henri, duc d’anjou, elected king of poland, leaves france.—huguenot plots to withdraw the duc d’alencon and the king of navarre from court.—discovered and defeated by marguerite’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 death of the admiral, had obtained from the king my husband, and my brother alencon, a written obligation to avenge it. before st. 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 informed 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 alencon 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 st. germain, where we stayed some time, on account of the king’s indisposition. all this while my brother alencon 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 whatever concerned him, without prejudice, however, to the interests of my good brother king charles, whom i loved more than any one 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 duc d’alencon 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 st. germain.
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 marechaux de montmorency and de cosse were put under a close arrest, and la mole and the comte 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 accomplished this task to his great satisfaction, and to the surprise of the commissioners, 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 comte de donas, that their lives were likewise in danger, i had resolved to save 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 settling betwixt themselves which should remain behind in prison, they being closely watched by their guards, and the escape of one bringing 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 imprisonment 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 persecution i underwent at angers, through my brother anjou, assisted me with all his advice and credit. in a word, when i lost king charles, i lost everything.
