Queen had.
All these different cabals were full of emulation and envy
towards one another; the ladies, who
composed them, had their
jealousies also among themselves, either as to favour or lovers:
the interests of
ambition were often blended with concerns of
less importance, but which did not
affect less sensibly; so that
in this Court there was a sort of
tumult without
disorder, which
made it very
agreeable, but at the same time very dangerous for a
young lady. Madam de Chartres perceived the danger, and was
careful to guard her daughter from it; she entreated her, not as
a mother, but as her friend, to
impart to her all the
gallantry
she should meet
withal,
promising her in return to
assist her in
forming her conduct right, as to things in which young people are
oftentimes embarrassed.
The Chevalier de Guise was so open and
unguarded with respect to
his
passion for Mademoiselle de Chartres, that nobody was
ignorant of it:
nevertheless he saw nothing but impossibilities
in what he desired; he was
sensible that he was not a proper
match for Mademoiselle de Chartres, by reason of the narrowness
of his fortune, which was not sufficient to support his dignity;
and he was
sensible besides, that his brothers would not
approveof his marrying, the marriages of younger brothers being looked
upon as what tends to the lessening great families; the Cardinal
of Loraine soon convinced him, that he was not
mistaken; he
condemned his
attachment to Mademoiselle de Chartres with warmth,
but did not inform him of his true reasons for so doing; the
Cardinal, it seems, had a
hatred to the Viscount, which was not
known at that time, but afterwards discovered itself; he would
rather have consented to any other
alliance for his brother than
to that of the Viscount; and he declared his aversion to it in so
public a manner, that Madam de Chartres was sensibly disgusted at
it. She took a world of pains to show that the Cardinal of
Loraine had nothing to fear, and that she herself had no thoughts
of this marriage; the Viscount observed the same conduct, and
resented that of the Cardinal more than Madam de Chartres did,
being better apprised of the cause of it.
The Prince of Cleves had not given less public proofs of his
love, than the Chevalier de Guise had done, which made the Duke
of Nevers very
uneasy; however he thought that he needed only to
speak to his son, to make him change his conduct; but he was very
much surprised to find him in a settled design of marrying
Mademoiselle de Chartres, and flew out into such excesses of
passion on that subject, that the occasion of it was soon known
to the whole Court, and among others to Madam de Chartres: she
never imagined that the Duke of Nevers would not think her
daughter a very
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advantageous match for his son, nor was she a
little astonished to find that the houses both of Cleves and
Guise avoided her
alliance, instead of courting it. Her
resentment on this
account put her upon
finding out a match for
her daughter, which would raise her above those that imagined
themselves above her; after having looked about, she fixed upon
the Prince Dauphin, son of the Duke de Montpensier, one of the
most
considerable persons then at Court. As Madam de Chartres
abounded in wit, and was
assisted by the Viscount, who was in
great
consideration, and as her daughter herself was a very
considerable match, she managed the matter with so much dexterity
and success, that Monsieur de Montpensier appeared to desire the
marriage, and there was no appearance of any difficulties in it.
The Viscount,
knowing the power the Dauphin-Queen had over
Monsieur d'Anville, thought it not amiss to employ the interest
of that Princess to engage him to serve Mademoiselle de Chartres,
both with the King and the Prince de Montpensier, whose intimate
friend he was: he spoke to the Dauphin-Queen about it, and she
entered with joy into an affair which
concerned the
promotion of
a lady for whom she had a great
affection; she expressed as much
to the Viscount, and
assured him, that though she knew she should
do what was dis
agreeable to the Cardinal of Loraine her uncle,
she would pass over that
consideration with pleasure, because she
had reasons of
complaint against him, since he every day more and
more espoused the interest of the Queen against hers.
Persons of
gallantry are always glad of an opportunity of
speaking to those who love them. No sooner was the Viscount
gone, but the Queen-Dauphin sent Chatelart to Monsieur d'Anville,
to desire him from her to be at Court that evening. Chatelart
was his favourite, and
acquainted with his
passion for this
Princess, and
therefore received her commands with great pleasure
and respect. He was a gentleman of a good family in Dauphiny;
but his wit and merit
distinguished him more than his birth: he
was well received at Court. He was
graceful in his person,
perfect at all sorts of exercises; he sung agreeably, he wrote
verses, and was of so amorous and
gallant a
temper, as endeared
him to Monsieur d'Anville in such a degree, that he made him the
confidant of his amours between the Queen-Dauphin and him; this
confidence gave him
access to that Princess, and it was owing to
the
frequent opportunities he had of
seeing her, that he
commenced that
unhappypassion which deprived him of his reason,
and at last cost him his life.
Monsieur d'Anville did not fail to be at Court in the evening; he
thought himself very happy, that the Queen-Dauphin had made
choice of him to manage an affair she had at heart, and he
promised to obey her commands with the greatest exactness. But
the Duchess of Valentinois being warned of the design in view,
had traversed it with so much care, and prepossessed the King so
much against it, that when Monsieur d'Anville came to speak to
his Majesty about it, he
plainly showed he did not
approve of it,
and commanded him to
signify as much to the Prince de
Montpensier. One may easily judge what the sentiments of Madam
de Chartres were, upon the breaking off of an affair which she
had set her mind so much upon, and the ill success of which gave
such an
advantage to her enemies, and was so great a
prejudice to
her daughter.
The Queen-Dauphin declared to Mademoiselle de Chartres, in a very
friendly manner, the
uneasiness she was in for not having been
able to serve her: "You see, Madam," said she to her, "that
my interest is small; I am upon so ill terms with the Queen and
the Duchess of Valentinois, that it is no wonder if they or their
dependents still succeed in disappointing my desires;
nevertheless, I have
constantly used my
endeavours to please
them. Indeed, they hate me not for my own sake, but for my
mother's; she
formerly gave them some
jealousy and
uneasiness;
the King was in love with her before he was in love with the
Duchess; and in the first years of his marriage, when he had no
issue, he appeared almost
resolved to be
divorced from the Queen,
in order to make room for my mother, though at the same time he
had some
affection for the Duchess. Madam de Valentinois being
jealous of a lady whom he had
formerly loved, and whose wit and
beauty were
capable of lessening her interest, joined herself to
the Constable, who was no more
desirous than herself that the
King should marry a sister of the Duke of Guise; they possessed
the deceased King with their sentiments; and though he mortally
hated the Duchess of Valentinois, and loved the Queen, he joined
his
endeavours with
theirs to prevent the
divorce; but in order
to take from the King all thoughts of marrying the Queen my
mother, they struck up a marriage between her and the King of
Scotland, who had had for his first wife the King's sister, and
they did this because it was the easiest to be brought to a
conclusion, though they failed in their engagements to the King
of England, who was very
desirous of marrying her; and that
failure wanted but little of occasioning a rupture between the
two Crowns: for Henry the Eighth was inconsolable, when he found
himself disappointed in his expectations of marrying my mother;