The making of a king (11 page)

Ki what result.

Notwithstanding the terrors by which the Queen was tormented, she was not inclined to fail in kindness towards the new inmates of the chateau. On the morning after their arrival she had the Dauphin and the little Verneuil brought to her together, and made them both " bonne chere." For the future the two boys, almost exactly of an age, were constant playmates ; though the advantage to the Dauphin of the companionship was neutralised in great measure by the recognition on his own part and that of all around him of the difference in their position. To the Marquise's son the Dauphin was "mon maitre," whilst the Dauphin would allude to his half-brother as "petit Vaneuil."

The proceedings against the conspirators were strangely delayed. Not until the end of the year were d'Entragues and Auvergne in confinement; and from the first it was feared by those in a position to judge that the Marquise would be allowed to escape the chastisement of her crime. The Chancellor, Sillery, whose eyes had been opened to her true character, sent for the Florentine envoy and expressed his apprehensions that no just severity would be used towards the offenders ; requesting Giovannini to counsel the Queen as to her course of conduct and to acquaint her with the danger involved to herself and her son.

Sillery was probably anxious to clear himself indirectly in Marie's eyes from any suspicion of complicity ; for there could be little doubt that she was fully aware of the importance of the issues at stake ; she had indeed done her best to represent the matter in its true light to the King, though her inter-

venti<

The Marquise at Saint'Germain 77

ention had not been attended with success. Henri had made excuses, and had given evasive answers ; telling her plainly, in the end, that she was too vindictive. He was, in fact, determined to shut his eyes to the full extent of the Marquise's guilt; and, at all times inclined to pardon, it could scarcely be anticipated that he would prove implacable when the woman he loved was in question. There was no appeal against his decision ; in July Madame de Verneuil was not only at large but had been allowed to visit her children at Saint-Germain, being admitted to the presence of the Dauphin, against whom the plot had been laid.

On this occasion she apparently did her best to propitiate the favour of the child, who showed no liking for his guest. Refusing, until compelled to perform the act of courtesy by his gouvernante, to give her his hand in farewell, he was only induced with manifest reluctance to assure her that he would love hisfefe, her son.

" And he will be your servant," was the reply of the Marquise, made, as may well be believed, with no less reluctance. It was not as the servant of Marie de Medicis' son that she regarded her own.

CHAPTER VII

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1604

The Dauphin at Fontainebleau — Life at the palace—The King's affection for his son—Visit of the Comte de Sora— Quarrel between King and Dauphin— Its results — The conspirators — Father and son.

DURING this year the Dauphin paid his first visit to his birthplace, Fontainebleau. It was the custom with the King and Queen to spend the autumn months there. Marie, no less than her husband, liked the place, and it offered a welcome variety after life in Paris. The Louvre, it was true, was no longer what it had been when Henri brought his bride thither, and, looking with half incredulous wonder at the worn furniture and faded hangings of the dimly lighted chambers, the daughter of the Medici had questioned whether this could in truth be the palace of the French Kings. Marie had quickly transformed her new dwelling-place into an abode more in harmony with the traditions of her race ; had had the walls painted in delicately tinted arabesques, laid down rich carpets, and worked such other changes as were necessary to make it a fit setting for the royalty of France. But Fontainebleau had attractions of its own ; and at such times as the Louvre was handed over to be cleaned,

or when

Fontainebleau 79

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F

r when the country invited a visit, King and Queen equally rejoiced to resort to it.

In what Henri termed u nos delicieux deserts de ontainebleau," comparative freedom from the conventional restraints of court life was enjoyed. Only a limited number of the household could be lodged there, guests being at times requested to bring their own beds and other necessaries. Few dresses sufficed Marie on these occasions, and the straw hats sent her from Italy were brought into requisition, as, sheltered from the sun by a great parasol, she fed the birds or looked on at the fishing for carp. Two of these remarkable fish had been captured, she wrote once to a friend, one of them at least eight hundred years old, if not much more—the other numbering some three or four centuries. " I ate the head of the fish," she added, " and enjoyed rummaging in it, as if it had been some fine cabinet."

Men and women alike hunted in the forest, sharing the King's favourite pastime.

Into the pleasures of this holiday resort the Dauphin was to be initiated ; passing through Paris on his way thither, where the greeting of the crowd may have owed part of its enthusiasm to the remem-nce of the plots lately laid against his life, spite of the failure of the conspiracy, its features re fresh in all men's minds ; and to the King in pecial the events of the summer must have helped to ing home the thought of the activity of the hostile rces at work, and convinced him—did he need con-cing — that not alone for him, but for his child, the assassin lay in wait.

Yet the autumn weeks passed pleasantly at Fontaine-bleau, notwithstanding ebullitions of temper on the part of the Dauphin—accustomed to rule at Saint-Germain — which may have again served to make the Queen fear that comparisons might be instituted to his disadvantage. Already, at the chateau, he had developed a spirit of angry jealousy with regard to the children who shared the King's attention, indignant at one moment because his father had kissed Alexandre Monsieur — now, by virtue of his admission into the Order of the Knights of Malta, termed M. le Chevalier — again, keeping Cesar de Vendome at a distance, and rubbing his hand angrily on his frock when the boy presumed to kiss it. The cushions on which the Chevalier and his sister knelt at their prayers had to be removed—" Pray God on the ground," he bade them. Even his own little sister was only permitted the honour of kissing his foot, and when the King had inadvertently seated himself in the place the Dauphin was accustomed to occupy at Mass he was at once turned out. " He is in my place. Get out of it," ordered the infant autocrat; and the King obeyed.

The temper thus displayed was not unlikely to bring him into collision with his father, and to cause anxiety to those about him when the two were in daily intercourse. The visit to Fontainebleau, nevertheless, began well. On reaching the palace the King was found awaiting the travellers at the entrance of the pavilion, receiving his heir with kisses and embraces ; and on the following day the child was introduced to all the entertainment the place could be made to supply.

Flinging aside for the moment all cares of state, Henri devoted himself to exhibiting the gardens in person to the new-comer ; took him in the early morning to wakkn the Queen ; and during the following days did his best to minister to his little son's amusement. The various birds were displayed by the King — swans, pheasants, ducks ; the child being given bread to throw to them. The fountains, too, were a special delight, the Dauphin turning the water off and on with his own hands, and wetting his father as he did so. He would have been hard to please had he not been satisfied with the entertainment provided for him ; and though fretful and ill-tempered at times, and still apt to resent any attention paid to his companions, all on the whole went well.

Again and again Heroard's narration calls up pictures not without pathos when it is remembered how short was the time that father and son were to be together. " At five the King comes home from hunting. [The Dauphin] goes running to meet the King, who grows pale with joy and gladness, kisses and holds him long embraced ; leads him into his cabinet, walks up and down, holding him by the hand, only changing the hand when he turns, without saying a word, whilst he listens to M. de Villeroy making his reports to the King. He cannot leave the King, nor the King him.

. . Put to bed at half-past eight, the King comes and kisses him. The King exceedingly happy." Such incidents, often repeated, are curious interludes in the life of danger, care, anxiety, and coarse pleasure led by Henri.

scene of another kind must have struck those

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looking on at it strangely, with its superficial pretence of amity, whilst in the minds of all must have been present the blow that had been so lately aimed at father and son.

A Spaniard, the Count de Sora, Equerry to the Archduke, and on his way to Spain, is presented to the Dauphin by his father..

" My son," asks Henri, " what will you send to Spain by M. le Comte? "

" I kiss her hands/' says the child, falling at once into his part.

" Is [the Infanta] your mistress ? Do you love her well?"

"Like my heart," replies the Dauphin, repeating his lesson ; and M. le Comte, perhaps conscious that the King is laughing in his sleeve, takes leave of the child who, had the plot in which Spain was implicated been crowned with success, would have died by the traitor's hand.

Notwithstanding the boy's real and increasing affection for his father—an affection growing with his years—the visit was not destined to prove altogether successful ; and towards the end of October a serious quarrel took place ; the episode showing the King in i new light—" tres-tendre," to quote the editors of the doctor's journal, " tres-taquin, tres-emporte, et tres-enfant."

Absorbed in a favourite toy—a drum working by springs—the boy had been taken to his father against his will, and trouble at once ensued. Having omitted to uncover in the King's presence, Henri ordered him sharply to take off his hat ; and, when the child found

A Quarrel 83