“The same evening,” continues Bassompierre, “as the Queen was speaking to me about this matter, I said to her: ‘Madame, it seems to me that you do not think enough of yourself, and that, one of these days, they will take away the King from under your wing. They are inciting him against your creatures first, and afterwards they will incite him against you. Your authority is only precarious, which will cease from the moment that the King no longer desires it, and they will harden him little by little until he does not desire it any more. And it is easy to persuade young people to emancipate themselves. If the King were to go, one of these days, to Saint-Germain, and were to order M. d’Épernon and myself to come there to him, and then told us that we were no longer to recognise your authority, we are your very obliged servants, but we should be unable to do any other thing than to come and bid you farewell, and to beg you very humbly to excuse us, if, during your administration of the State, we had not served you as well as we ought to have done. Judge, Madame,” I continued, “whether the other officers would be able to act otherwise, and whether you would not be left with empty hands after such an administration.” CHAPTER XVII Bassompierre joins the Royal army in Champagne as Grand Master of the Artillery by commission--Surrender of Château-Porcien--Bassompierre is wounded before Rethel--He sets out for Paris in order to negotiate the sale of his office of Colonel-General of the Swiss to Concini--He visits the Royal army which is besieging Soissons--A foolhardy act--Singular conduct of the garrison--The Président Chevret arrives in the Royal camp with the news that Concini has been assassinated--Details of this affair--Bassompierre continues his journey to Paris--His adventure with the Liégeois cavalry of Concini. About the middle of March, Bassompierre was sent as Grand Master of the Artillery by commission to join the army of Champagne, commanded by the Duc de Guise, who had as his second in command the Maréchal de Thémines, while Praslin was also serving under him. He found the army laying siege to Château-Porcien, situated on the right bank of the Aisne, two leagues from Rethel. Nevers, who was Governor of Champagne and Brie and Duc de Rethelois, occupied, in virtue of this double title, several places in that part of the country, and their reduction was the chief object of the campaign.