“M. de Gramont,” continues Bassompierre, “sat up with the King that night, during which he slept but little, for love and the gout keep those whom they attack very much awake. At eight o’clock the following morning he sent a page of the Chamber to fetch me, and, when I came, inquired why I had not sat up with him the previous night. I answered that it was M. de Gramont’s night, and that the next was mine. He told me that he had not closed an eye, and that he had often thought of me. Then he made me place myself on a hassock by his bedside (as was customary for those who entertained him when he was in bed), and went on to tell me that he had been thinking of me and of a marriage for me. I, who suspected nothing so little as what he was going to say, replied that, but for the Constable’s attack of gout, my marriage would already have been concluded. ‘No,’ said he, ‘I thought of marrying you to Mlle. d’Aumale,[66] and, in consideration of this marriage, of renewing the duchy of Aumale in your person.’[67] I asked him if he wished to give me two wives, upon which, after a deep sigh, he replied: “‘Bassompierre, I wish to speak to you as a friend. I am not only in love, but madly and desperately in love, with Mlle. de Montmorency. If she marries you, and loves you, I shall hate you; if she loves me, you will hate me. It is better that this should not be the cause of interrupting our friendly intercourse, for I have much affection for you. I am resolved to marry her to my nephew the Prince de Condé,[68] and to retain her about the person of my wife. She will be the consolation and support of the old age upon which I am about to enter. I shall give my nephew, who is young and cares more for the chase than for ladies, a hundred thousand francs a year, wherewith to amuse himself, and I do not desire any other favour from her than her affection, without pretending to anything further.’” Bassompierre’s astonishment and dismay at this announcement can well be imagined. But he was above all things a courtier, and, aware that opposition to the infatuated monarch’s will would be worse than futile, he resolved to make a virtue of necessity, and proceeded to assure the King of his joy at being afforded an opportunity of showing his devotion to his Majesty, by cheerfully resigning to him what he valued more than his own life. But let us allow him to continue his narrative of this singular interview:-- “While he was telling me this, I was reflecting that, were I to reply that I refused to abandon my suit, it would be but a useless impertinence, because he was all-powerful; and, having decided to yield with a good grace, I said:--