A GALLANT OF LORRAINE
VOL. II.
[Illustration: QUEEN HENRIETTA MARIA.
From the picture by Van Dyck at Dresden.
[Frontispiece]
A GALLANT
OF LORRAINE
FRANÇOIS, SEIGNEUR DE BASSOMPIERRE,
MARQUIS D’HAROUEL, MARÉCHAL
:: :: DE FRANCE (1579-1646) :: ::
BY
H. NOEL WILLIAMS
AUTHOR OF “FIVE FAIR SISTERS,” “A PRINCESS OF INTRIGUE,”
“THE BROOD OF FALSE LORRAINE,” ETC.
_IN TWO VOLUMES_
_With 16 Illustrations_
VOL. II
_LONDON: HURST & BLACKETT, LTD
:: PATERNOSTER HOUSE, E.C. ::_
CONTENTS
VOL. II
CHAPTER XXV
Offer of Schomberg, Saint-Géran and Marillac to take Montauban within
twelve days--Advice of Père Arnoux--Diplomacy of Bassompierre--A
humiliating fiasco--A second attempt meets with no better
success--Bassompierre counsels the King to raise the siege, and it is
decided to follow his advice--General exasperation against Luynes--Louis
XIII begins to grow weary of his favourite--Conversation of the King
with Bassompierre--The latter warns Luynes that he “does not
sufficiently cultivate the good graces of the King”--Reply of the
Constable--Louis XIII twits Luynes with the love of the Duc de Chevreuse
for his wife--Puisieux, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Père Arnoux,
the King’s Jesuit confessor, conspire against the Constable--Disgrace of
the latter--Bassompierre, at the head of the bulk of the Royal forces,
lays siege to Monheurt--A perilous situation--Bassompierre falls ill of
fever--He leaves the army and sets out for La Réole--He is taken
seriously ill at Marmande--His three doctors--Approach of the
enemy--Refusal of the townsfolk to admit him and his suite into the
town--A terrible night--He recovers and proceeds to Bordeaux--Death of
the Constable before Monheurt.....pp. 321-339
CHAPTER XXVI
Who will govern the King and France?--The pretenders to the royal
favour--Position of Bassompierre--The Cardinal de Retz and Schomberg
join forces and secure for their ally De Vic the office of Keeper of the
Seals--They propose to remove Bassompierre from the path of their
ambition by separating him from the King--Bassompierre is offered the
lieutenancy-general of Guienne and subsequently the government of Béarn,
but declines both offices--He inflicts a sharp reverse upon Retz and
Schomberg--Condé joins the Court--His designs--The rival parties: the
party of the Ministers and the party of the marshals--_Monsieur le
Prince_ decides to ally himself with that of the Ministers--Mortifying
rebuff administered by the King to the Ministers at the instance of
Bassompierre--Failure of an attempt of the Ministers to injure
Bassompierre and Créquy with Louis XIII--Arrival of the King in
Paris--Affectionate meeting between him and his mother--Accident to the
Queen.....pp. 340-352
CHAPTER XXVII
Question of the Huguenot War the principal subject of contention between
the two parties--Condé and the Ministers demand its continuance--Marie
de’ Medici, prompted by Richelieu, advocates peace--Secret negotiations
of Louis XIII with the Huguenot leaders--Soubise’s offensive in the West
obliges the King to continue the war--Louis XIII advances against the
Huguenot chief, who has established himself in the Île de Rié--Condé
accuses Bassompierre of “desiring to prevent him from acquiring
glory”--Courage of the King--Passage of the Royal army from the Île du
Perrier to the Île de Rié--Total defeat of Soubise--Siege of Royan--The
King in the trenches--His remarkable coolness and intrepidity under
fire--Capitulation of Royan--The Marquis de la Force created a marshal
of France--Conversation between Louis XIII and Bassompierre--Diplomatic
speech of the latter.....pp. 353-362
CHAPTER XXVIII
Condé and his allies offer to secure for Bassompierre the position of
favourite, if he will join forces with them to bring about the fall of
Puisieux--Refusal of Bassompierre--Condé complains to Louis XIII of
Bassompierre’s hostility to him--Bassompierre informs the King of the
proposal which has been made him--Louis XIII orders _Monsieur le Prince_
to be reconciled with Bassompierre--Siege of Négrepelisse--The town is
taken by storm--Terrible fate of the garrison and the inhabitants--Fresh
differences between Condé and Bassompierre--Discomfiture of _Monsieur le
Prince_--Bassompierre, placed temporarily in command of the Royal army,
captures the towns of Carmain and Cuq-Toulza--Offer of Bassompierre to
resign his claim to the marshal’s bâton in favour of
Schomberg--Surrender of Lunel--Massacre of the garrison by disbanded
soldiers of the Royal army--Bassompierre causes eight of the latter to
be hanged--Lunel in danger of being destroyed by fire with all within
its walls--Bassompierre, by his presence of mind, saves the
situation--Schomberg and Bassompierre--The latter is promised the
marshal’s bâton.....pp. 363-376
CHAPTER XXIX
Conditions of peace with the Huguenots decided upon--Refusal of the
citizens of Montpellier to open their gates to the King until his army
has been disbanded--Bullion advises Louis XIII to accede to their
wishes, and is supported by the majority of the Council--Bassompierre is
of the contrary opinion and urges the King to reduce Montpellier to
“entire submission and repentance”--Louis XIII decides to follow the
advice of Bassompierre, and the siege of the town is begun--A disastrous
day for the Royal army--Death of Zamet and the Italian engineer
Gamorini--Political intrigues--Bassompierre succeeds in securing the
post of Keeper of the Seals for Caumartin, although the King has already
promised it to d’Aligre, the nominee of Condé--Heavy losses sustained by
the besiegers in an attack upon one of the advanced works--Condé quits
the army and sets out for Italy--Bassompierre is created marshal of
France amidst general acclamations--Peace is signed--Death of the Abbé
Roucellaï--Bassompierre accompanies the King to Avignon, where he again
falls of petechial fever, but recovers--He assists at the entry of the
King and Queen into Lyons--He is offered the government of the Maine,
but declines it......pp. 377-393
CHAPTER XXX
Fall of Schomberg--La Vieuville becomes _Surintendent des Finances_--His
bitter jealousy of Bassompierre--He informs Louis XIII that the marshal
“deserves the Bastille or worse”--Semi-disgrace of Bassompierre, who,
however, succeeds in making his peace with the King--Mismanagement of
public affairs by Puisieux and his father, the Chancellor Brulart de
Sillery--La Vieuville and Richelieu intrigue against them and procure
their dismissal from office--The Earl of Holland arrives in Paris to
sound the French Court on the question of a marriage between the Prince
of Wales and Henrietta Maria--Bassompierre takes part in a grand ballet
at the Louvre--La Vieuville accuses the marshal of drawing more money
for the Swiss than he is entitled to--Foreign policy of La
Vieuville--Richelieu re-enters the Council--Bassompierre accused by La
Vieuville of being a pensioner of Spain--Serious situation of the
marshal--The Connétable Lesdiguières advises Bassompierre to leave
France, but the latter decides to remain--Differences between La
Vieuville and Richelieu over the negotiations for the English
marriage--Arrogance and presumption of La Vieuville--Intrigues of
Richelieu against him--The King informs Bassompierre that he has decided
to disgrace La Vieuville--Indiscretion of the marshal--Duplicity of
Louis XIII towards his Minister--Fall of La Vieuville--Richelieu becomes
the virtual head of the Council.....pp. 394-410
CHAPTER XXXI
Vigorous foreign policy of Richelieu--The recovery of the
Valtellina--His projected blow at the Spanish power in Northern Italy
frustrated by a fresh Huguenot insurrection--Bassompierre sent to
Brittany--Marriage of Charles I and Henrietta Maria--Bassompierre
offered the command of a new army which is to be despatched to Italy--He
demands 7,000 men from the Army of Champagne--The Duc d’Angoulême and
Louis de Marillac, the generals commanding that army, have recourse to
the bogey of a German invasion in order to retain these
troops--Bassompierre declines the appointment--Conversation between
Bassompierre and the Spanish Ambassador Mirabello on the subject of
peace between France and Spain--The marshal is empowered to treat for
peace with Mirabello--Singular conduct of the Ambassador--News arrives
from Madrid that Philip IV has revoked the powers given to
Mirabello--Bassompierre is sent as Ambassador Extraordinary to the Swiss
Cantons to counteract the intrigues of the house of Austria and the
Papacy--His reception in Switzerland--Lavish hospitality which he
dispenses--Complete success of his negotiations.....pp. 411-425
CHAPTER XXXII
Bassompierre goes on a mission to Charles IV of Lorraine--He returns to
France--The Venetian Ambassador Contarini informs the marshal that it is
rumoured that a secret treaty has been signed between France and
Spain--Richelieu authorises Bassompierre to deny that such a treaty
exists, but the same day the marshal learns from the King that the
French Ambassador at Madrid has signed a treaty, though unauthorised to
do so--Indignation of Bassompierre, who, however, refrains from
denouncing the treaty, which it is decided not to disavow--Explanation
of this diplomatic imbroglio--Growing strength of the aristocratic
opposition to Richelieu--The marriage of _Monsieur_--The “_Conspiration
des Dames_”--Intrigues of the Duchesse de Chevreuse--Madame de Chevreuse
and Chalais--Objects of the conspirators--Arrest of the Maréchal
d’Ornano--Indignation of _Monsieur_--Conversation of Bassompierre with
the prince--Plot against the life or liberty of Richelieu--Chalais is
forced by the Commander de Valençay to reveal it to the Cardinal--“The
quarry is no longer at home!”--Alarm of _Monsieur_--His abject
submission to the King and Richelieu--He resumes his intrigues--Chalais
is again involved in the conspiracy by Madame de Chevreuse--Arrest of
the Duc de Vendôme and his half-brother the Grand Prior.....pp. 426-445
CHAPTER XXXIII
Alarm of the conspirators at the arrest of the Vendômes--Chalais, at the
instigation of Madame de Chevreuse, urges _Monsieur_ to take flight and
throw himself into a fortress--_Monsieur_ and Chalais join the Court at
Blois--The Comte de Louvigny betrays the latter to the Cardinal--Chalais
is arrested at Nantes--Despicable conduct of _Monsieur_--Chalais,
persuaded by Richelieu that Madame de Chevreuse is unfaithful to him,
makes the gravest accusation against her, in the hope of saving his
life--He is, nevertheless, condemned to death--He withdraws his
accusations against Madame de Chevreuse--His barbarous execution--Death
of the Maréchal d’Ornano--Marriage of _Monsieur_--Bassompierre declines
the post of _Surintendant_ of _Monsieur’s_ Household--Indignation of
Louis XIII against Anne of Austria--Public humiliation inflicted upon
the Queen--Banishment of Madame de Chevreuse--Bassompierre nominated
Ambassador Extraordinary to England--Differences between Charles I and
Henrietta over the question of the young Queen’s French attendants--The
Tyburn pilgrimage--Expulsion of the French attendants from
England--Resentment of the Court of France.....pp. 446-466
CHAPTER XXXIV
Bassompierre arrives in England--His journey to London--He is visited
secretly by the Duke of Buckingham--He visits the duke in the same
manner at York House--Charles I commands him to send Père de Sancy back
to France--Singular history of this ecclesiastic--Refusal of
Bassompierre--His first audience of Charles I and Henrietta Maria at
Hampton Court--Firmness of Bassompierre on the question of Père de
Sancy--He visits the Queen at Somerset House--His private audience of
the King--He reproves the presumption of Buckingham--Admirable
qualities displayed by Bassompierre in the difficult situation in which
he is placed--He succeeds in effecting a reconciliation between the King
and Queen--His able and eloquent speech before the Council--An agreement
on the question of the Queen’s French attendants is finally arrived
at--Lord Mayor’s Day three centuries ago--Bassompierre reconciles the
Queen with Buckingham--Stormy scene between Charles I and Henrietta
Maria at Whitehall--Bassompierre speaks his mind to the Queen--Intrigues
of Père de Sancy--Peace is re-established--Magnificent fête at York
House--Departure of Bassompierre from London--He is detained at Dover by
bad weather--England and France on the verge of war--Buckingham decides
to proceed to France on a special mission and proposes to accompany
Bassompierre--Embarrassment of the latter--He visits the duke at
Canterbury and persuades him to defer his visit--A disastrous Channel
passage--Return of Bassompierre to Paris--Refusal of the Court of France
to receive Buckingham--An English historian’s appreciation of
Bassompierre.....pp. 467-501
CHAPTER XXXV
The Assembly of the Notables--Bassompierre nominated one of the four
presidents--The “sorry Château of Versailles”--The ballet of _le Sérieux
et le Grotesque_--Execution of Montmorency-Boutteville and Des Chapelles
for duelling--Death of _Madame_--Preparations for war with
England--Louis XIII resolves to take command of the army assembled in
Poitou--The King falls ill at the Château of Villeroy--Bassompierre is
prevented by Richelieu from visiting him--Intrigue by which the Duc
d’Angoulême is appointed to the command of the army which ought to have
devolved upon Bassompierre--Descent of Buckingham upon the Île de
Ré--Blockade of the fortress of Saint-Martin--Investment of La Rochelle
by the Royal army--Bassompierre, the King, and Richelieu at the Château
of Saumery--The Cardinal assumes the practical direction of the military
operations--Provisions and reinforcements are thrown into
Saint-Martin--Refusal of the Maréchaux de Bassompierre and Schomberg to
allow Angoulême to be associated with them in the command of the Royal
army--Schomberg is persuaded to accept the duke as a
colleague--Bassompierre persists in his refusal and requests permission
of the King to leave the army--He is offered and accepts the command of
a separate army, which is to blockade La Rochelle from the north-western
side--He declines the government of Brittany--Dangerous situation of
Buckingham’s army in the Île de Ré--Unsuccessful attempt to take
Saint-Martin by assault--Disastrous retreat of the English.....pp. 502-528
CHAPTER XXXVI
Siege of La Rochelle begins--Immense difficulties of the
undertaking--Unwillingness of the great nobles to see the Huguenot party
entirely crushed--Remark of Bassompierre--Courage and energy of
Richelieu--His measures to provide for the welfare and efficiency of the
besieging army--The lines of circumvallation--Erection of the Fort of
La Fons by Bassompierre--The construction of the mole is begun and
proceeded with in the face of great difficulties--Responsibilities of
Bassompierre--The Duc d’Angoulême accuses the marshal of a gross piece
of negligence, but the latter succeeds in turning the tables upon his
accuser--Louis XIII returns to Paris, leaving Richelieu with the title
of “Lieutenant-General of the Army”--Critical state of affairs in
Italy--Unsuccessful attempts to take La Rochelle by surprise--Intrigues
of Marie de’ Medici and the High Catholic party against Richelieu--The
King rejoins the army--Guiton elected Mayor of La Rochelle.....pp. 529-541
CHAPTER XXXVII
Arrival of the English fleet under the Earl of Denbigh--Its
composition--Daring feat of an English pinnace--Retirement of the
fleet--Probable explanation of this fiasco--Indignation of Charles I,
who orders Denbigh to return to La Rochelle, but this is found to be
impossible--The Rochellois approach Bassompierre with a request for a
conference to arrange terms of surrender--The arrival of a letter from
Charles I promising to send another fleet to their succour causes the
negotiations to be broken off--La Rochelle in the grip of
famine--Refusal of Louis XIII to allow the old men, women and children
to pass through the Royal lines: their miserable fate--Movements in
favour of surrender among the citizens suppressed by the Mayor
Guiton--Terrible sufferings of La Rochelle--Bassompierre spares the life
of a Huguenot soldier who had intended to kill him--Difficulties
experienced by Charles I and Buckingham in fitting out a new
expedition--Assassination of Buckingham--The vanguard of the English
fleet, under the command of the Earl of Lindsey, appears off La
Rochelle--Narrow escape of Richelieu and Bassompierre--The King takes up
his quarters with Bassompierre at Laleu--Arrival of the rest of the
English fleet--Feeble efforts of the English to force their way into the
harbour--The Rochellois, reduced to the last extremity, sue for
peace--Bassompierre conducts deputies from the town to
Richelieu--Surrender of La Rochelle--Bassompierre returns with the King
to Paris.....pp. 542-562
CHAPTER XXXVIII
The Duc de Rohan and the Huguenots of the South continue their
resistance--Opposition of Marie de’ Medici and the High Catholic party
to Richelieu’s Italian policy--The Cardinal’s memorial to Louis
XIII--_Monsieur_ appointed to the command of the army which is to enter
Italy--The King, jealous of his brother, decides to command in
person--Twelve thousand crowns for a dozen of cider--Combat of the Pass
of Susa--Treaty signed with Charles Emmanuel of Savoy--Problem of the
reception of the Genoese Ambassadors--Anger of Louis XIII at a jest of
Bassompierre--Peace with England--Campaign against the Huguenots of
Languedoc--Massacre of the garrison of Privas--“_La Paix de
Grâce_”--Surrender of Montauban--Richelieu and d’Épernon--Bassompierre
returns to Paris with the Cardinal--Their frigid reception by the
Queen-Mother--Richelieu proposes to retire from affairs and the Court,
but an accommodation is effected.....pp. 563-582
CHAPTER XXXIX
Serious situation of affairs in Italy--Trouble with
_Monsieur_--Richelieu entrusted with the command of the Army in
Italy--It is decided to send Bassompierre on a special embassy to
Switzerland--The marshal buys the Château of Chaillot--His departure for
Switzerland--Mazarin at Lyons--Bassompierre’s reception at Fribourg--He
arrives at Soleure and convenes a meeting of the Diet--His discomfiture
of the Chancellor of Alsace--Success of his mission--He receives orders
from Richelieu to mobilise 6,000 Swiss--The Cardinal as
generalissimo--Pinerolo surrenders--Bassompierre joins the King at
Lyons--Louis XIII and Mlle. de Hautefort--Successful campaign of
Bassompierre in Savoy--His mortification at having to resign his command
to the Maréchal de Châtillon--Increasing rancour of the Queen-Mother
against Richelieu--Visit of Bassompierre to Paris--An unfortunate
coincidence--Louis XIII falls dangerously ill at Lyons--Intrigues around
his sick-bed--Perilous situation of Richelieu--Recovery of the
King--Arrival of Bassompierre at Lyons--Suspicions of Richelieu
concerning the marshal--The latter endeavours to disarm them--Question
of Bassompierre’s connection with the anti-Richelieu cabal
considered--His secret marriage to the Princesse de Conti.....pp. 583-596
CHAPTER XL
Peace is signed with the Emperor at Ratisbon--The Queen-Mother deprives
Richelieu’s niece Madame de Combalet of her post of _dame d’atours_ and
demands of Louis XIII the instant dismissal of the Cardinal--The
Luxembourg interview--“The Day of Dupes”--Triumph of
Richelieu--Bassompierre’s explanation of his own part in this
affair--His visit to Versailles--“He has arrived after the battle!”--He
gives offence to Richelieu by refusing an invitation to dinner--He finds
himself in semi-disgrace--_Monsieur_ quarrels with the Cardinal and
leaves the Court--The King again treats Bassompierre with
cordiality--Departure of the Court for Compiègne--Bassompierre learns
that the Queen-Mother has been placed under arrest and the Princesse de
Conti exiled, and that he himself is to be arrested--The marshal is
advised by the Duc d’Épernon to leave France--He declines and announces
his intention of going to the Court to meet his fate--He burns “more
than six thousand love-letters”--His arrival at the Court--Singular
conduct of the King towards him--The marshal is arrested by the Sieur de
Launay, lieutenant of the Gardes du Corps, and conducted to the
Bastille.....pp. 597-613
CHAPTER XLI
Bassompierre in the Bastille--He is informed that he has been imprisoned
“from fear lest he might be induced to do wrong”--_Monsieur_ retires to
Lorraine--The marshal’s nephew the Marquis de Bassompierre is ordered to
leave France--After a few weeks of captivity, Bassompierre solicits his
liberty, which is refused--He falls seriously ill, but recovers--Death
of his wife the Princesse de Conti--Flight of the Queen-Mother to
Brussels--Death of Bassompierre’s brother the Marquis de
Removille--Execution of the Maréchal de Marillac--Montmorency’s
revolt--Trial and execution of the duke--Hopes of liberty, which,
however, do not materialise--Arrest of Châteauneuf--Arrival of the
Chevalier de Jars in the Bastille--A grim experience--Bassompierre
disposes of his post of Colonel-General of the Swiss to the Marquis de
Coislin--The marshal’s hopes of liberty constantly flattered and as
constantly deceived--Malignity of Richelieu--The ravages committed by
the contending armies upon his estates in Lorraine reduce Bassompierre
to the verge of ruin--The marshal’s niece, Madame de Beuvron, solicits
her uncle’s liberty of Richelieu--Mocking answer of the Cardinal--Some
notes written by Bassompierre in the margin of a copy of Dupleix’s
history are published under his name, but without his authority--The
historian complains to the Cardinal--Arrest of Valbois for reciting a
sonnet attacking Richelieu for his treatment of
Bassompierre--Apprehensions of the marshal--His despair at his continued
detention--Grief occasioned him by the death of a favourite dog--The Duc
de Guise dies in exile.....pp. 614-633
CHAPTER XLII
Death of Richelieu--Bassompierre is offered his liberty on condition
that he shall retire to his brother-in-law Saint-Luc’s Château of
Tillières--He at first refuses to leave the Bastille, unless he is
permitted to return to Court--His friends persuade him to alter his
decision--He is authorised to reappear at Court--His answer to the
King’s question concerning his age--He recovers his post as
Colonel-General of the Swiss--His death--His funeral--His sons, Louis de
Bassompierre and François de la Tour--His nephews.....pp. 634-640
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VOL. II
QUEEN HENRIETTA MARIA _Frontispiece_
From the picture by Van Dyck at Dresden.
FACING PAGE
LOUIS XIII, KING OF FRANCE 346
From an engraving by Picart.
CHARLES, MARQUIS DE LA VIEUVILLE 402
From a contemporary print.
FRANÇOIS, SEIGNEUR DE BASSOMPIERRE, MARQUIS D’HAROUEL 430
From a contemporary print.
CHARLES I 470
After the picture by Van Dyck at Dresden.
GEORGE VILLIERS, FIRST DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM 518
After the picture by Gerard Honthorst in the National Portrait
Gallery. Photo by Emery Walker.
MARIE DE’ MEDICIS, QUEEN OF FRANCE 564
From an old print.
CHARLOTTE LOUISE DE LORRAINE, PRINCESSE DE CONTI 604
From an engraving by Thomas de Leu.
A Gallant of Lorraine
CHAPTER XXV
Offer of Schomberg, Saint-Géran and Marillac to take Montauban
within twelve days--Advice of Père Arnoux--Diplomacy of
Bassompierre--A humiliating fiasco--A second attempt meets with no
better success--Bassompierre counsels the King to raise the siege,
and it is decided to follow his advice--General exasperation
against Luynes--Louis XIII begins to grow weary of his
favourite--Conversation of the King with Bassompierre--The latter
warns Luynes that he “does not sufficiently cultivate the good
graces of the King”--Reply of the Constable--Louis XIII twits
Luynes with the love of the Duc de Chevreuse for his
wife--Puisieux, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Père Arnoux, the
King’s Jesuit confessor, conspire against the Constable--Disgrace
of the latter--Bassompierre, at the head of the bulk of the Royal
forces, lays siege to Monheurt--A perilous situation--Bassompierre
falls ill of fever--He leaves the army and sets out for La
Réole--He is taken seriously ill at Marmande--His three
doctors--Approach of the enemy--Refusal of the townsfolk to admit
him and his suite into the town--A terrible night--He recovers and
proceeds to Bordeaux--Death of the Constable before Monheurt.
During the next few days some progress was made by the Guards at
Ville-Nouvelle; but the other two divisions seemed able to do little or
nothing; while the garrison, strengthened by the accession of several
hundred first-class fighting men, harassed them incessantly. On October
4, Louis XIII summoned another council of war at Picqueos, to which
Bassompierre went. On his arrival he was met by Père Arnoux, the King’s
Jesuit confessor, who said to him: “Well, Monsieur, Montauban is going
to be given, so they say, to him who offers the lowest price for it, as
they give the public works in France. In how many days do you offer to
take it?” Bassompierre replied that no one would be so presumptuous as
to name a day by which a place like Montauban could be taken, and that
the duration of the siege would depend on many circumstances. “We have
bidders much more determined than you are,” rejoined the Jesuit. And he
told him that the leaders of the Le Moustier division had pledged “their
heads and their honour” to take Montauban in twelve days, provided that
the Guards would hand over to them the greater part of their cannon; and
that it was with the object of deliberating upon this proposal that the
council had been summoned. He then advised Bassompierre, with whom he
was on very friendly terms, that he and colleagues “would do a thing
agreeable to the King and the Constable by not opposing it, unless they
were prepared to pledge themselves to place Montauban in the King’s
hands in an even shorter time.”
Bassompierre thanked the Jesuit, and drawing Praslin and Chaulnes aside,
told them of the proposal which the leaders of the Le Moustier
division--Schomberg, Saint-Géran and Marillac--intended to make at the
council, though he did not tell them of the source of his information,
which he allowed them to think was the King himself. He then pointed out
that these officers, who had been in anything but good odour with the
King and the rest of the army since their refusal to attack the bastion
of Le Moustier, hoped to rehabilitate their reputation for courage by
offering to accomplish a task which they must very well know to be
impossible, even with the assistance of the Guards’ cannon. They
undoubtedly believed, however, that Praslin and Chaulnes would refuse to
surrender their artillery, in which event they would gain credit with
the King for having made the offer, and, at the same time, throw the
responsibility for being unable to carry it out upon the officers of the
Guards’ division, of whom they were bitterly jealous. And he begged the
two marshals “in God’s name” not to fall into the trap prepared for them
by refusing to give up their cannon. The latter agreed to do as he
advised, and they went into the room where the council was assembling.
The Constable opened the proceedings in a lengthy speech, in which he
exhorted the marshals and generals present to “lay aside all emulations,
jealousies and envies,” and co-operate loyally together for the service
of the King. Then he turned to the leaders of the Guards’ division and
“inquired how long precisely they would require to take the town.”
Bassompierre and the two marshals, after a pretence of consulting
together, answered that they had done, and would continue to do,
everything that was humanly possible to achieve this result, but that
they were not prepared to name any definite time. The Constable then
said that the officers from Le Moustier were ready to pledge themselves
to take the town in twelve days; and Saint-Géran, turning to the King,
exclaimed: “Yes, Sire, we promise it you upon our honour and upon our
lives!”
Bassompierre and his colleagues applauded their resolution to render
this great service to the King, and assured them that, as devoted
servants of his Majesty, if there were any way in which they might
contribute to the success of their enterprise, they had only to command
them. Upon which the Constable said that the King wished them to send to
Le Moustier sixteen of their siege-guns. To this they at once consented,
and added that, if men were needed, they would willingly send 1,500 or
2,000, and Bassompierre himself would command them.
The officers from Le Moustier, much embarrassed, for they had counted
with confidence on their demand for the Guards’ cannon being refused,
thanked them, and said that their artillery was all that they required.
The others then said to the Constable that, in view of the fact that
they were surrendering practically the whole of their siege-guns, they
presumed that the King would discharge them from the obligation of
taking the town; and they were given to understand that all that would
be required of them would be to divert the enemy’s attention from Le
Moustier by occasional attacks and mines.
Within the next forty-eight hours the Guards’ cannon was delivered at Le
Moustier; but when Bassompierre went there on the 10th, on the pretext
of visiting a friend of his who had been wounded, to see how matters
were progressing, he found that the batteries were very badly placed,
and that, notwithstanding the weight of gunfire, comparatively little
impression had been made on the defences.
On the previous day, Bassompierre, catching sight of La Force on the
ramparts of Ville-Nouvelle, had gone forward, under a flag of truce, to
speak to him. He found the Huguenot chief eager for some arrangement
which would put an end to this fratricidal struggle; and, at his
suggestion, he spoke to Chaulnes and urged him to persuade the Constable
to meet Rohan, who, La Force had given him to understand, would be
willing to approach Montauban for that purpose, and discuss with him
terms of peace. This Chaulnes agreed to do, and on October 13 an
interview took place between Luynes and Rohan at the Château of Regnies,
some four leagues from Picqueos. After a long consultation, terms were
agreed upon, subject to the approval of the King and the Council, which,
says Bassompierre, were “advantageous and honourable for the King and
useful for the State.” But when the Council met, Schomberg urged that a
decision should be postponed until after he and his colleagues at Le
Moustier had made their attempt to take the town, which he was confident
would be successful. In that event, he pointed out, they would be able
to impose much more severe terms on the Huguenots. And he swore “on his
honour and his life” that he would take Montauban within the time
specified. The King and the Council, impressed by such unbounded
confidence, agreed to do as he advised.
On the 17th, the Constable sent for Bassompierre to come to Le Moustier,
where he had gone to dine with Schomberg, and inquired whether a mine
which he had instructed him to prepare some days before were finished.
Bassompierre replied in the affirmative, upon which the Constable said:
“It must be exploded to-morrow so soon as you receive the order from me,
for, if it please God, to-morrow we shall be in Montauban, provided
everyone is willing to do his duty.” Bassompierre answered that he could
rely on the Guards’ division doing theirs, when Luynes told him that the
explosion of the mine must be followed by a feint against the
advanced-works of Ville-Nouvelle, in order to divert the enemy while the
Le Moustier division stormed the town. Bassompierre had heard during the
past two days a furious bombardment proceeding in that quarter, but when
he scanned the defences, he could not perceive any practicable breach
nor even the appearance of one. “Monsieur,” said he, “you speak with
great confidence. May God grant that it may be justified!” Both the
Constable and Schomberg appeared to regard the taking of the town as
already assured, and, as he took leave of them, the latter said:
“Brother, I invite you to dine with me the day after to-morrow in
Montauban.” “Brother,” answered Bassompierre, “that will be a Friday and
a fish-day. Let us postpone it until Sunday, and do not fail to be
there.”
Bassompierre transmitted the order which he had received from the
Constable to Chaulnes and Praslin, who instructed him to take charge of
the mine, and to have everything in readiness for the diversion they
were to make on the morrow.
The eventful day which, if Schomberg and his colleagues were to be
believed, was destined to atone for all the toil and bloodshed of the
past two months, arrived, and with it the King, the Constable, the
Cardinal de Retz, Père Arnoux, Puisieux, the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, and many other distinguished persons, who were conducted by
them to carefully-selected positions from which they would be able to
enjoy an uninterrupted view of the storming of the town. At the same
time, they ordered their servants to pack up their plate, linen, and so
forth, as they intended to sup and sleep in Montauban. “And many other
things they did more ridiculous than I shall condescend to write down.”
Early in the afternoon, the Guards’ division received orders “to begin
the dance,” and Bassompierre fired his mine, which blew a big hole in
the enemy’s advanced-works in that quarter and sent an unfortunate young
officer of the Guards, the Baron d’Auges, into another world. Mines, in
those days, appear to have had an unpleasant way of taking toll of both
sides. The Guards occupied the crater, but, in accordance with their
orders, did not advance any further. At the same time, the troops at
Ville-Bourbon made a similar diversion.
The great assault, however, tarried. It tarried so long that at length
the King grew impatient, and sent to Schomberg and his colleagues to
inquire the reason why they did not advance. They replied that there was
no breach that was practicable. Presently, he sent again, and was
informed that, though there was a breach, scaling-ladders would be
required, and these had not yet arrived. The scaling-ladders were
brought, and once more the King wanted to know why they did not attack.
The answer was that the delay had enabled the enemy to repair the
breach; it would have to be reopened by a fresh bombardment.
“Finally,” says Bassompierre, “after having wasted the whole day up
to six o’clock in the evening, and kept 600 gentlemen and a great
number of people of note under arms all day, without doing or
attempting to do anything, unless it were to kill a good many
people of the town who showed themselves, they sent to tell the
King that they had freshly reconnoitred the place where the attack
must be delivered, and that truly it was not practicable. And upon
that everyone went home.”
Next day, Louis XIII sent a message to Ville-Nouvelle requesting one of
the two marshals or Bassompierre to come to Picqueos; and it was decided
that Bassompierre should go. He found the King in his cabinet with the
Constable, the Cardinal de Retz, and Roucellaï, and it was plain that
his Majesty was in a very ill-humour. “Bassompierre,” said he, “you have
long been of opinion that nothing of any use would be accomplished on
the side of Le Moustier.” “Your Majesty will pardon me,” answered
Bassompierre, “but I never believed that everything that was proposed
would succeed. Nevertheless, one must judge things by the results.” The
King then told him that Schomberg and his colleagues had assured him
that in five days they would be able to establish a battery of their
heaviest guns on a knoll within a very short distance of the walls, and
open a breach which would enable them to storm the town; and inquired
what he thought about it. Bassompierre replied that, if they did succeed
in establishing a battery there, the town must fall; but he very much
doubted whether the enemy would allow them to do it. “And I,” exclaimed
the King angrily, “refuse to wait for what they wish to do. For they are
deceivers; and I will never believe anything they say again.” The
Constable here interposed, and begged his Majesty to remember that the
generals at Le Moustier were as much mortified as he was at the fiasco
of the previous day. And he asked that they might be given another
chance of redeeming their promise to take the town. To this the King
agreed, and Bassompierre was told to arrange another diversion when the
time for the assault to be delivered should arrive.
However, it never did arrive. During the next few days the knoll was
fortified without any interference from the enemy, and nothing remained
but to get the guns into position. But, on the early morning of the
25th, the garrison exploded a mine under the knoll which blew it up with
its defences, and followed this up by a murderous sally against the
Picardy Regiment, who were driven out of their trenches with heavy loss.
Three nights later, they made another sortie, this time at the expense
of the Champagne Regiment, and, breaking right through it, penetrated
to the besiegers’ battery-positions and destroyed one of their largest
guns.
After this it was obviously impossible to continue the siege with the
smallest hope of success; the winter was coming on; the army, badly paid
and badly fed, with no confidence in its leaders, and harassed
incessantly by a bold and resolute enemy, was becoming demoralised and
was dwindling every day from death, sickness and desertion. Of 30,000
men who had encamped before Montauban at the end of August, only 12,000
effective combatants remained; and the division before Ville-Bourbon was
now so weak that its leaders were obliged to ask the Guards for
assistance to enable them to hold their trenches against the perpetual
attacks to which they were exposed.
On the morrow, the Constable came to Le Moustier and summoned a council
of war to decide what was to be done. “Everyone saw plainly,” says
Bassompierre, “that we had no longer the means of continuing the siege;
but no one wished to propose that it should be abandoned.” At length,
Bassompierre took upon himself to do so and urged that they should
“reserve the King, themselves and this army for a better future and a
more convenient season.” To this the other leaders offered no
opposition, and the Constable proceeded to communicate their decision to
the King. Louis XIII, with tears in his eyes, directed Bassompierre to
supervise the raising of the siege, and afterwards to march, with the
greater part of the army, on Monheurt, a little town on the Garonne
which had just revolted, as he and the Constable desired to terminate
the campaign with a success, however unimportant it might be.
To raise the siege without the risk of incurring further losses was far
from an easy task, as, unless every precaution were taken, there was
grave danger that the garrison, flushed with success, might sally out
and fall upon the rear of the army while it was crossing the Tarn.
However, Bassompierre appears to have made his arrangements with
considerable skill, and on November 10 the last of the troops were
withdrawn, with no more serious interference than a little skirmishing.
* * * * *
The disastrous result of the siege of Montauban caused general
exasperation against Luynes, who met with a very bad reception from the
people of Toulouse--numbers of whose relatives and friends had fallen
during the siege--when he accompanied the King thither about the middle
of November. The High Catholic party was particularly furious, and
accused the Constable, not only of incapacity, but of treason. What was
a more serious matter for him, was the fact that the King was growing
weary of his favourite.
This change in Louis XIII’s attitude towards the man whom he had raised
so high, and who had so long exercised such an absolute dominion over
him, seems to have begun some months before; but it was at first
carefully concealed from all but two or three of his intimates.
“One morning, after the siege of Saint-Jean-d’Angély,” says
Bassompierre, “as the Constable was returning from dinner, and was
about to enter the King’s lodging, with his Swiss and his guards
marching before him, and the whole Court and the chief officers of
the army following him, the King, perceiving his approach from a
window, said to me: ‘See, Bassompierre, it is the King who enters.’
‘You will pardon me, Sire,’ said I to him, ‘it is a Constable
favoured by his master, who is showing your grandeur and displaying
the honours you have conferred upon him to the eyes of everyone.’
‘You do not know him,’ said he. ‘He believes that I ought to give
him the rest, and wants to play the King. But I will certainly
prevent him doing that, so long as I am alive.’ Upon that I said to
him: ‘You are very unfortunate to have taken such fancies into your
head; he is also unfortunate, because you have conceived these
suspicions against him; and I still more so, because you have
revealed them to me. For, one of these days, you and he will shed a
few tears, and then you will be appeased; and afterwards you will
act as do husbands and wives who, when they have made up their
quarrels, dismiss from their service the servants to whom they had
confided their ill-will towards each other. Besides, you will tell
him that you have not confided your dissatisfaction with him to any
save to myself and to certain others; and we shall be the
sufferers. And you have seen that, last year, the mere suspicion
that he entertained that you might be inclined to favour me
determined him to ruin me.’
“He [the King] swore to me with great oaths that he would never
speak of it, whatever reconciliation there might be between them,
and that he did not intend to open his mind to anyone on this
matter, save Père Arnoux and myself, and that on my life I must
engage never to open mine to anyone, save Père Arnoux, and only
after he [the King] shall have spoken to him, and should command me
to do it. I told him that he had but to command me, and that I had
already given this command to myself, as it was of importance to my
future and to my life.”
A few days after this conversation, Bassompierre was sent to Paris, at
which he was much relieved, “since he found that confidences of the King
were very dangerous”; and when, some weeks later, he rejoined the army
at the beginning of the siege of Montauban, he took care never to
approach his Majesty unless he were sent for.
“The resentment of the King against the Constable increased hourly,
and the latter, whether it was that he felt assured of the King’s
affection, or that the important affairs which he had upon his
hands prevented him thinking about it, or that his grandeur blinded
him, took less care to entertain the King than he had done
formerly. In consequence, the displeasure of the King augmented
greatly, and every time that he was able to speak to me in private,
he expressed to me the most violent resentment.
“On one occasion when I had come to see him, the Milord de Hay,
Ambassador Extraordinary of the King of Great Britain, who had been
sent to intervene in favour of peace between the King and the
Huguenots, had his first audience of the King, at the conclusion of
which he went to visit the Constable. Puisieux, according to
custom, came to know from the King what the milord had said at the
audience. Upon which the King called me to make a third in their
conversation and said to me: ‘He [the Ambassador] is going to have
audience of King Luynes!’ I was very astonished at him speaking to
me before M. de Puisieux and pretended to misunderstand him; but he
said to me: ‘There is no danger before Puisieux, for he is in our
secret.’ ‘There is no danger, Sire!’ I exclaimed. ‘Now I am
assuredly undone, for he is a timorous and cowardly man, like his
father the Chancellor, who at the first lash of the whip will
confess everything, and will, in consequence, ruin all his
adherents and accomplices.’”
The King began to laugh, and told Bassompierre that he would answer for
Puisieux’s discretion. Then he began a long tirade against his
favourite, and appeared particularly indignant that the latter should,
on the death of Du Vair, the Keeper of the Seals, which had occurred at
the beginning of August, have persuaded him to give him the vacant post,
notwithstanding that it was as contrary to usage as to common sense for
a man to hold the Seals and the Constable’s sword.[1]
Bassompierre left the royal presence, feeling very uneasy. He saw
clearly that Luynes was losing his hold over the King; but he knew that
it might be some time before the young monarch would be able to summon
up sufficient resolution to shake it off entirely; and, meanwhile, if
Puisieux, whom he thoroughly distrusted, were to abuse the King’s
confidence, and lead the Constable to believe that he was endeavouring
to influence his Majesty against him, he would find himself in an even
more difficult situation than he had the previous year. He therefore
decided that his safest course was “to make some representations to him
[Luynes] on the subject, for his good,” without, however, allowing the
Constable to suspect that the King had spoken to him. They would
probably be well received, for, since his return from Spain, the
favourite’s manner towards him had been very cordial, and he appeared
most anxious that Bassompierre should identify his interests with his
own by marrying his niece.
“Some days after this, happening to be in his cabinet with him, I
told him that, as his very humble servant, devoted to his
interests, I felt myself obliged to point out to him that he did
not cultivate sufficiently the good graces of the King, and that he
was not so assiduous in doing this as heretofore; that, as the King
was increasing in age and in knowledge of things, and he in
charges, honours and benefits, he ought also to increase in
submission towards his King, his master, and his benefactor, and
that, in God’s name, I begged him to take care and to pardon the
liberty I had taken in speaking to him concerning it, since it
proceeded from my zeal and passion for his very humble service.”
The favourite took Bassompierre’s warning in very good part, but made
light of it:
“He answered that he thanked me and felt obliged for the solicitude
which I had for the preservation of his favour, which would
assuredly be very useful and profitable to me, and that I had begun
to speak to him as a nephew, which he hoped I should be in a little
while; that he wished also to answer me as an uncle, and to tell me
that I might rest assured that he knew the King to the bottom of
his soul; that he understood the means necessary to keep him, as he
had known those to win him, and that he purposely gave him on
occasion little causes for complaint, which served only to increase
the warmth of the affection which he entertained for him. I saw
clearly that he was of the same stamp as all other favourites, who
believe that, once they have established their fortune, it will
endure for ever, and do not recognise the approach of their
disgrace until they have no longer the means to prevent it.”
During the closing weeks of the siege of Montauban, whenever the King
had an opportunity of speaking to Bassompierre privately, he “complained
incessantly of the Constable.” The love--it was of a very innocent
kind--which Louis had hitherto entertained for Luynes’s beautiful wife,
Marie de Rohan, no longer protected her husband. This love had, in fact,
changed into hatred, since his Majesty had perceived that the lady was
accepting other attentions, without doubt less platonic than his.
And he took a particularly mean way of avenging himself.
“What made me think worse of him [the King],” writes Bassompierre,
“was that all of a sudden the extreme passion that he entertained
for _Madame la Connétable_ was converted into such hatred, that he
warned her husband that the Duc de Chevreuse was in love with her.
He told me that he had said this, upon which I said to him that he
had done very ill, and that to make mischief between a husband and
wife was to commit sin. ‘God will pardon me for it, if it pleases
Him,’ he answered; ‘but I have felt great pleasure in avenging
myself on her and of inflicting this mortification upon him.’ And
he went on to say several things against him, and, amongst others,
that before six months had passed, he would make him disgorge all
that he had taken from him.”
A few days after the siege of Montauban had been raised, the King’s
other two confidants, the Jesuit Père Arnoux and Puisieux, the former of
whom suspected Luynes of desiring to make peace with the Protestants on
their own terms, joined forces to procure the downfall of the favourite.
But they had underrated the power which habit and the fear of change
exercised over the cold heart and indolent mind of Louis XIII. He
betrayed them to Luynes, or, perhaps, the pusillanimous Puisieux may
have betrayed his fellow-conspirator. Anyway, Luynes learned of the
intrigue and insisted on the Jesuit’s disgrace; and “the first news that
I had from him [the King],” says Bassompierre, “was that he had been
constrained to abandon Père Arnoux to the hatred of the Constable.” The
King added that Bassompierre “might be assured that there was nothing
against him.” Nevertheless, says that gentleman, “I did not fail to be
in great apprehension, although I could say that every time that the
King had spoken to me on the subject I had warded off his blows, and
that I had been infinitely distressed that he had ever made me the
recipient of his confidence.”
However, Bassompierre need not have been alarmed, as it was very soon to
be beyond the power of Luynes to injure anyone.
* * * * *
On November 16 Bassompierre and his army encamped before Monheurt, and
on the 18th the trenches were opened. A day or two later he had an
exceedingly narrow escape of his life.
He was riding, followed by two aides-de-camp, from the trenches of the
Piedmont Regiment, to those of the Normandy Regiment, a journey which he
had made several times already without interference from the garrison,
although it was well within musket-shot of the town, and “dressed in
scarlet, with the cross on his cloak, and mounted on a white pony, he
was easily recognisable.” Suddenly, the advanced bastion and
counterscarp bristled with musketeers, who began firing at him and “with
such fury that he heard nothing but balls whistling about him.” One ball
struck the pommel of his saddle and another pierced his cloak, but he
managed to reach a large tree without being hit, and took shelter behind
it. Here he was in safety, though the enemy fired more than a hundred
shots at it. At length, the firing ceased and, thinking that they had
exhausted their ammunition, he mounted and galloped towards the
trenches of the Normandy Regiment. However, they had only been waiting
for him to show himself, and, so soon as he did so, they began firing at
him again as fiercely as ever. “But,” says he, “as my hour was not yet
come, God preserved me against the attempt; though I believe I was never
nearer death than I was on that occasion.”
The weather was very bad, rain falling incessantly, and the soldiers
were nearly up to their knees in mud. Nevertheless, they worked well,
and by the 22nd, on which day the siege-artillery arrived, they had
pushed their trenches close to the walls.
Meanwhile, Bassompierre had received a secret communication from the
Marquis de Mirambeau, the commander of the garrison, who offered to
surrender Monheurt, in consideration of receiving a sum of 4,000 crowns
and a formal pardon for his offence of having taken up arms against the
King. The Maréchal de Roquelaure, lieutenant-general of Guienne, had
lately arrived to take the nominal command of the siege operations. But
he left their direction entirely in Bassompierre’s hands, and, as
Mirambeau had requested that he should not be informed of his offer, it
was communicated to Louis XIII, who was still at Toulouse. This decided
the King and the Constable to come to Monheurt, “in order to have the
honour of taking it.”
On the 23rd, Bassompierre, after inspecting one of his batteries,
advanced a few paces in front of it to survey some point in the
defences. “The gunners,” he says, “not thinking that I was there,
discharged their pieces, the wind of which threw me very rudely to the
ground, and left me with a singing in my right ear, accompanied by
insupportable twinges.” Two hours later he was taken ill with fever, but
he remained on duty all that day, during which the trenches were pushed
up to the border of the moat. Next morning, however, he was so much
worse that he wrote to the King and the Constable asking to be relieved
of his command, and saying that he proposed to go to La Réole, where he
could secure skilled medical attention, for he was too prudent to trust
himself to the care of the army surgeons. He also begged them to send
him a doctor.
Next morning he received a very kind letter from the King, granting his
request and informing him that he was sending a doctor, upon which he
embarked in a boat, accompanied by his personal attendants and a guard
of Swiss halberdiers, and set off down the Garonne towards La Réole.
On arriving at Tonneins, about midway between Monheurt and Marmande, he
learned that a small force of cavalry was crossing the river to the
right bank, and that they were the Constable’s own company of
gensdarmes.
He sent for the officers in command to inquire where they were going,
and was told that they had received orders from the Maréchal de
Roquelaure to take up their quarters in a little town called Gontaud,
about half-a-league from Marmande. He expressed his surprise that
Roquelaure should send a small body of cavalry, unaccompanied by
infantry, to an open town in the midst of the enemy’s country, where
there was a great danger of their being surprised; and, aware that the
King and the Constable would certainly cancel the order if they were
informed of it, begged the officers to return, while he sent a message
to the King requesting that they should be quartered at Marmande, which
was a walled town. But the officers pointed out that the baggage had
already been sent on to Gontaud; and, on their assuring him that they
would keep a sharp look-out that night, and on the morrow ask to be
transferred to safer quarters, he allowed them to proceed, although he
felt very uneasy.
On reaching Marmande, he felt so much worse that he decided to remain
there for the night, instead of continuing his journey to La Réole, and
therefore had himself carried to an inn in the suburb, and sent for a
doctor. But the only one who could be found was a country-practitioner,
to whose tender mercies Bassompierre did not feel inclined to entrust
himself. However, shortly afterwards, a quack doctor named Duboure, whom
the Baron d’Estissac had sent after him, arrived on the scene. Duboure
was none too sober, but he possessed remedies which afforded the patient
some temporary relief, and about nine o’clock in the evening one of the
King’s own physicians, named Le Mire, whom his Majesty had sent, made
his appearance. The great man, after consulting, for form’s sake, with
his humble colleagues, “proceeded to scarify him and apply leeches to
his shoulders, in order to remove the furious tingling which he had in
the head.”
“This was about eleven o’clock, and, at the same time, we heard
many pistol-shots in the street of the faubourg, which is on the
bank of the Garonne. They were fired by the Constable’s gensdarmes,
who were being pursued by the enemy, who had attacked them at
Gontaud the same evening they arrived there. At this news, my
servants hurriedly placed a napkin on my shoulders, which were
covered with blood, put on my dressing-gown, and, in this state,
had me carried away by four of my Swiss halberdiers and five or six
other persons whom they had contrived to pick up. They accompanied
me nearly to the gate of the town, and then ran back to barricade
themselves in my lodging, to try and save themselves and my horses,
plate and equipage. They believed that I had entered the town, and
there only remained with me the four Swiss, the two doctors, Le
Mire and Duboure, and two _valets de chambre_. But, as I approached
the gate, the people of Marmande saluted me with several
musket-shots, believing (as they told me afterwards) that I was the
petard which the enemy were bringing to fasten to their gate. My
people cried out that it was the general who commanded the army,
whom they had come to welcome as he disembarked from his boat, and
that, if they did not open, they would repent it. But, for all
that, they could get nothing out of them, except permission for me
to be placed in a little open guard-house which was within the
barrier. A man came to open the door and let me in, and at once
closed it upon me, after which he threw himself upon a little
drawbridge, which was forthwith raised. Thus, I found myself
confined within this barrier, without being able to send any
message to my servants, who, believing that I had entered the town,
confined themselves to guarding my lodging; and the people of the
town refused to open the gate until seven o’clock the next morning.
I was stretched on a table, all covered with blood from my
scarification, which congealed and clung to the napkin which had
been placed over it, so that it galled me from time to time, while
my head ached intolerably, for I was in a high fever; and I was
covered only with a rather thin dressing-gown, in very cold
weather, for it was the 26th of November. I can say that I was in
the greatest torment and the most evil plight that I ever suffered
in my life, which made me wish for death a hundred times.”
When morning dawned, the good citizens of Marmande, having satisfied
themselves that there were no Huguenots lurking in the vicinity, at
length summoned up courage to open their gates, and the unfortunate
Bassompierre was carried to an inn and put to bed. Here he lay for a
fortnight between life and death, “stricken with a purple fever,” and it
was only his iron constitution which eventually turned the scale in his
favour. The crisis once passed, however, he mended rapidly, and in a few
days was sufficiently recovered to continue his journey to La Réole, and
thence to Bordeaux, where he arrived on December 15, to await the King.
Louis XIII and the Constable had arrived at Monheurt on November 28, and
had taken up their quarters at a village called Longuetille, about a
league from the town. The place was taken on December 12; the lives of
the inhabitants were spared, but the garrison was put to the sword, and
the place pillaged and burned to the ground. Luynes, however, was not
present to witness this sorry triumph. While the flames were devouring
the conquered town, he lay at Longuetille, in the grip of the same
pestilential fever from which Bassompierre so narrowly escaped, and
which was now ravaging the Royal army. The disasters of the campaign,
and the unceasing anxiety as to the future to which he had been for some
time a prey, had told upon his strength, and three days later he died,
in his forty-fourth year. “He was little regretted by the King,” says
Bassompierre; “while his death was hailed with joy by the bulk of the
nation, with whom he had long been intensely unpopular. Even the
Ultramontane party, whose cause he had so well served, received the news
with satisfaction.” They had been infuriated by the belief that he
intended to make peace with the Huguenots, and ascribed the Montauban
fiasco to the fact that the Almighty refused to make use of so unworthy
an instrument for the destruction of the heretics.