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 Maréchal 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 of this siege at his castle of
Plessis-les-Tours, whither he had retired after his return from
Flanders, where, by the assistance of the Comte 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 possible; but, finding it could
not be accomplished very speedily, he sent forward a reinforcement
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 defending the place.
His grief on this occasion was poignant, and, as his excellent
judgment furnished him with expedients under all his difficulties,
he resolved to endeavour to bring about a peace. Accordingly he
despatched a gentleman to the King with his advice to accede to
terms, offering to undertake 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. Accordingly he sent word back to my brother
that he should accept his proffer of negotiating a peace, and
would send him for his coadjutors, M. de Villeroy and M. de
Bellièvre. 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 Cambray, 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, Maréchal
de Biron, who 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 Maréchal de
Matignon in his place.
Before my brother set off he was desirous to bring about a
reconciliation betwixt the King my husband and Maréchal de Biron,
provided the latter should make his apologies to me for his conduct
at Nérac. 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 Maréchal 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 with 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
forgiven 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 mentioned, 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 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
Nérac. We were no sooner there than Fosseuse persuaded the King
my husband to make a journey to the waters of Aigues-Caudes,
in Béarn, 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 Béarn until the Catholic religion
was reestablished 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 Bavière.
I had every day news from Rebours, informing me how matters went.
This Rebours I have mentioned before to have been the object of my
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
circumvent her; and, indeed, she was fully qualified for such
a purpose, as she was a cunning, deceitful 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 Bavière, 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 reliance 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 nobility of the neighbourhood of Bavière used their 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 go with him. 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 Nérac.
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 accordingly
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 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 retired 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 thence before your delivery. By
this means we shall put a stop to the scandalous reports which
are now current, and which concern you more than myself."
So far from showing any contrition, or returning 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 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 honours 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, according to custom. She begged
that I might come and see her, as was usual with me when anyone 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 bedchamber, 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 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 likewise contributed all in her power to aggravate matters
betwixt him and me.
In the meantime, the King my brother, always well informed of
what 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 circumstance that I have now related. Thinking
this a favourable occasion to wreak his vengeance on me for having
been the means of my brother acquiring 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 himself
was 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 steward 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, contributed
to induce me to listen to the proposal made me.
The King and the Queen both wrote to me. I received three letters,
in quick succession; 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 Maréchal de Matignon
had 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 which, I thought that, as I should take Fosseuse with
me, it was possible 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 inclined to do me mischief.
It was with some difficulty that the King my husband would consent
to a removal, so unwilling 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 reluctance I had
to leave the King my husband, after the instances of renewed
love and regard which he had begun to show me.