“This was thought a very good omen at Madrid.” On April 1 the body of Philip III lay in state at the palace, the face being uncovered, and Bassompierre went with the other ambassadors to sprinkle it with holy water. On the following day it was removed to the Escurial for burial. “At five o’clock in the afternoon,” says Bassompierre, “they removed the body of the late King from the palace to carry it to the tomb of his fathers in the Escurial. I went to see it pass over the Puente Segoviana, with nearly all the grandees and ladies of Madrid. In my opinion, it was a rather sorry funeral procession for so great a King. First came a hundred or a hundred and twenty Hieronymite monks, wearing their surplices and mounted on fine mules. They rode two and two, following their leader, who carried the Cross. Then came thirty Guards, led by the Marquises de Povar and de Falsas; and following them the King’s Household, the _mayor-domos_ last, with the Duke del Infantado, _mayor-domo mayor_, preceding the body of the King, which was borne on a litter drawn by two mules, which were covered, as was the litter, with cloth-of-gold. The Gentlemen of the Chamber walked behind the litter, and twenty archers of the Burgundian Guard brought up the rear. They halted for the night at Pinto, and rather early on the morrow arrived at the Escurial, where the funeral service was celebrated, after which the company returned to Madrid.” Bassompierre’s “father,” the Duke of Ossuña, was one of the grandees who witnessed the procession from the Puente Segoviana; and he ascribes to some injudicious remarks made by the duke on this occasion to two gentlemen of his suite the fact that he was shortly afterwards arrested and imprisoned:-- “The Duke of Ossuña was on the bridge to see the body of the King pass by, and happening to stop opposite a carriage which contained some of the gentlemen who had accompanied me to France, he inquired if they knew when I was to have audience of the new King. M. de Rothelin and the Marquis de Bussy d’Amboise[154] answered that I had been informed that it would be on the following Sunday. ‘I am rejoiced to hear that,’ said he, ‘for I am promised the next audience, in which I propose to say to the King that there are now three great princes who govern the world, of whom one is aged sixteen, another seventeen, and the third eighteen; that they are himself, the Grand Turk, and the King of France; that whichever of the three will have the longest sword will be the bravest; and that one must be my master.’ These words were reported by a person in his coach, who had been charged to spy upon his discourse and actions, and, together with his previous conduct, were the cause of his being thrown into prison, where he ended his days.” CHAPTER XXIII