A Gallant of Lorraine; vol. 1 of 2: François, Seigneur de Bassompierre, Marquis d'Haronel, Maréchal de France, 1579-1646Williams, H. Noel (Hugh Noel)
History
A Gallant of Lorraine; vol. 1 of 2: François, Seigneur de Bassompierre, Marquis d'Haronel, Maréchal de France, 1579-1646
Williams, H. Noel (Hugh Noel)
Bassompierre, François de, 1579-1646; France -- Court and courtiers; France -- History -- Bourbons, 1589-1789
Henri IV only remained a few days in Paris, and then went to
Fontainebleau; but Bassompierre did not accompany him, being desirous of
enjoying the society of Marie d’Entragues, of whom, since their
reconciliation, he was more enamoured than ever.
Bassompierre’s conquest of Mlle. d’Entragues had naturally aroused a
good deal of jealousy amongst the less fortunate admirers of that young
lady, who were numerous and distinguished, and included both the King
and the Duc de Guise. As yet, however, they had no actual proof of his
_bonne fortune_, as the intrigue was conducted with unusual discretion.
It was his habit, he tells us, to enter the house in the Rue de la
Coutellière, where Marie lived with her mother, late at night, by a back
entrance, “whereby I ascended to the third floor, which Madame
d’Entragues had not furnished, and her daughter, by a secret staircase
leading from her wardrobe, came to join me there, when her mother had
fallen asleep.”
Henri IV, piqued by the assurances of several of Bassompierre’s rivals,
and principally by Guise, that Marie d’Entragues made game of them all
and preferred the handsome Lorrainer, gave orders, just before his
departure for Fontainebleau, to have the house watched.
“As he was in love with Antragues, M. de Guise and several others
also, who were all jealous of me, because they believed me to be on
better terms with her than themselves, plotted together to have me
spied upon, in order to discover if I entered her house, and if I
saw her privately; and the King commanded those whom he had charged
to watch it, to take their orders from M. de Guise and to report to
him if they saw anything.”
The sequel was a most amusing comedy of errors.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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