see her. The king's illness encreased so much, that the seventh day he was given over by the physicians; he received the news of the certainty of his death with an uncommon firmness of mind; which was the more to be admired, considering that he lost his life by so unfortunate an accident, that he died in the flower of his age, happy, adored by his people, and beloved by a mistress he was desperately in love with. The evening before his death he caused Madame, his sister, to be married to the duke of Savoy without ceremony: one may judge what condition the duchess of Valentinois was in; the queen would not permit her to see the king, but sent to demand of her the king's signets, and the jewels of the crown which she had in her custody. The duchess enquired if the king was dead; and being answered, No; I have then as yet no other master, said she, and nobody can oblige me to restore what he has trusted in my hands. As soon as the king expired at Chateau de Tournelles, the duke of Ferrara, the duke of Guise, and the duke de Nemours conducted the queen-mother, the new king and the queen-consort to the Louvre. The duke de Nemours led the queen-mother. As they began to march, she stepped back a little, and told the queen her daughter-in-law, it was her place to go first; but it was easy to see, that there was more of spleen than decorum in this compliment.
PART IV.
THE Queen-mother was now wholly governed by the cardinal of Loraine; the viscount de Chartres had no interest with her, and the passion he had for madam de Martigues and for liberty, hindered him from feeling this loss as it deserved to be felt. The cardinal, during
