Montpensier, Anne-Marie-Louise d'Orléans, duchesse de, 1627-1693
Mathieu Molé negotiated the release, and while he talked to the Queen
a member of Parliament, accompanying him, explained the political
situation to Mademoiselle. The deputy's discourse was a clear statement
of ugly facts and their consequences; it gave Mademoiselle an insight
into the reasons and the secret views of the magistrates. The canaille
spoke so loud that all the world could hear; the people's messengers
held their heads as high as the nobles. As Mademoiselle watched "the
long robes" file out of the royal presence she realised that all the
riots and all the menaces had been but the beginning; she knew that
the time was coming when, married or not married, every woman in France
would be given her chance to do her duty.
When Broussel returned to the people the barricades disappeared; but
the canaille was still nervous; a practical joker cried out that the
Queen was preparing another Massacre of Saint Bartholomew, and the old
muskets followed by the pocket-knives rushed into the streets. Another
joker said that the Queen of Sweden with her army was at the gates of
Saint Denis, and a prolonged roar was heard and the mob filled the
streets and began to pillage. So, amidst alarms and alternations of
hope and fear, the days passed for a time. The people of Paris rioted,
then returned to their wretched homes. Whatever the day had been,
the night brought vigilance. All slept dressed, ready for action.
Mademoiselle, who was everywhere at once, was not afraid. When the
canaille growled the loudest she went her way. She was happy; she
revelled in sound and in movement and in the fears of the Court. At
a ball in the rue Saint Antoine she heard shots fired all night and
"danced to the music of the guns."
The Queen was anxious to be far from Paris; Mazarin too craved rest;
but the royal habit of carrying about all the furniture of the
household made secret escape difficult. The people were watching the
Palais Royal; they were determined that the Queen should not leave
them. Nevertheless the Court decided to make the attempt.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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