the 
 Huguenots, for the reasons which he had just 
 laid before him. 
 
 LETTER V 
 
 THE MASSACRE OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY. 
 
 King Charles, a prince of great prudence, 
 always paying a particular deference to his mother, 
 and being much attached to the Catholic religion, 
 now convinced of the intentions of the Huguenots, 
 adopted a sudden resolution of following his 
 mother's counsel, and putting himself under the 
 safeguard of the Catholics. It was not, however, 
 without extreme regret that he found he had it 
 not in his power to save Teligny, la Noue, and 
 M. de la Rochefoucauld. 
 
 He went to the apartments of the Queen his 
 mother, and sending for M. de Guise and all the 
 Princes and Catholic officers, the '' Massacre of 
 Saint Bartholomew" was that night resolved upon. 
 Immediately every hand was at work ; chains 
 were drawn across the streets, the alarm bells were 
 sounded, and every man repaired to his post, 
 according to the orders he had received, whether 
 
 \ : 
 
44 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 45 
 
 it was to attack the admiral's quarters, or those 
 of the other Huguenots. M. de Guise hastened 
 to the admiral's, and Besme, a gentleman in the 
 service of the former, a German by birth, forced 
 into his chamber, and having slain him with a 
 dagger, threw his body out of a window to his 
 
 master. 
 
 I was perfectly ignorant of what was going 
 forward. I observed every one to be in motion, 
 the Huguenots, driven to despair by the attack 
 upon the admiral's life, and the Guises, fearing 
 they should not have justice done them, whispering 
 all they met in the ear. 
 
 The Huguenots were suspicious of me because 
 I was a Catholic, and the Catholics because I 
 was married to the King of Navarre, who was a 
 Huguenot. This being the case, no one spoke 
 a syllable of the matter to me. 
 
 x\t night, when I went into the bed-chamber 
 of the Queen my mother, I placed myself on a 
 coffer, next my sister Lorraine, who, I could not 
 but remark, appeared greatly cast down. The 
 Queen my mother was in conversation with 
 someone, but, as soon as she espied me, she bade 
 
 ^ 
 
 me go to bed. As I was taking leave, my sister 
 seized me by the hand and stopped me, at the 
 same time shedding a flood of tears : '' For the 
 love of God," cried she, " do not stir out of this 
 chamber ! " I was greatly alarmed at this exclama- 
 tion ; which the Queen my mother perceiving, 
 called my sister to her, and chid her very severely. 
 My sister replied it was sending me away to be 
 sacrificed ; for, if any discovery should be made, 
 I should be the first victim of their revenge. The 
 Queen my mother made answer that, if it pleased 
 God, I should receive no hurt, but it was necessary 
 I should go, to prevent the suspicion that might 
 arise from my staying. 
 
 I perceived there was something on foot which 
 I was not to know, but what it was I could not 
 make out from anything they said. 
 
 The Queen again bade me go to bed in a 
 peremptory tone. My sister wished me a good 
 night, her tears flowing apace, but she did not 
 dare to say a word more ; and I left the bed- 
 chamber more dead than alive. 
 
 As soon as I reached my own closet, I threw 
 myself upon my knees and prayed to God to take 
 
 ..-•— .-^afcHT- w'^-i^ J^-i. •»<% 
 
/ 
 
 7. 
 
 46 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 me into His protection and save me ; but from 
 whom or what, I was ignorant. Hereupon the 
 King my husband, who was already in bed, sent 
 for me. I went to him, and found the bed sur- 
 rounded by thirty or forty Huguenots, who were 
 entirely unknown to me ; for I had been then but 
 a very short time married. Their whole discourse, 
 during the night, was upon what had happened to 
 the admiral, and they all came to a resolution of 
 the next day demanding justice of the King against 
 M. de Guise ; and, if it was refused, to take it 
 themselves. 
 
 For my part, I was unable to sleep a wink the 
 whole night, for thinking of my sister's tears and 
 distress, which had greatly alarmed me, although 
 I had not the least knowledge of the real cause. 
 As soon as day broke, the King my husband said 
 he would rise and play at tennis until King Charles 
 was risen, when he would go to him immediately 
 and demand justice. He left the bed-chamber, and 
 all his gentlemen followed. 
 
 As soon as I beheld it was broad day, I appre- 
 hended all the danger my sister had spoken of 
 was over ; and being inclined to sleep, I bade my 
 
 I 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 47 
 
 nurse make the door fast, and I applied myself 
 to take some repose. In about an hour I was 
 awakened by a violent noise at the door, made 
 with both hands and feet, and a voice calling out, 
 " Navarre ! Navarre ! " My nurse, supposing the 
 King my husband to be at the door, hastened 
 to open it, when a gentleman, named M. de Teian, 
 ran in, and threw himself immediately upon my 
 bed. He had received a wound in his arm from 
 a sword, and another by a pike, and was then 
 pursued by four archers, who followed him into 
 the bed-chamber. Perceiving these last, I jumped 
 out of bed, and the poor gentleman after me, 
 holding me fast by the waist. I did not then 
 know him ; neither was I sure that he came to 
 do me no harm, or whether the archers were in 
 pursuit of him or me. In this situation I screamed 
 aloud, and he cried out likewise, for our fright was 
 mutual. At length, by God's providence, M. de 
 Nancay, captain of the guard, came into the bed- 
 chamber, and, seeing me thus surrounded, though 
 he could not help pitying me, he was scarcely 
 able to refrain from laughter. However, he 
 reprimanded the archers very severely for their 
 
 ^ « > - r^ -mm^ 
 
/ 
 
 'm I |i ^ r . M ->"i <r « 
 
 48 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 indiscretion, and drove them out of the chamber. 
 At my request he granted the poor gentleman his 
 life, and I had him put to bed in my closet, caused 
 his wounds to be dressed, and did not suffer him 
 to quit my apartment until he was perfectly cured. 
 I changed my shift, because it was stained with 
 the blood of this man, and, whilst I was doing 
 so, de Nancay gave me an account of the trans- 
 actions of the foregoing night, assuring me that 
 the King my husband was safe, and actually at 
 that moment in the King's bed-chamber. He 
 made me muffle myself up in a cloak, and con- 
 ducted me to the apartment of my sister, Madame 
 de Lorraine, whither I arrived more than half 
 dead. As we passed through the ante-chamber, 
 all the doors of which were wide open, a gentleman 
 of the name of Bourse, pursued by archers, was 
 run through the body with a pike, and fell dead 
 at my feet. As if I had been killed by the same 
 stroke, I fell, and was caught by M. de Nancay 
 before I reached the ground. As soon as I re- 
 covered from this fainting - fit, I went into my 
 sister's bed-chamber, and was immediately followed 
 by M. de Mioflano, first gentleman to the King 
 
 ( 
 
 / 
 
 i I 
 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 49 
 
 my husband, and Armagnac, his first vald dc 
 chambre, who both came to beg me to save their 
 lives. I went and threw myself on my knees 
 before the King and the Queen my mother, and 
 obtained the lives of both of them. 
 
 Five or six days afterwards, those who were 
 engaged in this plot, considering that it was in- 
 complete whilst the King my husband and the 
 Prince of Condc remained alive, as their design 
 was not only to dispose of the Huguenots, but of 
 the princes of the blood likewise ; and knowing 
 that no attempt could be made on my husband 
 whilst I continued to be his wife, devised a scheme 
 which they suggested to the Queen my mother 
 for divorcing me from him. Accordingly, one 
 holiday, when I waited upon her to chapel, she 
 charged me to declare to her, upon my oath, 
 whether I believed my husband to be like other 
 men ; ^' Because," said she, '' if he is not, I can 
 easily procure you a divorce from him." I begged 
 her to believe that I was not sufficiently competent 
 to answer such a question, and could only reply, 
 as the Roman lady did to her husband, when he 
 
 chid her for not informing him of his stinking 
 
 4 
 
 
 • ■<: 
 
MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 51 
 
 50 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 breath, that, never having approached any other 
 man near enough to know a difference, she thought 
 all men had been alike in that respect. *' But," 
 said I, ** madam, since you have put the question 
 to me, I can only declare I am content to remain 
 as I am " ; and this I said because I suspected 
 the design of separating me from my husband 
 was in order to work some mischief against him. 
 
 LETTER VI 
 
 HENRY DUKE OF ANJOU, ELECTED KING OF POLAND, 
 
 LEAVES FRANCE HUGUENOT PLOTS TO WITHDRAW 
 
 THE DUKE OF ALENCON AND THE KING OF NAVARRE 
 FROM COURT DISCOVERED AND DEFEATED BY MAR- 
 GARET'S VIGILANCE SHE DRAWS UP AN ELOQUENT 
 
 DEFENCE, WHICH HER HUSBAND DELIVERS BEFORE 
 A COMMITTEE FROM THE COURT OF PARLIAMENT — 
 ALENCON AND HER HUSBAND UNDER A CLOSE ARREST, 
 REGAIN THEIR LIBERTY BY THE DEATH OF CHARLES IX. 
 
 We accompanied the King of Poland as far 
 
 as Beaumont. For some months before he quitted 
 
 France, he had used every endeavour to efface 
 
 from my mind the ill offices he had so ungratefully 
 
 done me. He solicited to obtain the same place 
 
 in my esteem which he held during our infancy ; 
 
 and, on taking leave of me, made me confirm it 
 
 by oaths and promises. His departure from France, 
 
 and King Charles's sickness, which happened just 
 
 about the same time, excited the spirit of the two 
 
 factions into which the kingdom was divided, to 
 
 form a variety of plots. The Huguenots, on the 
 
 4—2 
 
52 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 death of the admiral, had obtained from the King 
 my husband, and my brother Alen9on, a written 
 obhgation to avenge it. Before Saint Bartholomew's 
 Day, they had gained my brother over to their 
 party, by the hope of securing Flanders for him. 
 They now persuaded my husband and him to 
 leave the King and Queen on their return, and 
 pass into Champagne, there to join some troops 
 which were in waiting to receive them. 
 
 M. de Miossans, a Catholic gentleman, having 
 received an intimation of this design, considered 
 it so prejudicial to the interests of the King his 
 master, that he communicated it to me with the 
 intention of frustrating a plot of so much danger 
 to themselves and to the State. I went immediately 
 to the King and the Queen my mother, and in- 
 formed them that I had a matter of the utmost 
 importance to lay before them; but that I could 
 not declare it unless they would be pleased to 
 promise me that no harm should ensue from it 
 to such as I should name to them ; and that they 
 would put a stop to what was going forward, 
 without publishing their knowledge of it. Having 
 obtained my request, I told them that my brother 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 53 
 
 Alen^on and the King my husband had an 
 intention, on the very next day, of joining some 
 Huguenot troops, which expected them, in order 
 to fulfil the engagement they had made upon the 
 admiral's death ; and for this their intention, I 
 begged they might be excused, and that they 
 might be prevented from going away without any 
 discovery being made that their designs had been 
 found out. All this was granted me, and measures 
 were so prudently taken to stay them, that they 
 had not the least suspicion that their intended 
 evasion was known. Soon after we arrived at 
 Saint - Germains, where we stayed some time, on 
 account of the King's indisposition. All this while 
 my brother Alengon used every means he could 
 devise to ingratiate himself with me, until at last 
 I promised him my friendship, as I had before 
 done to my brother, the King of Poland. As he 
 had been brought up at a distance from Court, 
 we had hitherto known very little of each other, 
 and kept ourselves at a distance. Now that he 
 had made the first advances, in so respectful and 
 affectionate a manner, I resolved to receive him 
 into a firm friendship, and to interest myself in 
 
54 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 55 
 
 whatever concerned him, without prejudice, how- 
 ever, to the interests of my good brother, King 
 Charles, whom I loved more than anyone besides, 
 and who continued to entertain a great regard for 
 me, of which he gave me proofs as long as he lived. 
 
 Meanwhile King Charles was daily growing 
 worse, and the Huguenots constantly forming new 
 plots. They were very desirous to get my brother 
 the Duke of Alen9on and the King my husband 
 away from Court. I got intelligence, from time 
 to time, of their designs ; and, providentially, the 
 Queen my mother defeated their intentions when 
 a day had been fixed on for the arrival of the 
 Huguenot troops at Saint-Germains. To avoid this 
 visit, we set off the night before for Paris, two 
 hours after midnight, putting King Charles in a 
 litter, and the Queen my mother taking my 
 brother and the King my husband with her in 
 her own carriage. 
 
 They did not experience on this occasion 
 such mild treatment as they had hitherto done, 
 for the King going to the Wood of Vincennes, 
 they were not permitted to set foot out of the 
 palace. This misunderstanding was so far from 
 
 ,. 
 
 being mitigated by time, that the mistrust and 
 discontent were continually increasing, owing to 
 the insinuations and bad advice offered to the 
 King by those who wished the ruin and downfall of 
 our house. To such a height had these jealousies 
 risen that the Marshals Montmorency and de 
 Cosse were put under a close arrest, and la Mole 
 and the Count de Donas executed. Matters were 
 now arrived at such a pitch that commissioners 
 were appointed from the Court of Parliament to 
 hear and determine upon the case of my brother 
 and the King my husband. 
 
 My husband, having no counsellor to assist 
 him, desired me to draw up his defence in such 
 a manner that he might not implicate any 
 person, and, at the same time, clear my brother 
 and himself from any criminality of conduct. 
 With God's help I accomphshed this task to his 
 great satisfaction, and to the surprise of the com- 
 missioners, who did not expect to find them so 
 well prepared to justify themselves. 
 
 As it was apprehended, after the death of la 
 Mole and the Count de Donas, that their lives 
 were likewise in danger, I had resolved to save 
 
 \ 
 
! \ 
 
 56 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 57 
 
 them at the hazard of my own ruin with the 
 King, whose favour I entirely enjoyed at that 
 time. I was suffered to pass to and from them 
 in my coach, with my women, who were not even 
 required by the guard to unmask, nor was my 
 coach ever searched. This being the case, I had 
 intended to convey away one of them disguised in 
 a female habit. But the difficulty lay in settHng 
 betwixt themselves which should remain behind 
 in prison, they being closely watched by their 
 guards, and the escape of one bring the other's 
 life into hazard. Thus they could never agree 
 upon the point, each of them wishing to be the 
 person I should deliver from confinement. 
 
 But Providence put a period to their imprison- 
 ment by a means which proved very unfortunate 
 for me. This was no other than the death of 
 King Charles, who was the only stay and support 
 of my life ; a brother from whose hands I never 
 received anything but good ; who, during the per- 
 secution I underwent at Angers, through my 
 brother Anjou, assisted me with all his advice 
 and credit. In a w^ord, when I lost King Charles, 
 I lost everything. 
 
 i 
 
 ! I 
 
 LETTER VII 
 
 ACCESSION OF HENRY III. — A JOURNEY TO LYONS — 
 MARGARET'S FAITH IN SUPERNATURAL INTELLIGENCE. 
 
 After this fatal event, which was as unfor- 
 tunate for France as for me, we went to Lyons 
 to give the meeting to the King of Poland, now 
 Henry III. of France. The new King was as 
 much governed by le Guast as ever, and had left 
 this intriguing, mischievous man behind in France 
 to keep his party together. Through this man's 
 insinuations he had conceived the most confirmed 
 jealousy of my brother Alengon. He suspected 
 that I was the bond that connected the King 
 my husband and my brother, and that, to dis- 
 solve their union, it would be necessary to create 
 a coolness between me and my husband, and to 
 work up a quarrel of rivalship betwixt them both 
 by means of Madame de Sauve, whom they both 
 visited. This abominable plot, which proved the 
 source of so much disquietude and unhappiness, as 
 
ii 
 
 eg MEMOIRS OF 
 
 well to my brother as myself, was as artfully con- 
 ducted as it was wickedly designed. 
 
 Many have held that God has great personages 
 more immediately under His protection, and that 
 minds of superior excellence have bestowed on 
 them a good genius, or secret intelligencer, to 
 apprise them of good, or warn them against evil. 
 Of this number I might reckon the Queen my 
 mother, who has had frequent intimations of the 
 kind ; particularly the very night before the tourna- 
 ment which proved so fatal to the King my father, 
 she dreamed that she saw him wounded in the 
 eye, as it really happened ; upon which she awoke, 
 and begged him not to run a course that day, but 
 content himself with looking on. Fate prevented 
 the nation from enjoying so much happiness as it 
 would have done had he followed her advice. 
 Whenever she lost a child, she beheld a bright 
 flame shining before her, and would immediately 
 cry out, **God save my children!" well knowing 
 it was the harbinger of the death of some one 
 of them, which melancholy news was sure to be 
 confirmed very shortly after. During her very 
 dangerous illness at Metz, where she caught a 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 59 
 
 pestilential fever, either from the coal fires, or by 
 visiting some of the nunneries which had been in- 
 fected, and from which she was restored to health 
 and to the kingdom through the great skill and ex- 
 perience of that modern iEsculapius, M. de Castillan, 
 her physician— I say, during that illness, her bed 
 being surrounded by my brother King Charles, 
 my brother and sister Lorraine, several members 
 of the Council, besides many ladies and Prin- 
 cesses, not choosing to quit her, though without 
 hopes of her life, she was heard to cry out, as if 
 she saw the battle of Jarnac : '' There ! see how they 
 flee ! My son, follow them to victory ! Ah, my son 
 falls ! O my God, save him ! See there ! the Prince 
 of Conde is dead ! " All who were present looked 
 upon these words as proceeding from her delirium, 
 as she knew that my brother Anjou was on the point 
 of giving battle, and thought no more of it. On 
 the night following, M. de Losses brought the 
 news of the battle ; and, it being supposed that she 
 would be pleased to hear of it, she was awakened, at 
 which she appeared to be angry, saying: '' Did I not 
 know it yesterday ? " It was then that those about 
 her recollected what I have now related, and con- 
 
6o 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 6l 
 
 )i 
 
 1 
 
 eluded that it was no delirium, but one of those 
 revelations made by God to great and illustrious 
 persons. Ancient history furnishes many examples 
 of the like kind amongst the pagans, as the appari- 
 tion of Brutus and many others, which I shall not 
 mention, it not being my intention to illustrate these 
 Memoirs with such narratives, but only to relate the 
 truth, and that with as much expedition as I am 
 able, that you may be the sooner in possession of my 
 story. 
 
 I am far from supposing that I am worthy of 
 these divine admonitions ; nevertheless, I should 
 accuse myself of ingratitude towards my God for 
 the benefits I have received, which I esteem myself 
 obliged to acknowledge whilst I live ; and I further 
 believe myself bound to bear testimony of His good- 
 ness and power, and the mercies He hath shown 
 me, so that I can declare no extraordinary accident 
 ever befel me, whether fortunate or otherwise, but I 
 received some warning of it, either by dream or in 
 some other way, so that I may say with the poet — 
 
 " De mon bien, on mon mal, 
 Mon esprit m'est oracle." 
 (Whate'er of good or ill befell, 
 My mind was oracle to tell.) 
 
 1 
 
 And of this I had a convincing proof on the arrival 
 of the King of Poland, when the Queen my mother 
 went to meet him. Amidst the embraces and com- 
 pliments of welcome in that warm season, crowded 
 as we were together and stifling with heat, I found a 
 universal shivering come over me, which was plainly 
 perceived by those near me. It was with difficulty 
 I could conceal what I felt when the King, having 
 saluted the Queen my mother, came forward to 
 salute me. This secret intimation of what was to 
 happen hereafter made a strong impression on my 
 mind at the moment, and I thought of it shortly 
 after, when I discovered that the King had con- 
 ceived a hatred of me through the malicious sugges- 
 tions of le Guast, who had made him believe, since 
 the King's death, that I espoused my brother 
 Alen9on's party during his absence, and cemented 
 a friendship betwixt the King my husband and 
 him. 
 
L' 
 
 62 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 63 
 
 LETTER Vni 
 
 WHAT HAPPENED AT LYONS. 
 
 An opportunity was diligently sought by my 
 enemies to effect their design of bringing about a 
 misunderstanding betwixt my brother Alengon, the 
 King my husband and me, by creating a jealousy 
 of me in my husband, and in my brother and hus- 
 band, on account of their mutual love for Madame 
 de Sauve. 
 
 One afternoon, the Queen my mother having 
 retired to her closet to finish some despatches which 
 were likely to detain her there for some time, 
 Madame de Nevers, your kinsw^oman; Madame de 
 Rais, another of your relations ; Bourdeille and 
 Surgeres asked me whether I would not w^ish to 
 see a little of the city. Whereupon Mademoiselle 
 de Montigny, the niece of Madame Usez, observing 
 to us that the Abbey of Saint Peter was a beautiful 
 convent, we all resolved to visit it. She then 
 begged to go with us, as she said she had an aunt 
 
 in that convent, and as it was not easy to gain 
 admission into it, except in the company of persons 
 of distinction. Accordingly, she went with us ; and 
 there being six of us, the carriage was crow^ded. 
 Over and above those I have mentioned, there was 
 Madame de Curton, the lady of my bed-chamber, who 
 always attended me. Liancourt, first esquire to the 
 King, and Camille placed themselves on the steps of 
 Torigni's carriage, supporting themselves as well as 
 they were able, making themselves merry on the 
 occasion, and saying they would go and see the 
 handsome nuns too. I look upon it as ordered by 
 Divine Providence that I should have Mademoiselle 
 de Montigny with me, who was not well acquainted 
 with any lady of the company, and that the two 
 gentlemen just mentioned, w^ho were in the con- 
 fidence of King Henry, should likewise be of the 
 party, as they were able to clear me of the calumny 
 intended to be fixed upon me. 
 
 Whilst we were viewing the convent, my 
 carriage waited for us in the square. In the square 
 many gentlemen belonging to the Court had their 
 lodgings. My carriage was easily to be distin- 
 guished, as it was gilt and lined with yellow velvet 
 
 I 
 
mim ir 
 
 64 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 trimmed with silver. We had not come out of the 
 convent when the King passed through the square 
 on his way to see Quelus, who was then sick. He 
 
 had with him the King my husband, D'O and 
 
 the fat fellow Ruffe. 
 
 The King, observing no one in my carriage, 
 turned to my husband and said : *' There is your 
 wife's coach, and that is the house where Bide 
 lodges. Bide is sick, and I will engage my word 
 she is gone upon a visit to him. Go," said he to 
 Ruffe, ** and see whether she is not there." In 
 saying this, the King addressed himself to a proper 
 tool for his malicious purpose, for this fellow Ruffe 
 was entirely devoted to le Guast. I need not tell 
 you he did not find me there ; how^ever, knowing 
 the King's intention, he, to favour it, said loud 
 enough for the King my husband to hear him : 
 " The birds have been there, but they are now 
 flown." This furnished sufftcient matter for con- 
 versation until they reached home. 
 
 Upon this occasion, the King my husband 
 displayed all the good sense and generosity of 
 temper for which he is remarkable. He saw through 
 the design, and he despised the maliciousness of it. 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 65 
 
 The King my brother was anxious to see the 
 Queen my mother before me, to whom he im- 
 parted the pretended discovery, and she, whether 
 to please a son on whom she doted, or whether 
 she really gave credit to the story, had related it to 
 some ladies with much seeming anger. 
 
 Soon afterwards I returned with the ladies who 
 had accompanied me to Saint Peter's, entirely igno- 
 rant of what had happened. I found the King my 
 husband in our apartments, who began to laugh 
 on seeing me, and said: *' Go immediately to the 
 Queen your mother, but I promise you you will 
 not return very well pleased." I asked him the 
 reason, and what had happened. He answered: ''I 
 shall tell you nothing; but be assured of this, that 
 I do not give the least credit to the story, which 
 I plainly perceive to be fabricated in order to stir 
 up a difference betwixt us two, and break off the 
 friendly intercourse between your brother and me." 
 
 Finding I could get no further information on 
 the subject from him, I went to the apartment of 
 the Queen my mother. I met M. de Guise in 
 the ante-chamber, who was not displeased at the 
 prospect of a dissension in our family, hoping that 
 
 5 
 
 i 
 
66 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 he might make some advantage of it. He addressed 
 me in these words : '' I waited here expecting to see 
 you, in order to inform you that some ill office has 
 been done you with the Queen." He then told me 
 
 the story he had learned of D'O , who, being 
 
 intimate with your kinswoman, had informed M. de 
 Guise of it, that he might apprise us. 
 
 I went into the Queen's bed-chamber, but did 
 not find my mother there. However, I saw Ma- 
 dame de Nemours, the rest of the Princesses and 
 other ladies, who all exclaimed on seeing me: '' Good 
 God ! the Queen your mother is in such a rage ; 
 we would advise you, for the present, to keep out of 
 her sight.''— *' Yes," said I, '' so I would, had I been 
 guilty of what the King has reported ; but I assure 
 you all I am entirely innocent, and must therefore 
 speak with her and clear myself." 
 
 I then went into her closet, which was separated 
 from the bed-chamber by a slight partition only, so 
 that our whole conversation could be distinctly 
 heard. She no sooner set eyes upon me than she 
 flew into a great passion, and said everything that 
 the fury of her resentment suggested. I related to 
 her the whole truth, and begged to refer her to the 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 67 
 
 company which attended me, to the number of ten 
 or twelve persons, desiring her not to rely on the 
 testimony of those more immediately about me, 
 but examine Mademoiselle Montigny, who did not 
 belong to me, and Liancourt and Camille, who 
 were the King's servants. 
 
 She would not hear a word I had to offer, 
 but continued to rate me in a furious manner; 
 whether it was through fear, or affection for her 
 son, or whether she believed the story in earnest, 
 I know not. When I observed to her that I 
 understood the King had done me this ill office 
 in her opinion, her anger was redoubled, and she 
 endeavoured to make me believe that she had been 
 informed of the circumstance by one of her own 
 valets de chainbre, who had himself seen me at the 
 place. Perceiving that I gave no credit to this 
 account of the matter, she became more and more 
 incensed against me. 
 
 All that was said was perfectly heard by those 
 in the next room. At length I left her closet, 
 much chagrined ; and returning to my own apart- 
 ments, I found the King my husband there, who 
 said to me : 
 
 5—2 
 
 I 
 
I 
 
 68 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ** Well, was it not as I told you ? " He, 
 seeing me under great concern, desired me not to 
 grieve about it, adding " that Liancourt and 
 Camille would attend the King that night in his 
 bed-chamber, and relate the affair as it really was; 
 and to-morrow," continued he, " the Queen your 
 mother will receive you in a very different manner." 
 
 " But, sir," replied I, " I have received too 
 gross an affront in public to forgive those who were 
 the occasion of it ; but that is nothing when com- 
 pared with the malicious intention of causing so 
 heavy a misfortune to befall me as to create a 
 variance betwixt you and me." 
 
 ** But," said he, *' God be thanked, they have 
 failed in it." 
 
 *' For that," answered I, '' I am the more 
 beholden to God and your amiable disposition. 
 However," continued I, " we may derive this good 
 from it, that it ought to be a warning to us to put 
 ourselves upon our guard against the King's strata- 
 gems to bring about a disunion betwixt you and my 
 brother, by causing a rupture betwixt you and me." 
 
 Whilst I was saying this, my brother entered 
 the apartment, and I made them renew their pro- 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 69 
 
 testations of friendship. But what oaths or pro- 
 mises can prevail against love ! This will appear 
 more fully in the sequel of my story. 
 
 An Italian banker, who had concerns with my 
 brother, came to him the next morning, and invited 
 him, the King my husband, myself, the Princesses 
 and other ladies, to partake of an entertainment 
 in a garden belonging to him. Having made it a 
 constant rule, before and after I married, as long 
 as I remained in the Court of the Queen my 
 mother, to go to no place without her permission, 
 I waited on her, at her return from Mass, and 
 asked leave to be present at this banquet. She 
 refused to give any leave, and said she did not 
 care where I went. I leave you to judge, who 
 know my temper, whether I was not greatly 
 mortified at this rebuff. 
 
 Whilst we were enjoying this entertainment, 
 the King, having spoken with Liancourt, Camille, 
 and Mademoiselle Montigny, was apprised of the 
 mistake which the malice or misapprehension of 
 Ruffe had led him into. Accordingly, he went to 
 the Queen my mother and related the whole truth, 
 entreating her to remove any ill impressions that 
 
70 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 might remain with me, as he perceived that I was 
 not deficient in point of understanding, and feared 
 that I might be induced to engage in some plan of 
 revenge. 
 
 When I returned from the banquet before 
 mentioned, I found that what the King my hus- 
 band had foretold was come to pass ; for the 
 Queen my mother sent for me into her back 
 closet, which was adjoining the King's, and told 
 me that she was now acquainted with the truth, 
 and found I had not deceived her with a false 
 story. She had discovered, she said, that there 
 was not the least foundation for the report her 
 valet de chanibrc had made, and should dismiss him 
 her service as a bad man. As she perceived by 
 my looks that I saw through this disguise, she said 
 everything she could think of to persuade me to a 
 belief that the King had not mentioned it to her. 
 She continued her arguments, and I still appeared 
 incredulous. At length the King entered the closet, 
 and made many apologies, declaring he had been 
 imposed on, and assuring me of his most cordial 
 friendship and esteem ; and thus matters were set 
 to rights again. 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 71 
 
 LETTER IX 
 
 FRESH INTRIGUES MARRIAGE OF HENRY III. BUSSI 
 
 ARRIVES AT COURT AND NARROWLY ESCAPES ASSASSI- 
 NATION. 
 
 After staying some time at Lyons, we went 
 to Avignon. Le Guast, not daring to hazard any 
 fresh imposture, and finding that my conduct 
 afforded no ground for jealousy on the part of my 
 husband, plainly perceived that he could not, by 
 that means, bring about a misunderstanding betwixt 
 my brother and the King my husband. He there- 
 fore resolved to try what he could effect through 
 Madame de Sauve. In order to do this, he 
 obtained such an influence over her that she 
 acted entirely as he directed ; insomuch that, by 
 his artful instructions, the passion which these 
 young men had conceived, hitherto wavering and 
 cold, as is generally the case at their time of life, 
 became of a sudden so violent that ambition and 
 every obligation of duty were at once absorbed by 
 their attentions to this woman. 
 
72 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 )i 
 
 This occasioned such a jealousy betwixt them 
 that, though her favours were divided with M. de 
 Guise, le Guast, de Souvray and others, any one 
 of whom she preferred to the brothers-in-law, yet 
 such was the infatuation of these last, that they 
 considered each other as their only rival. 
 
 To carry on le Guast's sinister designs, this 
 woman persuaded the King my husband that I 
 was jealous of her ; and on that account it was 
 that I joined with my brother. As we are ready 
 to give ear and credit to those we love, he believed 
 all she said. From this time he became distant 
 and reserved towards me, shunning my presence 
 as much as possible ; whereas, before, he was 
 open and communicative to me as to a sister, well 
 knowing that I yielded to his pleasure in all things, 
 and was far from harbouring jealousy of any kind. 
 
 What I had dreaded, I now perceived had 
 come to pass. This was the loss of his favour 
 and good opinion ; to preserve which I had studied 
 to gain his confidence by a ready compliance with 
 his wishes, well knowing that mistrust is the sure 
 forerunner of hatred. 
 
 I now turned my mind to an endeavour to 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 73 
 
 wean my brother's affection for Madame de Sauve, 
 in order to counterplot le Guast in his design to 
 bring about a division, and thereby to effect our 
 ruin. I used every means with my brother to 
 divert his passion ; but the fascination was too 
 strong, and my pains proved ineffectual. In any- 
 thing else, my brother would have suffered himself 
 to be ruled by me ; but the charms of this Circe, 
 aided by that sorcerer, le Guast, were too powerful 
 to be dissolved by my advice. So far was he 
 from profiting by my counsel, that he was weak 
 enough to communicate it to her. So blind are 
 lovers ! 
 
 Her vengeance was excited by this communica- 
 tion, and she now entered more fully into the 
 designs of le Guast. In consequence, she used all 
 her art to make the King my husband conceive 
 an aversion for me ; insomuch that he scarcely 
 ever spoke with me. He left her late at night, 
 and, to prevent our meeting in the morning, she 
 directed him to come to her at the Queen's levee, 
 which she duly attended ; after which he passed 
 the rest of the day with her. My brother likewise 
 followed her with the greatest assiduity, and she 
 
MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 75 
 
 74 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 had the artifice to make each of them think that i 
 
 f 
 he alone had any place in her esteem. Thus was 
 
 a jealousy kept up betwixt them, and, in conse- 
 quence, disunion and mutual ruin ! 
 
 We made a considerable stay at Avignon, 
 from whence we proceeded through Burgundy and 
 Champagne to Rheims, where the King's marriage 
 was celebrated. From Rheims we came to Paris, 
 things going on in their usual train, and le Guast 
 prosecuting his designs with all the success he 
 could wish. At Paris my brother was joined by 
 Bussi, whom he received with all the favour which 
 his bravery merited. He was inseparable from my 
 brother, in consequence of which I frequently saw 
 him, for my brother and I were always together, 
 his household being equally at my devotion as if 
 it were my own. Your aunt, remarking this 
 harmony betwixt us, has often told me that it 
 called to her recollection the times of my uncle, 
 M. d'Orleans, and my aunt, Madame de Savoye. 
 
 Le Guast thought this a favourable circum- 
 stance to complete his design. Accordingly, he 
 suggested to Madame de Sauve to make my 
 husband believe that it was on the account of 
 
 Bussi I frequented my brother's apartments so 
 constantly. 
 
 The King my husband being fully informed 
 of all my proceedings from persons in his service 
 who attended me everywhere, could not be induced 
 to lend an ear to this story. Le Guast, finding 
 himself foiled in this quarter, applied to the King, 
 who was well inclined to listen to the tale, on 
 account of his dislike to my brother and me, 
 whose friendship for each other was unpleasing 
 to him. 
 
 Besides this, he was incensed against Bussi, 
 who, being formerly attached to him, had now 
 devoted himself wholly to my brother ; an acqui- 
 sition which, on account of the celebrity of Bussi's 
 fame for parts and valour, redounded greatly to m}' 
 brother's honour, whilst it increased the malice and 
 envy of his enemies. 
 
 The King, thus worked upon by le Guast, 
 mentioned it to the Queen my mother, thinking it 
 would have the same effect on her as the tale which 
 was trumped up at Lyons. But she, seeing through 
 the whole design, showed him the improbability of 
 the story, adding that he must have some wicked 
 
 I I 
 
76 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 people about him, who could put such notions in 
 his head, observing that I was very unfortunate 
 to have fallen upon such evil times. '' In my 
 younger days," said she, *'we were allowed to 
 converse freely with all the gentlemen who be- 
 longed to the King our father, the Dauphin, and 
 M. d'Orleans, your uncles. It was common for 
 them to assemble in the bed-chamber of Madame 
 Margaret, your aunt, as well as in mine, and 
 nothing was thought of it. Neither ought it to 
 appear strange that Bussi sees my daughter in the 
 presence of her husband's servants. They are not 
 shut up together. Bussi is a person of quality, 
 and holds the first place in your brother's family. 
 What grounds are there for such a calumny? At 
 Lyons you caused me to offer her an affront, which 
 I fear she will never forget." 
 
 The King was astonished to hear his mother 
 talk in this manner, and interrupted her with 
 saying: " Madam, I only relate what I have heard." 
 — '*But who is it," answered she, "that tells you 
 all this ? I fear no one that intends you any good, 
 but rather one that wishes to create divisions 
 amongst you all." 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 77 
 
 leff As soon as the King had left her she told me 
 all that had passed, and said: **You are unfortunate 
 to live in these times." Then calling your aunt, 
 Madame de Dampierre, they entered into a dis- 
 course concerning the pleasures and innocent 
 freedoms of the times they had seen, when scandal 
 and malevolence were unknown at Court. 
 
 Le Guast, finding this plot miscarry, was not 
 long in contriving another. He addressed himself 
 for this purpose to certain gentlemen who attended 
 the King my husband. These had been formerly the 
 friends of Bussi, but, envying the glory he had ob- 
 tained, were now become his enemies. Under the 
 mask of zeal for their master, they disguised the 
 envy which they harboured in their breasts. They 
 entered into a design of assassinating Bussi as he 
 left my brother to go to his own lodgings, which 
 was generally at a late hour. They knew that he 
 was always accompanied home by fifteen or sixteen 
 gentlemen, belonging to my brother, and that, 
 notwithstanding he wore no sword, having been 
 lately wounded in the right arm, his presence was 
 sufficient to inspire the rest with courage. 
 
 In order, therefore, to make sure work, they 
 
76 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 people about him, who could put such notions in 
 his head, observing that I was very unfortunate 
 to have fallen upon such evil times. *' In my 
 younger days," said she, ''we were allowed to 
 converse freely with all the gentlemen who be- 
 longed to the King our father, the Dauphin, and 
 M. d'Orleans, your uncles. It was common for 
 them to assemble in the bed-chamber of Madame 
 Margaret, your aunt, as well as in mine, and 
 nothing was thought of it. Neither ought it to 
 appear strange that Bussi sees my daughter in the 
 presence of her husband's servants. They are not 
 shut up together. Bussi is a person of quality, 
 and holds the first place in your brother's family. 
 What grounds are there for such a calumny? At 
 Lyons you caused me to offer her an affront, which 
 I fear she will never forget." 
 
 The King was astonished to hear his mother 
 talk in this manner, and interrupted her with 
 saying: '* Madam, I only relate what I have heard." 
 —''But who is it," answered she, "that tells you 
 all this ? I fear no one that intends you any good, 
 but rather one that wishes to create divisions 
 amongst you all." 
 
 1 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 77 
 
 As soon as the King had left her she told me 
 all that had passed, and said: "You are unfortunate 
 to live in these times." Then calling your aunt, 
 Madame de Dampierre, they entered into a dis- 
 course concerning the pleasures and innocent 
 freedoms of the times they had seen, when scandal 
 and malevolence were unknown at Court. 
 
 Le Guast, finding this plot miscarry, was not 
 long in contriving another. He addressed himself 
 for this purpose to certain gentlemen who attended 
 the King my husband. These had been formerly the 
 friends of Bussi, but, envying the glory he had ob- 
 tained, were now become his enemies. Under the 
 mask of zeal for their master, they disguised the 
 envy which they harboured in their breasts. They 
 entered into a design of assassinating Bussi as he 
 left my brother to go to his own lodgings, which 
 was generally at a late hour. They knew that he 
 was always accompanied home by fifteen or sixteen 
 gentlemen, belonging to my brother, and that, 
 notwithstanding he wore no sword, having been 
 lately wounded in the right arm, his presence was 
 sufficient to inspire the rest with courage. 
 
 In order, therefore, to make sure work, they 
 
78 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 79 
 
 resolved on attacking him with two or three hun 
 dred men, thinking that night would throw a veil 
 over the disgrace of such an assassination. 
 
 Le Guast, who commanded a regiment of 
 guards, furnished the requisite number of men, 
 whom he disposed in five or six divisions, in the 
 street through which he was to pass. Their 
 orders were to put out the torches and flambeaux, 
 and then to fire their pieces, after which they were 
 to charge his company, observing particularly to 
 attack one who had his right arm slung in a 
 
 scarf. 
 
 Fortunately they escaped the intended massacre, 
 and, fighting their way through, reached Bussi's 
 lodgings, one gentleman only being killed, who 
 was particularly attached to M. de Bussi, and who 
 was probably mistaken for him, as he had his 
 arm likewise slung in a scarf. 
 
 An Italian gentleman, who belonged to my 
 brother, left them at the beginning of the attack, 
 and came running back to the Louvre. As soon as 
 he reached my brother's chamber door, he cried out 
 aloud : ** Bussi is assassinated ! " My brother was 
 ^'•oine out, but I, hearing the cry of assassination, 
 
 left my chamber, by good fortune not being un- 
 dressed, and stopped my brother. I then sent 
 for the Queen my mother to come with all haste 
 in order to prevent him from going out, as he was 
 resolved to do, regardless of what might happen. 
 It was with difficulty we could stay him, though 
 the Queen my mother represented the hazard he ran 
 from the darkness of the night, and his ignorance 
 of the nature of the attack, which might have been 
 purposely designed by le Guast to take away his 
 life. Her entreaties and persuasions would have 
 been of little avail if she had not used her authority 
 to order all the doors to be barred, and taken the 
 resolution of remaining where she was until she 
 had learned what had really happened. 
 
 Bussi, whom God had thus miraculously pre- 
 served, with that presence of mind which he was 
 so remarkable for in time of battle and the most 
 imminent danger, considering within himself when 
 he reached home the anxiety of his master's mind 
 should he have received any false report, and fearing 
 he might expose himself to hazard upon the first 
 alarm being given (which certainly would have been 
 the case, if my mother had not interfered and pre- 
 
 % \ 
 
8o 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 8l 
 
 vented it), immediately despatched one of his people 
 to let him know every circumstance. 
 
 The next day Bussi showed himself at the 
 Louvre without the least dread of enemies, as if 
 what had happened had been merely the attack 
 of a tournament. My brother exhibited much 
 pleasure at the sight of Bussi, but expressed great 
 resentment at such a daring attempt to deprive 
 him of so brave and valuable a servant, a man 
 whom le Guast durst not attack in any other way, 
 than by a base assassination. 
 
 LETTER X 
 
 BUSSI IS SENT FROM COURT — MARGARET's HUSBAND 
 
 ATTACKED WITH A FIT OF EPILEPSY HER GREAT 
 
 CARE OF HIM — TORIGNI DISMISSED FROM MARGARET'S 
 
 SERVICE THE KING OF NAVARRE AND THE DUKE OF 
 
 ALENCON SECRETLY LEAVE THE COURT. 
 
 The Queen my mother, a woman endowed with 
 the greatest prudence and foresight of anyone I ever 
 knew, apprehensive of evil consequences from this 
 affair, and fearing a dissension betwixt her two 
 sons, advised my brother to fall upon some pretence 
 for sending Bussi away from Court. In this advice 
 I joined her, and, through our united counsel and 
 request, my brother was prevailed upon to give his 
 consent. I had every reason to suppose that le 
 Guast would take advantage of the rencounter to 
 foment the coolness which already existed betwixt 
 my brother and the King my husband into an open 
 rupture. Bussi, who implicitly followed my brother's 
 directions in everything, departed with a company 
 of the bravest noblemen that were about the 
 latter's person. 
 
 i 
 
82 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 83 
 
 Bussi was now removed from the machinations 
 of le Guast, who Hkewise failed in accomplishing 
 a design he had long projected, to disunite the 
 King my husband and me. 
 
 One night my husband was attacked with a fit, 
 and continued insensible for the space of an hour ; 
 occasioned, I supposed, by his excesses with women, 
 for I never knew anything of the kind to happen 
 to him before. However, as it was my duty so to 
 do, I attended him with so much care and assiduity, 
 that when he recovered he spoke of it to everyone, 
 declaring that, if I had not perceived his indis- 
 position and called for the help of my women, he 
 should not have survived the fit. 
 
 From this time he treated me with more kind- 
 ness, and the cordiality betwixt my brother and 
 him was again revived, as if I had been the point 
 of union at which they were to meet, or the 
 cement that joined them together. 
 
 Le Guast was now at his wits' end for some 
 fresh contrivance to breed disunion in the Court. 
 
 He had lately persuaded the King to remove 
 from about the person of the Queen-Consort, a 
 princess of the greatest virtue and most amiable 
 
 qualities, a female attendant of the name of Changi, 
 for whom the Queen entertained a particular esteem, 
 as having been brought up w^ith her. Being success- 
 ful in this measure, he now thought of making the 
 King my husband send away Torigni, whom I 
 greatly regarded. 
 
 The argument he used with the King was, that 
 young princesses ought to have no favourites about 
 them. 
 
 The King, yielding to this man's persuasions, 
 spoke of it to my husband, who observed that it 
 would be a matter that would greatly distress me ; 
 that if I had an esteem for Torigni it was not 
 without cause, as she had been brought up with 
 the Queen of Spain and me from our infancy ; 
 that, moreover, Torigni was a young lady of good 
 understanding, and had been of great use to him 
 during his confinement at Vincennes ; that it would 
 be the greatest ingratitude in him to overlook 
 services of such a nature, and that he remembered 
 well when His Majesty had expressed the same 
 sentiments. 
 
 Thus did he defend himself against the per- 
 formance of so ungrateful an action. However, 
 
 6—2 
 
84 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the King listened only to the arguments of le Guast, 
 and told my husband that he should have no more 
 love for him if he did not remove Torigni from 
 about me the very next morning. 
 
 He was forced to comply, greatly contrary to 
 his will, and, as he has since declared to me, with 
 much regret. Joining entreaties to commands, he 
 laid his injunctions on me accordingly. 
 
 How displeasing this separation was I plainly 
 discovered by the many tears I shed on receiving 
 his orders. It was in vain to represent to him 
 the injury done to my character by the sudden 
 removal of one who had been with me from my 
 earliest years, and was so greatly in my esteem 
 and confidence ; he could not give an ear to my 
 reasons, being firmly bound by the promise he had 
 made to the King. 
 
 Accordingly, Torigni left me that very day, 
 and went to the house of a relation, M. 
 Chastelas. I was so greatly offended with this 
 fresh indignity, after so many of the kind formerly 
 received, that I could not help yielding to resent- 
 ment ; and my grief and concern getting the upper 
 hand of my prudence, I exhibited a great coolness 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 85 
 
 and indifference towards my husband. Le Guast 
 and Madame de Sauve were successful in creating 
 a like indifference on his part, which, coinciding 
 with mine, separated us altogether, and we neither 
 spoke to each other nor slept in the same bed. 
 
 A few days after this, some faithful servants 
 about the person of the King my husband re- 
 marked to him the plot which had been concerted 
 with so much artifice to lead him to his ruin, by 
 creating a division, first betwixt him and my 
 brother, and next betwixt him and me, thereby 
 separating him from those in whom only he could 
 hope for his principal support. They observed to 
 him that already matters were brought to such a 
 pass that the King showed little regard for him, 
 and even appeared to despise him. 
 
 They afterwards addressed themselves to my 
 brother, whose situation was not in the least^ 
 mended since the departure of Bussi, le Guast 
 causing fresh indignities to be offered him daily. 
 They represented to him that the King my husband 
 and he were both circumstanced alike, and equally 
 in disgrace, as le Guast had everything under 
 his direction; so that both of them were under the 
 
 
86 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 necessity of soliciting, through him, any favours 
 which they might want of the King, and which, 
 when demanded, were constantly refused them with 
 great contempt. Moreover, it was become danger- 
 ous to offer them service, as it was inevitable ruin 
 for anyone to do so. 
 
 *' Since, then," said they, ''your dissensions ap- 
 pear to be so likely to prove fatal to both that it 
 would be advisable in you both to unite and come 
 to a determination of leaving the Court ; and, 
 after collecting together your friends and servants, 
 to require from the King an establishment suitable 
 to your ranks." They observed to my brother that 
 he had never yet been put in possession of his 
 appanage, and received for his subsistence only 
 some certain allowances, which were not regularly 
 paid him, as they passed through the hands of 
 le Guast, and were at his disposal, to be dis- 
 charged or kept back, as he judged proper. They 
 concluded with observing that, with regard to the 
 King my husband, the government of Guyenne 
 was taken out of his hands, and neither was he 
 permitted to visit that or any other of his do- 
 
 mmions. 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 87 
 
 , 
 
 It was hereupon resolved to pursue the counsel 
 now given, and that the King my husband and 
 my brother should immediately withdraw them- 
 selves from Court. My brother made me ac- 
 quainted with this resolution, observing to me, 
 as my husband and he were now friends again, 
 that I ought to forget all that had passed ; that 
 my husband had declared to him that he was 
 sorry things had so happened, that we had been 
 outwitted by our enemies, but that he was resolved, 
 from henceforward, to show me every attention 
 and give me every proof of his love and esteem, 
 and he concluded with begging me to make my 
 husband every show of affection, and to be watch- 
 ful for their interest during their absence. 
 
 It was concerted betwixt them that my brother 
 should depart first, making off in a carriage in 
 the best manner he could; that, in a few days 
 afterwards, the King my husband should follow, 
 under pretence of going on a hunting party. They 
 both expressed their concern that they could not 
 take me with them, assuring me that I had no 
 occasion to have any apprehensions, as it would 
 soon appear that they had no design to disturb 
 
88 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 89 
 
 \ 
 
 the peace of the kingdom, but merely to ensure 
 the safety of their own persons, and to settle their 
 establishments. In short, it might well be sup- 
 posed that, in their present situation, they had 
 reason to apprehend danger to themselves from 
 such as had evil designs against their family. 
 
 Accordingly, as soon as it was dusk, and 
 before the King's supper-time, my brother changed 
 his cloak, and concealing the lower part of his 
 face to his nose in it, left the palace, attended by 
 a servant who was little known, and went on foot 
 to the gate of Saint Honore, where he found Simier 
 waiting for him in a coach, borrowed of a lady 
 for the purpose. 
 
 My brother threw himself into it, and went to 
 a house about a quarter of a league out of Paris, 
 where horses were stationed ready; and at the 
 distance of about a league farther, he joined a 
 party of two or three hundred horsemen of his 
 servants, who were awaiting his coming. My 
 brother was not missed till nine o'clock, when 
 the King and the Queen my mother asked me 
 the reason he did not come to sup with them 
 as usual, and if I knew of his being indisposed. 
 
 I 
 
 I told them I had not seen him since noon. 
 Thereupon they sent to his apartments. Word 
 was brought back that he was not there. Orders 
 were then given to enquire at the apartments of 
 the ladies whom he was accustomed to visit. 
 He was nowhere to be found. There was now a 
 general alarm. The King flew into a great passion, 
 and began to threaten me. He then sent for all 
 the Princes and the great officers of the Court ; 
 and giving orders for a pursuit to be made, and 
 to bring him back, dead or alive, cried out: 
 ** He is gone to make war against me ; but I will 
 show him what it is to contend with a King of 
 my power." 
 
 Many of the Princes and officers of State 
 remonstrated against these orders, which they 
 observed ought to be well weighed. They said 
 that, as their duty directed, they were willing to 
 venture their lives in the King's service ; but to 
 act against his brother they were certain would 
 not be pleasing to the King himself ; that they were 
 well convinced his brother w^ould undertake nothing 
 that should give His Majesty displeasure, nor be 
 productive of danger to the realm; that perhaps 
 
 .-- .r.«,jA„ 
 
 \ a .*. 
 
 «« 
 
1 
 
 90 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 91 
 
 !i 
 
 his leaving the Court was owing to some disgust, 
 which it would be more advisable to send and 
 enquire into. Others, on the contrary, were for 
 putting the King's orders into execution ; but, 
 whatever expedition the}' could use, it was day 
 before they set off; and as it was then too late 
 to overtake my brother, they returned, being only 
 equipped for the pursuit. 
 
 I was in tears the whole night of my brother's 
 departure, and the next day w^as seized with a 
 violent cold, which was succeeded by a fever that 
 confined me to my bed. 
 
 Meanwhile my husband was preparing for his 
 departure, which took up all the time he could 
 spare from his visits to Madame de Sauve ; so 
 that he did not think of me. He returned as 
 usual at tw^o or three in the morning, and, as we 
 had separate beds, I seldom heard him ; and in 
 the morning, before I was awake, he went to my 
 mother's levee, where he met Madame de Sauve, 
 as usual. 
 
 This being the case, he quite forgot his 
 promise to my brother of speaking to me ; and when 
 he w^ent aw^ay it was without taking leave of me. 
 
 The King did not show my husband more 
 favour after my brother's evasion, but continued 
 to behave with his former coolness. This the 
 more confirmed him in the resolution of leaving 
 the Court, so that in a few days, under the pre- 
 tence of hunting, he w^ent away. 
 
 I 
 
 tAaiafei 
 
 ■■ HU.U. 
 
11 
 
 92 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 93 
 
 LETTER XI 
 
 QUEEN MARGARET UNDER ARREST — ATTEMPT ON TORIGNl's 
 LIFE HER FORTUNATE DELIVERANCE. 
 
 The King, supposing that I was a principal 
 instrument in aiding the Princes in their desertion, 
 was greatly incensed against me, and his rage 
 became at length so violent that, had not the Queen 
 my mother moderated it, I am inclined to think 
 my life had been in danger. Giving way to her 
 counsel, he became more calm, but insisted upon 
 a guard being placed over me, that I might not 
 follow the King my husband, neither have com- 
 munication with anyone, so as to give the Princes 
 intelligence of what was going on at Court. The 
 Queen my mother gave her consent to this measure 
 as being the least violent, and was well pleased 
 to find his anger cooled in so great a degree. 
 She, however, requested that she might be per- 
 mitted to discourse with me, in order to reconcile 
 me to a submission to treatment of so different 
 a kind from what I had hitherto known. At the 
 
 same time she advised the King to consider that 
 these troubles might not be lasting; that every- 
 thing in the world bore a double aspect; that 
 what now appeared to him horrible and alarming 
 might, upon a second view, assume a more pleasing 
 and tranquil look; that, as things changed, so 
 should measures change with them; that there 
 might come a time when he might have occasion 
 for my services; that, as prudence counselled us 
 not to repose too much confidence in our friends, 
 lest they should one day become our enemies, so 
 was it advisable to conduct ourselves in such a 
 manner to our enemies as if we had hopes they 
 should hereafter become our friends. By suchlike 
 prudent remonstrances did the Queen my mother 
 restrain the King from proceeding to extremities 
 with me, as he would otherwise possibly have done. 
 Le Guast now endeavoured to divert his fury 
 to another object, in order to wound me in a most 
 sensitive part. He prevailed on the King to adopt 
 a design for seizing Torigni, at the house of her 
 cousin Chastelas, and, under pretence of bringing 
 her before the King, to drown her in a river 
 which they were to cross. The party sent upon 
 
 if 
 
 V-:^^ 
 
 ii 
 
94 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 this errand was admitted by Chastelas, not suspecit- 
 in^ any evil design, without the least difficulty, 
 into his house. As soon as they had gained 
 admission they proceeded to execute the cruel 
 business they were sent upon, by fastening Torigni 
 with cords and locking her up in a chamber, 
 whilst their horses were baiting. Meantime, accord- 
 ing to the French custom, they crammed themselves, 
 like gluttons, with the best eatables the house 
 afforded. Chastelas, who was a man of discretion, 
 was not displeased to gain time at the expense of 
 some part of his substance, considering that the 
 suspension of a sentence is a prolongation of life, 
 and that during this respite the King's heart might 
 relent, and he might countermand his former orders. 
 With these considerations he was induced to sub- 
 mit, though it was in his power to have called for 
 assistance to repel this violence. But God, who 
 hath constantly regarded my afflictions and afforded 
 me protection against the malicious designs of my 
 enemies, w^as pleased to order poor Torigni to be 
 delivered by means which I could never have 
 devised had I been acquainted with the plot, of 
 which I was totally ignorant. Several of the 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 95 
 
 domestics, male as well as female, had left the 
 house in a fright, fearing the insolence and rude 
 treatment of this troop of soldiers, who behaved 
 as riotously as if they were in a house given up 
 to pillage. Some of these, at the distance of a 
 quarter of a league from the house, by God's 
 providence, fell in with Ferte and Avantigni, at 
 the head of their troops, in number about two 
 hundred horse, on their march to join my brother. 
 Ferte, remarking a labourer, whom he knew to 
 belong to Chastelas, apparently in great distress, 
 enguired of him what was the matter, and whether 
 he had been ill-used by any of the soldiery. The 
 man related to him all he knew, and in what 
 state he had left his master's house. Hereupon 
 Ferte and Avantigni resolved, out of regard to 
 me, to effect Torigni's deliverance, returning thanks 
 to God for having afforded them so favourable an 
 opportunity of testifying the respect they had 
 always entertained towards me. 
 
 Accordingly, they proceeded to the house with 
 all expedition, and arrived just at the moment 
 these soldiers were setting Torigni on horseback, 
 for the purpose of conveying her to the river 
 
 ill 
 
96 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 wherein they had orders to plunge her. Galloping 
 into the courtyard, sword in hand, they cried out : 
 *' Assassins, if you dare to offer that lady the 
 least injury, you are dead men ! " So saying, 
 they attacked them and drove them to flight, 
 leaving their prisoner behind, nearly as dead with 
 joy as she was before with fear and apprehension. 
 After returning thanks to God and her deliverers 
 for so opportune and unexpected a rescue, she and 
 her cousin Chastelas set off in a carriage, under 
 the escort of their rescuers, and joined my brother, 
 who, since he could not have me with him, was 
 happy to have one so dear to me about him. She 
 remained under my brother's protection as long 
 as any danger was apprehended, and was treated 
 with as much respect as if she had been with me. 
 Whilst the King was giving directions for this 
 notable expedition, for the purpose of sacrificing 
 Torigni to his vengeance, the Queen my mother, 
 who had not received the least intimation of it, 
 came to my apartment as I was dressing to go 
 abroad, in order to observe how I should be 
 received after what had passed at Court, having 
 still some alarms on account of my husband and 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 97 
 
 brother. I had hitherto confined myself to my 
 chamber, not having perfectly recovered my health, 
 and, in reality, being all the time as much in- 
 disposed in mind as in body. 
 
 My mother, perceiving my intention, addressed 
 me in these words : *' My child, you are giving 
 yourself unnecessary trouble in dressing to go 
 abroad. Do not be alarmed at what I am going 
 to tell you. Your own good sense will dictate to 
 you that you ought not to be surprised if the 
 King resents the conduct of your brother and 
 husband, and, as he knows the love and friend- 
 ship that exist between you three, should suppose 
 that you were privy to their design of leaving the 
 Court. He has, for this reason, resolved to detain 
 you in it, as a hostage for them. He is sensible 
 how much you are beloved by your husband, and 
 thinks he can hold no pledge that is more dear 
 to him. On this account it is that the King has 
 ordered his guards to be placed, with directions 
 not to suffer you to leave your apartments. He 
 has done this with the advice of his counsellors, 
 by whom it was suggested that, if you had your 
 
 free liberty, you might be induced to advise 
 
 7 
 
98 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 99 
 
 your brother and husband of their deHberations. 
 I beg you will not be offended with these measures, 
 which, if it so please God, may not be of long 
 continuance. I beg, moreover, you will not be 
 displeased with me if I do not pay you frequent 
 visits, as I should be unwilling to create any 
 suspicions in the King's mind. However, you 
 may rest assured that I shall prevent any further 
 steps from being taken that may prove disagree- 
 able to you, and that I shall use my utmost 
 endeavours to bring about a reconciliation betwixt 
 
 your brothers." 
 
 I represented to her, in reply, the great in- 
 dignity that was offered to me by putting me under 
 arrest; that it was true my brother had all along 
 communicated to me the just cause he had to be 
 dissatisfied, but that, with respect to the King my 
 husband, from the time Torigni was taken from 
 me we had not spoken to each other ; neither had 
 he visited me during my indisposition, nor did he 
 even take leave of me when he left Court. " This," 
 says she, ** is nothing at all ; it is merely a trifling 
 difference betwixt man and wife, which a few sweet 
 words, conveyed in a letter, will set to rights. 
 
 When, by such means, he has regained your 
 affections, he has only to write to you to come to 
 him, and you will set off at the very first opportu- 
 nity. Now, this is what the King my son wishes 
 to prevent." 
 
 7—2 
 
 « 
 
lOO 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 lOI 
 
 LETTER XII 
 
 THE PEACE OF SENS BETWIXT HENRY III. AND THE 
 
 HUGUENOTS. 
 
 The Queen my mother left me, saying these 
 words. For my part, I remained a close prisoner, 
 without a visit from ^ single person, none of my 
 most intimate friends daring to come near me, 
 through the apprehension that such a step might 
 prove injurious to their interests. Thus it is ever 
 in Courts. Adversity is solitary, while prosperity 
 dwells in a crowd ; the object of persecution being 
 sure to be shunned by his nearest friends and 
 dearest connections. The brave' Grillon was the 
 only one who ventured to visit me, at the hazard 
 of incurring disgrace. He came five or six times 
 to see me, and my guards were so much astonished 
 at his resolution, and awed by his presence, that 
 not a single Cerberus of them all would venture to 
 refuse him entrance to my apartments. 
 
 Meanwhile, the King my husband reached the 
 States under his government. Being joined there 
 
 i 
 
 by his friends and dependents, they all represented 
 to him the indignity offered to me by his quitting 
 the Court without taking leave of me. They ob- 
 served to him that I was a princess of good under- 
 standing, and that it would be for his interest to 
 regain my esteem ; that, when matters were put 
 on their former footing, he might derive to him- 
 self great advantage from my presence at Court. 
 Now that he was at a distance from his Circe, 
 Madame de Sauve, he could listen to good advice. 
 Absence having abated the force of her charms, his 
 eyes were opened ; he discovered the plots and 
 machinations of our enemies, and clearly perceived 
 that a rupture could not but tend to the ruin of 
 us both. 
 
 Accordingly, he wrote me a very affectionate 
 letter, wherein he entreated me to forget all that 
 had passed betwixt us, assuring me that from 
 thenceforth he would ever love me, and would 
 give me every demonstration that he did so, 
 desiring me to inform him of what was going 
 on at Court, and how it fared with me and my 
 brother. My brother was in Champagne and the 
 King my husband in Gascony, and there had 
 
 i 
 
 t 
 
 ^^•mm..i^tmm 
 
I 
 
 102 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 103 
 
 been no communication betwixt them, though they 
 were on terms of friendship. 
 
 I received this letter during my imprisonment, 
 and it gave me great comfort under that situation. 
 Although my guards had strict orders not to 
 permit me to set pen to paper, yet, as necessity 
 is said to be the mother of invention, I found 
 means to write many letters to him. 
 
 Some few days after I had been put under 
 arrest, my brother had intelligence of it, which 
 chagrined him so much that, had not the love of 
 his country prevailed with him, the effects of his 
 resentment would have been shown in a cruel 
 civil war, to which purpose he had a sufficient 
 force entirely at his devotion. He was, however, 
 withheld by his patriotism, and contented himself 
 with writing to the Queen my mother, informing 
 her that, if I was thus treated, he should be driven 
 upon some desperate measure. She, fearing the 
 consequence of an open rupture, and dreading lest, 
 if blows were once struck, she should be deprived 
 of the power of bringing about a reconciliation 
 betwixt the brothers, represented the consequences 
 to the King, and found him well disposed to lend 
 
 an ear to her reasons, as his anger was now cooled 
 by the apprehensions of being attacked in Gascony, 
 Dauphiny, Languedoc, and Poitou, with all the 
 strength of the Huguenots under the King my 
 
 husband. 
 
 Besides the many strong places held by the 
 Huguenots, my brother had an army with him in 
 Champagne, composed chiefly of nobility, the 
 bravest and best in France. The King found, 
 since my brother's departure, that he could not, 
 either by threats or rewards, induce a single 
 person among the Princes and great lords to act 
 against him, so much did everyone fear to inter- 
 meddle in this quarrel, which they considered as 
 of a family nature ; and after having maturely re- 
 flected on his situation, he acquiesced in my 
 mother's opinion, and begged her to fall upon 
 some means of reconciliation. She thereupon 
 proposed going to my brother and taking me with 
 her. To the measure of taking me, the King had 
 an objection, as he considered me as the hostage 
 for my husband and brother. She then agreed 
 to leave me behind, and set off without my know- 
 ledge of the matter. At their interview, my brother 
 
 .\ 
 
 **■**?' II ■ mmi ijiiiiiii 
 
 M^^M 
 
'/ 
 
 104 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 represented to the Queen my mother that he 
 could not but be greatly dissatisfied with the King 
 after the many mortifications he had received at 
 Court; that the cruelty and injustice of confining 
 me hurt him equally as if done to himself; ob- 
 serving, moreover, that, as if my arrest were not a 
 sufficient mortification, poor Torigni must be made 
 to suffer; and concluding with the declaration of 
 his firm resolution not to listen to any terms of 
 peace until I was restored to my liberty, and repara- 
 tion made me for the indignity I had sustained. 
 The Queen my mother being unable to obtain any 
 other answer, returned to Court and acquainted 
 the King with my brother's determination. Her 
 advice was to go back again with me, for going 
 without me, she said, would answer very little 
 purpose; and if I went with her in disgust, it 
 would do more harm than good. Besides, there 
 was reason to fear, in that case, I should insist 
 upon going to my husband. '' In short," says she, 
 *'my daughter's guard must be removed, and she 
 must be satisfied in the best way we can." 
 
 The King agreed to follow her advice, and 
 was now, on a sudden, as eager to reconcile 
 
 n 
 
 
 f 
 f 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 105 
 
 matters betwixt us as she was herself. Hereupon 
 I was sent for, and when I came to her, she in- 
 formed me that she had paved the way for peace ; 
 that it was for the good of the State, which she 
 was sensible I must be as desirous to promote as 
 my brother ; that she had it now in her power 
 to make a peace which would be as satisfactory 
 as my brother could desire, and would put us en- 
 tirely out of the reach of le Guast's machinations, 
 or those of anyone else who might have an influ- 
 ence over the King's mind. She observed that, 
 by assisting her to procure a good understanding 
 betwixt the King and my brother, I should relieve 
 her from that cruel disquietude under which she 
 at present laboured, as, should things come to an 
 open rupture, she could not but be grieved, which- 
 ever party prevailed, as they were both her sons. 
 She therefore expressed her hopes that I would 
 forget the injuries I had received, and dispose my- 
 self to concur in a peace, rather than join in any 
 plan of revenge. She assured me that the King 
 was sorry for what had happened, that he had 
 even expressed his regret to her with tears in his 
 eyes, and had declared that he was ready to give 
 
I! 
 
 I: 
 
 I 06 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 me every satisfaction. I replied that I was willing 
 to sacrifice everything for the good of my brothers 
 and of the State ; that I wished for nothing so 
 much as peace, and that I would exert myself to 
 the utmost to bring it about. 
 
 As I uttered these words, the King came into 
 the closet, and, with a number of fine speeches, 
 endeavoured to soften my resentment and to recover 
 my friendship, to which I made such returns as 
 might show him I harboured no ill-will for the 
 injuries I had received. I was induced to such 
 behaviour rather out of contempt, and because it 
 was good policy to let the King go away satisfied 
 with me. 
 
 Besides, I had found a secret pleasure, during 
 my confinement, from the perusal of good books, 
 to which I had given myself up with a delight I 
 never before experienced. I consider this as an 
 obligation I owe to Fortune, or, rather, to Divine 
 Providence, in order to prepare me, by such efiica- 
 cious means, to bear up against the misfortunes 
 and calamities that awaited me. By tracing Nature 
 in the universal book which is opened to all man- 
 kind, I was led to the knowledge of the Divine 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 107 
 
 Author. Science conducts us, step by step, through 
 the whole range of creation, until w^e arrive, at 
 length, at God. Misfortune prompts us to summon 
 our utmost strength to oppose grief and recover 
 tranquillity, until at length we find a powerful aid 
 in the knowledge and love of God, whilst prosperity 
 hurries us away until we are overwhelmed by our 
 passions. My captivity and its consequent solitude 
 afforded me the double advantage of exciting a 
 passion for study, and an inclination for devotion, 
 advantages I had never experienced during the 
 vanities and splendour of my prosperity. 
 
 As I have already observed, the King, dis- 
 covering in me no signs of discontent, informed 
 me that the Queen my mother was going into 
 Champagne to have an interview with my brother, 
 in order to bring about a peace, and begged me 
 to accompany her thither and to use my best 
 endeavours to forward his views, as he knew my 
 brother was always well disposed to follow my 
 counsel ; and he concluded with saying that the 
 peace, when accomplished, he should ever con- 
 sider as being due to my good offices, and should 
 esteem himself obliged to me for it. I promised 
 
 » »»i ■<<■■ 
 
io8 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 
 to exert myself in so good a work, which I plainly 
 perceived was both for my brother's advantage and 
 the benefit of the State. 
 
 The Queen my mother and I set off for Sens 
 the next day. The conference was agreed to be held 
 in a gentleman's chateau, at a distance of about 
 a league from that place. My brother was waiting 
 for us, accompanied by a small body of troops and 
 the principal Catholic lords and Princes of his 
 army. Amongst these were the Duke Casimir 
 and Colonel Poux, who had brought him six 
 thousand German horse, raised by the Huguenots, 
 they having joined my brother, as the King my 
 husband and he acted in conjunction. 
 
 The treaty was continued for several days, 
 the conditions of peace requiring much discussion, 
 especially such articles of it as related to religion. 
 With respect to these, when at length agreed 
 upon, they were too much to the advantage of 
 the Huguenots, as it appeared afterwards, to be 
 kept ; but the Queen my mother gave in to them, 
 in order to have a peace, and that the German 
 cavalry before mentioned might be disbanded. She 
 was, moreover, desirous to get my brother out of 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 109 
 
 the hands of the Huguenots ; and he was himself 
 as willing to leave them, being always a very good 
 Catholic, and joining the Huguenots only through 
 necessity. 
 
 One condition of the peace was, that my 
 brother should have a suitable establishment. My 
 brother likewise stipulated for me, that my marriage 
 portion should be assigned in lands, and M. de 
 Beauvais, a commissioner on his part, insisted 
 much upon it. My mother, however, opposed it, 
 and persuaded me to join her in it, assuring me 
 that I should obtain from the King all I could 
 require. Thereupon I begged I might not be in- 
 cluded in the articles of peace, observing that I 
 would rather owe whatever I was to receive to 
 the particular favour of the King and the Queen 
 my mother, and should, besides, consider it as 
 more secure when obtained by such means. 
 
 The peace being thus concluded and ratified 
 on both sides, the Queen my mother prepared 
 to return. At this instant I received letters from 
 the King my husband, in which he expressed a 
 great desire to see me, begging me, as soon as 
 peace was agreed on, to ask leave to go to him. 
 
no 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 I communicated my husband's wish to the Queen 
 my mother, and added my own entreaties. She 
 expressed herself greatly averse from such a 
 measure, and used every argument to set me 
 against it. She observed that, when I refused her 
 proposal of a divorce after Saint Bartholomew's 
 Day, she gave way to my refusal, and com- 
 mended me for it, because my husband was then 
 converted to the Catholic religion ; but now, 
 that he had abjured Catholicism, and was turned 
 Huguenot again, she could not give her consent 
 that I should go to him. When I still insisted 
 upon going, she burst into a flood of tears, and 
 said, if I did not return with her, it would prove 
 her ruin; that the King would believe it was her 
 doing ; that she had promised to bring me back 
 with her ; and that, when my brother returned to 
 Court, which would be soon, she would give her 
 
 consent. 
 
 We now returned to Paris, and found the 
 King well satisfied that we had made a peace ; 
 though not, however, pleased with the articles 
 concluded in favour of the Huguenots. He there- 
 fore resolved within himself, as soon as my brother 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 III 
 
 should return to Court, to find some pretext for 
 renewing the war. These advantageous conditions 
 were, indeed, only granted the Huguenots to get 
 my brother out of their hands, who was detained 
 near two months, being employed in disbanding 
 his German horse and the rest of his army. 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
112 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 113 
 
 LETTER XIII 
 
 THE LEAGUE— WAR DECLARED AGAINST THE HUGUENOTS 
 —QUEEN MARGARET SETS OUT FOR SPA. 
 
 At length my brother returned to Court, ac- 
 companied by all the Catholic nobility who had 
 followed his fortunes. The King received him very 
 graciously, and showed, by his reception of him, 
 how much he w^as pleased at his return. Bussi, 
 who returned with my brother, met likewise with 
 a gracious reception. Le Guast was now no more, 
 having died under the operation of a particular 
 regimen ordered for him by his physician. He 
 had given himself up to every kind of debauchery; 
 and his death seemed the judgment of the Almighty 
 on one whose body had long been perishing, and 
 whose soul had been made over to the prince 
 of demons as the price of assistance through the 
 means of diabolical magic, which he constantly 
 practised. The King, though now without this 
 instrument of his malicious contrivances, turned 
 
 his thoughts entirely upon the destruction of the 
 Huguenots. To effect this, he strove to engage 
 my brother against them, and thereby make them 
 his enemies ; and that I might be considered as 
 another enemy, he used every means to prevent 
 me from going to the King my husband. Accord- 
 ingly he showed every mark of attention to both 
 of us, and manifested an inclination to gratify all 
 our wishes. 
 
 After some time, M. de Duras arrived at Court, 
 sent by the King my husband to hasten my depar- 
 ture. Hereupon, I pressed the King greatly to 
 think well of it, and give me his leave. He, to 
 colour his refusal, told me he could not part 
 with me at present, as I was the chief ornament 
 of his Court ; that he must keep me a little longer, 
 after which he would accompany me himself on 
 my way as far as Poitiers. With this answer 
 and assurance, he sent M. de Duras back. These 
 excuses were purposely framed in order to gain 
 time, until everything was prepared for declaring 
 war against the Huguenots, and, in consequence, 
 against the King my husband, as he fully designed 
 
 to do. 
 
 8 
 
 m 
 
114 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 115 
 
 i 
 
 
 I) 
 
 As a pretence to break with the Huguenots, 
 a report was spread abroad that the Catholics 
 were dissatisfied with the Peace of Sens, and 
 thought the terms of it too advantageous for the 
 Huguenots. This rumour succeeded, and pro- 
 duced all that discontent amongst the Catholics 
 intended by it. A league was formed in the 
 provinces and great cities, which was joined by 
 numbers of the Catholics. M. de Guise was 
 named as the head of all. This was well known 
 to the King, who pretended to be ignorant of 
 what was going forward, though nothing else was 
 talked of at Court. 
 
 The States were convened to meet at Blois. 
 Previous to the opening of this assembly, the 
 King called my brother to his closet, where were 
 present the Queen my mother and some of the 
 King's counsellors. He represented the great con- 
 sequence the Catholic league was to his State 
 and authority, even though they should appoint 
 de Guise as the head of it ; that such a measure 
 was of the highest importance to them both, 
 meaning my brother and himself ; that the 
 Catholics had very just reason to be dissatisfied 
 
 with the peace, and that it behoved him, address- 
 ing himself to my brother, rather to join the 
 Catholics than the Huguenots, and this from con- 
 science as well as interest. He concluded his 
 address to my brother with conjuring him, as a 
 son of France and a good Catholic, to assist him 
 with his aid and counsel in this critical juncture, 
 when his crown and the Catholic religion were 
 both at stake. He further said that, in order to 
 get the start of so formidable a league, he ought 
 to form one himself, and become the head of it, 
 as well to show his zeal for religion as to prevent 
 the Catholics from uniting under any other leader. 
 He then proposed to declare himself the head of 
 a league, which should be joined by my brother, 
 the Princes, lords, governors, and others holding 
 offices under the Government. Thus was my 
 brother reduced to the necessity of making His 
 Majesty a tender of his services for the support 
 and maintenance of the Catholic religion. 
 
 The King, having now obtained assurances of 
 my brother's assistance in the event of a war, 
 which was his sole view in the league which he 
 
 had formed with so much art, assembled together 
 
 8—2 
 
1 
 
 il I 
 
 ii6 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 117 
 
 i \ 
 
 the Princes and great lords of his Court, and, 
 calling for the roll of the league, signed it first 
 himself, next calling upon my brother to sign it, 
 and, lastly, upon all present. 
 
 The next day the States opened their meeting, 
 when the King, calling upon the Bishops of Lyons, 
 Ambrune, Vienne, and other prelates there present, 
 for their advice, was told that, after the oath 
 taken at his coronation, no oath made to heretics 
 could bind him, and therefore he was absolved 
 from his engagements with the Huguenots. 
 
 This declaration being made at the opening 
 of the assembly, and war declared against the 
 Huguenots, the King abruptly dismissed from 
 Court the Huguenot, Genisac, who had arrived a 
 few days before, charged by the King my husband 
 with a commission to hasten my departure. The 
 King very sharply told him that his sister had 
 been given to a Catholic, and not to a Huguenot ; 
 and that if the King my husband expected to 
 have me, he must declare himself a Catholic. 
 
 Every preparation for war was made, and 
 nothing else talked of at Court, and, to make my 
 brother still more obnoxious to the Huguenots, he 
 
 had the command of an army given him. Genisac 
 came and informed me of the rough message he 
 had been dismissed with. Hereupon I went 
 directly to the closet of the Queen my mother, 
 where I found the King. I expressed my resent- 
 ment at being deceived by him, and at being 
 cajoled by his promise to accompany me from Paris 
 to Poitiers, which, as it now appeared, was a mere 
 pretence. I represented that I did not marry by 
 my own choice, but entirely agreeable to the advice 
 of King Charles, the Queen my mother, and him- 
 self; that, since they had given him to me for a 
 husband, they ought not to hinder me from par- 
 taking of his fortunes ; that I was resolved to go 
 to him, and that if I had not their leave, I would 
 get away how I could, even at the hazard of my 
 life. The King answered : " Sister, it is not now 
 a time to importune me for leave. I acknow- 
 ledge that I have, as you say, hitherto prevented 
 you from going, in order to forbid it altogether. 
 From the time the King of Navarre changed his 
 religion, and again become a Huguenot, I have 
 been against your going to him. What the Queen 
 my mother and I are doing is for your good. I 
 
 1 tIJHP''*' 
 
H 
 
 I 
 
 ii8 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 am determined to carry on a war of extermination 
 until this wretched rehgion of the Huguenots, 
 which is of so mischievous a nature, is no more. 
 Consider, my sister, if you, who are a CathoHc, 
 were once in their hands, you would become a 
 hostage for me, and prevent my design. And who 
 knows but they might seek their revenge upon me 
 by taking away your life ? No, you shall not go 
 amongst them ; and if you leave us in the manner 
 you have now mentioned, rely upon it that you 
 will make the Queen your mother and me your 
 bitterest enemies, and that we shall use every 
 means to make you feel the effects of our resent- 
 ment ; and, moreover, you will make your husband's 
 situation worse instead of better." 
 
 I went from this audience with much dis- 
 satisfaction, and taking advice of the principal 
 persons of both sexes belonging to Court whom 
 I esteemed my friends, I found them all of opinion 
 that it would be exceedingly improper for me to 
 remain in a Court now at open variance with 
 the King my husband. They recommended me 
 not to stay at Court whilst the war lasted, saying 
 it would be more honourable for me to leave the 
 
 i 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 119 
 
 kingdom under the pretence of a pilgrimage, or a 
 visit to some of my kindred. The Princess of 
 Roche-sur-Yon was amongst those I consulted upon 
 the occasion, who was on the point of setting off 
 for Spa to take the waters there. 
 
 My brother was likewise present at the con- 
 sultation, and brought with him Mondoucet, who 
 had been to Flanders in quality of the King's agent, 
 from whence he was just returned to represent to 
 the King the discontent that had arisen amongst 
 the Flemings on account of infringements made 
 by the Spanish Government on the French laws. 
 He stated that he was commissioned by several 
 nobles, and the municipalities of several towns, to 
 declare how much they were inclined in their 
 hearts towards France, and how ready they were 
 to come under a French government. Mondoucet, 
 perceiving the King not inclined to Hsten to his 
 representation, as having his mind wholly occu- 
 pied by the war he had entered into with the 
 Huguenots, whom he was resolved to punish for 
 having joined my brother, had ceased to move in 
 it further to the King, and addressed himself on 
 the subject to my brother. My brother, with that 
 
120 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 princely spirit which led him to undertake great 
 achievements, readily lent an ear to Mondoucet's 
 proposition, and promised to engage in it, for he 
 was born rather to conquer than to keep what he 
 conquered. Mondoucet's proposition was the more 
 pleasing to him as it was not unjust ; it being, in 
 fact, to recover to France what had been usurped 
 by Spain. 
 
 Mondoucet had now engaged himself in my 
 brother's service, and was to return to Flanders 
 under a pretence of accompanying the Princess of 
 Roche-sur-Yon in her journey to Spa ; and as this 
 agent perceived my counsellors to be at a loss for 
 some pretence for my leaving Court and quitting 
 France during the war, and that at first Savoy 
 was proposed for my retreat, then Lorraine, and 
 then Our Lady of Loretto, he suggested to my 
 brother that I might be of great use to him in 
 Flanders, if, under the colour of any complaint, 
 I should be recommended to drink the Spa waters, 
 and go with the Princess of Roche-sur-Yon. My 
 brother acquiesced in this opinion, and came up to 
 me, saying: **0h, Queen! you need be no longer at 
 a loss for a place to go to. I have observed that 
 
 ! 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 121 
 
 •i 
 
 If' 
 
 \ 
 
 you have frequently an erysipelas on your arm, 
 and you must accompany the Princess to Spa. 
 You must say your physicians had ordered those 
 waters for the complaint ; but when they did so, 
 it was not the season to take them. That season 
 is now approaching, and you hope to have the 
 King's leave to go there." 
 
 My brother did not deliver all he wished to 
 say at that time, because the Cardinal de Bourbon 
 was present, whom he knew to be a friend to the 
 Guises and to Spain. However, I saw through his 
 real design, and that he wished me to promote 
 his views in Flanders. 
 
 The company approved of my brother's advice, 
 and the Princess of Roche-sur-Yon heard the pro- 
 posal with great joy, having a great regard for 
 me. She promised to attend me to the Queen my 
 mother when I should ask her consent. 
 
 The next day I found the Queen alone, and 
 represented to her the extreme regret I experienced 
 in finding that a war w^as inevitable betwixt the 
 King my husband and His Majesty, and that I 
 must continue in a state of separation from my 
 husband ; that, as long as the war lasted, it was 
 
 i 
 
122 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 123 
 
 neither decent nor honourable for me to stay at 
 Court, where I must be in one or other, or both, 
 of these cruel situations ; either that the King my 
 husband should believe that I continued in it out 
 of inclination, and think me deficient in the duty 
 I owed him ; or that His Majesty should entertain 
 suspicions of my giving intelligence to the King 
 my husband. Either of these cases, I observed, 
 could not but prove injurious to me. I therefore 
 prayed her not to take it amiss if I desired to 
 remove myself from Court, and from becoming so 
 unpleasantly situated; adding that my physicians 
 had for some time recommended me to take the 
 Spa waters for an erysipelas-to which I had been 
 long subject— on my arm; the season for taking 
 these waters was now approaching, and that if 
 she approved of it, I would use the present oppor- 
 tunity, by which means I should be at a distance 
 from Court, and show my husband that, as I 
 could not be with him, I was unwilling to remain 
 amongst his enemies. I further expressed my 
 hopes that, through her prudence, a peace might 
 be effected in a short time betwi.xt the King my 
 husband and His Majesty, and that my husband 
 
 
 might be restored to the favour he formerly en- 
 joyed ; that whenever I learned the news of so 
 joyful an event, I would renew my solicitations 
 to be permitted to go to my husband. In the 
 meantime I should hope for her permission to have 
 the honour of accompanying the Princess of Roche- 
 sur-Yon, there present, in her journey to Spa. 
 
 She approved of what I proposed, and ex- 
 pressed her satisfaction that I had taken so 
 prudent a resolution. She observed how much 
 she was chagrined when she found that the King, 
 through the evil persuasions of the bishops, had 
 resolved to break through the conditions of the 
 last peace, which she had concluded in his name. 
 She saw already the ill effects of this hasty pro- 
 ceeding, as it had removed from the King's council 
 many of his ablest and best servants. This gave 
 her, she said, much concern, as it did likewise to 
 think I could not remain at Court without offend- 
 ing my husband, or creating jealousy and suspicion 
 in the King's mind. This being certainly what 
 was likely to be the consequence of my staying, 
 she would advise the King to give me leave to 
 set out on this journey. 
 
124 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 125 
 
 She was as good as her word, and the King 
 discoursed with me on the subject without ex- 
 hibiting the smallest resentment. Indeed, he was 
 well pleased now that he had prevented me from 
 going to the King my husband, for whom he had 
 conceived the greatest animosity. 
 
 He ordered a courier to be immediately des- 
 patched to Don John of Austria — who commanded 
 for the King of Spain in Flanders— to obtain from 
 him the necessary passports for a free passage in 
 the countries under his command, as I should be 
 obliged to cross a part of Flanders to reach Spa, 
 which is in the bishopric of Liege. 
 
 All matters being thus arranged, we separated 
 in a few days after this interview. The short 
 time my brother and I remained together was 
 employed by him in giving me instructions for 
 the commission I had undertaken to execute for 
 him in Flanders. The King and the Queen my 
 mother set out for Poitiers, to be near the army 
 of M. de Mayenne, then besieging Brouage, which 
 place being reduced, it was intended to march into 
 Gascony and attack the King my husband. 
 
 My brother had the command of another 
 
 •9 
 
 army, ordered to besiege Issoire and some other 
 towns, which he soon after took. 
 
 For my part, I set out on my journey to 
 Flanders accompanied by the Princess of Roche- 
 sur-Yon, Madame de Tournon, the lady of my 
 bed-chamber, Madame de Moiiy of Picardy, Ma- 
 dame de Chastelaine, De Millon, Mademoiselle 
 d'Atric, Mademoiselle de Tournon, and seven or 
 eight other young ladies. My male attendants 
 were the Cardinal de Lenoncourt, the Bishop of 
 Langres, and M. de Mouy, Lord of Picardy, at 
 present father-in-law to the brother of Queen 
 Louisa, called the Count of Chalingy, with my 
 principal steward of the household, my chief 
 esquires, and the other gentlemen of my estab- 
 lishment. 
 
 ■I 
 
■« -JJl_?ll„- 
 
 *»«■ ' ■ :J « NI » 'J 
 
 -"- ■^—- "^SP" 
 
 I 
 
 126 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 LETTER XIV 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF QUEEN MARGARET's EQUIPAGE HER 
 
 JOURNEY TO LIEGE DESCRIBED — SHE ENTERS WITH 
 SUCCESS UPON HER MISSION — STRIKING INSTANCE OF 
 MATERNAL DUTY AND AFFECTION IN A GREAT LADY 
 — DISASTERS NEAR THE CLOSE OF THE JOURNEY. 
 
 The cavalcade that attended me excited great 
 curiosity as it passed through the several towns 
 in the course of my journey, and reflected no 
 small degree of credit on France, as it was 
 splendidly set out, and made a handsome appear- 
 ance. I travelled in a litter, raised with pillars. 
 The lining of it was Spanish velvet, of a crimson 
 colour, embroidered in various devices with gold 
 and different coloured silk thread. The windows 
 were of glass, painted in devices. The lining and 
 windows had, in the whole, forty devices, all 
 different and alluding to the sun and its effects. 
 Each device had its motto, either in the Spanish 
 or Italian language. My litter was followed by 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 127 
 
 two Others ; in the one was the Princess of Roche- 
 sur-Yon, and in the other Madame de Tournon, my 
 lady of the bed-chamber. After them followed ten 
 maids-of-honour, on horseback, with their governess ; 
 and, last of all, six coaches and chariots, with the 
 rest of the ladies and all our female attendants. 
 
 I took the road of Picardy, the towns in 
 which province had received the King's orders to 
 pay me all due honours. Being arrived at Le 
 Catelet, a strong place, about three leagues distant 
 from the frontier of the Cambresis, the Bishop of 
 Cambray (an ecclesiastical State acknowledging the 
 King of Spain only as a guarantee) sent a gentle- 
 man to enquire of me at what hour I should leave 
 the place, as he intended to meet me on the borders 
 of his territory. 
 
 Accordingly I found him there, attended by a 
 number of his people, who appeared to be true 
 Flemings, and to have all the rusticity and un- 
 polished manners of their countrymen. The 
 bishop was of the House of Barlemont, one of 
 the principal families in Flanders. All of this 
 house have shown themselves Spaniards at heart, 
 and at that time were firmly attached to Don 
 
 il 
 
128 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 John. The bishop received me with great pohte- 
 ness and not a httle of the Spanish ceremony. 
 
 Although the city of Cambray is not so well 
 built as some of our towns in France, I thought 
 it, notwithstanding, far more pleasant than many 
 of these, as the streets and squares are larger and 
 better disposed. The churches are grand and 
 highly ornamented, w^hich is, indeed, common to 
 France; but what I admired, above all, was the 
 citadel, which is the finest and best constructed 
 in Christendom. The Spaniards experienced it to 
 be strong whilst my brother had it in his posses- 
 sion. The governor of the citadel at this time 
 was a worthy gentleman named M. d'Ainsi, who 
 was, in every respect, a polite and well-accom- 
 plished man, having the carriage and behaviour 
 of one of our most perfect courtiers, very different 
 from the rude incivility which appears to be the 
 characteristic of a Fleming. 
 
 The bishop gave us a grand supper, and after 
 supper a ball, to which he had invited all the 
 ladies of the city. As soon as the ball was 
 opened he withdrew, in accordance with the 
 Spanish ceremony; but M. d'Ainsi did the 
 
 f * ■»■ 
 
 n»«»M«aniMW> 
 
 ' 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 129 
 
 honours for him, and kept me company during the 
 ball, conducting me afterw^ards to a collation, which, 
 considering his command at the citadel, was, I 
 thought, imprudent. / speak from experience, having 
 been taught, to my cost, and contrary to my desire, 
 the caution and vigilance necessary to be observed in 
 keeping such places. As my regard for my brother 
 was always predominant with me, I continually 
 had his instructions in mind, and now thought I 
 had a fair opportunity to open my commission 
 and forward his views in Flanders, this town of 
 Cambray, and especially the citadel, being, as it 
 were, a key to that country. Accordingly I em- 
 ployed all the talents God had given me to make 
 M. d'Ainsi a friend to France, and attach him to 
 my brother's interest. Through God's assistance 
 I succeeded with him, and so much was M. 
 d'Ainsi pleased with my conversation that he 
 came to the resolution of soliciting the bishop 
 his master to grant him leave to accompany me 
 as far as Namur, where Don John of Austria was 
 in waiting to receive me, observing that he had 
 a great desire to witness so splendid an inter- 
 view. This Spanish Fleming, the bishop, had the 
 
 9 
 
 I 
 
i' i«t^» I JtU^nm^ms^Br 
 
 130 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 weakness to grant M. d'Ainsi's request, who con- 
 tinued following in my train for ten or twelve 
 days. During this time he took every opportunity 
 of discoursing with me, and showed that, in his 
 heart, he was well disposed to embrace the service 
 of France, wishing no better master than the Prince 
 my brother, and declaring that he heartily despised 
 being under the command of his bishop, who, though 
 his sovereign, was not his superior by birth, being 
 born a private gentleman like himself, and, in every 
 other respect, greatly his inferior. 
 
 Leaving Cambray, I set out to sleep at Valen- 
 ciennes, the chief city of a part of Flanders 
 called by the same name. Where this country is 
 divided from the Cambresis (as far as which I 
 was conducted by the Bishop of Cambray), the 
 Count de Lalain, M. de Montigny his brother, 
 and a number of gentlemen, to the amount of 
 two or three hundred, came to meet me. 
 
 Valenciennes is a town inferior to Cambray 
 in point of strength, but equal to it for the 
 beauty of its squares and churches; the former 
 ornamented with fountains, as the latter are with 
 curious clocks. The ingenuity of the Germans in 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 131 
 
 ^t 
 
 the construction of their clocks was a matter of 
 great surprise to all my attendants, few amongst 
 whom had ever before seen clocks exhibiting a 
 number of moving figures, and playing a variety 
 of tunes in the most agreeable manner. 
 
 The Count de Lalain, the governor of the 
 city, invited the lords and gentlemen of my train 
 to a banquet, reserving himself to give an enter- 
 tainment to the ladies on our arrival at Mons, 
 where we should find the Countess his wife, his 
 sister-in-law Madame d'Aurec, and other ladies 
 of distinction. Accordingly the Count, with his 
 attendants, conducted us thither the next day. 
 He claimed a relationship with the King my hus- 
 band, and was, in reality, a person who carried 
 great weight and authority. He was much dis- 
 satisfied with the Spanish Government, and had 
 conceived a great dislike for it since the execution 
 of Count Egmont, who was his near kinsman. 
 
 Although he had hitherto abstained from en- 
 tering into the league with the Prince of Orange 
 and the Huguenots, being himself a steady Catholic, 
 yet he had not admitted of an interview with Don 
 
 John, neither would he suffer him, nor anyone in 
 
 9—2 
 
132 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the interest of Spain, to enter upon his territories. 
 Don John was unwiUing to give the Count any 
 umbrage, lest he should force him to unite the 
 Catholic League of Flanders, called the League of 
 the States, to that of the Prince of Orange and the 
 Huguenots, well foreseeing that such a union 
 would prove fatal to the Spanish interest, as other 
 governors have since experienced. With this dis- 
 position of mind, the Count de Lalain thought he 
 could not give me sufficient demonstrations of the 
 joy he felt by my presence ; and he could not have 
 shown more honour to his natural prince, nor dis- 
 played greater marks of zeal and affection. 
 
 On our arrival at Mons, I was lodged in his 
 house, and found there the Countess his wife, and 
 a Court consisting of eighty or a hundred ladies 
 of the city and country. My reception was rather 
 that of their sovereign lady than of a foreign 
 princess. The Flemish ladies are naturally lively, 
 affable and engaging. The Countess de Lalain is 
 remarkably so, and is, moreover, a woman of great 
 sense and elevation of mind, in which particular, as 
 well as in air and countenance, she carries a striking 
 resemblance to the lady your cousin. We became 
 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 133 
 
 immediately intimate, and commenced a firm 
 friendship at our first meeting. When the supper 
 hour came, we sat down to a banquet, which was 
 succeeded by a ball ; and this rule the Count ob- 
 served as long as I stayed at Mons, which was, 
 indeed, longer than I intended. It had been my 
 intention to stay at Mons one night only, but the 
 Count's obhging lady prevailed on me to pass a 
 whole week there. I strove to excuse myself from 
 so long a stay, imagining it might be inconvenient 
 to them ; but whatever I could say availed nothing 
 with the Count and his lady, and I was under the 
 necessity of remaining with them eight days. The 
 Countess and I were on so familiar a footing that 
 she staid in my bed-chamber till a late hour, and 
 would not have left me then had she not im- 
 posed upon herself a task very rarely performed 
 by persons of her rank, which, however, placed 
 the goodness of her disposition in the most amiable 
 light. In fact, she gave suck to her infant son; 
 and one day at table, sitting next me, whose whole 
 attention was absorbed in the promotion of my 
 brother's interest—the table being the place where, 
 according to the custom of the country, all are 
 
f? 
 
 134 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 familiar and ceremony is laid aside— she, dressed 
 out in the richest manner and blazing with dia- 
 monds, gave the breast to her child without rising 
 from her seat, the infant being brought to the table 
 as superbly habited as its nurse, the mother. She 
 performed this maternal duty with so much good 
 humour, and with a gracefulness peculiar to herself, 
 that this charitable office — which would have ap- 
 peared disgusting and been considered as an affront 
 if done by some others of equal rank— gave pleasure 
 to all who sat at table, and, accordingly, they 
 signified their approbation by their applause. 
 
 The tables being removed, the dances com- 
 menced in the same room wherein we had supped, 
 which was magnificent and large. The Countess 
 and I sitting side by side, I expressed the pleasure 
 I received from her conversation, and that I should 
 place this meeting amongst the happiest events of my 
 life. ** Indeed," said I, *'I shall have cause to regret 
 that it ever did take place, as I shall depart from 
 hence so unwillingly, there being so little probability 
 of our meeting again soon. Why did Heaven deny 
 our being born in the same country 1 " 
 
 This was said in order to introduce my brother's 
 
 X" 
 
 I 
 
 V. 
 
 H 
 
 ) 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 135 
 
 business. She replied: *' This country did, indeed, 
 formerly belong to France, and our lawyers now 
 plead their causes in the French language. The 
 greater part of the people here still retain an 
 affection for the French nation. For my part," 
 added the Countess, '' I have had a strong attach- 
 ment to your country ever since I have had the 
 honour of seeing you. This country has been long 
 in the possession of the House of Austria, but the 
 regard of the people for that house has been greatly 
 weakened by the death of Count Egmont, M. de 
 Home, M. de Montigny and others of the same 
 party, some of them our near relations, and all of 
 the best families of the country. We entertain the 
 utmost dislike for the Spanish Government, and 
 wish for nothing so much as to throw off the yoke of 
 their tyranny ; but, as the country is divided betwixt 
 different religions, we are at a loss how to effect it. 
 If we could unite, we should soon drive out the 
 Spaniards ; but this division amongst ourselves 
 renders us weak. Would to God, the King your 
 brother would come to a resolution of reconquering 
 this country, to which he has an ancient claim ! 
 We should all receive him with open arms." 
 
rfT'- ' »'tf.'..-'-i . ■ 
 
 If 
 
 I 
 
 134 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 familiar and ceremony is laid aside— she, dressed 
 out in the richest oKinner and blazing with dia- 
 monds, gave the breast to her child without rising 
 from her seat, the infant being brought to the table 
 as superbly habited as its nurse, the mother. She 
 performed this maternal duty with so much good 
 humour, and with a gracefulness peculiar to herself, 
 that this charitable office— which would have ap- 
 peared disgusting and been considered as an affront 
 if done by some others of equal rank— gave pleasure 
 to all who sat at table, and, accordingly, they 
 signified their approbation by their applause. 
 
 The tables being removed, the dances com- 
 menced in the same room wherein we had supped, 
 which was magnificent and large. The Countess 
 and I sitting side by side, I expressed the pleasure 
 I received from her conversation, and that I should 
 place this meeting amongst the happiest events of my 
 Hfe. *' Indeed," said I, *'I shall have cause to regret 
 that it ever did take place, as I shall depart from 
 hence so unwillingly, there being so little probability 
 of our meeting again soon. Why did Heaven deny 
 our being born in the same country ! " 
 
 This was said in order to introduce my brother's 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 135 
 
 business. She replied: ''This country did, indeed, 
 formerly belong to France, and our lawyers now 
 plead their causes in the French language. The 
 greater part of the people here still retain an 
 affection for the French nation. For my part," 
 added the Countess, " I have had a strong attach- 
 ment to your country ever since I have had the 
 honour of seeing you. This country has been long 
 in the possession of the House of Austria, but the 
 regard of the people for that house has been greatly 
 w^eakened by the death of Count Egmont, M. de 
 Home, M. de Montigny and others of the same 
 party, some of them our near relations, and all of 
 the best families of the country. We entertain the 
 utmost dislike for the Spanish Government, and 
 wish for nothing so much as to throw off the yoke of 
 their tyranny ; but, as the country is divided betwixt 
 different religions, we are at a loss how^ to effect it. 
 If we could unite, we should soon drive out the 
 Spaniards ; but this division amongst ourselves 
 renders us weak. Would to God, the King your 
 brother would come to a resolution of reconquering 
 this country, to w^hich he has an ancient claim 1 
 We should all receive him with open arms." 
 
 -■ , ,iiii,i>iiii— inn -imViWilmmmmmilm 
 
 ■1 Wii If'T"" 
 
i iifi—iTiB I 'li i 't i a i aii ii i i irm ii v immmmm 
 
 «iS*'«3BES»""Wsie" *■>. »e«l»w*«»»K-<f«op . 
 
 136 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 This was a frank declaration, made by the 
 Countess without premeditation, but it had been 
 long agitated in the minds of the people, who con- 
 sidered that it was from hVance they were to hope 
 for redress from the evils with which they w^ere 
 afflicted. I now found 1 had as favourable an 
 opening as I could wish for to declare my errand. 
 I told her that the King of France my brother was 
 averse from engaging in foreign war, and the more so 
 as the Huguenots in his kingdom were too strong 
 to admit of his sending any large force out of it. 
 *'My brother Alengon," said I, '*has sufficient means, 
 and might be induced to undertake it. He has 
 equal valour, prudence and benevolence with the 
 King my brother or any of his ancestors. He has 
 been bred to arms, and is esteemed one of the 
 bravest generals of these times. He has the com- 
 mand of the King's army against the Huguenots, 
 and has lately taken a well-fortitied town, called 
 Issoire, and some other places that were in their 
 possession. You could not invite to your assistance 
 a prince who has it so much in his power to give 
 it, being not only a neighbour, but having a kingdom 
 like France at his devotion, from w^hence he may 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 137 
 
 expect to derive the necessary aid and succour. 
 The Count your husband may be assured that if 
 he do my brother this good office he will not find 
 him ungrateful, but may set what price he pleases 
 upon his meritorious service. My brother is of a 
 noble and generous disposition, and ready to requite 
 those who do him favours. He is, moreover, an 
 admirer of men of honour and gallantry, and ac- 
 cordingly is followed by the bravest and best men 
 France has to boast of. I am in hopes that a peace 
 will soon be re-established with the Huguenots, and 
 expect to find it so on my return to France. If 
 the Count your husband thinks as you do, and will 
 permit me to speak to him on the subject, I will 
 engage to bring my brother over to the proposal, 
 and, in that case, your country in general, and your 
 house in particular, will be well satisfied with him. 
 If, through your means, my brother should establish 
 himself here, you may depend on seeing me often, 
 there being no brother or sister who has a stronger 
 affection for each other." 
 
 The Countess appeared to listen to what I said 
 with great pleasure, and acknowledged that she had 
 entered upon this discourse without design. She 
 
^ 
 
 138 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 139 
 
 observed that, having perceived I did her the 
 honour to have some regard for her, she had 
 resolved within herself not to let me depart out of 
 the country without explaining to me the situation 
 of it, and begging me to procure the aid of France 
 to relieve them from the apprehensions of living in 
 a state of perpetual war or of submitting to Spanish 
 tyranny. She thereupon entreated me to allow her 
 to relate our present conversation to her husband, 
 and permit them both to confer with me on the 
 subject the next day. To this I readily gave my 
 consent. 
 
 Thus we passed the evening in discourse upon 
 the object of my mission, and I observed that she 
 took a singular pleasure in talking upon it in all our 
 succeeding conferences when I thought proper to 
 introduce it. The ball being ended, we went to 
 hear vespers at the church of the Canonesses,^ 
 an order of nuns, of which we have none in 
 France. These are 3'oung ladies who are entered 
 in these communities at a tender age, in order 
 to improve their fortunes till they are of an 
 age to be married. They do not all sleep under 
 ^ See geographical note to Mons, p. 273. 
 
 * 
 
 the same roof, but in detached houses within an 
 enclosure. In each of these houses are three, 
 four, or perhaps six young girls, under the care 
 of an old woman. These governesses, together 
 with the abbess, are of the number of such as 
 have never been married. These girls never wear 
 the habit of the order but in church, and the 
 service there ended, they dress like others, pay 
 visits, frequent balls, and go w^here they please. 
 They were constant visitors at the Count's enter- 
 tainments, and danced at his balls. 
 
 The Countess thought the time long until the 
 night when she had an opportunity of relating to 
 the Count the conversation she had with me, and 
 the opening of the business. The next morning 
 she came to me, and brought her husband with 
 her. He entered into a detail of the grievances 
 the country laboured under, and the just reasons 
 he had for ridding it of the tyranny of Spain. In 
 doing this, he said he should not consider himself 
 as acting against his natural Sovereign, because 
 he well knew he ought to look for him in the 
 person of the King of France. He explained to 
 me the means whereby my brother might establish 
 
 ■I'^s^^E^JSlfe'; 
 
IT 
 
 „ i^-^^ '- _-'-2'i2fc*'^?— -.ri'.'** 
 
 •^,»iWRfl«»i»^*»»« * 
 
 • --..J). •j»i*«Pi'i 
 
 140 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 141 
 
 
 I i 
 
 himself in Flanders, having possession of Hainault, 
 which extended as far as Brussels. He said the 
 difficulty lay in securing the Cainbresis, which is 
 situated betwixt Hainault and Flanders. It would, 
 therefore, be necessary to engage M. d'Ainsi in the 
 business. To this I replied that, as he was his 
 neighbour and friend, it might be better that he 
 should open the matter to him; and I begged he 
 would do so. I next assured him that he might 
 have the most perfect reliance on the gratitude 
 and friendship of my brother, and be certain of 
 receiving as large a share of power and authority 
 as such a service done by a person of his rank 
 merited. Lastly, we agreed upon an interview be- 
 twixt my brother and M. de Montigny, the brother 
 of the Count, which was to take place at La Fere, 
 upon my return, when this business should be 
 arranged. During the time I stayed at Mons, I 
 said all I could to confirm the Count in this reso- 
 lution, in which T found myself seconded by the 
 Countess. 
 
 The day of my departure was now arrived, 
 to the great regret of the ladies of Mons, as well 
 as myself. The Countess expressed herself in terms 
 
 I 
 
 which showed she had conceived the warmest 
 friendship for me, and made me promise to return 
 bv wav of that city. I presented the Countess 
 with a diamond bracelet, and to the Count I gave 
 a riband and diamond star of considerable value. 
 But these presents, valuable as they were, became 
 more so, in their estimation, as I was the donor. 
 
 Of the ladies, none accompanied me from this 
 place, except Madame d'Aurec. She went with 
 me to Namur, where I slept that night, and where 
 she expected to find her husband and the Duke 
 d'Arscot, her brother-in-law, who had been there 
 since the peace betwixt the King of Spain and 
 the States of Flanders. For though they were 
 both of the party of the States, yet the Duke 
 d'Arscot, being an old courtier and having 
 attended King Philip in Flanders and England, 
 could not withdraw himself from Court and the 
 society of the great. The Count dc Lalain, with 
 all his nobles, conducted me two leagues beyond 
 his government, and until he saw Don John's 
 company in the distance advancing to meet me. 
 He then took his leave of me, being unwilling to 
 meet Don John; but M. d'Ainsi stayed with me. 
 
142 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 1^ 
 
 as his master, the l'>ishop of Cambray, was in the 
 Spanish interest. 
 
 This ^^allant company having left me, I was 
 soon after met by Don John of Austria, preceded 
 by a j^Teat number of running footmen, and 
 escorted only by twenty or thirty horsemen. He 
 was attended by a number of lords, and amongst 
 the rest the Duke d'Arscot, M. d'Aurec, the Marquis 
 de Varenbon, and the younger Balengon, governor, 
 for the King of Spain, (^f the county of Burgundy. 
 These two last, who are brothers, had ridden post 
 to meet me. Of Don John's household there 
 was only Louis de Gonzago of any rank. He 
 called himself a relation of the Duke of Mantua; 
 the others were mean-looking people, and of no 
 consideration. Don John alighted from his horse 
 to salute me in my litter, which was opened for 
 the purpose. I returned the salute after the French 
 fashion to him, the Duke d'Arscot, and M. d'Aurec. 
 After an exchange of compliments, he mounted 
 his horse, but continued in discourse with me 
 until we reached the city, which was not before 
 it grew dark, as I set off late, the ladies of Mons 
 keeping me as long as they could, amusing them- 
 
 1 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 143 
 
 i 
 
 -1 
 
 t 
 
 selves with viewing my litter, and requiring an 
 explanation of the different mottoes and devices. 
 However, as the Spaniards excel in preserving 
 good order, Namur appeared with particular ad- 
 vantage, for the streets were w^ell lighted, every 
 house being illuminated, so that the blaze ex- 
 ceeded that of daylight. 
 
 Our supper w^as served to us in our respective 
 apartments, Don John being unwilling, after the 
 fatigue of so long a journey, to incommode us with 
 a banquet. The house in which I was lodged 
 had been newly furnished for the purpose of 
 receiving me. It consisted of a magnificent large 
 saloon, with a private apartment, consisting of 
 lodging rooms and closets, furnished in the most 
 costly manner, with furniture of every kind, and 
 hung with the richest tapestry of velvet and satin, 
 divided into compartments by columns of silver 
 embroidery, with knobs of gold, all wrought in the 
 most superb manner. Within these compartments 
 were figures in antique habits, embroidered in 
 
 jTold and silver. 
 
 The Cardinal de Lenoncourt, a man of taste 
 and curiosity, being one day in these apartments 
 
U: 
 
 H4 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 with the Duke d'Arscot, who, as I have before 
 observed, was an ornament to Don John's Court, 
 remarked to him that this furniture seemed more 
 proper for a great kin^ than a young unmarried 
 prince hke Don John. To which the Duke d'Arscot 
 rephed that it came to him as a present, having 
 been sent to him b}' a bashaw belonging to the 
 Grand Signior, whose sons he had made prisoners 
 in a signal victory obtained over the Turks. Don 
 John having sent the bashaw's sons back without 
 ransom, the father, in return, made him a present 
 of a large quantity of gold, silver, and silk stuffs, 
 which he caused to be wrought into tapestry at 
 Milan, where there are curious workmen in this 
 way; and he had the Queen's bed-chamber hung 
 with tapestry representing the battle in which he 
 had so gloriously defeated the Turks. 
 
 The next morning Don John conducted us to 
 chapel, where we heard Mass celebrated after 
 the Spanish manner, with all kinds of music, after 
 which we partook of a banquet prepared by Don 
 John. He and I were seated at a separate table, 
 at a distance of three 3'ards from which stood 
 the great one, of which the honours were done by 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 A. 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 145 
 
 Madame d'Aurec. At this table the ladies and 
 principal lords took their seats. Don John was 
 served with drink by Louis de Gonzago, kneeling. 
 The tables being removed, the ball was opened, 
 and the dancing continued the whole afternoon. 
 The evening was spent in conversation betwixt 
 Don John and me, who told me I greatly resembled 
 the Queen his mistress, by whom he meant the 
 late Queen my sister, and for whom he professed 
 to have entertained a very high esteem. In short, 
 Don John manifested, by every mark ^f attention 
 and politeness, as well to me as to my attendants, 
 the very great pleasure he had in receiving me. 
 
 The boats which were to convey me upon the 
 Meuse to Liege not all being ready, I was under 
 the necessity of staying another day. The morning 
 was passed as that of the day before. After dinner, 
 we embarked on the river in a very beautiful boat, 
 surrounded by others having on board musicians 
 playing on hautboys, horns and violins, and landed 
 at an island where Don John had caused a colla- 
 tion to be prepared in a large bower formed with 
 branches of ivy, in which the musicians were 
 placed in small recesses, playing on their instru- 
 
 10 
 
 * 
 
 // 
 
i 
 
 146 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 147 
 
 ments during the time of supper. The tables 
 being removed, the dances began, and lasted till 
 it was time to return, which I did in the same 
 boat that conveyed me thither, and which was 
 that provided for my voyage. 
 
 The next morning Don John conducted me 
 to the boat, and there took a most polite and 
 courteous leave, charging M. and Madame d'Aurec 
 to see me safe to Huy, the first town belonging 
 to the Bishop of Liege, where I was to sleep. As 
 soon as Don John had gone on shore, M. d'Ainsi, 
 who remained in the boat, and who had the bishop 
 of Cambray's permission to go to Namur only, 
 took leave of me with many protestations of 
 fidelity and attachment to my brother and myself. 
 
 But Fortune, envious of my hitherto prosperous 
 journey, gave me two omens of the sinister events 
 of my return. 
 
 The first was the sudden illness which attacked 
 Mademoiselle de Tournon, the daughter of the lady 
 of my bed-chamber, a young person, accomplished, 
 with every grace and virtue, and for whom I had 
 the most perfect regard. No sooner had the boat 
 left the shore than this young lady was seized 
 
 <% 
 
 . 
 
 ! 
 
 with an alarming disorder, which, from the great 
 pain attending it, caused her to scream in the 
 most doleful manner. The physicians attributed 
 the cause to spasms of the heart, which, notwith- 
 standing the utmost exertions of their skill, carried 
 her off a few days after my arrival at Liege. As 
 the history of this young lady is remarkable, I 
 shall relate it in my next letter. 
 
 The other omen was what happened to us at 
 Huy, immediately upon our arrival there. This 
 town is built on the declivity of a mountain, at 
 the foot of which runs the river Meuse. As we 
 were about to land, there fell a torrent of rain, 
 which, coming down the steep sides of the moun- 
 tain, swelled the river instantly to such a degree 
 that we had only time to leap out of the boat and 
 run to the top, the flood reaching the very highest 
 street, next to where I was to lodge. There we 
 were forced to put up with such accommodation 
 as could be procured in the house, as it was 
 impossible to remove the smallest article of our 
 baggage from the boats, or even to stir out of the 
 house we were in, the whole city being under 
 water. However, the town was as suddenly re- 
 
 10 — 2 
 
 1 
 
HI I ■ i !■■ 
 
 148 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 lieved from this calamity as it had been afflicted 
 with it, for, on the next morning, the whole 
 inundation had ceased, the waters having run off, 
 and the river being confined within its usual 
 
 channel. 
 
 Leaving Huy, M. and Madame d'Aurec re- 
 turned to Don John at Namur, and I proceeded, 
 in the boat, to sleep that night at Liege. 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 149 
 
 LETTER XV 
 
 THE CITY OF LIEGE DESCRIBED — AFFECTING STORY OF 
 MADEMOISELLE DE TOURNON FATAL EFFECTS OF SUP- 
 PRESSED ANGUISH OF MIND. 
 
 The Bishop of Liege, who is the Sovereign 
 of the city and province, received me with all the 
 cordiality and respect that could be expected from 
 a personage of his dignity and great accomplish- 
 ments. He was, indeed, a nobleman endowed 
 with singular prudence and virtue, agreeable in 
 his person and conversation, gracious and mag- 
 nificent in his carriage and behaviour, to which I 
 may add that he spoke the French language per- 
 fectly. 
 
 He was constantly attended by his chapter, 
 with several of his canons, who are all sons of 
 dukes, counts, or great German lords. The bishop- 
 ric is itself a sovereign State, which brings in a 
 considerable revenue, and includes a number of 
 fine cities. The bishop is chosen from amongst 
 the canons, who must be of noble descent, and 
 
 ^ 
 
 ■ ■■ — I mm''»m« m » <*m m^ 
 
w 
 
 150 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 resident one year. The city is larger than Lyons, 
 and much resembles it, having the Meuse running 
 through it. The houses in which the canons 
 reside have the appearance of noble palaces. The 
 streets of the city are regular and spacious, the 
 houses of the citizens well built, the squares large, 
 and ornamented with curious fountains. The 
 churches appear as if raised entirely of marble, of 
 which there are considerable quarries in the neigh- 
 bourhood ; they are all of them ornamented with 
 beautiful clocks, and exhibit a variety of moving 
 
 figures. 
 
 The bishop received me as I landed from the 
 boat, and conducted me to his magnificent resi- 
 dence, ornamented with delicious fountains and 
 gardens, set off with galleries, all painted, superbly 
 gilt, and enriched with marble, beyond description. 
 
 The spring which affords the waters of Spa^ 
 being distant no more than three or four leagues 
 from the city of Liege, and there being only a 
 village, consisting of three or four small houses, 
 on the spot, the Princess of Roche-sur-Yon was 
 advised by her physicians to stay at Liege and 
 I See Spa in Geographical Notes, p. 282 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 151 
 
 have the waters brought to her, which they assured 
 her would have equal efficacy, if taken after sun- 
 set and before sunrise, as if drunk at the spring. 
 I was well pleased that she resolved to follow the 
 advice of the doctors, as we were more comfortably 
 lodged and had an agreeable society, for, besides 
 his Grace (so the bishop is styled, as a king is 
 addressed his Majesty, and a prince his Highness), 
 the news of my arrival being spread about, many 
 lords and ladies came from Germany to visit me. 
 Amongst these was the Countess d'Aremberg, who 
 had the honour to accompany Queen Elizabeth 
 to Mezieres, to which place she came to marry 
 King Charles my brother, a lady very high in 
 the estimation of the Empress, the Emperor, and 
 all the Princes in Christendom. With her came 
 her sister the Landgravine, Madame d'Aremberg 
 her daughter, M. d'Aremberg her son, a gallant 
 and accomplished nobleman, the perfect image of 
 his father, who brought the Spanish succours to 
 King Charles my brother, and returned with great 
 honour and additional reputation. This meeting, 
 so honourable to me, and so much to my satis- 
 faction, was damped by the grief and concern 
 
152 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 153 
 
 ij 
 
 m 
 
 occasioned by the loss of Mademoiselle de Tour- 
 non, whose story, being of a singular nature, I 
 shall now relate to you, agreeably to the promise 
 I made in my last letter. 
 
 I must begin with observing to you that 
 Madame de Tournon, at this time lady of my 
 bed-chamber, had several daughters, the eldest of 
 whom married M. de Balengon, governor, for the 
 King of Spain, in the county of Burgundy. This 
 daughter, upon her marriage, had solicited her 
 mother to admit of her taking her sister, the 
 young lady whose story I am now about to relate, 
 to live with her, as she was going to a country 
 strange to her, and wherein she had no relations. 
 To this her mother consented; and the young 
 lady, being universally admired for her modesty and 
 graceful accomplishments, for which she certainly 
 deserved admiration, attracted the noticfe of the 
 Marquis de Varenbon. The Marquis, as I before 
 mentioned, is the brother of M. de Balen9on, 
 and was intended for the Church ; but, being 
 violently enamoured of Mademoiselle de Tournon 
 (whom, as he lived in the same house, he had 
 frequent opportunities of seeing), he now begged 
 
 r 
 
 his brother's permission to marry her, not having 
 yet taken orders. The young lady's family, to 
 whom he had likewise communicated his wish, 
 readily gave their consent, but his brother refused 
 his, strongly advising him to change his resolution 
 
 and put on the gown. 
 
 Thus were matters situated when her mother, 
 Madame de Tournon, a virtuous and pious lady, 
 thinking she had cause to be offended, ordered her 
 daughter to leave the house of her sister, Madame 
 de Balengon, and come to her. The mother, a 
 woman of a violent spirit, not considering that her 
 daughter was grown up and merited a mild treat- 
 ment, was continually scolding the poor young 
 lady, so that she was for ever with tears in her 
 eyes. Still, there was nothing to blame in the 
 young girl's conduct, but such was the severity 
 of the mother's disposition. The daughter, as you 
 may well suppose, wished to be from under the 
 mother's tyrannical government, and was accord- 
 ingly delighted with the thoughts of attending me 
 in this journey to Flanders, hoping, as it happened, 
 that she should meet the Marquis de Varenbon 
 somewhere on the road, and that, as he had now 
 
 I i 
 
 / 
 
MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 155 
 
 154 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 J 
 
 abandoned all thoughts of the Church, he would 
 renew his proposal of marriage, and take her from 
 
 her mother. 
 
 I have before mentioned that the Marquis de 
 Varenbon and the younger Balen9on joined us at 
 Namur. Young Balen^on, who was far from being 
 so agreeable as his brother, addressed himself to 
 the young lady, but the Marquis, during the whole 
 time we stayed at Namur, paid not the least 
 attention to her, and seemed as if he had never 
 been acquainted with her. 
 
 The resentment, grief, and disappointment 
 occasioned by a behaviour so slighting and un- 
 natural was necessarily stifled in her breast, as 
 decorum and her sex's pride obliged her to appear 
 as if she disregarded it ; but when, after taking 
 leave, all of them left the boat, the anguish of 
 her mind, which she had hitherto suppressed, 
 could no longer be restrained, and, labouring for 
 vent, it stopped her respiration, and forced from 
 her those lamentable outcries which I have already 
 spoken of. Her youth combated for eight days 
 with this uncommon disorder, but at the expira- 
 tion of that time she died, to the great grief of her 
 
 mother, as well as myself. I say of her mother, 
 for, though she was so rigidly severe over this 
 daughter, she tenderly loved her. 
 
 The funeral of this unfortunate young lady 
 was solemnised with all proper ceremonies, and 
 conducted in the most honourable manner, as she 
 w^as descended from a great family, allied to the 
 Queen my mother. When the day of interment 
 arrived, four of my gentlemen were appointed 
 bearers, one of whom was named la Boessiere. 
 This man had entertained a secret passion for her, 
 which he never durst declare on account of the 
 inferiority of his family and station. He was now 
 destined to bear the remains of her, dead, for whom 
 he had long been dying, and was now as near 
 dying for her loss as he had before been for her 
 love. The melancholy procession was marching 
 slowly along, when it was met by the Marquis de 
 Varenbon, who had been the sole occasion of it. 
 We had not left Namur long when the Marquis 
 reflected upon his cruel behaviour towards this un- 
 happy young lady; and his passion (wonderful to 
 relate) being revived by the absence of her who 
 inspired it, though scarcely alive while she was 
 
 / 
 
 
MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 157 
 
 156 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 J 
 
 present, he had resolved to come and ask her of 
 her mother in marriage. He made no doubt, 
 perhaps, of success, as he seldom failed in enter- 
 prises of love ; witness the great lady he has since 
 obtained for a wife, in opposition to the will of her 
 family. He might, besides, have flattered himself 
 that he should easily have gained a pardon from 
 her by whom he was beloved, according to the 
 Italian proverb, *' Che la forza d'amore non riguarda 
 al delitto " (Lovers are not criminal in the estimation 
 of one another). Accordingly, the Marquis solicited 
 Don John to be despatched to me on some errand, 
 and arrived, as I said before, at the very instant 
 the corpse of this ill-fated young lady was being 
 borne to the grave. He was stopped by the crowd 
 occasioned by this solemn procession. He con- 
 templates it for some time. He observes a long 
 train of persons in mourning, and remarks the 
 coffin to be covered with a white pall, and that 
 there are chaplets of flowers laid upon the coffin. 
 He enquires whose funeral it is. The answer he 
 receives is, that it is the funeral of a young lady. 
 Unfortunately for him, this reply fails to satisfy his 
 curiosity. He makes up to one who led the pro- 
 
 I 
 
 i i! 
 
 cession, and eagerly asks the name of the young 
 lady they are proceeding to bury. When, oh, 
 fatal answer! Love, willing to revenge the victim 
 of his ingratitude and neglect, suggests a reply 
 which had nearly deprived him of life. He no 
 sooner hears the name of Mademoiselle de Tournon 
 pronounced than he falls from his horse in a swoon. 
 He is taken up for dead, and conveyed to the 
 nearest house, where he lies for a time insensible ; 
 his soul, no doubt, leaving his body to obtain 
 pardon from her whom he had hastened to a 
 premature grave, to return to taste the bitterness 
 of death a second time. 
 
 Having performed the last offices to the re- 
 mains of this poor young lady, I was unwilling to 
 discompose the gaiety of the society assembled 
 here on my account by any show of grief. 
 Accordingly, I joined the bishop, or, as he is 
 called, his Grace, and his canons, in their entertain- 
 ments at different houses, and in gardens, of which 
 the city and its neighbourhood afforded a variety. 
 I was every morning attended by a numerous com- 
 pany to the garden, in which I drank the w^aters, 
 the exercise of walking being recommended to be 
 
 / 
 
1 1 
 
 7 
 
 158 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 used with them. As the physician who advised me 
 to take them was my own brother, they did not 
 fail of their effect with me ; and for these six or 
 seven years which are gone over my head since I 
 drank them, I have been free from any complaint 
 of erysipelas on my arm. From this garden we 
 usually proceeded to the place where we were in- 
 vited to dinner. After dinner we were amused with 
 a ball ; from the ball we went to some convent, 
 where we heard vespers ; from vespers to supper, 
 and that over, we had another ball, or music on 
 the river. 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 159 
 
 LETTER XVI 
 
 QUEEN MARGARET, ON HER RETURN FROM LifcGE, IS IN 
 
 DANGER OF BEING MADE A PRISONER SHE ARRIVES, 
 
 AFTER SOME NARROW ESCAPES, AT LA FERE. 
 
 In this manner we passed the six weeks, which 
 is the usual time for taking these waters, at the 
 expiration of which the Princess of Roche-sur-Yon 
 was desirous to return to France; but Madame 
 d'Aurec, who just then returned to us from Namur, 
 on her way to rejoin her husband in Lorraine, 
 brought us news of an extraordinary change of 
 affairs in that town and province since we had 
 
 passed through it. 
 
 It appeared from this lady's account that, on 
 the very day we left Namur, Don John, after 
 quitting the boat, mounted his horse under pretence 
 of taking the diversion of hunting, and, as he 
 passed the gate of the castle of Namur, expressed 
 a desire of seeing it ; that, having entered, he took 
 possession of it, notwithstanding he held it for the 
 
 / 
 
t 
 
 1 60 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 States, agreeably to a convention. Don John, 
 moreover, arrested the persons of the Duke d'Arscot 
 and M. d'Aurec, and also made Madame d'Aurec a 
 prisoner. After some remonstrances and entreaties, 
 he had set her husband and brother-in-law at 
 liberty, but detained her as a hostage for them. 
 In consequence of these measures, the whole 
 country was in arms. The province of Namur was 
 divided into three parties ; the first whereof was 
 that of the States, or the Catholic party of Flanders ; 
 the second that of the Prince of Orange and the 
 Huguenots ; the third, the Spanish party, of which 
 Don John was the head. 
 
 By letters which I received just at this time 
 from my brother, through the hands of a gentle- 
 man named Lescar, I found I was in great danger 
 of falling into the hands of one or other of these 
 
 parties. 
 
 These letters informed me that, since my de- 
 parture from Court, God had dealt favourably with 
 my brother, and enabled him to acquit himself 
 of the command of the army confided to him, 
 greatly to the benefit of the King's service; so 
 that he had taken all the towns and driven the 
 
 I' 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 161 
 
 Huguenots out of the provinces, agreeably to the 
 design for which the army was raised ; that he had 
 returned to the Court at Poitiers, where the King 
 stayed during the siege of Brouage, to be near 
 to M. de Mayenne, in order to afford him what- 
 ever succours he stood in need of ; that, as the 
 Court is a Proteus, for ever putting on a new 
 face, he had found it entirely changed, so that 
 he had been no more considered than if he had 
 done the King no service whatever ; and that 
 Bussi, who had been so graciously looked upon 
 before and during this last war, had done great 
 personal service, and had lost a brother at the 
 storming of Issoire, was very coolly received, and 
 even as maliciously persecuted as in the time of 
 le Guast ; in consequence of which either he or 
 Bussi experienced some indignity or other. He 
 further mentioned that the King's favourites had 
 been practising with his most faithful servants, 
 Maugiron, la Valette, Mauleon, and Hivarrot, and 
 several other good and trusty men, to desert him, 
 and enter into the King's service ; and, lastly, that 
 the King had repented of giving me leave to go 
 to Flanders, and that, to counteract my brother. 
 
 II 
 
 \ 
 
l62 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 t * 
 
 a plan was laid to intercept me on my return, 
 either by the Spaniards, for which purpose they 
 had been told that I had treated for delivering 
 up the country to him, or by the Huguenots, in 
 revenge of the war my brother had carried on 
 against them, after having formerly assisted them. 
 This intelligence required to be well con- 
 sidered, as there seemed to be an utter impossibility 
 of avoiding both parties. I had, however, the 
 pleasure to think that two of the principal persons 
 of my company stood well, either with one or 
 other party. The Cardinal de Lenoncourt had 
 been thought to favour the Huguenot party, and 
 M. Descarts, brother to the Bishop of Lisieux, 
 was supposed to have the Spanish interest at 
 heart. I communicated our difficult situation to 
 the Princess of Roche -sur -Yon and Madame de 
 Tournon, who, considering that we could not 
 reach La Fere in less than five or six days, 
 answered me, with tears in their eyes, that God 
 only had it in His power to preserve us, that 
 I should recommend myself to His protection, 
 and then follow such measures as should seem 
 advisable. They observed that, as one of them 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 163 
 
 ,t 
 
 I 
 
 was in a weak state of health, and the other 
 advanced in years, I might affect to make short 
 journeys on their account, and they would put up 
 with every inconvenience to extricate me from the 
 danger I was in. 
 
 I next consulted with the Bishop of Liege, 
 who most certainly acted towards me like a father, 
 and gave directions to the grand master of his 
 household to attend me with his horses as far as 
 I should think proper. As it was necessary that 
 we should have a passport from the Prince of 
 Orange, I sent Mondoucet to him to obtain one, 
 as he was acquainted with the Prince and was 
 known to favour his religion. Mondoucet did 
 not return, and I believe I might have waited for 
 him until this time to no purpose. I was advised 
 by the Cardinal de Lenoncourt and my first 
 esquire, the Chevalier Salviati, who were of the 
 same party, not to stir without a passport ; but, 
 as I suspected a plan was laid to entrap me, I 
 resolved to set out the next morning. 
 
 They now saw that this pretence was in- 
 sufficient to detain me ; accordingly, the Chevalier 
 Salviati prevailed with my treasurer, who was 
 
 II 
 
 / 
 
I 
 
 I i 
 
 164 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 secretly a Huguenot, to declare he had not money 
 enough in his hands to discharge the expenses we 
 had incurred at Liege, and that, in consequence, 
 my horses were detained. I afterwards discovered 
 that this was false, for, on my arrival at La Fere, 
 I called for his accounts, and found he had then 
 a balance in his hands which would have enabled 
 him to pay the expenses of my family for six or 
 seven weeks. The Princess of Roche - sur -Yon, 
 incensed at the affront put upon me, and seeing 
 the danger I ran by staying, advanced the money 
 that was required, to their great confusion; and I 
 took my leave of his Grace the bishop, presenting 
 him with a diamond worth three thousand crowns, 
 and giving his domestics gold chains and rings. 
 Having thus taken our leave, we proceeded to 
 Huy, without any other passport than God's good 
 providence. 
 
 This town, as I observed before, belongs to 
 the Bishop of Liege, but was now in a state of 
 tumult and confusion, on account of the general 
 revolt of the Low Countries, the townsmen taking 
 part with the Netherlanders, notwithstanding the 
 bishopric was a neutral State. On this account 
 
 1 
 
 ff 
 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 165 
 
 they paid no respect to the grand master of the 
 bishop's household, who accompanied us, but, 
 knowing Don John had taken the castle of Namur 
 in order, as they supposed, to intercept me on my 
 return, these brutal people, as soon as I had got 
 into my quarters, rang the alarm bell, drew up 
 their artillery, placed chains across the streets, 
 and kept us thus confined and separated the whole 
 night, giving us no opportunity to expostulate with 
 them on such conduct. In the morning we were 
 suffered to leave the town without further molesta- 
 tion, and the streets we passed through were lined 
 with armed men. 
 
 From thence we proceeded to Dinant, where we 
 intended to sleep ; but, unfortunately for us, the 
 townspeople had on that day chosen their burgher- 
 masters, a kind of officers like the consuls in 
 Gascony and France. In consequence of this 
 election, it was a day of tumult, riot, and de- 
 bauchery ; everyone in the town was drunk, no 
 magistrate was acknowledged. In a word, all was 
 in confusion. To render our situation still worse, 
 the grand master of the bishop's household had 
 formerly done the town some ill office, and was 
 
 H 
 
J\ 
 
 1 66 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 considered as its enemy. The people of the town, 
 when in their sober senses, were incHned to 
 favour the party of the States, but under the 
 influence of Bacchus they paid no regard to any 
 party, not even to themselves. 
 
 As soon as I had reached the suburbs, they 
 were alarmed at the number of my compan}-, 
 quitted the bottle and glass to take up their arms, 
 and immediately shut the gates against me. I 
 had sent a gentleman before me, with my har- 
 binger and quartermasters, to beg the magistrates 
 to admit me to stay one night in the town, but I 
 found my officers had been put under an arrest. 
 They bawled out to us from within, to tell us 
 their situation, but could not make themselves 
 heard. At length I raised myself up in my litter, 
 and, taking off my mask, made a sign to a towns- 
 man nearest me, of the best appearance, that I 
 was desirous to speak with him. As soon as he 
 drew near me, I begged him to call out for silence, 
 which being with some difficulty obtained, I repre- 
 sented to him who I was, and the occasion of 
 my journey ; that it was far from my intention to 
 do them harm ; but, to prevent any suspicions of 
 
 I 
 
 ( 
 
 [ 
 
 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 167 
 
 the kind, I only begged to be admitted to go into 
 their city with my women, and as few others of 
 my attendants as they thought proper, and that 
 we might be permitted to stay there for one night, 
 whilst the rest of my company remained within 
 the suburbs. 
 
 They agreed to this proposal, and opened 
 their gates for my admission. I then entered the 
 city with the principal persons of my company, 
 and the grand master of the bishop's household. 
 This reverend personage, who was eighty years of 
 age, and wore a beard as white as snow, which 
 reached down to his girdle — this venerable old 
 man, I say, was no sooner recognised by the 
 drunken and armed rabble than he was accosted 
 with the grossest abuse, and it was with difficulty 
 they were restrained from laying violent hands 
 upon him. At length I got him into my lodgings, 
 but the mob fired at the house, the walls of which 
 were only of plaster. Upon being thus attacked, 
 I enquired for the master of the house, who, 
 fortunately, was within. I entreated him to speak 
 from the window, to someone without, to obtain 
 permission for my being heard. I had some 
 
1 68 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 difficulty to get him to venture doing so. At 
 length, after much bawling from the window, the 
 burghermasters came to speak to me, but were so 
 drunk that they scarcely knew what they said. 
 I explained to them that I was entirely ignorant 
 that the grand master of the bishop's household 
 was a person to whom they had a dislike, and I 
 begged them to consider the consequences of giving 
 offence to a person like me, who was a friend of the 
 principal lords of the States, and I assured them 
 that the Count de Lalain, in particular, would be 
 greatly displeased when he should hear how I had 
 been received there. 
 
 The name of the Count de Lalain produced 
 an instant effect, much more than if I had men- 
 tioned all the sovereign princes I was related to. 
 The principal person amongst them asked me, 
 with some hesitation and stammering, if I was 
 really a particular friend of the Count's. Perceiving 
 that to claim kindred with the Count would do 
 me more service than being related to all the 
 Powers in Christendom, I answered that I was 
 both a friend and a relation. They then made 
 me many apologies and conges, stretching forth 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 169 
 
 their hands in token of friendship ; in short, they 
 now behaved with as much civility as before with 
 rudeness. They begged my pardon for what had 
 happened, and promised that the good old man, 
 the grand master of the bishop's household, should 
 be no more insulted, but be suffered to leave the 
 city quietly, the next morning, with me. 
 
 As soon as morning came, and I was preparing 
 to go to hear Mass, there arrived the King's agent to 
 Don John, named du Bois, a man much attached 
 to the Spanish interest. He informed me that 
 he had received orders from the King my brother 
 to conduct me in safety on my return. He said 
 that he had prevailed on Don John to permit 
 Barlemont to escort me to Namur with a troop 
 of cavalry, and begged me to obtain leave of the 
 citizens to admit Barlemont and his troop to 
 enter the town, that they might receive my orders. 
 Thus had they concerted a double plot; the 
 one to get possession of the town, the other of 
 my person. I saw through the whole design, and 
 consulted with the Cardinal de Lenoncourt, com- 
 municating to him my suspicions. The Cardinal 
 was as unwilling to fall into the hands of the 
 
lyo 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 171 
 
 yl 
 
 Spaniards as I could be ; he therefore thought it 
 advisable to acquaint the townspeople with the 
 plot, and make our escape from the city by another 
 road, in order to avoid meeting Barlemont's troop. 
 It was agreed betwixt us that the Cardinal should 
 keep du Bois in discourse, whilst I consulted the 
 principal citizens in another apartment. Accord- 
 ingly, I assembled as many as I could, to whom 
 I represented that if they admitted Barlemont and 
 his troop within the town, he would most certainly 
 take possession of it for Don John. I gave it as 
 my advice to make a show of defence, to declare 
 they would not be taken by surprise, and to offer 
 to admit Barlemont, and no one else, within their 
 gates. They resolved to act according to my 
 counsel, and offered to serve me at the hazard 
 of their lives. They promised to procure me a 
 guide, who should conduct me by a road by following 
 which, I should put the river betwixt me and Don 
 John's forces, whereby I should be out of his 
 reach, and could be lodged in houses and towns 
 which were in the interest of the States only. 
 
 This point being settled, I despatched them 
 to give admission to M. de Barlemont, who, as 
 
 ') f 
 
 I 
 
 soon as he entered within the gates, begged hard 
 that his troop might come in Hkewise. Hereupon, 
 the citizens flew into a violent rage, and were near 
 putting him to death. They told him that if he 
 did not order his men out of sight of the town, 
 they would fire upon them with their great guns. 
 This was done with design to give me time to 
 leave the town before they could follow in pursuit of 
 me. M. de Barlemont and the agent, du Bois, 
 used every argument they could devise to persuade 
 me to go to Namur, where they said Don John 
 waited to receive me. 
 
 I appeared to give way to their persuasions, 
 and, after hearing Mass and taking a hasty dinner, 
 I left my lodgings, escorted by two or three 
 hundred armed citizens, some of them engaging 
 Barlemont and du Bois in conversation. We all 
 took the way to the gate which opens to the 
 river, and directly opposite to that leading to 
 Namur. Du Bois and his colleague told me I 
 was not going the right way, but I continued 
 talking, and as if I did not hear them. But when 
 we reached the gate I hastened into the boat, and 
 my people after me. M. de Barlemont and the 
 
i 
 
 172 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 173 
 
 5 1 
 
 %'■ 
 
 agent dii Bois, calling out to me from the bank, 
 told me I was doing very wrong and acting directly 
 contrary to the King's intention, who had directed 
 that I should return by way of Namur. 
 
 In spite of all their remonstrances we crossed 
 the river with all possible expedition, and, during 
 the two or three crossings which were necessary 
 to convey over the litters and horses, the citizens, 
 to give me the more time to escape, were debating 
 with Barlemont and du Bois concerning a number 
 of grievances and complaints, telling them, in their 
 coarse language, that Don John had broken the 
 peace and falsified his engagements with the States ; 
 and they even rehearsed the old quarrel of the 
 death of Egmont, and, lastly, declared that if the 
 troop made its appearance before their walls again, 
 they would fire upon it with their artillery. 
 
 I had by this means sufficient time to reach 
 a secure distance, and was, by the help of God 
 and the assistance of my guide, out of all 
 apprehensions of danger from Barlemont and his 
 troop. 
 
 I intended to lodge that night in a strong 
 castle, called Fleurines, which belonged to a gentle- 
 
 > 
 
 ■« 
 
 man of the party of the States, whom I had seen 
 with the Count de Lalain. Unfortunately for me, 
 the gentleman was absent, and his lady only was 
 in the castle. The courtyard being open, we 
 entered it, which put the lady into such a fright 
 that she ordered the bridge to be drawn up, and 
 fled to the strong tower.^ Nothing we could say 
 would induce her to give us entrance. In the 
 meantime, three hundred gentlemen, whom Don 
 John had sent off to intercept our passage, and 
 take possession of the castle of Fleurines, judging 
 that I should take up my quarters there, made 
 their appearance upon an eminence, at the distance 
 of about a thousand yards. They, seeing our 
 carriages in the courtyard, and supposing that we 
 ourselves had taken to the strong tower, resolved 
 to stay where they were that night, hoping to in- 
 tercept me the next morning. 
 
 In this cruel situation were we placed, in 
 a courtyard surrounded by a wall by no means 
 strong, and shut up by a gate equally as weak 
 and as capable of being forced, remonstrating from 
 
 I In the old French original, dongeon, whence we have 
 dungeon. 
 
 .^:lk"J" 
 
174 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 time to time with the lady, who was deaf to all 
 our prayers and entreaties. 
 
 Through God's mercy, her husband, M. de 
 Fleurines, himself appeared just as night approached. 
 We then gained instant admission, and the lady 
 was greatly reprimanded by her husband for her 
 incivility and indiscreet behaviour. This gentle- 
 man had been sent by the Count de Lalain, with 
 directions to conduct me through the several towns 
 belonging to the States, the Count himself not 
 being able to leave the army of the States, of 
 which he had the chief command, to accompany 
 me. 
 
 This was as favourable a circumstance for me 
 as I could wish ; for, M. de Fleurines offering to 
 accompany me into France, the towns we had to 
 pass through being of the party of the States, we 
 were everywhere quietly and honourably received. 
 I had only the mortification of not being able to 
 visit Mons, agreeably to my promise made to the 
 Countess de Lalain, not passing nearer to it than 
 Xi\elle, seven long leagues distant from it. The 
 Count being at Antwerp, and the war being hottest 
 in the neighbourhood of Mons, I thus was prevented 
 
 ■^1 
 
 1 1 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 175 
 
 seeing either of them on my return. I could only 
 write to the Countess by a servant of the gentle- 
 man who was now my conductor. As soon as she 
 learned I was at Nivelle, she sent some gentlemen, 
 natives of the part of Flanders I was in, with a 
 strong injunction to see me safe on the frontier 
 
 of France. 
 
 I had to pass through the Cambresis, partly 
 in favour of Spain and partly of the States. Accord- 
 ingly, I set out with these gentlemen, to lodge at 
 the Chateau Cambresis. There they took leave of 
 me, in order to return to Mons, and by them I 
 sent the Countess a gown of mine, which had been 
 greatly admired by her when I wore it at Mons; 
 it was of black satin, curiously embroidered, and 
 cost nine hundred crowns. 
 
 When I arrived at Chateau Cambresis, I had 
 intelligence sent me that a party of the Huguenot 
 troops had a design to attack me on the frontiers 
 of Flanders and France. This intelligence I com- 
 municated to a few only of my company, and pre- 
 pared to set off an hour before daybreak. When 
 I sent for my litters and horses, I found much 
 such a kind of delay from the Chevalier Salviati 
 
MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 176 
 
 177 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 as I had before experienced at Liege, and suspect- 
 ing it was done designedly, I left my litter behind, 
 and mounted on horseback, with such of my 
 attendants as were ready to follow me. By this 
 means, with God's assistance, I escaped being 
 waylaid by my enemies, and reached Catelet at 
 ten in the morning. From thence I went to my 
 house at La Fere, where I intended to reside 
 until I learned that peace was concluded upon. 
 
 At La Fere I found a messenger in waiting 
 from my brother, who had orders to return with 
 all expedition, as soon as I arrived, and inform 
 him of it. My brother wrote me word, by that 
 messenger, that peace was concluded, and the 
 King returned to Paris ; that, as to himself, his 
 situation was rather worse than better ; that he 
 and his people were daily receiving some affront 
 or other, and continual quarrels were excited betwixt 
 the King's favourites and Bussi and my brother's 
 principal attendants. This, he added, had made 
 him impatient for my return, that he might come 
 and visit me. 
 
 I sent his messenger back, and, immediately 
 after, my brother sent Bussi and all his household 
 
 I 
 
 to Angers, and, taking with him fifteen or twenty 
 attendants, he rode post to me at La Fere. It was 
 a great satisfaction to me to see one whom I so 
 tenderly loved and greatly honoured, once more. 
 I consider it amongst the greatest felicities I ever 
 enjoyed, and, accordingly, it became my chief study 
 to make his residence here agreeable to him. He 
 himself seemed delighted with his change of situa- 
 tion, and would willingly have continued in it 
 longer had not the noble generosity of his mind 
 called him forth to great achievements. The quiet 
 of our Court, when compared with that he had 
 just left, affected him so powerfully that he could 
 not but express the satisfaction he felt by fre- 
 quently exclaiming, " Oh, Queen ! how happy I 
 am with you. My God ! your society is a para- 
 dise wherein I enjoy every delight, and I seem 
 to have lately escaped from hell, with all its furies 
 and tortures ! " 
 
 12 
 
178 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 179 
 
 LETTER XVII 
 
 GOOD EFFECTS OF QUEEN MARGARET'S NEGOTIATIONS IN 
 FLANDERS— SHE OBTAINS LEAVE TO GO TO THE KING 
 OF NAVARRE HER HUSBAND, BUT HER JOURNEY IS 
 DELAYED — COURT INTRIGUES AND PLOTS — THE DUKE 
 OF ALENCON AGAIN PUT UNDER ARREST. 
 
 We passed nearly two months together, which 
 appeared to us only as so many days. I gave 
 him an account of what I had done for him in 
 Flanders, and the state in which I had left the 
 business. He approved of the interview with the 
 Count de Lalain's brother, in order to settle the 
 plan of operations and exchange assurances. Ac- 
 cordingly, the Count de Montigny arrived, with 
 four or five other leading men of the county 
 of Hainault. One of these was charged with a 
 letter from M. d'Ainsi, offering his services to 
 my brother, and assuring him of the citadel of 
 Cambray. M. de Montigny delivered his brother's 
 declaration and engagement to give up the counties 
 of Hainault and Artois, which included a number 
 
 4 ' 
 
 of fine cities. These offers made and accepted, 
 my brother dismissed them with presents of gold 
 medals, bearing his and my efiigies, and every 
 assurance of his future favour ; and they returned 
 to prepare everything for his coming. In the 
 meanwhile my brother considered on the necessary 
 measures to be used for raising a sufficient force, 
 for which purpose he returned to the King, to 
 prevail with him to assist him in this enterprise. 
 
 As I was anxious to go to Gascony, I made 
 ready for the journey, and set off for Paris, my 
 brother meeting me at the distance of one day's 
 journey. 
 
 At Saint-Denis I was met by the King, the 
 Queen my mother. Queen Louisa, and the whole 
 Court. It was at Saint-Denis that I w^as to stop 
 and dine, and there it was that I had the honour 
 of the meeting I have just mentioned. 
 
 I was received very graciously, and most 
 sumptuously entertained. I was made to recount 
 the particulars of my triumphal journey to Liege, 
 and perilous return. The magnificent entertain- 
 ments I had received excited their admiration, 
 and they rejoiced at my narrow escapes. With 
 
 !■ 
 
 12 2 
 
 n 
 
i8o 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 l8l 
 
 suchlike conversation I amused the Queen my 
 mother and the rest of the company in her coach, 
 on our way to Paris, where, supper and the ball 
 being ended, I took an opportunity, when I saw 
 the King and the Queen my mother together, to 
 
 address them. 
 
 I expressed my hopes that they would not 
 now oppose my going to the King my husband ; 
 that now, by the peace, the chief objection to it 
 was removed, and if I delayed going, in the present 
 situation of affairs, it might be prejudicial and dis- 
 creditable to me. Both of them approved of my 
 request, and commended my resolution. The 
 Queen my mother added that she would accom- 
 pany me on my journey, as it would be for the 
 King's service that she did so. She said the King 
 must furnish me with the necessary means for the 
 journey, to which he readily assented. I thought 
 this a proper time to settle everything, and pre- 
 vent another journey to Court, which would be 
 no longer pleasing after my brother left it, who 
 was now pressing his expedition to Flanders with 
 all haste. I, therefore, begged the Queen my 
 mother to recollect the promise she had made my 
 
 i 
 
 brother and me as soon as peace was agreed upon, 
 which was that, before my departure for Gascony, 
 I should have my marriage portion assigned to 
 me in lands. She said that she recollected it well, 
 and the King thought it very reasonable, and pro- 
 mised that it should be done. I entreated that it 
 might be concluded speedily, as I wished to set off, 
 with their permission, at the beginning of the next 
 month. This, too, was granted me, but granted 
 after the mode of the Court; that is to say, not- 
 withstanding my constant solicitations, instead of 
 despatch, I experienced only delay; and thus it 
 continued for five or six months in negotiation. 
 
 My brother met with the like treatment, 
 though he was continually urging the necessity for 
 his setting out for Flanders, and representing that 
 his expedition was for the glory and advantage of 
 France— for its glory, as such an enterprise would, 
 like Piedmont, prove a school of war for the young 
 nobility, wherein future Montlucs, Brissacs, Termes, 
 and Bellegardes would be bred, all of them instructed 
 in these wars, and afterwards, as field-marshals, of 
 the greatest service to their King and country ; and 
 it would be for the advantage of France, as it 
 
l82 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 183 
 
 would prevent civil wars; for Flanders would then 
 be no longer a country whereunto such discon- 
 tented spirits as aimed at novelty could assemble 
 to brood over their malice and hatch plots for the 
 disturbance of their native land. 
 
 These representations, which were both reason- 
 able and consonant with truth, had no weight when 
 put into the scale against the envy excited by this 
 advancement of my brother's fortune. Accordingly, 
 every delay was used to hinder him from collecting 
 his forces together, and stop his expedition to 
 Flanders. Bussi and his other dependents were 
 offered a thousand indignities. Every stratagem was 
 tried, by day as well as by night, to pick quarrels 
 with Bussi— now by Quelus, at another time by 
 Grammont— with the hope that my brother would 
 engage in them. This was unknown to the King; 
 but Maugiron, who had engrossed the King's favour, 
 and who had quitted my brother's service, sought 
 every means to ruin him, as it is usual for those 
 who have given offence to hate the offended party. 
 Thus did this man take every occasion to brave 
 and insult my brother ; and relying upon the coun- 
 tenance and blind affection shown him by the King, 
 
 had leagued himself with Quelus, Saint-Luc, Saint- 
 Maigrin, Grammont, Mauleon, Hivarrot, and other 
 young men who enjoyed the Kings favour. As 
 those who are favourites find a number of followers 
 at Court, these licentious young courtiers thought 
 they might do whatever they pleased. Some new 
 dispute betwixt them and Bussi was constantly 
 starting. Bussi had a degree of courage which 
 knew not how to give way to anyone; and my 
 brother, unwilling to give umbrage to the King, 
 and foreseeing that such proceedings would not 
 forward his expedition, to avoid quarrels and, at 
 the same time, to promote his plans, resolved to 
 despatch Bussi to his Duchy of Alengon, in order 
 to discipline such troops as he should find there. 
 My brother's amiable qualities excited the jealousy 
 of Maugiron and the rest of his cabal about the 
 King's person, and their dislike for Bussi was not 
 so much on his own account as because he was 
 strongly attached to my brother. The slights and 
 disrespect shown to my brother were remarked 
 by everyone at Court ; but his prudence, and the 
 patience natural to his disposition, enabled him to 
 put up with their insults, in hopes of finishing the 
 
 l^ 
 
-■MlPllinlMwipMMI^^ 
 
 ■S^ji^W., (SfSn-^ 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 185 
 
 184 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 business of his Flemish expedition, which would 
 remove him to a distance from them and their 
 machinations. This persecution was the more 
 mortifying and discreditable as it even extended to 
 his servants, whom they strove to injure by every 
 means they could employ. M. de la Chastre at 
 this time had a lawsuit of considerable conse- 
 quence decided against him, because he had 
 lately attached himself to my brother. At the 
 instance of Maugiron and Saint -Luc, the King 
 was induced to solicit the cause in favour of 
 Madame de Senetaire, their friend. M. de la 
 Chastre, being greatly injured by it, complained 
 to my brother of the injustice done him, with 
 all the concern such a proceeding may be sup- 
 posed to have occasioned. 
 
 About this time Saint-Luc's marriage was 
 celebrated. My brother resolved not to be pre- 
 sent at it, and begged of me to join him in the 
 same resolution. The Queen my mother was 
 greatly uneasy on account of the behaviour of 
 these young men, fearing that, if my brother did 
 not join them in this festivity, it might be at- 
 tended with some bad consequence, especially as 
 
 the day was likely to produce scenes of revelry 
 and debauch; she, therefore, prevailed on the 
 King to permit her to dine on the wedding-day 
 at Saint-Maur, and take my brother and me with 
 her. This was the day before Shrove Tuesday; 
 and we returned in the evening, the Queen my 
 mother having well lectured my brother, and made 
 him consent to appear at the ball, in order not to 
 
 displease the King. 
 
 But this rather served to make matters worse 
 than better, for Maugiron and his party began to 
 attack him with such insolent speeches as would 
 have offended anyone of far less consequence. 
 They said he needed not to have given himself 
 the trouble of dressing, for he was not missed in 
 the afternoon ; but now, they supposed, he came 
 at night as the most suitable time ; with other 
 allusions to the meanness of his figure and smallness 
 of stature. All this was addressed to the bride, 
 who sat near him, but spoken out on purpose 
 that he might hear it. My brother, perceiving this 
 was purposely said to provoke an answer and 
 occasion his giving offence to the King, removed 
 from his seat full of resentment; and, consulting 
 
 

 1 86 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 with M. de la Chastre, he came to the resolution 
 of leaving the Court in a few days on a hunting 
 party. He still thought his absence might stay 
 their malice, and afford him an opportunity the 
 more easily of settling his preparations for the 
 Flemish expedition with the King. He went im- 
 mediately to the Queen my mother, who was 
 present at the ball, and was extremely sorry to 
 learn what had happened, and imparted her reso- 
 lution, in his absence, to solicit the King to 
 hasten his expedition to Flanders. M. de Ville- 
 quier being present, she bade him acquaint the 
 King with my brother's intention of taking the 
 diversion of hunting for a few days ; which she 
 thought very proper herself, as it would put a 
 stop to the disputes which had arisen betwixt him 
 and the young men, Maugiron, Saint-Luc, Quelus, 
 
 and the rest. 
 
 My brother retired to his apartment, and, 
 considering his leave as granted, gave orders to 
 his domestics to prepare to set off the next 
 morning for Saint-Germains, where he should hunt 
 the stag for a few days. He directed the grand 
 huntsman to be ready with the hounds, and re- 
 
 i > 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 187 
 
 tired to rest, thinking to withdraw awhile from 
 the intrigues of the Court, and amuse himself with 
 the sports of the field. M. de Villequier, agree- 
 ably to the command he had received from the 
 Queen my mother, asked for leave, and obtained 
 it. The King, however, staying in his closet, 
 hke Rehoboam, with his council of five or six 
 young men, they suggested suspicions in his mind 
 respecting my brother's departure from Court. In 
 short, they worked upon his fears and apprehen- 
 sions so greatly, that he took one of the most 
 rash and inconsiderate steps that was ever decided 
 upon in our time ; which was to put my brother 
 and all his principal servants under an arrest. 
 This measure was executed with as much indiscre- 
 tion as it had been resolved upon. The King, 
 under this agitation of mind, late as it was, 
 hastened to the Queen my mother, and seemed 
 as if there was a general alarm and the enemy at 
 the gates, for he exclaimed on seeing her : '' How 
 could you, madam, think of asking me to let my 
 brother go from hence? Do you not perceive 
 how dangerous his going will prove to my king- 
 dom ? Depend upon it that this hunting is 
 
MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 189 
 
 188 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 merely a pretence to cover some treacherous de- 
 sign. I am going to put him and his people 
 under an arrest, and have his papers examined. 
 I am sure we shall make some great discoveries." 
 At the time he said this he had with him 
 the Sieur de Cosse, captain of the guard, and a 
 number of Scottish archers. The Queen my 
 mother fearing, from the King's haste and tre- 
 pidation, that some mischief might happen to my 
 brother, begged to go with him. Accordingly, 
 undressed as she was, wrapping herself up in a 
 night-gown, she followed the King to my brother's 
 bed-chamber. The King knocked at the door with 
 great violence, ordering it to be immediately 
 opened, for that he was there himself. My 
 brother started up in his bed, awakened by the 
 noise, and, knowing that he had done nothing that 
 he need fear, ordered Cange, his valet de chamhre, 
 to open the door. The King entered in a great 
 rage, and asked him when he would have done 
 plotting against him. *' But I will show you," 
 said he, ** what it is to plot against your Sove- 
 reign." Hereupon he ordered the archers to take 
 away all the trunks, and turn the valets de chambre 
 
 \ 
 
 out of the room. He searched my brother's 
 bed himself, to see if he could find any papers 
 concealed in it. My brother had that evening re- 
 ceived a letter from Madame de Sauve, which he 
 kept in his hand, unwilling that it should be seen. 
 The King endeavoured to force it from him. He 
 refused to part with it, and earnestly entreated 
 the King would not insist upon seeing it. This 
 only excited the King's anxiety the more to have 
 it in his possession; as he now supposed it to be 
 the key to the whole plot, and the very docu- 
 ment which would at once bring conviction home 
 to him. At length the King having got it into 
 his hands, he opened it in the presence of the 
 Queen my mother, and they were both as much 
 confounded, when they read the contents, as Cato 
 was when he obtained a letter from C^sar, in 
 the Senate, which the latter was unwilling to give 
 up ; and which Cato, supposing to contain a con- 
 spiracy against the Republic, found to be no other 
 than a love-letter from his own sister. 
 
 But the shame of this disappointment served 
 only to increase the King's anger, who, without 
 condescending to make a reply to my brother, 
 
 i < 
 
 -^-■te^Tra^ 
 
I90 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 when repeatedly asked what he had been accused 
 of, gave him in charge of M. de Cosse and his 
 Scots, commanding them not to admit a single 
 person to speak with him. 
 
 It was one o'clock in the morning when my 
 brother was made a prisoner in the manner I have 
 now related. He feared some fatal event might 
 succeed these violent proceedings, and he was 
 under the greatest concern on my account, sup- 
 posing me to be under a like arrest. He observed 
 M. de Cosse to be much affected by the scene 
 he had been witness to, even to shedding tears. 
 As the archers were in the room he would not 
 venture to enter into discourse with him, but 
 only asked what was become of me. M. de Cosse 
 answered that I remained at full liberty. My 
 brother then said it was a great comfort to him 
 to hear that news; "but," added he, "as I know 
 she loves me so entirely that she would rather 
 be confined with me than have her liberty whilst 
 I was in confinement, I beg you will go to the 
 Queen my mother, and desire her to obtain leave 
 for my sister to be with me.'' He did so, and 
 it was granted. 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 igi 
 
 V 
 
 I 
 
 The reliance which my brother displayed 
 upon this occasion, in the sincerity of my friend- 
 ship and regard for him, conferred so great an 
 obligation in my mind that, though I have re- 
 ceived many particular favours since from him, 
 this has always held the foremost place in my 
 grateful remembrance. 
 
 By the time he had received permission for 
 my being with him, daylight made its appearance. 
 Seeing this, my brother begged M. de Cosse to 
 send one of his archers to acquaint me with his 
 situation, and beg me to come to him. 
 
 u 
 
192 
 
 MEMOIRS or 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 193 
 
 LETTER XVIII 
 
 THE BROTHERS RECONCILED — ALENQON RESTORED TO 
 
 HIS LIBERTY. 
 
 I WAS ignorant of what had happened to my 
 brother, and when the Scottish archer came into 
 my bed-chamber, I was still asleep. He drew the 
 curtains of the bed, and told me, in his broken 
 French, that my brother wished to see me. I 
 stared at the man, half awake as I was, and 
 thought it a dream. After a short pause, and 
 being thoroughly awakened, I asked him if he 
 was not a Scottish archer. He answered me in 
 the affirmative. ^^ What ! " cried I, '^ has my 
 brother no one else to send a message by ? " He 
 replied he had not, for all his domestics had been 
 put under an arrest. He then proceeded to relate, 
 as well as he could explain himself, the events of 
 the preceding night, and the leave granted my 
 brother for my being with him during his im- 
 prisonment. 
 
 The poor fellow, observing me to be much 
 
 \ 
 
 •I I 
 
 affected by this intelligence, drew near, and 
 whispered me to this purport: "Do not grieve 
 yourself about this matter, I know a way of setting 
 your brother at liberty, and you may depend upon 
 it, that I will do it ; but, in that case, I must go 
 off with him." I assured him that he might rely 
 upon being as amply rewarded as he could wish 
 for such assistance, and, huddling on my clothes, 
 I followed him alone to my brother's apartments. 
 In going thither, I had occasion to traverse the 
 whole gallery, which was filled with people, who, 
 at another time, would have pressed forward to 
 pay their respects to me ; but, now that Fortune 
 seemed to frown upon me, they all avoided me, 
 or appeared as if they did not see me. 
 
 Coming into my brothers apartments, I found 
 him not at all affected by what had happened ; 
 for such was the constancy of his mind, that his 
 arrest had wrought no change, and he received 
 me with his usual cheerfulness. He ran to meet 
 me, and taking me in his arms, he said: "Queen! 
 1 beg you to dry up your tears ; in my present 
 situation, nothing can grieve me so much as to 
 
 find vou under any concern ; for my own part, I 
 
 13 
 
 
MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 195 
 
 194 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 am so conscious of my innocence and the integrity 
 of my conduct, that I can defy the utmost malice 
 of my enemies. If I should chance to fall the 
 victim of their injustice, my death would prove a 
 more cruel punishment to them than to me, who 
 have courage sufficient to meet it in a just cause. 
 It is not death I fear, because I have tasted 
 sufficiently of the calamities and evils of life, and 
 am ready to leave this world, which I have found 
 only the abode of sorrow ; but the circumstance 
 I dread most is, that, not finding me sufficiently 
 guilty to doom me to death, I shall be condemned 
 to a long, solitary imprisonment ; though I should 
 even despise their tyranny in that respect, could 
 I but have the assurance of being comforted by 
 your presence." These words, instead of stopping 
 my tears, only served to make them stream afresh. 
 I answered, sobbing, that my life and fortune were 
 at his devotion ; that the power of God alone 
 could prevent me from affording him my assist- 
 ance under every extremity; that, if he should be 
 transported from that place, and I should be 
 withheld from following him, I would kill myself 
 on the spot. 
 
 Changing our discourse, we framed a number 
 of conjectures on what might be the probable 
 cause of the King's angry proceedings against 
 him, but found ourselves at a loss what to assign 
 them to. Whilst we were discussing this matter 
 the hour came for opening the palace gates, when 
 a simple young man belonging to Bussi presented 
 himself for entrance. Being stopped by the guard 
 and questioned as to whither he was going, he, 
 panic-struck, replied he was going to M. de Bussi, 
 his master. This answer was carried to the King, 
 and gave fresh ground for suspicion. It seems my 
 brother, supposing he should not be able to go to 
 Flanders for some time, and resolving to send Bussi 
 to his Duchy of Alen^on, as I have already men- 
 tioned, had lodged him in the Louvre, that he might 
 be near him to take instructions at every opportunity. 
 
 L'Archant, the general of the guard, had re- 
 ceived the King's commands to make a search in 
 the Louvre for him and Simier, and put them 
 both under arrest. He entered upon this business 
 with great unwillingness, as he was intimate with 
 Bussi, who was accustomed to call him '' father." 
 
 L'Archant, going to Simier's apartment, arrested 
 
 13—2 
 
 .HI 
 
196 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 197 
 
 him ; and though he judged Bussi was there too, 
 yet, being unwilHng to find him, he was going 
 awly. Bussi, however, who had concealed himself 
 under the bed, as not knowing to whom the orders 
 for his arrest might be given, finding he was to 
 be left there, and sensible that he should be well 
 treated by rArchant, called out to him, as he 
 was leaving the room, m his droll manner : 
 " What, papa, are you going without me ? Don't 
 you think I am as great a rogue as that Simier?" 
 " Ah, son," replied lArchant, " I would much 
 rather have lost my arm than have met with 
 you ! ■" Bussi, being a man devoid of all fear, 
 observed that it was a sign that things went well 
 with him; then, turning to Simier, who stood 
 trembling with fear, he jeered him upon his pusill- 
 animity. L'Archant removed them both, and set 
 a guard over them; and, in the next place, 
 proceeded to arrest M. de la Chastre, whom he 
 took to the Bastille. 
 
 Meanwhile M. de TOste was appointed to 
 the command of the guard which was set over 
 my brother. This was a good sort of old man, 
 who had been appointed governor to the Kin 
 
 .f 
 
 
 my husband, and loved me as if I had been his 
 own child. Sensible of the injustice done to my 
 brother and me, and lamenting the bad counsel 
 by which the King was guided, and being, more- 
 over, willing to serve us, he resolved to deliver 
 my brother from his arrest. In order to make 
 his intention known to us he ordered the Scottish 
 archers to wait on the stairs without, keeping 
 only two in the room whom he could trust. Then 
 taking me aside, he said: "There is not a good 
 Frenchman living who does not bleed at his heart 
 to see what we see. I have served the King your 
 father, and I am ready to lay down my life to 
 serve his children. I expect to have the guard of 
 the Prince your brother, wherever he shall chance 
 to be confined ; and, depend upon it, at the haz- 
 ard of my life, I will restore him to his liberty. 
 But," added he, "that no suspicions may arise 
 that such is my design, it will be proper that we 
 be not seen together in conversation; however, 
 you may rely upon my word." This afforded me 
 great consolation; and, assuming a degree of 
 courage hereupon, I observed to my brother that 
 we ought not to remain there without knowing 
 
 il 
 
\ 
 
 198 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 199 
 
 for what reason we were detained, as if we were 
 in the Inquisition; and that to treat us in such 
 a manner was to consider us as persons of no 
 account. I then begged M. de I'Oste to entreat 
 the King, in our name, if the Queen our mother 
 was not permitted to come to us, to send some- 
 one to acquaint us with the crime for which we 
 were kept in confinement. 
 
 M. de Combaut, who was at the head of the 
 young counsellors, was accordingly sent to us ; 
 and he, with a great deal of gravity, informed us 
 that he came from the King to enquire what it 
 was we wished to communicate to His Majesty. 
 We answered that we wished to speak to someone 
 near the King's person, in order to our being in- 
 formed what we were kept in confinement for, as 
 we w^ere unable to assign any reason for it our- 
 selves. He answered, with great solemnity, that 
 we ought not to ask of God or the King reasons 
 for what they did ; as all their actions emanated 
 from wisdom and justice. We replied that we 
 were not persons to be treated like those shut up 
 in the Inquisition, who are left to guess at the 
 cause of their being there. 
 
 
 We could obtain from him, after all we said, 
 no other satisfaction than his promise to interest 
 himself in our behalf, and to do us all the service 
 in his power. At this my brother broke out into 
 a fit of laughter ; but I confess I was too much 
 alarmed to treat his message with such indiffer- 
 ence, and could scarcely refrain from talking to 
 this messenger as he deserved. 
 
 Whilst he was making his report to the King, 
 
 the Queen my mother kept her chamber, being 
 
 under great concern, as may well be supposed, to 
 
 witness such proceedings. She plainly foresaw, in 
 
 her prudence, that these excesses would end fatally, 
 
 should the mildness of my brother's disposition, 
 
 and his regard for the welfare of the State, be 
 
 once wearied out with submitting to such repeated 
 
 acts of injustice. She, therefore, sent for the 
 
 senior members of the council, the chancellor, 
 
 princes, lords and marshals of France, who all 
 
 were greatly scandalised at the bad counsel which 
 
 had been given to the King, and told the Queen 
 
 my mother that she ought to remonstrate with 
 
 the King upon the injustice of his proceedings. 
 
 They observed that what had been done could not 
 
iwifc>tf M>, M*^ -s^Ty^-^ -' 
 
 fi — i- — "- ~ — --Tyai'^, 'Trr i f- mt'^t- ii "-""-^-- - Vi"" 
 
 200 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 20I 
 
 now be recalled, but matters might yet be set 
 upon a right footing. The Queen my mother here- 
 upon went to the King, followed by these coun- 
 sellors, and represented to him the ill consequences 
 which might proceed from the steps he had taken. 
 
 The King's eyes were by this time opened, 
 and he saw that he had been ill advised. He, 
 therefore, begged the Queen my mother to set 
 things to rights, and to prevail on my brother 
 to forget all that had happened, and to bear 
 no resentment against these young men, but to 
 make up the breach betwixt Bussi and Quelus. 
 
 Things being thus set to rights again, the 
 guard which had been placed over my brother 
 was dismissed, and the Queen my mother, coming 
 to his apartment, told him he ought to return 
 thanks to God for his deliverance, for that there 
 had been a moment when even she herself despaired 
 of saving his life ; that, since he must now have 
 discovered that the King's temper of mind was 
 such that he took the alarm at the very imagina- 
 tion of danger, and that, when once he was re- 
 solved upon a measure, no advice that she or any 
 other could give would prevent him from putting 
 
 y 
 
 it into execution, she would recommend it to 
 him to submit himself to the King's pleasure in 
 everything, in order to prevent the like in future ; 
 and, for the present, to take the earliest oppor- 
 tunity of seeing the King, and to appear as if he 
 thought no more about the past. 
 
 We replied that we were both of us sensible 
 of God's great mercy in delivering us from the 
 injustice of our enemies, and that, next to God, 
 our greatest obligation was to her ; but that my 
 brother's rank did not admit of his being put in 
 confinement without cause, and released from it 
 again without the formality of an acknowledg- 
 ment. Upon this, the Queen observed that it was 
 not in the power even of God Himself to undo 
 what had been done ; that what could be effected 
 to save his honour, and give him satisfaction for 
 the irregularity of the arrest, should have place. 
 My brother, therefore, she observed, ought to 
 strive to mollify the King by addressing him with 
 expressions of regard to his person and attachment 
 to his service ; and, in the meantime, use his in- 
 fluence over Bussi to reconcile him to Quelus, and 
 to end all disputes betwixt them. She then declared 
 
 _-/' 
 
, .---.SA< 
 
 202 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 203 
 
 that the principal motive for putting- my brother and 
 his servants under arrest was to prevent the combat 
 for which old Bussi, the brave father of a brave son, 
 had solicited the King's leave, wherein he proposed 
 to be his son's second, whilst the father of guelus 
 was to be his. These four had agreed in this way 
 to determine the matter in dispute, and give the 
 Court no further disturbance. 
 
 My brother now engaged himself to the Queen 
 that, as Bussi would see he could not be per- 
 mitted to decide his quarrel by combat, he should, 
 in order to deliver himself from his arrest, do as 
 she had commanded. 
 
 The Queen my mother, going down to the 
 King, prevailed with him to restore my brother 
 to liberty with every honour. In order to which 
 the King came to her apartment, followed by the 
 princes, lords, and other members of the council, 
 and sent for us by M. de Villequier. As we 
 went along we found all the rooms crowded with 
 people, who, with tears in their eyes, blessed God 
 for our deliverance. Coming into the apartments 
 of the Oueen mv mother, we found the King 
 attended as I before related. The King desired 
 
 my brother not to take anything ill that had been 
 done, as the motive for it was his concern for the 
 good of his kingdom, and not any bad intention 
 towards himself. My brother replied that he had, 
 as he ought, devoted his life to his service, and, 
 therefore, was governed by his pleasure ; but that 
 he most humbly begged him to consider that his 
 hdelity and attachment did not merit the return 
 he had met with ; that, notwithstanding, he should 
 impute it entirely to his own ill-fortune, and should 
 be perfectly satisfied if the King acknowledged his 
 innocence. Hereupon the King said that he enter- 
 tained not the least doubt of his innocence, and 
 only desired him to believe he held the same place 
 in his esteem he ever had. The Queen my mother 
 then, taking both of them by the hand, made them 
 embrace each other. 
 
 Afterwards the King commanded Bussi to be 
 brought forth, to make a reconciliation betwixt 
 him and Quelus, giving orders, at the same time, 
 for the release of Simier and M. de la Chastre. 
 Bussi coming into the room with his usual grace, 
 the King told him he must be reconciled with 
 Quelus, and forbade him to say a word more con- 
 
204 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 205 
 
 cerning their quarrel. He then commanded them 
 to embrace. '^ Sire," said Bussi, 'Mf it is your 
 pleasure that we kiss and are friends again, I am 
 ready to obey your command"; then, putting him- 
 self in the attitude of Pantaloon, he went up to 
 Quelus and gave him a hug, which set all present 
 in a titter, notwithstanding they had been seriously 
 affected bv the scene which had passed just 
 
 before. 
 
 Many persons of discretion thought what had 
 been done was too slight a reparation for the 
 injuries my brother had received. When all was 
 over, the King and the Queen my mother, coming 
 up to me, said it would be incumbent on me to 
 use my utmost endeavours to prevent my brother 
 from calling to mind anything past which should 
 make him swerve from the duty and affection he 
 owed the King. I replied that my brother was so 
 prudent, and so strongly attached to the King's 
 service, that he needed no admonition on that 
 head from me nor anyone else; and that, with re- 
 spect to myself, I had never given him any other 
 advice than to conform himself to the King's 
 pleasure and the duty he owed him. 
 
 LETTER XIX 
 
 THE DUKE OF ALENCON MAKES HIS ESCAPE FROM COURT 
 
 — QUEEN Margaret's fidelity put to a severe 
 
 TRIAL. 
 
 It was now three o'clock in the afternoon, and 
 no one present had yet dined. The Queen my 
 mother was desirous that we should eat together, 
 and, after dinner, she ordered my brother and me 
 to change our dress (as the clothes we had on were 
 suitable only to our late melancholy situation) and 
 come to the King's supper and ball. We com- 
 plied with her orders as far as a change of dress, 
 but our countenances still retained the impressions 
 of grief and resentment which we inwardly felt. 
 
 I must inform you that when the tragi-comedy 
 I have given you an account of was over, the 
 yueen my mother turned round to the Chevalier 
 de Seurre, whom she recommended to my brother 
 to sleep in his bed-chamber, and in whose conver- 
 sation she sometimes took delight because he was 
 
II 
 
 206 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 or 
 
 a man of some humour, but rather indined to be 
 cynical— " Well," said she, *' M. de Seurre, what 
 do you think of all this ? " — " Madam, I think 
 there is too much of it for earnest, and not 
 enough for jest." Then addressing himself to me, 
 he said, but not loud enough for the Queen to 
 hear him : '' I do not believe all is over yet ; I 
 am very much mistaken if this young man (meanin 
 my brother) rests satisfied with this." 
 
 This day having passed in the manner before 
 related, the wound being only skinned over and 
 far from healed, the young men about the King's 
 person set themselves to operate in order to break 
 
 it out afresh. 
 
 These persons, judging of my brother by them- 
 selves, and not having sufficient experience to know 
 the power of duty over the minds of personages 
 of exalted rank and high birth, persuaded the King, 
 still connecting his case with their own, that it 
 was impossible my brother should ever forgive 
 the affront he had received, and not seek to 
 avenge himself with the first opportunity. The 
 King, forgetting the ill-judged steps these young 
 men had so lately induced him to take, hereupon 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 20' 
 
 receives this new impression, and gives orders to 
 the officers of the guard to keep strict watch at 
 the gates that his brother go not out, and that 
 his people be made to leave the Louvre every 
 evening, except such of them as usually slept in 
 his bed-chamber or wardrobe. 
 
 My brother, seeing himself thus exposed to 
 the caprices of these headstrong young fellows, 
 who led the King according to their own fancies, 
 and fearing something worse might happen than 
 what he had yet experienced, at the end of three 
 days, during which time he laboured under appre- 
 hensions of this kind, came to a determination to 
 leave the Court, and never more return to it, but 
 retire to his principality and make preparations 
 with all haste for his expedition to Flanders. 
 
 He communicated his design to me, and I 
 approved of it, as I considered he had no other 
 view in it than providing for his own safety, and that 
 neither the King nor his government were likely 
 to sustain any injury by it. 
 
 When we consulted upon the means of its 
 accomplishment, we could find no other than his 
 descending from my window, which was on the 
 
/ 
 
 2o8 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 209 
 
 1 
 
 second storey and opened to the ditch, for the 
 gates were so closely watched that it was im- 
 possible to pass them, the face of everyone going 
 out of the Louvre being curiously examined. He 
 begged of me, therefore, to procure for him a rope 
 of sufficient strength and long enough for the 
 purpose. This I set about immediately, for, having 
 the sacking of a bed that wanted mending, I sent 
 it out of the palace by a lad whom I could trust, 
 with orders to bring it back repaired, and to 
 wrap up the proper length of rope inside. 
 
 When all was prepared, one evening, at sup- 
 per time, I went to the Queen my mother, who 
 supped alone in her own apartment, it being fast 
 day and the King eating no supper. My brother, 
 who on most occasions was patient and discreet, 
 spurred on by the indignities he had received, 
 and anxious to extricate himself from danger and 
 regain his liberty, came to me as I was rising 
 from table, and whispered to me to make haste 
 and come to him in my own apartment. M. de 
 Matignon, at that time a marshal, a sly, cunning 
 Norman, and one who had no love for my brother, 
 whether he had som.e knowledge of his design 
 
 I 
 
 from some one who could not keep a secret, or 
 only guessed at it, observed to the Queen my 
 mother as she left the room (which I overheard, 
 being near her, and circumspectly watching every 
 word and motion, as may well be imagined, situ- 
 ated as I was betwixt fear and hope, and involved 
 in perplexity) that my brother had undoubtedly 
 an intention of withdraw^ing himself, and would 
 not be there the next day ; adding that he was 
 assured of it, and she might take her measures 
 accordingly. 
 
 I observed that she was much disconcerted 
 by this observation, and I had my fears lest we 
 should be discovered. When we came into her 
 closet, she drew me aside and asked if I heard 
 what Matignon had said. I replied: ''I did not 
 hear it, madam, but I observe that it has given 
 you uneasiness."— '' Yes," said she, ''a great deal 
 of uneasiness, for you know I have pledged myself 
 to the King that your brother shall not depart 
 hence, and Matignon has declared that he knows 
 very well he will not be here to-morrow." I 
 now found myself under a great embarrassment; 
 
 I was in danger either of proving unfaithful to 
 
 14 
 
210 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 211 
 
 my brother, and thereby bringing his Hfe into 
 jeopardy, or of being obliged to declare that to 
 be truth which I knew to be false, and this I 
 would have died rather than be guilty of. 
 
 In this extremity, if I had not been aided by 
 God, my countenance, without speaking, would 
 plainly have discovered what I wished to conceal. 
 But God, who assists those who mean well, and 
 whose divine goodness was discoverable in my 
 brother's escape, enabled me to compose my looks 
 and suggested to me such a reply as gave her to 
 understand no more than I wished her to know, 
 and cleared my conscience from making any de- 
 claration contrary to the truth. I answered her in 
 these words : " You cannot, madam, but be sensi- 
 ble that M. de Matignon is not one of my 
 brother's friends, and that he is, besides, a busy, 
 meddling kind of man, who is sorry to find a 
 reconciliation has taken place with us; and, as 
 to my brother, I will answer for him with my 
 life in case he goes hence, of which, if he had 
 any design, I should, as I am well assured, not 
 be ignorant, he never having yet concealed any- 
 thing he meant to do from me." 
 
 I 
 
 u 
 
 All this was said by me with the assurance 
 that, after my brother's escape, they would not 
 dare to do me any injury ; and in case of the 
 worst, and when we should be discovered, I had 
 much rather pledge my life than hazard my soul 
 by a false declaration, and endanger my brother's 
 life. Without scrutinising into the import of my 
 speech, she replied : " Remember what you now 
 say — you will be bound for him on the penalty of 
 your life." I smiled and answered that such was 
 my intention. Then, wishing her a good night, I 
 retired to my own bed-chamber, where, undressing 
 myself in haste and getting into bed, in order 
 to dismiss the ladies and maids - of- honour, and 
 there then remaining only my chamber women, 
 my brother came in, accompanied by Simier and 
 Cange. Rising from my bed, we made the cord 
 fast, and having looked out at the window to dis- 
 cover if anyone was in the ditch, with the assistance 
 of three of my women, who slept in my room, and 
 the lad who had brought in the rope, we let down 
 my brother, who laughed and joked upon the 
 occasion without the least apprehension, notwith- 
 standing the height was considerable. We next 
 
 14 — 2 
 
 ./" 
 
 Im—* ni Ti n 
 
 rt mtiHlktaummitta^ 
 
 \ ^ ^ liftlif r 
 
212 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 213 
 
 lowered Simier into the ditch, who was in such a 
 fright that he had scarcely strength to hold the 
 rope fast ; and lastly descended my brother's valet 
 
 dc chambrc, Cange. 
 
 Through God's providence my brother got off 
 undiscovered, and going to Sainte- Genevieve, he 
 found Bussi waiting there for him. By consent 
 of the abbot, a hole had been made in the city 
 wall, through which they passed, and horses being 
 provided and in waiting, they mounted, and reached 
 Angers without the least accident. 
 
 Whilst we were lowering down Cange, who, as 
 I mentioned before, was the last, we observed a 
 man rising out of the ditch, who ran towards the 
 lodge adjoining to the tennis-court, in the direct 
 way leading to the guard-house. I had no appre- 
 hensions on my own account, all my fears being 
 absorbed by those I entertained for my brother; 
 and now 1 was almost dead with alarm, sup- 
 posing this might be a spy placed there by M. de 
 Matignon, and that my brother would be taken. 
 Whilst I was in this cruel state of anxiety, which 
 can only be judged of by those who have ex- 
 perienced a similar situation, my women took a 
 
 t 
 
 precaution for my safety and their owm, which did 
 not suggest itself to me. This w^as to burn the 
 rope, that it might not appear to our conviction 
 in case the man in question had been placed there 
 to watch us. This rope occasioned so great a flame 
 in burning, that it set fire to the chimney, which, 
 being seen fromi without, alarmed the guard, who 
 ran to us, knocking violently at the door, calling 
 for it to be opened. 
 
 I now concluded that my brother w^as stopped, 
 and that we were both undone. However, as, by 
 the blessing of God and through His divine mercy 
 alone, I have, amidst every danger with which I 
 have been repeatedly surrounded, constantly pre- 
 served a presence of mind which directed what 
 was best to be done, and observing that the rope 
 was not more than half consumed, I told my women 
 to go to the door, and speaking softly, as if I 
 was asleep, to ask the men what they wanted. 
 Thev did so, and the archers replied that the 
 chimney was on fire, and they came to extinguish 
 it. My women answered it was of no conse- 
 quence, and they could put it out themselves, 
 begging them not to awake me. This alarm thus 
 
214 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 215 
 
 passed off quietly, and they went away; but, in 
 two hours afterwards, M, de Cosse came for me to 
 go to the King and the Queen my mother, to 
 give them an account of my brother's escape, of 
 which they had received inteUigence by the Abbot 
 of Sainte-Genevieve. 
 
 It seems it had been concerted betwixt my 
 brother and the abbot, in order to prevent the 
 latter from falling under disgrace, that, when my 
 brother might be supposed to have reached a 
 sufficient distance, the abbot should go to Court, 
 and say that he had been put into confinement 
 whilst the hole was being made, and that he came 
 to inform the King as soon as he had released 
 
 himself. 
 
 I was in bed, for it was yet night ; and rising 
 hastily, I put on my night-clothes. One of my 
 women was indiscreet enough to hold me round 
 the waist, and exclaim aloud, shedding a flood of 
 tears, that she should never see me more. M. de 
 Cosse, pushing her away, said to me: *' If I was 
 not a person thoroughly devoted to your service, 
 this woman has said enough to bring you into 
 trouble. But," continued he, "fear nothing. God 
 
 ' 
 
 i 
 
 be praised, by this time the Prince your brother 
 is out of danger." 
 
 These words were very necessary, in the pre- 
 sent state of my mind, to fortify it against the 
 reproaches and threats I had reason to expect 
 from the King. I found him sitting at the foot 
 of the Queen my mother's bed, in such a violent 
 rage that I am inclined to believe I should have 
 felt the effects of it, had he not been restrained 
 by the absence of my brother and my mother's 
 presence. They both told me that I had assured 
 them my brother would not leave the Court, and 
 that I pledged myself for his stay. I replied that 
 it was true that he had deceived me, as he had 
 them ; however, I was ready still to pledge my life 
 that his departure would not operate to the prejudice 
 of the King's service, and that it would appear he 
 was only gone to his own principality to give orders 
 and forward his expedition to Flanders. 
 
 The King appeared to be somewhat mollified 
 by this declaration, and now gave me permission 
 to return to my own apartments. Soon afterwards 
 he received letters from my brother, containing 
 assurances of his attachment, in the terms I had 
 
 f 
 
 f 
 
• \ 
 
 2l6 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 before expressed. This caused a cessation of com- 
 plaints, but by no means removed the King's 
 dissatisfaction, who made a show of affording 
 assistance to his expedition, but was secretly using 
 every means to frustrate and defeat it. 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 217 
 
 ' 
 
 i 
 
 LETTER XX 
 
 QUEEN MARGARET PERMITTED TO GO TO THE KING HER 
 
 HUSBAND IS ACCOMPANIED BY THE QUEEN-MOTHER 
 
 MARGARET. INSULTED BY HER HUSBAND'S SECRETARY 
 
 SHE HARBOURS JEALOUSY HER ATTENTION TO THE 
 
 KING HER HUSBAND DURING AN INDISPOSITION — THEIR 
 
 RECONCILIATION THE WAR BREAKS OUT AFRESH 
 
 AFFRONT RECEIVED FROM MARSHAL DE BIRON. 
 
 I NOW renewed my application for leave to 
 go to the King my husband, which I continued to 
 press on every opportunity. The King, perceiving 
 that he could not refuse my leave any longer, was 
 willing I should depart satisfied. He had this 
 further view in complying with my wishes, that 
 by this means he should withdraw me from my 
 attachment to my brother. He, therefore, strove 
 to oblige me in every way he could think of, and, 
 to fulfil the promise made by the Queen my mother 
 at the Peace of Sens, he gave me an assignment 
 of my portion in territory, with the power of nomi- 
 nation to all vacant benefices and all offices; and. 
 
2l8 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 219 
 
 over and above the customary pension to the 
 daughters of France, he gave another out of his 
 privy purse. 
 
 He daily paid me a visit in my apartment, 
 in which he took occasion to represent to me how 
 useful his friendship would be to me ; whereas that 
 of my brother could only be of prejudice — with 
 arguments of the like kind. 
 
 However, all he could say was insufficient to 
 prevail on me to swerve from the fidelity I had 
 vowed to observe to my brother. The King was 
 able to draw from me no other declaration than 
 this, that it ever was, and should be, my earnest 
 wish to see my brother firmly established in his 
 gracious favour, which he had never appeared to 
 me to have forfeited ; that I was well assured he 
 w^ould exert himself to the utmost to regain it by 
 every act of duty and meritorious service ; that, 
 with respect to myself, I thought I was so much 
 obliged to him for the great honour he did me 
 by repeated acts of generosity, that he might be 
 assured, when I was with the King my husband, 
 I should consider myself bound in duty to obey 
 all such commands as he should be pleased to 
 
 give me ; and that it would be my whole study 
 to maintain the King my husband in a submission 
 to his pleasure. 
 
 My brother was now on the point of leaving 
 Alen9on to go to Flanders ; the Queen my mother 
 was desirous to see him before his departure. I 
 begged the King to permit me to take the oppor- 
 tunity of accompanying her to take leave of my 
 brother, which he granted ; but, as it seemed, 
 with great unwillingness. When we returned from 
 Alen9on, I solicited the King to permit me to take 
 leave of himself, as I had everything prepared for 
 my journey. The Queen my mother being desirous 
 %to go to Gascony, where her presence was necessary 
 for the King's service, was unwilling that I should 
 depart without her. When we left Paris, the King 
 accompanied us on the way as far as his palace 
 of Dolinville. There we stayed with him a few 
 days, and there we took our leaves, and in a little 
 time reached Guienne, which belonging to, and 
 being under the government of, the King my 
 husband, I was everywhere received as Queen. 
 My husband gave the Queen my mother a meeting 
 at ReoUe, which was held by the Huguenots as 
 
4 
 
 4 
 
 220 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 221 
 
 a cautionary town ; and the country not being 
 sufficiently quieted, she was permitted to go no 
 further. 
 
 It was the intention of the Queen my mother 
 to make but a short stay ; but so many accidents 
 arose from disputes betwixt the Huguenots and 
 CathoHcs, that she was under the necessity of 
 stopping there eighteen months. As this was very 
 much against her incHnation, she was sometimes 
 incHned to think there was a design to keep her, 
 in order to have the company of her maids-of- 
 honour. For my husband had been greatly 
 smitten with Dayelle, and M. de Thurene was in 
 love with la Vergne. However, I received every 
 mark of honour and attention from the King that 
 I could expect or desire. He related to me, as 
 soon as we met, the artifices which had been put 
 in practice whilst he remained at Court to create 
 a misunderstanding betwixt him and me ; all this, 
 he said, he knew was with a design to cause a 
 rupture betwixt my brother and him, and thereby 
 ruin us all three, as there was an exceeding great 
 jealousy entertained of the friendship which existed 
 betwixt us. 
 
 We remained in the disagreeable situation I 
 have before described all the time the Queen my 
 mother stayed in Gascony ; but, as soon as she 
 could re-establish peace, she, by desire of the 
 King my husband, removed the King's lieutenant, 
 the Marquis de Villars, putting in his place the 
 Marshal de Biron. She then departed for Lan- 
 guedoc, and we conducted her to Castelnaudary ; 
 where, taking our leave, we returned to Pau, in 
 Beam; in which place, the Catholic religion not 
 being tolerated, I was only allowed to have Mass 
 celebrated in a chapel of about three or four feet 
 in length, and so narrow that it could scarcely 
 hold seven or eight persons. During the celebra- 
 tion of Mass, the bridge of the castle was drawn 
 up to prevent the Catholics of the town and 
 country from coming to assist at it; who having 
 been, for some years, deprived of the benefit of 
 following their own mode of worship, would have 
 gladly been present. Actuated by so holy and 
 laudable a desire, some of the inhabitants of Pau, 
 on Whitsunday, found means to get into the 
 castle before the bridge was drawn up, and were 
 present at the celebration of Mass, not being dis- 
 
I; 
 
 222 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 covered until it was nearly over. At length the 
 Huguenots espied them, and ran to acquaint 
 le Pin, secretary to the King my husband, who 
 was greatly in his favour, and who conducted the 
 whole business relating to the new religion. Upon 
 receiving this intelligence, le Pin ordered the guard 
 to arrest these poor people, who were severely beaten 
 in my presence, and afterwards locked up in prison, 
 whence they were not released without paying a 
 considerable hne. 
 
 This indignity gave me great offence, as I 
 never expected anything of the kind. Accord- 
 ingly, I complained of it to the King my husband, 
 begging him to give orders for the release of these 
 poor Catholics, who did not deserve to be punished 
 for coming to my chapel to hear Mass, a celebra- 
 tion of which they had been so long deprived of 
 the benefit. Le Pin, with the greatest disrespect 
 to his master, took upon him to reply, without 
 waiting to hear what the King had to say. He 
 told me that I ought not to trouble the King my 
 husband about such matters; that what had been 
 done was very right and proper; that those people 
 had justly merited the treatment they met with. 
 
 r 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 223 
 
 and all I could say would go for nothing, for it 
 must be so ; and that I ought to rest satisfied 
 with being permitted to have Mass said to me 
 and my servants. This insolent speech from a 
 person of his inferior condition incensed me 
 greatly, and I entreated the King my husband, 
 if I had the least share in his good graces, to do 
 me justice, and avenge the insult offered me by 
 this low man. 
 
 The King my husband, perceiving that I was 
 offended, as I had reason to be, with this gross 
 indignity, ordered le Pin to quit our presence 
 immediately ; and, expressing his concern at his 
 secretary's behaviour, who, he said, was over 
 zealous in the cause of religion, he promised that 
 he would make an example of him. As to the 
 Catholic prisoners, he said he would advise with 
 his parliament what ought to be done for my 
 satisfaction. 
 
 Having said this he went to his closet, where 
 he found le Pin, who, by dint of persuasion, made 
 him change his resolution ; insomuch that, fearing 
 I should insist upon his dismissing his secretary, 
 he avoided meeting me. At last, finding that I 
 
i 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 224 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 225 
 
 was firmly resolved to leave him, unless he dis- 
 missed le Pin, he took advice of some persons, 
 who, having themselves a dislike to the secretary, 
 represented that he ought not to give me cause of 
 displeasure for the sake of a man of his small im- 
 portance ; especially one who, like him, had given 
 me just reason to be offended ; that, when it be- 
 came known to the King my brother and the 
 Queen my mother, they would certainly take it ill 
 that he had not only not resented it, but, on the 
 contrary, still kept him near his person. 
 
 This counsel prevailed with him, and he at 
 length discarded his secretary. The King, how- 
 ever, continued to behave to me with great cool- 
 ness, being influenced, as he afterwards confessed, 
 by the counsel of M. de Pibrac, who acted the part 
 of a double dealer, telling me that I ought not to 
 pardon an affront offered by such a mean fellow, 
 but insist upon his being dismissed; whilst he 
 persuaded the King my husband that there was 
 no reason for parting with a man so useful to 
 him, for such a trivial cause. This was done by 
 M. de Pibrac, thinking I might be induced, from 
 such mortifications, to return to France, where 
 
 I, 
 
 l\ 
 
 he enjoyed the offices of president and King's 
 counsellor. 
 
 I now met with a fresh cause for disquietude 
 in my present situation, for, Dayelle being gone, 
 the King my husband placed his affections on 
 Rebours. She was an artful young person, and 
 had no regard for me ; accordingly, she did me 
 all the ill offices in her power with him. In the 
 midst of these trials, I put my trust in God, and 
 He, moved with pity by my tears, gave permission 
 for our leaving Pau, that '' little Geneva " ; and, 
 fortunately for me, Rebours was taken ill and stayed 
 behind. The King my husband no sooner lost sight 
 of her than he forgot her ; he now turned his eyes 
 and attention towards Fosseuse. She was much 
 handsomer than the other, and was at that time 
 young, and really a very amiable person. 
 
 Pursuing the road to Montauban, we stopped 
 
 at a Httle town called Eause, where, in the night, 
 
 the King my husband was attacked with a high 
 
 fever, accompanied with most violent pains in his 
 
 head. This fever lasted for seventeen days, during 
 
 which time he had no rest night or day, but was 
 
 continually removed from one bed to another. I 
 
 15 
 
226 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 227 
 
 nursed him the whole time, never stirring from his 
 bedside, and never putting off my clothes. He 
 took notice of my extraordinary tenderness, and 
 spoke of it to several persons, and particularly to 
 
 my cousin M. , who, acting the part of an 
 
 affectionate relation, restored me to his favour, 
 insomuch that I never stood so highly in it before. 
 This happiness I had the good fortune to enjoy 
 during the four or five years that I remained with 
 him in Gascony. 
 
 Our residence, for the most part of the time I 
 have mentioned, was at Nerac, where our Court 
 was so brilliant that we had no cause to regret 
 our absence from the Court of France. We had 
 with us the Princess of Navarre, my husband's 
 sister, since married to the Duke of Bar ; there 
 were besides a number of ladies belonging to my- 
 self. The King my husband was attended by a 
 numerous body of lords and gentlemen, all as 
 gallant persons as I have seen in any Court ; and 
 we had only to lament that they were Huguenots. 
 This difference of religion, however, caused no 
 dispute amongst us ; the King my husband and 
 the Princess his sister heard a sermon, whilst I 
 
 and my servants heard Mass. I had a chapel in 
 the park for the purpose, and, as soon as the service 
 of both religions was over, we joined company in 
 a beautiful garden, ornamented with long walks 
 shaded with laurel and cypress trees. Sometimes 
 we took a walk in the park and on the banks of 
 the river, bordered by an avenue of trees three 
 thousand yards in length. The rest of the day 
 was passed in innocent amusements ; and in the 
 afternoon, or at night, we commonly had a ball. 
 
 The King was very assiduous with Fosseuse, 
 who, being dependent on me, kept herself within 
 the strict bounds of honour and virtue. Had she 
 always done so, she had not brought upon herself 
 a misfortune which has proved 6f such fatal con- 
 sequence to myself as well as to her. 
 
 But our happiness was too great to be of long 
 continuance, and fresh troubles broke out betwixt 
 the King my husband and the Catholics, and gave 
 rise to a new war. The King my husband and 
 the Marshal de Biron, who was the King's lieu- 
 tenant in Guienne, had a difference, which was 
 aggravated by the Huguenots. This breach be- 
 came in a short time so wide that all my efforts 
 
 15—2 
 
228 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 229 
 
 to close it were useless. They made their separate 
 complaints to the King. The King my husband 
 insisted on the removal of the Marshal de Biron, 
 and the marshal charged the King my husband, 
 and the rest of those who were of the pretended 
 reformed religion, with designs contrary to peace. 
 I saw, with great concern, that affairs were likely 
 soon to come to an open rupture ; and I had no 
 power to prevent it. The marshal advised the 
 King to come to Guienne himself, saying that, 
 in his presence, matters might be settled. The 
 Huguenots, hearing of this proposal, supposed the 
 King would take possession of their towns, and, 
 thereupon, came to a resolution to take up arms. 
 This was what I feared; I was become a sharer 
 in the King my husband's fortune, and was now 
 to be in opposition to the King my brother and 
 the religion I had been bred up in. I gave my 
 opinion upon this war to the King my husband 
 and his council, and strove to dissuade them from 
 engaging in it. I represented to them the hazards 
 of carrying on a war when they were to be opposed 
 against so able a general as the Marshal de Biron, 
 who would not spare them, as other generals had 
 
 done, being their private enemy. I begged them 
 to consider that, if the King brought his whole 
 force against them, with intention to exterminate 
 their religion, it would not be in their power to 
 oppose or prevent it. But they were so head- 
 strong, and so blinded with the hope of succeeding 
 in the surprise of certain towns in Languedoc and 
 Gascony, that, though the King did me the honour, 
 upon all occasions, to listen to my advice, as did 
 most of the Huguenots, yet I could not prevail on 
 them to follow it in the present situation of affairs, 
 until it was too late, and after they had found, to 
 their cost, that my counsel was good. The torrent 
 was now burst forth, and there was no possibility 
 of stopping its course until it had spent its utmost 
 strength. 
 
 Before that period arrived, foreseeing the con- 
 sequences, I had often written to the King and the 
 Queen my mother, to offer something to the King 
 my husband by way of accommodating matters. 
 But they were bent against it, and seemed to be 
 pleased that matters had taken such a turn, being 
 assured by Marshal de Biron that he had it in his 
 power to crush the Huguenots whenever he pleased. 
 
 ; 
 
230 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 \ 
 
 In this crisis my advice was not attended to, the 
 dissensions increased, and recourse was had to 
 arms. The Huguenots had reckoned upon a force 
 more considerable than they were able to collect 
 together, and the King my husband found himself 
 outnumbered by Marshal de Biron. In consequence, 
 those of the pretended reformed religion failed in 
 all their plans, except their attack upon Cahors, 
 which they took with petards, after having lost a 
 great number of men; M. de Vezins, who com- 
 manded in the town, disputing their entrance for 
 two or three days, from street to street, and even 
 from house to house. The King my husband dis- 
 played great valour and conduct upon the occasion, 
 and showed himself to be a gallant and brave 
 general. Though the Huguenots succeeded in this 
 attempt, their loss was so great that they gained 
 nothing from it. Marshal de Biron kept the field, 
 and took every place that declared for the Hugue- 
 nots, putting all that opposed him to the sword. 
 
 From the commencement of this war, the King 
 my husband doing me the honour to love me, and 
 commanding me not to leave him, I had resolved 
 to share his fortune, not without extreme regret. 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 231 
 
 in observing that this war was of such a nature 
 that I could not, in conscience, wish success to 
 either side; for if the Huguenots got the upper 
 hand, the religion which I cherished as much as 
 my life was lost, and if the Catholics prevailed, 
 the King my husband was undone. But, being 
 thus attached to my husband, by the duty I owed 
 him, and obliged by the attentions he was pleased 
 to show me, I could only acquaint the King and 
 the Queen my mother with the situation to which 
 I was reduced, occasioned by my advice to them 
 not having been attended to. I, therefore, prayed 
 them, if they could not extinguish the flames of 
 war in the midst of which I was placed, at least 
 to give orders to Marshal de Biron to consider the 
 town I resided in, and three leagues round it, as 
 neutral ground, and that I would get the King my 
 husband to do the same. This the King granted 
 me for Nerac, provided my husband was not there ; 
 but if he should enter it, the neutrality was to 
 cease, and so to remain as long as he continued 
 there. This convention was observed, on both 
 sides, with all the exactness I could desire. How- 
 ever, the King my husband was not to be prevented 
 
Hi 
 
 232 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 233 
 
 
 from often visiting N^rac, which was the residence 
 of his sister and me. He was fond of the society 
 of ladies, and, moreover, was at that time greatly 
 enamoured with Fosseuse, who held the place in 
 his affections which Rebours had lately occupied. 
 Fosseuse did me no ill offices, so that the King 
 my husband and I continued to live on very good 
 terms, especially as he perceived me unwilling to 
 oppose his inclinations. 
 
 Led by such inducements, he came to Nerac, 
 once, with a body of troops, and stayed three 
 days, not being able to leave the agreeable com- 
 pany he found there. Marshal de Biron, who 
 wished for nothing so much as such an opportunity, 
 was apprised of it, and, under pretence of joining 
 M. de Cornusson, the seneschal of Toulouse, who 
 was expected with a reinforcement for his army, he 
 began his march ; but, instead of pursuing the road, 
 according to the orders he had issued, he suddenly 
 ordered his troops to file off towards Nerac, and, 
 before nine in the morning, his whole force was 
 drawn up within sight of the town, and within 
 cannon-shot of it. 
 
 The King my husband had received intelligence, 
 
 i 
 
 the evening before, of the expected arrival of M. de 
 Cornusson, and was desirous of preventing the 
 junction, for which purpose he resolved to attack 
 him and the marshal separately. As he had been 
 lately joined by M. de la Rochefoucauld, with a 
 corps of cavalry consisting of eight hundred men, 
 formed from the nobility of Saintonge, he found 
 himself sufficiently strong to undertake such a plan. 
 He, therefore, set out before break of day to make 
 his attack as they crossed the river. But his 
 intelligence did not prove to be correct, for de 
 Cornusson passed it the evening before. My hus- 
 band, being thus disappointed in his design, returned 
 to Nerac, and entered at one gate just as Marshal 
 de Biron drew up his troops before the other. 
 There fell so heavy a rain at that moment that 
 the musketry was of no use. The King my husband, 
 however, threw a body of his troops into a vine- 
 yard to stop the marshal's progress, not bein 
 able to do more on account of the unfavourable- 
 ness of the w^eather. 
 
 In the meantime, the marshal continued with 
 his troops drawn up in order of battle, permitting 
 only two or three of his men to advance, who 
 
 cr 
 
 I 
 
234 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 I 
 
 li 
 
 challenged a like number to break lances in honour 
 of their mistresses. The rest of the army kept 
 their ground, to mask their artillery, which, being 
 ready to play, they opened to the right and left, 
 and fired seven or eight shots upon the town, one 
 of which struck the palace. The marshal, having 
 done this, marched off, despatching a trumpeter to 
 me with his excuse. He acquainted me that, had 
 I been alone, he would on no account have fired 
 on the town ; but the terms of neutrality for the 
 town, agreed upon by the King, were, as I well 
 knew, in case the King my husband should not be 
 found in it, and, if otherwise, they were void. Be- 
 sides which, his orders were to attack the King my 
 husband wherever he should find him. 
 
 I must acknowledge on every other occasion 
 the marshal showed me the greatest respect, and 
 appeared to be much my friend. During the war 
 my letters have frequently fallen into his hands, 
 when he as constantly forwarded them to me un- 
 opened. And whenever ni}- people have happened 
 to be taken prisoners by his army, they were always 
 well treated as soon as they mentioned to whom 
 they belonged. 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 235 
 
 I answered his message by the trumpeter, 
 saying that I well knew what he had done was 
 strictly agreeable to the convention made and the 
 orders he had received, but that a gallant officer 
 like him would know how to do his duty without 
 giving his friends cause of offence ; that he might 
 have permitted me the enjoyment of the King my 
 husband's company in Nerac for three days, adding, 
 that he could not attack him, in my presence, 
 without attacking me; and concluding that, cer- 
 tainly, I was greatly offended by his conduct, and 
 would take the first opportunity of making my 
 complaint to the King my brother. 
 
236 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 LETTER XXI 
 
 SITUATION OF AFFAIRS IN FLANDERS PEACE BROUGHT 
 
 ABOUT BY DUKE ALEN^ON's NEGOTIATION — MARSHAL 
 
 DE BIRON APOLOGISES FOR FIRING ON NERAC HENRY 
 
 DESPERATELY IN LOVE WITH FOSSEUSE QUEEN MAR- 
 GARET DISCOVERS FOSSEUSE TO BE PREGNANT, WHICH 
 
 SHE DENIES FOSSEUSE IN LABOUR MARGARET's 
 
 GENEROUS BEHAVIOUR TO HER — MARGARET's RETURN 
 TO PARIS. 
 
 The war lasted some time longer, but with 
 disadvantage to the Huguenots. The King my 
 husband at length became desirous to make a 
 peace. I wrote on the subject to the King and 
 the Queen my mother ; but so elated were they 
 both with Marshal de Biron's success, that they 
 would not agree to any terms. 
 
 About the time this war broke out, Cambray, 
 which had been delivered up to my brother by 
 M. d'Ainsi, according to his engagement with me, 
 as I have before related, was besieged by the 
 forces of Spain. My brother received the news 
 
 / 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 237 
 
 of this siege at his castle of Plessis-les -Tours, 
 whither he had retired after his return from Flan- 
 ders, where, by the assistance of the Count de 
 Lalain, he had been invested with the government 
 of Mons, Valenciennes, and their dependencies. 
 
 My brother, being anxious to relieve Cambray, 
 set about raising an army with all the expedition 
 he was able; but, finding it could not be accom 
 plished very speedily, he sent forward a reinforce- 
 ment under the command of M. de Balagny, to 
 succour the place until he arrived himself with a 
 sufficient force to raise the siege. Whilst he was 
 in the midst of these preparations this Huguenot 
 war broke out, and the men he had raised left 
 him to incorporate themselves with the King's 
 army, which had reached Gascony. 
 
 My brother was now without hope of raising 
 the siege, and to lose Cambray would be attended 
 with the loss of the other countries he had just 
 obtained. Besides, what he should regret more, 
 such losses would reduce to great straits M. de 
 Balagny and the gallant troops so nobly defend- 
 ing the place. 
 
 His grief on this occasion was poignant, and, 
 
238 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 as his excellent judgment furnished him with 
 expedients under all his difficulties, he resolved 
 to endeavour at bringing about a peace. Accord- 
 ingly he despatched a gentleman to the King with 
 his advice to accede to terms, offering to under- 
 take the treaty himself. His design in offering 
 himself as negotiator was to prevent the treaty being 
 drawn out to too great a length, as might be 
 the case if confided to others. It was necessary 
 that he should speedily relieve Cambray, for M. 
 de Balagny, who had thrown himself into the 
 city as I have before mentioned, had written to 
 him that he should be able to defend the place 
 for six months; but, if he received no succours 
 within that time, his provisions would be all 
 expended, and he should be obliged to give way 
 to the clamours of the inhabitants, and surrender 
 the town. 
 
 By God's favour, the King was induced to 
 listen to my brother's proposal of undertaking a 
 negotiation for a peace. The King hoped thereby 
 to disappoint him in his expectations in Flanders, 
 which he never had approved of. Accordingly 
 he sent word back to my brother that he should 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 239 
 
 accept his proffer of negotiating a peace, and 
 would send him for his coadjutors, M. de Villeroy 
 and M. de Bellievre. The commission my brother 
 was charged with succeeded, and, after a stay 
 of seven months in Gascony, he settled a peace 
 and left us, his thoughts being employed during 
 the whole time on the means of relieving Cam- 
 bray, which the satisfaction he found in being 
 with us could not altogether abate. 
 
 The peace my brother made, as I have just 
 mentioned, was so judiciously framed that it gave 
 equal satisfaction to the King and the Catholics, 
 and to the King my husband and the Huguenots, 
 and obtained him the affections of both parties. 
 He likewise acquired from it the assistance of that 
 able general. Marshal de Biron, w^ho undertook 
 the command of the army destined to raise the 
 siege of Cambray. The King my husband was 
 equally gratified in the marshal's removal from 
 Gascony and having Marshal de Matignon in his 
 
 room. 
 
 Before my brother set off he was desirous 
 to bring about a reconciliation betwixt the King 
 my husband and Marshal de Biron, provided the 
 
240 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 241 
 
 latter should make his apologies to me for his 
 conduct at Nerac. My brother had desired me to 
 treat him with all disdain, but I used this hasty 
 advice with discretion, considering that my brother 
 might one day or other repent having given it, 
 as he had everything to hope, in his present 
 situation, from the bravery of this officer. 
 
 My brother returned to France accompanied 
 by Marshal de Biron. By his negotiation of a 
 peace he had acquired to himself great credit 
 with both parties, and secured a powerful force 
 for the purpose of raising the siege of Cambray. 
 But honours and success are followed by envy. 
 The King beheld this accession of glory to his 
 brother wdth great dissatisfaction. He had been 
 for seven months, while my brother and I were 
 together in Gascony, brooding over his malice, 
 and produced the strangest invention that can 
 be imagined. He pretended to believe (what the 
 King my husband can easily prove to be false) 
 that I instigated him to go to war that I might 
 procure for my brother the credit of making peace. 
 This is not at all probable when it is considered 
 the prejudice my brother's affairs in Flanders 
 
 sustained by the war. But envy and malice are 
 self- deceivers, and pretend to discover what no 
 one else can perceive. On this frail foundation 
 the King raised an altar of hatred, on which he 
 swore never to cease till he had accomplished 
 my brother's ruin and mine. He had never for- 
 given me for the attachment I had discovered for 
 my brother's interest during the time he was in 
 Poland and since. 
 
 Fortune chose to favour the King's animosity ; 
 for, during the seven months that my brother 
 stayed in Gascony, he conceived a passion for 
 Fosseuse, who was become the doting piece of 
 the King my husband, as I have already men- 
 tioned, since he had quitted Rebours. This new 
 passion in my brother had induced the King 
 my husband to treat me with coldness, supposing 
 that I countenanced my brother's addresses. I 
 no sooner discovered this than I remonstrated 
 with my brother, as I knew he would make every 
 sacrifice for my repose. I begged him to give 
 over his pursuit, and not to speak to her again. 
 I succeeded this way to defeat the malice of my 
 
 ill-fortune ; but there was still behind another 
 
 16 
 
242 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 243 
 
 secret ambush, and that of a more fatal nature ; 
 for Fosseuse, who was passionately fond of the 
 King my husband, but had hitherto granted no 
 favours inconsistent with prudence and modesty, 
 piqued by his jealousy of my brother, gave herself 
 up suddenly to his will, and unfortunately became 
 pregnant. She no sooner made this discovery, 
 than she altered her conduct towards me entirely 
 from what it was before. She now shunned my 
 presence as much as she had been accustomed 
 to seek it, and whereas before she strove to do 
 me every good office with the King my husband, 
 she now endeavoured to make all the mischief she 
 was able betwixt us. For his part, he avoided me ; 
 he grew cold and indifferent, and since Fosseuse 
 ceased to conduct herself with discretion, the happy 
 moments that we experienced during the four or 
 five years we were together in Gascony, were no 
 more. 
 
 Peace being restored, and my brother departed 
 for France, as I have already related, the King my 
 husband and I returned to Nerac. We were no 
 sooner there than Fosseuse persuaded the King 
 my husband to make a journey to the waters of 
 
 Aigues-Caudes, in Beam, perhaps with a design 
 to rid herself of her burden there. I begged the 
 King my husband to excuse my accompanying him, 
 as, since the affront that I had received at Pau, 
 I had made a vow never to set foot in Beam 
 until the Catholic religion was re-established there. 
 He pressed me much to go with him, and grew 
 angry at my persisting to refuse his request. He 
 told me that his little girl (for so he affected to 
 call Fosseuse) was desirous to go there on account 
 of a colic, which she felt frequent returns of. I 
 answered that I had no objection to his taking 
 her with him. He then said that she could not 
 go unless I went ; that it would occasion scandal, 
 which might as well be avoided. He continued 
 to press me to accompany him, but at length I 
 prevailed with him to consent to go without me, 
 and to take her with him, and, with her, two of 
 her companions, Rebours and Ville-Savin, together 
 with the governess. They set out accordingly, 
 and I waited their return at Baviere. 
 
 I had every day news from Rebours, inform- 
 ing me how matters went. This Rebours I have 
 
 mentioned before to have been the object of my 
 
 16 — 2 
 
f 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 245 
 
 244 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 I 
 
 K 
 
 husband's passion, but she was now cast off, and, 
 consequently, was no friend to Fosseuse, who had 
 gained that place in his affection she had before 
 held. She, therefore, strove all she could to cir- 
 cumvent her; and, indeed, she was fully qualified 
 for such a purpose, as she was a cunning, deceit- 
 ful young person. She gave me to understand 
 that Fosseuse laboured to do me every ill office 
 in her power ; that she spoke of me with the 
 greatest disrespect on all occasions, and expressed 
 her expectations of marrying the King herself, in 
 case she should be delivered of a son, when I was 
 to be divorced. She had said, further, that when 
 the King my husband returned to Baviere, he had 
 resolved to go to Pau, and that I should go with 
 him, whether I would or not. 
 
 This intelligence was far from being agreeable 
 to me, and I knew not what to think of it. I 
 trusted in the goodness of God, and I had a reli- 
 ance on the generosity of the King my husband ; 
 yet I passed the time I waited for his return but 
 uncomfortably, and often thought I shed more 
 tears than they drank water. The Catholic no- 
 bility of the neighbourhood of Baviere used their 
 
 i 
 
 utmost endeavours to divert my chagrin, for the 
 month or five weeks that the King my husband 
 and Fosseuse stayed at Aigues-Caudes. 
 
 On his return, a certain nobleman acquainted 
 the King my husband with the concern I was 
 under lest he should go to Pau, whereupon he 
 did not press me on the subject, but only said he 
 should have been glad if I had consented to have 
 gone with him there. Perceiving, by my tears 
 and the expressions I made use of, that I should 
 prefer even death to such a journey, he altered 
 his intentions and we returned to Nerac. 
 
 The pregnancy of Fosseuse was now no longer 
 a secret. The whole Court talked of it, and not 
 only the Court, but all the country. I was willing 
 to prevent the scandal from spreading, and ac- 
 cordingly resolved to talk to her on the subject. 
 With this resolution, I took her into my closet, 
 and spoke to her thus : '' Though you have for 
 some time estranged yourself from me, and, as it 
 has been reported to me, striven to do me many 
 ill offices with the King my husband, yet the 
 regard I once had for you, and the esteem which 
 I still entertain for those honourable persons to 
 
246 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 247 
 
 i 
 
 whose family you belong, do not admit of my 
 neglecting to afford you all the assistance in my 
 power in your present unhappy situation. I beg 
 you, therefore, not to conceal the truth, it being 
 both for your interest and mine, under whose 
 protection you are, to declare it. Tell me the 
 truth, and I will act towards you as a mother. 
 You know that a contagious disorder has broken 
 out in the place, and, under pretence of avoiding 
 it, I will go to Mas-d'Agenois, which is a house 
 belonging to the King my husband, in a very re- 
 tired situation. I will take you with me, and 
 such other persons as you shall name. Whilst 
 we are there, the King will take the diversion of 
 hunting in some other part of the country, and 
 I shall not stir from thence before your delivery. 
 By this means we shall put a stop to the scan- 
 dalous reports which are now current, and which 
 concern you more than myself." 
 
 So far from showing any contrition, or re- 
 turning thanks for my kindness, she replied, with 
 the utmost arrogance, that she would prove all 
 those to be liars who had reported such things 
 of her ; that, for my part, I had ceased for a 
 
 long time to show her any marks of regard, and 
 she saw that I was determined upon her ruin. 
 These words she delivered in as loud a tone as 
 mine had been mildly expressed ; and, leaving 
 me abruptly, she flew in a rage to the King 
 my husband, to relate to him what I had said to 
 her. He was very angry upon the occasion, and 
 declared he would make them all liars who had 
 laid such things to her charge. From that moment 
 until the hour of her delivery, which was a few 
 months after, he never spoke to me. 
 
 She found the pains of labour come upon her 
 about daybreak, whilst she was in bed in the 
 chamber where the maids -of- honour slept. She 
 sent for my physician, and begged him to go and 
 acquaint the King my husband that she was taken 
 ill. We slept in separate beds in the same chamber, 
 and had done so for some time. 
 
 The physician delivered the message as he was 
 directed, which greatly embarrassed my husband. 
 What to do he did not know. On the one hand, 
 he was fearful of a discovery; on the other, he 
 foresaw that, without proper assistance, there was 
 danger of losing one he so much loved. In this 
 
 \ 
 
248 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 249 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 i| 
 
 dilemma, he resolved to apply to me, confess all, 
 and implore my aid and advice, well knowing 
 that, notwithstanding what had passed, I should 
 be ready to do him a pleasure. Having come to 
 this resolution, he withdrew my curtains, and 
 spoke to me thus : ** My dear, I have concealed 
 a matter from you which I now confess. I beg 
 you to forgive me, and to think no more about 
 what I have said to you on the subject. Will you 
 oblige me so far as to rise and go to Fosseuse, 
 who is taken very ill ? I am well assured that, 
 in her present situation, you will forget everything 
 and resent nothing. You know how dearly I love 
 her, and I hope you will comply with my request." 
 I answered that I had too great a respect for him 
 to be offended at anything he should do, and that 
 I would go to her immediately, and do as much for 
 her as if she were a child of my own. I advised 
 him, in the meantime, to go out and hunt, by 
 which means he would draw away all his people, 
 and prevent tattling. 
 
 I removed Fosseuse, with all convenient haste, 
 from the chamber in which the maids -of- honour 
 were, to one in a more retired part of the palace. 
 
 got a physician and some women about her, and 
 saw that she wanted for nothing that was proper 
 in her situation. It pleased God that she should 
 bring forth a daughter, since dead. As soon as 
 she was delivered I ordered her to be taken back 
 to the chamber from which she had been brought. 
 Notwithstanding these precautions, it was not 
 possible to prevent the story from circulating 
 through the palace. When the King my husband 
 returned from hunting he paid her a visit accord- 
 ing to custom. She begged that I might come 
 and see her, as was usual with me when any- 
 one of my maids -of- honour was taken ill. By 
 this means she expected to put a stop to stories to 
 her prejudice. The King my husband came from 
 her into my bed-chamber, and found me in bed, as 
 I was fatigued and required rest, after having been 
 called up so early. He begged me to get up and 
 pay her a visit. I told him I went according to 
 his desire before, when she stood in need of 
 assistance, but now she wanted no help; that to 
 visit her at this time would be only exposing her 
 more, and cause myself to be pointed at by all 
 the world. He seemed to be greatly displeased at 
 
 \ 
 
3 .- 
 
 250 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 251 
 
 what I said, which vexed me the more as I 
 thought I did not deserve such treatment after 
 what I had done at his request in the morning ; 
 she Hkewise contributed all in her power to 
 aggravate matters betwixt him and me. 
 
 In the meantime, the King my brother, al- 
 ways well informed of w^hat is passing in the 
 families of the nobility of his kingdom, was not 
 ignorant of the transactions of our Court. He 
 was particularly curious to learn everything that 
 happened with us, and knew every minute circum- 
 stance that I have now related. Thinking this a 
 favourable occasion to wreak his vengeance on 
 me for having been the means of my brother ac- 
 quiring so much reputation by the peace he had 
 brought about, he made use of the accident that 
 happened in our Court to withdraw me from the 
 King my husband, and thereby reduce me to the 
 state of misery he wished to plunge me in. To 
 this purpose he prevailed on the Queen my 
 mother to write to me, and express her anxious 
 desire to see me after an absence of five or six 
 years. She added that a journey of this sort to 
 Court would be serviceable to the affairs of the 
 
 King my husband as well as my own; that the 
 King my brother was himself desirous of seeing 
 me, and that if I wanted money for the journey 
 he would send it me. The King wrote to the 
 same purpose, and despatched Manique, the stew- 
 ard of his household, with instructions to use 
 every persuasion with me to undertake the journey. 
 The length of time I had been absent in Gascony, 
 and the unkind usage I received on account of 
 Fosseuse, all contributed to induce me to listen 
 to the proposal made me. 
 
 The King and the Queen both wrote to me. 
 I received three letters, very shortly after each 
 other; and, that I might have no pretence for 
 staying, I had the sum of fifteen hundred crowns 
 paid me to defray the expenses of my journey. 
 The Queen my mother wrote that she would 
 give me the meeting in Saintonge, and that, if 
 the King my husband would accompany me so 
 far, she would treat with him there, and give 
 him every satisfaction with respect to the King. 
 But the King and she were desirous to have 
 him at their Court, as he had been before with 
 my brother; and the Marshal de Matignon had 
 
rs 
 
 252 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 pressed the matter with the King, that he might 
 have no one to interfere with him in Gascony. 
 I had had too long experience of what was to 
 be expected at their Court to hope much from 
 all the fine promises that were made to me. I 
 had resolved, however, to avail myself of the 
 opportunity of an absence of a few months, 
 thinking it might prove the means of setting 
 matters to rights. Besides w^hich, I thought that, 
 as I should take Fosseuse with me, it was pos- 
 sible that the King's passion for her might cool 
 when she was no longer in his sight, or he 
 might attach himself to some other that was 
 less incUned to do me mischief. 
 
 It was with some difficulty that the King 
 my husband would consent to a removal, so un- 
 willing was he to leave his Fosseuse. He paid 
 more attention to me, in hopes that I should 
 refuse to set out on this journey to France; but, 
 as I had given my word in my letters to the 
 King and the Queen my mother, that I would 
 go, and as I had even received money for the 
 purpose, I could not do otherwise. 
 
 And herein my ill-fortune prevailed over the 
 
 
 MARGARET DE VALOIS 
 
 253 
 
 reluctance I had to leave the King my husband, 
 after the instances of renewed love and regard 
 which he had begun to show me. 
 
 END OF THE MEMOIRS 
 
 I' 
 
ALPHABETICAL 
 
 LIST OF PLACES 
 
 MENTIONED IN THESE MEMOIRS, 
 
 WITH 
 
 THEIR DESCRIPTIONS. 
 
 AGEN. 
 
 An ancient and handsome town, the former capital of 
 Agenois, seated on the right bank of the Garonne, about 
 60 miles south-east of Bordeaux, in a delightful country. 
 It espoused the cause of the League, 1584, but submitted 
 to Henry IV. in 1591. It is famous for being the birth- 
 place of Joseph Scaliger. It is now the chief town of the 
 Department of Lot-et-Garonne. Agenois and the city 
 of Agen were given to Queen Margaret, as appanage, 
 during the term of her life. 
 
 AIGUES-CAUDES. 
 
 A spring, or hot mineral bath, the same, I suppose, as 
 that mentioned by Vosgien, by the name of Chaudes- 
 
,j, , iii w m ill Ill 
 
 tuat 
 
 w 
 
 256 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 Aigues, a small town, having a hot mineral spring, in 
 Auvergne, 15 miles from St. Flour, and about 300 miles 
 south of Paris. 
 
 ALEN9ON. 
 
 A large and beautiful city, which was formerly a 
 duchy belonging to Lower Normandy, situated about 
 105 miles from Paris, south-west, in a fruitful country, 
 watered by the Sarre. It has a castle well fortified, 
 and was esteemed a first-rate town in Normandy. It 
 now belongs to the Department of the Orne, of which 
 it is the chief place. Its population is supposed to 
 amount to 13,500 souls. 
 
 AMBOISE. 
 
 A strong castle, built at a small town of the same 
 name, which town was formerly the capital of Lower 
 Touraine, situated on the confluence of the Loire and 
 the Masse, no miles south-west of Paris. It was 
 here that Louis XL instituted the Order of St. Michael, 
 in 1469. It is the birth-place of Charles VIII., and 
 has been a residence, occasionally, of the monarchs 
 of France. Here, in 1560, was formed the famous 
 conspiracy which bears the name of Amboise, against 
 the Guises. According to the present division of 
 France, it is in the Department of Indre-et-Loire. 
 
 IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 D'ANGELY (SAINT-JEAN). 
 
 257 
 
 An ancient town, formerly of Saintonge, between 30 and 
 40 miles from Rochelle. It was besieged by the Count 
 de la Rochefoucauld in 1562, who was obliged to raise 
 the siege. It was afterwards taken by the Huguenots, 
 and retaken by Henry III. in 1569, after a vigorous 
 siege. The Huguenots again got possession of it, but 
 Louis XIII., in 1621, rased the fortifications. According 
 to the republican division of France, Saint-Jean-d'Angely 
 belongs to the Department of the Lower Charente. 
 
 ANGERS. 
 
 A large city, formerly the capital of the Duchy of Anjou, 
 built at some small distance from where the Loire and 
 Sarte empty themselves into the river Maine, about 200 
 miles south-west of Paris. Near it is a large quarry of 
 slate stones. According to the new division of France 
 into departments, it belongs to that of the Maine-et- 
 Loire, of which it is the chief town. It has 30,000 
 inhabitants. 
 
 AVIGNON. 
 
 An ancient and large city in France, adjoining to that 
 beautiful part of it lately called Provence, formerly 
 belonging to the Pope, and, for the space of sixty-two 
 
 17 
 
258 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 259 
 
 years, the residence of the Popes then living, from 
 Clement V. down to Gregory XL It was purchased in 
 1348, of Joan, Queen of Sicily and Countess of Provence, 
 together with the small territory round it called the 
 Comtat de Venaissin. It has latterly been governed by 
 a vice-legate, who resided in the papal palace built by 
 John XXII. It was a university, and the seat of the 
 tribunal of the Inquisition. It has many fine churches 
 and the remains of a bridge over the Rhone, which 
 passes under its walls. The French took possession of 
 it in 1768, and on the extinction of the order of Jesuits, 
 in 1774, gave it up again to the See of Rome. It is at 
 present the chief town of the Department of Vaucluse, 
 and computed to be 340 miles south of Paris. At the 
 church of the Cordeliers, or Franciscan Friars, strangers 
 visit the tomb of Laura, rendered famous to posterity by 
 her lover Petrarch. The fountain of Vaucluse, which 
 gives name to the department, supplies the river Sorgues, 
 which runs through Avignon to mingle its waters with 
 
 the Rhone. 
 
 "It hath no trade that I could observe," says 
 Roberts, an English merchant, in 1677, " though I have 
 often been there. It is subject to the Pope, and he 
 permitting Jews to inhabit here, they are found the 
 principal pedlars, for merchants I cannot call them. 
 
 The city is said to have seven palaces, seven parishes, 
 seven monasteries, seven nunneries, seven inns, and 
 
 seven gates." 
 
 BAR-LE-DUC. 
 
 The capital of the former Duchy of Barrois, a considerable 
 country in France, on both sides of the Meuse, betwixt 
 Lorraine and Champagne. The House of Lorraine did 
 homage for it to France, until it was ceded to that 
 monarchy by the Treaty of the Pyrenees. At the Treaty 
 of Ryswick it was restored to the House of Lorraine; 
 and lastly, by a treaty dated in 1736, it was given to 
 Stanislaus I., King of Poland, on condition that it should 
 be restored to France at his death, which happened in 
 1766. Bar-le-Duc was built by a Duke of Lorraine, in 
 the year 951, and has a handsome, but not strong castle. 
 It is divided into the upper and lower town; in the 
 former stands the ducal palace, the latter is washed 
 by the little river Ornain, famous for its trout. The 
 wines of Bar are excellent, and do not yield to those 
 of Champagne. It is about 168 miles eastward of 
 Paris. On account of the feudality of its addition 
 (Le Due) it is now called by the Republic of France 
 Bar-sur-Ornain, and is the chief town of the Depart- 
 ment of the Meuse. Its inhabitants are computed 
 
 at 10,800. 
 
 17 — 2 
 
26o 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 261 
 
 BAYONNE, OR BAIONNE. 
 A very rich, strong and commercial city of France, 
 formerly making part of the Government of Guienne. 
 It has three castles with a citadel, and was princi- 
 pally fortified by Vauban. It is situated on the rivers 
 Nive and Adour, at the distance of three miles from 
 the sea. The entrance of the harbour is difficult, 
 but vessels ride in it with safety. Bayonne is famous 
 for its hams ; it carries on a great trade in wool 
 and other articles. That weapon, so decisive in 
 battle, the bayonet, takes its name from this town. 
 Bayonne is distant from Paris about 370 miles south- 
 west. According to the present division of France, 
 it belongs to the Department of the Lower Pyre- 
 nees. The number of its inhabitants is computed 
 to be some 11,000. The congress mentioned in these 
 Memoirs took place in 1566, and the object of it is 
 supposed to have been the extirpation of Huguenot- 
 ism in France. 
 
 BEARN. 
 
 A province in France, and once a principality, bordering 
 on Aragon, Gascony, properly so-called, and the 
 Lower Armagnac, &c. It is included in the Depart- 
 ment of the Lower Pyrenees of the present Republic 
 of France. It was the patrimony of Henry King of 
 
 Navarre, afterwards Henry the Great of France, who, 
 during the civil wars, was called the Bernese. His son, 
 Louis XIII., annexed it to the Crown of France in 1620. 
 It is a mountainous country, and has mines of copper, 
 lead and iron. The plains are fertile, but produce no 
 other grain than millet and oats ; on the hills are vine- 
 yards, which furnish plenty of wine of a most excellent 
 quality. In 1695 ^^^ number of its inhabitants was 
 estimated at 198,000. They are strong and active, 
 industrious and sober, of quick parts, and selfish. 
 They emigrate yearly in great numbers to work in 
 Spain. Pau was formerly the capital of Beam. 
 
 BLOIS. 
 
 An ancient and beautiful city, formerly the capital of the 
 Blasois, in the Generality of Orleans. It is pleasantly 
 situated on the Loire, and has a magnificent castle, in 
 which the Kings of France made their occasional resi- 
 dence. Henry Duke of Guise was killed here in 
 1588. The town has a number of beautiful fountains 
 and a noble bridge. The inhabitants are polite and 
 well-bred, and are said to speak the French tongue 
 in its greatest perfection. Blois is about 150 miles 
 south-west of Paris. It is at present the chief town 
 in the Department of the Loire - et - Cher, and has 
 12,000 inhabitants. 
 
262 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 BROUAGE. 
 
 IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 263 
 
 A handsome and strong town in France, formerly 
 belonging to Saintonge, with a harbour. Its salt- 
 works are the most considerable of the whole king- 
 dom, and produce a great revenue. It is situated 
 near Bordeaux, and at the distance of about 300 miles 
 south-west of Paris. 
 
 CAHORS 
 
 Was taken in 1581 (the first time that petards were 
 ever used), and Henry carried the place, as his Queen 
 has described, by assault, and with great loss. Cahors 
 is situated upon the river Lot, which nearly surrounds 
 it, and is neither considerable for its size nor buildings. 
 At the time Margaret wrote her Memoirs it was 
 the capital of Querci, in the Generality of Montauban, 
 and a bishopric, a suffragan of Albi. There are re- 
 maining the ruins of an amphitheatre, which show it 
 to have been a town of great antiquity. It had a 
 university, founded in 1332, but suppressed in 1751. 
 The Viscount de Cossac is a vassal to the bishop, and 
 when the latter takes possession of the see, the vassal 
 is bound to the following singular service. He is to 
 wait for the bishop at the gates of the town, bare- 
 headed, without his cloak, and with one leg and foot 
 
 naked, except a slipper. In this dress he is to take 
 the bridle of the mule on which the bishop rides, and 
 lead on to the episcopal palace. He is afterwards to 
 wait on the bishop at dinner, habited in the same 
 manner; and for this service he claims the bishop's 
 mule and his sideboard of plate, both of which were 
 commuted for 3,000 livres, money to be paid. But 
 this feudal custom is done away by the Revolution in 
 France, and Cahors is now the chief town of the 
 Department of Lot. It is distant 390 miles south of 
 Paris, and has 10,000 inhabitants. 
 
 CAMBRAY. 
 
 A very fair, large and strong city of the Low Countries, 
 the capital of what was formerly the Cambresis. Mar- 
 garet speaks of it as if it was no more than a bishopric ; 
 but, according to Vosgien, it was, as early as 1559, 
 made the seat of an archbishop, with the title of Duke. 
 Charles V. built the citadel and fort. It was taken 
 from the Spaniards by the King of France in 1677, 
 and confirmed to that Crown by the Treaty of Nime- 
 guen, to which it belonged to the time of the Revolution. 
 The city is of great antiquity, it being the principal 
 seat of the Roman colonies in this country. The 
 Scheldt runs through the city and divides it into two 
 
264 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 DINANT. 
 
 265 
 
 parts. It is distant about 120 miles to the north of 
 Paris, and is now reckoned in the Department of the 
 Nord. Its population amounts to 15,000 souls. 
 
 CASTELNAUDARY. 
 
 A considerable town in the former province of Lan- 
 guedoc, the capital then of Lauraguais. It is situated 
 on a small eminence near the canal, in a country which 
 produces a great deal of wheat-corn. It is 450 miles 
 southward of Paris, and, by the new division of France, 
 is in the Department of the Aude (so named from a 
 river), of which the chief town is Carcasonne. 
 
 CHASTELET. 
 
 This place, which Margaret has called Chastelet, is 
 Le Catelet, situated in the province formerly called 
 Picardy. It stands, as Margaret has here described 
 it, at the distance, according to Vosgien, of four 
 leagues south of Cambray, or about 12 English miles. 
 That author describes it as a small town in the former 
 province of Picardy. The Spaniards took it in 1557, 
 since which it has been taken and retaken. It is 
 situated 12 miles south of Cambray. Picardy is en- 
 tirely included in the Department of the Aisne, from 
 a river so called. 
 
 
 A town once belonging to the late principality of Liege, 
 but, since the French Revolution, included in the De- 
 partment of Sambre - et - Meuse. It has been built 
 since the sixth century. It was taken by the French 
 in 1554 and in 1675, but was restored to the Bishop 
 of Liege, by the Peace of Ryswick, in 1697. Its for- 
 tifications were demolished in 1703. It has but one 
 principal street, and its territory is much narrowed by 
 a high mountain, on which stood a castle. In 1466 it 
 was taken by assault by Philip Duke of Burgundy, 
 after a stout defence, when nearly all its inhabitants 
 were either killed or drowned. It stands near the river 
 Meuse, on the right bank, and has a stone bridge over 
 it. The country about it produces marble and iron 
 ore. It is situated 36 miles south-west of Liege, 15 
 miles south-east of Namur, and 45 miles south-east of 
 
 Mons. 
 
 DREUX. 
 
 -• 
 
 The battle of Dreux was fought on December 19th, 1562, 
 when the Huguenots were defeated, and the Prince of 
 Conde, their chief, was made prisoner. The Prince of 
 Navarre (afterwards Henry IV.) was present, though 
 only nine years old, and his remarks upon the mis- 
 conduct of the conquered army are recorded for their 
 
IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 267 
 
 266 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 acuteness. A sermon was preached there until late 
 in the last century, on the anniversary of this defeat, 
 which is mentioned here as one amongst the innumer- 
 able instances of the prejudices of party. Dreux is an 
 ancient town of the late Isle of France, but now in- 
 cluded in the Department of Eure - et - Loire. Henry 
 IV. took this town in 1593. It has a considerable 
 manufactory for coarse cloths, fit for army clothing. 
 It is situated about 50 miles west of Paris. 
 
 EAUSE 
 
 Is a small, but very old town, in what was called 
 Gascony, and a favourite situation of the Romans, 
 now included in the Department of Gers, so called from 
 a river running through it of the same name, which 
 empties itself into the Garonne below Agen. 
 
 HUY. 
 
 A town belonging formerly to the Principality of Liege, 
 but which, since the French Revolution, is included 
 in the Department of Ourthe, of which Liege is the 
 chief town. It had once a castle, which is now in 
 ruins, and has a handsome bridge over the Meuse. 
 It was taken by the French in 1693, and retaken by 
 the confederates the year following. It was taken again 
 
 from the French, 1703, by the confederate army under 
 the Duke of Marlborough, retaken by the French in 
 1705, and again repossessed by the confederates in 
 the same year. It is about 14 miles south of Liege, 
 and nearly 17 miles north-east of Namur. 
 
 ISSOIRE. 
 
 An ancient small town, in the Government of Lyonnais 
 and Lower Auvergne, according to the old order of 
 things, but, by the present new disposition, making 
 a part of the Puy-de-D6me, so called from a moun- 
 tain of that name. It was besieged and taken by the 
 Duke of Alen9on in 1577, which is mentioned in these 
 Memoirs of Margaret ; and by Henry IV. in 1590. 
 It stands on the river Couze, 270 miles southward 
 of Paris. 
 
 JARNAC. 
 
 The battle of Jarnac was fought March 13th, 1569, when 
 Henry Duke of Anjou, afterwards Henry III., de- 
 feated the Huguenots. Jarnac is a considerable vil- 
 lage, in what was formerly styled the Angoumois, but 
 now included in the Department of the Charente. It 
 stands on the river Charente, south-by-east of Paris 
 about 300 miles. 
 
^ p 
 
 ( 
 
 268 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 LA FERE. 
 
 IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 269 
 
 A small town, in the late province of Picardy, but 
 now included in the Department of the Aisne, so 
 called from a river, agreeably to the present new 
 order of things in France. It was remarkable for a 
 school of artillery, and a manufactory of gunpowder. 
 It stands on the rivers Serre and Oise, distant from 
 Paris about 90 miles north-by-east. 
 
 LIEGE, 
 
 By the Germans called Luick or Luyck, and Luttig 
 (in Latin, Leodium, Legia, Leodicum), is a populous 
 and large city, with a considerable territory, formerly 
 making part of Germany and belonging to the circle 
 of WestphaHa, the seat of a bishop, who was a Prince 
 of the Empire, and a suffragan of Cologne ; but, since 
 the French Revolution, it is become the chief town 
 of the Department of Ourthe, thus called from the 
 name of a river which joins the Meuse at this place. 
 This bishopric was transferred hither from Tongres 
 by St. Hubert, in the year 709. Before the late 
 Revolution, it was a kind of republic, governed by 
 the prince, bishop, and the states of the country 
 belonging to it; in which liberty, as far as consistent 
 with good order, was enjoyed by stranger as well as 
 
 native, under a mild and equitable popular govern- 
 ment. The bishops were chosen from amongst the 
 canons belonging to the cathedral, consisting of sixty 
 in number, all of them noble, either by birth or patent 
 of creation. It was a free, imperial city, and had a 
 university. In 1691 it was bombarded, and in 1701 
 its bishop delivered it up to the French, from whom 
 the Allies recovered it in the year following. In 1705 
 it was in danger of being taken by the French, but 
 the Duke of Marlborough relieved it by a forced 
 march. By the Treaty of Baden, in 1714, *it was 
 restored to the prince-bishop. Notwithstanding the 
 size of this city and its suburbs, its population was 
 never estimated at more than 100,000 souls. Its 
 foreign trade is considerable, chiefly in arms and other 
 ironware, coals, hops, marble, hme, sulphur, alum, 
 beer, &c., the produce of its mines and soil. The 
 churches and public buildings of Liege are remarkable 
 for neatness and beauty ; the bridges and pubHc con- 
 duits are magnificent. The quays, extending along 
 the Meuse, are planted with trees, having a charming 
 effect. The city itself stands in a large and fertile 
 valley, and has the river Meuse entering it in two 
 branches, accompanied with lesser streams, which 
 form many delightful islands. Liege is about 30 miles 
 
270 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 north-east of Namur, 70 east of Mons, and about 210 
 north-east of Paris. 
 
 LYONS. 
 
 A large, famous, strong and rich city, the second in 
 France, the capital of Lyonnais, acording to the ancient 
 disposition, but, agreeably to the present order of things, 
 the chief town of the Department of the Rhone. It 
 was founded by the Roman consul, Lucius Minucius 
 Plancus, forty-one years before the birth of Christ. 
 It stands on the river Rhone, where the Saone meets 
 and joins it, and which river, like a wife, loses its own 
 name and takes its husband's, both being then known 
 only by the name of Rhone till they reach the Medi- 
 terranean Sea. The history and curiosities of Lyons 
 form volumes. It will be sufficient here to mention 
 its fine square called the Belle Cour, its former Hotel 
 de Ville, now, it is presumed, styled the Municipality 
 House, and the two hospitals of La Charite and Hotel 
 Dieu, the most commodious and the cleanliest, per- 
 haps, in Europe. Over the Saone there are many 
 bridges; that thrown over the Rhone is 260 toises, or 
 550 yards in length. Its trade consists chiefly in 
 manufactures of silk, gold and silver stuffs, laces, 
 &c., in which its merchants deal very extensively. It 
 
 IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 271 
 
 is 120 miles north of Avignon and nearly 230 south 
 of Paris. The number of its inhabitants is computed 
 to be 160,000. 
 
 MAS-D'AGENOIS. 
 
 A little town on the river Garonne, at the distance of 
 3 miles from Marmande, a city of some trade, 36 miles 
 from Bordeaux. 
 
 METZ. 
 
 An ancient and considerable city of France, once impe- 
 rial, in the country formerly called Messin, a bishopric 
 under the archbishop of Triers, the bishop of it taking 
 the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and 
 formerly the residence of a parliament; with a citadel; 
 now the chief town of the Department of the Moselle. 
 In 1552 this city put itself under the protection of 
 Henry II. and was confirmed to the Crown of France 
 by the Treaty of WestphaHa. The Emperor Charles V. 
 besieged it in 1552 with a large army, but the town 
 being well defended by Henry Duke of Guise, the 
 Emperor thought proper to raise the siege and with- 
 draw his forces. The cathedral is esteemed the finest 
 in France. The canons were all noblemen, and since 
 1777 had the privilege of having a cross borne before 
 them. The Jews have a particular part of the city 
 
IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 273 
 
 I \ 
 I I 
 
 272 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 I 
 
 'f 
 
 assigned them, with a synagogue. Metz was sup- 
 posed to contain 26,000 inhabitants, but, according to 
 another computation, 40,000. In 1760 a royal society 
 was established here for the cultivation of the arts 
 and sciences. It is situated on the confluence of 
 the Moselle and Seille, over which rivers it has two 
 handsome bridges. It is about 200 miles to the east- 
 ward of Paris. Betwixt Metz and Pont-a-Mousson, at 
 a small distance from the former, are the remains of a 
 Roman aqueduct which was carried over the Moselle, 
 from one mountain to another, and called the Pont- 
 Jovy, from the village near it. The country people 
 of the neighbourhood supposed it to be a real bridge, 
 and the work of the devil. 
 
 This city must not be confounded with Mentz, or 
 Mayence, a great town in Germany, at which the art 
 of printing was first discovered and used in 1440. 
 
 MONCONTOUR. 
 
 A town in France, in the Mirebalais, formerly making 
 a part of Poitou, and now belonging to the Depart- 
 ment of the Vendee, the two Sevres, or Vienne, all 
 names of rivers. Poitou, being a large province, made 
 three divisions of the eighty-three into which France 
 was parcelled out by the constituting, or first assembly, 
 
 after the Revolution. At Moncontour Henry III. de- 
 feated the Admiral Coligny in October, 1569. It lies 
 south-west of Paris about 190 miles. 
 
 MONS. 
 
 An ancient, strong and handsome city in the Low Coun- 
 tries, at the time of these Memoirs the capital of 
 Austrian Hainault, but now the chief town of the 
 Department of Jemappes. It was taken by the Duke 
 of Alva in 1572, and by Louis XIV. in 1691. The 
 Allies took it in 1705, after which, by the Peace of 
 Utrecht, it was given to the House of Austria ; the 
 French took it again on the loth of July, 1746, and it 
 was restored to Austria by the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. 
 It stands on the river Trouille, surrounded by marshes. 
 The town is built on very uneven ground, from whence 
 it derives its name. It is situated 21 miles from 
 Valenciennes and 160 from Paris, both of them to 
 
 the north-east. 
 
 MONTAUBAN. 
 
 A fine, rich city of France, formerly the capital of 
 
 Querci, and a generality. It has been the see of a 
 
 bishop, the suffragan of Toulouse, since the year 1317, 
 
 and is now included in the Department of the Lot, 
 
 of which Cahors is the chief town. The cathedral is 
 
 18 
 
274 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 275 
 
 a modern edifice, and is a very beautiful building. 
 The quay of Foucault, or Falaise, is a public walk, 
 esteemed very handsome. The bishop's palace, and 
 the conduit, named Griffon, are remarkable struc- 
 tures. The inhabitants of Montauban, in 1572, declared 
 themselves to be Huguenots, and fortified their town. 
 Louis XIII., son of Henry IV., laid siege to it in 
 1 62 1, which he was obliged to raise. In 1629 the 
 town submitted, and Cardinal Richelieu, who con- 
 ducted the affairs of France at that time, caused the 
 fortifications to be levelled with the ground. In 1752 
 a literary academy was established in this city. It 
 is divided into three parts, the old town and the new, 
 with Bourbon, which is separated from the former 
 two by the river Tame. It is distant from Paris 
 420 miles south, and about 30 miles from Cahors. 
 Its population amounts to 20,000 souls. 
 
 NAMUR. 
 
 A strong, rich, and large city, with a noble castle, in 
 the Netherlands, and formerly the capital of the 
 county of the same name, but at present the chief 
 town of the Department of the Sambre - et - Meuse, 
 on the confluence of which rivers it stands. The 
 cathedral, which was begun in 1750, is a handsome 
 
 building, as are the churches lately belonging to the 
 Recollects and Jesuits. Louis XIV. took this city in 
 1692, three years after which it was retaken by 
 William III. and the Allies. It was again bombarded 
 by the French, and taken, in 1704, and, in 1713, re- 
 stored to the House of Austria, when, by the Barrier 
 Treaty, it was committed to the keeping of the States- 
 General. In 1746 the French took it again; it was 
 afterwards restored to the House of Austria, and the 
 Dutch garrisons were to evacuate that city, and the 
 others which they held in pursuance of the Barrier 
 Treaty, in the year 1782. It is situated nearly 36 
 miles south-west of Liege, 37 miles east of Mons, 18 
 miles south-west of Huy, and 15 miles north-west of 
 Dinant. 
 
 NAVARRE. 
 
 A small kingdom, bordering on Spain, divided into two 
 parts, called the Upper and the Lower Navarre. 
 Upper Navarre belongs to Spain, and is bounded by 
 the Pyrenean mountains, having an extent of about 
 90 miles in length and 70 miles in breadth. It is 
 now one of the finest provinces in Spain, and has 
 roads cut through the mountains with prodigious 
 
 labour. The air of this province is reckoned the best 
 
 18—2 
 
276 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 and purest of all Spain, and, although it is covered 
 with mountains, the soil of it is nevertheless fertile. 
 It abounds with game, and has several iron mines. 
 The natives are polite, lively, and industrious, and do 
 not want an acuteness of genius for the sciences or 
 political affairs. Navarre is governed by a Viceroy, 
 and enjoys very particular privileges. It is divided 
 into five districts, the capitals of which are, Pampeluna, 
 Estella, Tudella, Olita, and Sanguesa. Lower Navarre 
 now belongs to France, and is separated from the 
 Upper by the Pyrenees, and now is included in the 
 two departments named from these mountains. Con- 
 trary to the Upper Navarre, the Lower is mountainous 
 and sterile. Louis XIII., as the heir of his grandmother, 
 Joan d'Albret, united the Lower Navarre and Beam to 
 the Crown of France in 1620. The domain of Navarre 
 extended to Bordeaux and Toulouse, both of which 
 cities had their parliaments. The Lower Navarre ex- 
 tended 24 miles in length and 15 miles in breadth. 
 
 NERAC. 
 
 A handsome city, in the province formerly called Gas- 
 cony, in the Condomois, belonging to the Government 
 of Guienne and Generality of Bordeaux, now included 
 in the Department of the Lot -et- Garonne. It was 
 
 IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 277 
 
 formerly the chief city of a duchy belonging to Albret, 
 King of Navarre, who, with the rest of the Sovereigns 
 of Navarre, made his residence in it. During the 
 sixteenth century, the Huguenots are said to have 
 exercised horrid cruelties here. However, it appears 
 from Peter Eisenberg's " Travels through France," 
 quoted by Martin Zeiller, in his " Reisebeschreibung 
 durch Frankreich," 1674, ^^^^ there was a court of 
 justice here (chamhre-mipavtie), the judges of which 
 were half Huguenots and half Catholics ; from which 
 we may conclude the Huguenots became latterly more 
 moderate than Vosgien has represented them in the 
 last sentence taken from his "Geographic Universelle." 
 The river Baise, which, by the means of sluices, is 
 rendered navigable to this city, divides it into two 
 parts, called Great and Little Nerac. Here, as men- 
 tioned by Margaret in her Memoirs, the King of 
 Navarre had a magnificent castle, adorned with gardens 
 and walks of cypress, laurel, and pomegranate trees. 
 Jodocus Sincerus, who wrote an " Itinerarium Galliae " 
 from his own observations in his travels through 
 France, printed at Amsterdam in 1649, says he was 
 shown there a large and flourishing cypress tree, 
 which was planted by the hands of Henry IV., an 
 omen of his future greatness. Nerac is 55 miles 
 
1. — _ 
 
 278 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 south-east of Bordeaux, and nearly 450 miles south- 
 by-west of Paris. 
 ^ PAU. 
 
 A beautiful Uttle city, formerly the capital of Beam, 
 and the seat of a parUament, but now the chief town 
 of the Department of the Lower Pyrenees. It has a 
 castle famous as the place where Henry IV. was born, 
 on December 13th, 1557- Its population is reckoned 
 to amount to 9,000 souls. 
 
 PLESSIS-LES-TOURS. 
 
 A royal residence, built by Louis XL, and the place 
 where he died in 1483. It stands near Tours, in a 
 pleasant situation. (See Tours in these Notes.) 
 
 POISSI, OR POISSY. 
 
 A small but ancient town, in what was lately called 
 
 the Isle of France, now included in the Department 
 
 of Seine -et-Oise. It is situated near the Forest of 
 
 Saint-Germain, on the left bank of the Seine, about 
 
 18 miles distant from Paris. It is famous for the 
 
 assembly held there concerning the points of rehgion 
 
 in dispute betwixt the Catholics and the Protestants, 
 
 called, in those Memoirs, the Colloqiie, Colloquy, or 
 
 Conference, of Poissy. It was the residence of the 
 
 Kings of France, and the birth-place of Saint Louis. 
 
 IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 279 
 
 POITIERS. 
 
 A very large and considerable city of France, formerly 
 in the Generality of Orleanais, the metropoHs of the 
 Province of Poitou, a bishopric and suffragan of the 
 Archbishop of Bordeaux, and a celebrated university ; 
 but, since the Revolution, it is become the chief town 
 of the Department of Vienne, from a river of that name. 
 The city is ill-built, and not inhabited in proportion to 
 its extent. It had fifteen parishes and a great number 
 of convents. There are, in and near it, many remains 
 of buildings of great antiquity; particularly a palace 
 said to have been built by the Emperor Gallienus, and 
 a triumphal arch, which serves as a gate. In the 
 middle of the square, once called the Place Royale, 
 stood a pedestrian statue of Louis XIV. It is famous 
 for a battle fought between our renowned Black Prince 
 and the French under King John, in the year 1356; 
 in which John was taken prisoner, and afterwards 
 brought to England. It is situated on a rising 
 ground, watered by the river Clain, 63 miles distant 
 from Tours, and about 220 miles south-west of Paris. 
 
 REOLE (LA). 
 
 A small town on the right bank of the Garonne, 24 
 miles south-east of Bordeaux. 
 
IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 281 
 
 280 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 RHEIMS. 
 
 A very ancient, great, fine and populous city of France. 
 Before the Revolution it was the metropolis of the 
 Generality of Champagne, the see of an archbishop, 
 who was the first duke and peer of France, and a 
 university town ; but, by the changes brought about by 
 that event, it became a part of the Department of the 
 Marne. Here the Kings of France were anointed, an 
 office claimed exclusively by the archbishop. It has a 
 large square, in which was erected a statue of Louis XV. 
 The cathedral was built in the thirteenth century, and 
 is esteemed the most perfect model of Gothic archi- 
 tecture in the whole kingdom, and, according to some, 
 in all Europe. The portal is greatly admired by the 
 curious. It stands in a plain surrounded by hills, and 
 produces wine of a most excellent quality, and is watered 
 by the river Vesle; at the distance of 100 miles north- 
 east of Paris. Its population is computed at 31,000 
 
 souls. 
 SAINT-GERMAINS, or SAINT-GERMAIN-EN- 
 
 LAYE. 
 A handsome town, formerly making part of the Isle of 
 France, but now included in the Department of the 
 Seine-et-Oise. It has been a residence of the Kings 
 of France, many of whom have, from time to time. 
 
 made additions to it. It is remarkable for having been 
 the place of retreat assigned to our James II. when he 
 abdicated these kingdoms, and here it was he died. 
 Louis XIV. was born there, September 5th, 1638. 
 The palace is much admired for its beautiful situation 
 and prospects, its delightful gardens and noble forest. 
 It stands on the Seine, 12 miles north-west of Paris. 
 
 SAINTONGE. 
 A former province of France, now comprehended in the 
 Department of the Lower Charente, a river which, run- 
 ning north and south, divides it into two parts. The 
 soil produces wine, corn and fruits in abundance. Salt is 
 produced there. The breed of horses is much admired 
 
 and valued. 
 
 SENS. 
 
 An ancient and beautiful city of France, formerly 
 belonging to the Government of Champagne and the 
 metropohs of Senenais, the see of an archbishop, who 
 assumed the title of Primate of the Gauls and Ger- 
 many, but now included in the Department of Yonne. 
 The city is not peopled in proportion to its size, though 
 well situated for trade, in the midst of a fine, fertile 
 country, and on the confluence of the rivers Vanne 
 and Yonne. It stands about 60 miles south-east of 
 
 i - -^ 
 

 282 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 Paris. The Dauphin, who died in 1765, and the 
 Dauphiness, his consort, desired to be buried here. 
 
 SPA. 
 
 This place, it seems, has undergone a considerable 
 change since the time our Margaret visited it; for it 
 is now, according to Vosgien, the largest and most 
 handsome village in Europe, after the Hague. Its 
 mineral waters are resorted to by the natives of every 
 country in Europe. They are drawn from three springs, 
 one of which, namely the Pouxhon, is in the town it- 
 self; the two others, the Geronster and the Saaveniere, 
 about two miles from it. From the Pouxhon spring 
 great quantities of water are taken up and carried into 
 other countries; but the water of the two others is of 
 too volatile a nature to admit of distant carriage. The 
 houses of Spa are handsome, and most of them modern 
 buildings. There are two public edifices which are 
 greatly admired; these are the Ridetto and the Vaux- 
 hall. The effect of such grand erections in the midst 
 of the craggy mountains and impending rocks with 
 which Spa is surrounded, is striking and singular. 
 Notwithstanding the disadvantages of situation here 
 mentioned, the hand of industry has cut out a variety 
 of walks at once pleasing and curious; and, on the 
 
 IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 283 
 
 whole, the wild rudeness of Nature and the laborious 
 elegance of art have been contrasted in a manner which 
 excites astonishment and admiration. Spa has been 
 visited by a number of kings and princes. The Czar 
 Peter and other great monarchs have been there. The 
 Emperor Joseph II. stayed there some time in 1781. 
 No mineral water has been so universally resorted to, 
 or carried to so many distant places. The inhabitants 
 manufacture toys in painted wood, in a very elegant 
 manner, which they sell to strangers. The town is 
 well suppUed with good fish and game. It is situated 
 to the south-east of Liege, at the distance, according 
 to Vosgien, of eight leagues, or 24 EngUsh miles. 
 Margaret seems to have computed the distance to be 
 much less ; her words are : " Les eaux de Spa n'estans 
 qu'a trois ou qtcatre lieues de Liege:' I am at a loss to 
 account for this difference, unless she means German 
 miles, each of which were equal to seven or eight 
 English miles, or that the French league in her time 
 was twice the length it is now. 
 
 The water of Pouxhon Spring, Dr. Wittie^ says, 
 was first brought into England to Count Beaumont,^ 
 
 1 " On the Virtues of Scarborough Spa," 1660. 
 
 2 He was the son of Achilles de Harlay. first president of 
 the parliament of Paris. 
 

 284 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED 
 
 IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 285 
 
 whilst he was ambassador from France to King James, 
 and, being found equally good as if fresh from the well, 
 it has been an article of importation ever since. The 
 virtues of these waters are more particularly explained 
 by the celebrated Hoffman, who first estabHshed the 
 practice of analysation of mineral springs; and after 
 him by our countryman, Dr. Shaw, in his '* Observa- 
 tions on Medicinal Waters." 
 
 TOULOUSE. 
 
 A very ancient and large city, and the most considerable 
 one in France. It belonged to the former province of 
 Languedoc, and was itself a county, an archbishop's 
 see, and celebrated university. According to the revo- 
 lutionary division into Departments, it is the chief 
 town of that of the Upper Garonne. The town house, 
 or Hotel de Ville, was called the Capitol, and the 
 consuls were styled Capitouls, This city is not peopled 
 in proportion to its size, and, though well situated for 
 trade, has but a small share of it. It stands on the 
 right bank of the Garonne, over which is a handsome 
 bridge, near the end of the Canal of Languedoc. It is 
 distant from Paris about 450 miles west. The number 
 of its inhabitants is computed to be 56,000. 
 
 TOURS. 
 A fair, large, and rich city of France, formerly belonging 
 to the Government of Orleanais and the metropoUs of 
 the Duchy of Touraine, an archbishop's see, and a 
 generality, but now the chief town of the Department 
 of the Indre-et- Loire. It had heretofore a chapter 
 of nobles, dedicated to Saint Martin, to which the 
 Kings of France, from time immemorial, belonged, as 
 abbot and premier canon. The church belonging to 
 this illustrious chapter is esteemed one of the largest 
 in France. There is likewise a cathedral, belonging 
 to which is a library filled with manuscripts. The 
 city carries on a considerable trade in silks manu- 
 factured here. It is situated in a beautiful plain 
 between the Cher and the Loire, over which last river 
 a bridge was constructed in 1777, part of which fell 
 in as soon as finished. It is distant from Paris about 
 150 miles south-west. Its population amounts to 
 21,600 inhabitants. 
 
 In addition to the description which Margaret has 
 given of the following place, the reader will not be 
 displeased at finding an account of its present state. 
 
 VALENCIENNES. 
 An ancient, strong, and considerable city and county in 
 the Netherlands; formerly the metropoUs of French 
 
\. 
 
 286 
 
 PLACES MENTIONED IN THESE MEMOIRS 
 
 H 
 
 Hainault, with a good citadel, now included in the 
 Department of the Nord. It has a considerable manu- 
 factory of cambrics and woollen stuffs, and carries on 
 a great trade in laces. The citadel and its fortifications 
 were constructed by Vauban. The Kings of France 
 had anciently a palace in this city. Louis XIV. took 
 it from the Spaniards in 1677, and, at the Treaty of 
 Nimeguen, in the following year, it was confirmed to 
 him. It is situated on the Scheldt, which divides it 
 into two parts. It stands to the south-west of Mons, 
 about 21 miles from it, and nearly the same distance 
 north-east of Cambray, and 140 miles north of Paris. 
 Its population is computed to be 19,500 souls. It was 
 taken by the allied army of England and Austria in 
 1793, after an obstinate siege, and shortly afterwards 
 restored to France. 
 
 VINCENNES. 
 A royal palace, situated at the distance of about three 
 miles from Paris, in what was formerly called the Isle 
 of France, but now included in the Department of the 
 Seine. It has been used occasionally as a state prison, 
 and has a park adjoining it, of considerable extent. 
 
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