The Princess of Cleves | Page 5

were insupportable to her; she in particular hated the Cardinal of
Loraine, who had spoken to her with severity, and even with contempt;
she was sensible he took the party of the Queen, so that the Constable
found her very well disposed to unite her interests with his and to enter
into alliance with him, by marrying her granddaughter Madam de la
Marke with Monsieur d'Anville, his second son, who succeeded him in
his employment under the reign of Charles the Ninth. The Constable
did not expect to find the same disinclination to marriage in his second
son which he had found in his eldest, but he proved mistaken. The
Duke d'Anville was desperately in love with the Dauphin-Queen, and
how little hope soever he might have of succeeding in his passion, he
could not prevail with himself to enter into an engagement that would
divide his cares. The Mareschal de St. Andre was the only person in the
Court that had not listed in either party: he was a particular favourite,
and the King had a personal affection for him; he had taken a liking to
him ever since he was Dauphin, and created him a Mareschal of France
at an age in which others rarely obtain the least dignities. His favour
with the King gave him a lustre which he supported by his merit and
the agreeableness of his person, by a splendour in his table and
furniture, and by the most profuse magnificence that ever was known in
a private person, the King's liberality enabling him to bear such an
expense. This Prince was bounteous even to prodigality to those he
favoured, and though he had not all the great qualities, he had very
many; particularly he took delight and had great skill in military affairs;
he was also successful, and excepting the Battle of St. Quintin, his
reign had been a continued series of victory; he won in person the
Battle of Renti, Piemont was conquered, the English were driven out of
France, and the Emperor Charles V found his good fortune decline
before the walls of Mets, which he besieged in vain with all the forces
of the Empire, and of Spain: but the disgrace received at St. Quintin
lessened the hopes we had of extending our conquests, and as fortune

seemed to divide herself between two Kings, they both found
themselves insensibly disposed to peace.
The Duchess Dowager of Loraine had made some overtures about the
time of the Dauphin's marriage, since which a secret negotiation had
been constantly carried on; in fine, Coran in Artois was the place
appointed for the treaty; the Cardinal of Loraine, the Constable
Montmorency, and the Mareschal de St. Andre were plenipotentaries
for the King; the Duke of Alva, and the Prince of Orange for Philip the
II, and the Duke and Duchess of Loraine were mediators. The principal
articles were the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth of France with Don
Carlos the Infanta of Spain, and that of his majesty's sister with the
Duke of Savoy.
The King, during the Treaty, continued on the frontiers, where he
received the news of the death of Queen Mary of England; his Majesty
dispatched forthwith the Count de Randan to Queen Elizabeth, to
congratulate her on her accession to the Crown, and they received him
with great distinction; for her affairs were so precarious at that time,
that nothing could be more advantageous to her, than to see her title
acknowledged by the King. The Count found she had a thorough
knowledge of the interests of the French Court, and of the characters of
those who composed it; but in particular, she had a great idea of the
Duke of Nemours: she spoke to him so often, and with so much
ernestness concerning him, that the Ambassador upon his return
declared to the King, that there was nothing which the Duke of
Nemours might not expect from that Princess, and that he made no
question she might even be brought to marry him. The King
communicated it to the Duke the same evening, and caused the Count
de Randan to relate to him all the conversations he had had with Queen
Elizabeth, and in conclusion advised him to push his fortune: the Duke
of Nemours imagined at first that the King was not in earnest, but when
he found to the contrary, "If, by your advice, Sir," said he, "I engage in
this chimerical undertaking for your Majesty's service, I must entreat
your Majesty to keep the affair secret, till the success of it shall justify
me to the public; I would not be thought guilty of the intolerable vanity,
to think that a Queen, who has never seen me, would marry me for

love." The King promised to let nobody into