In that little island the unfortunate prince remained for more than two months. He was almost in despair, for he well knew that his folly, which had deprived the Huguenot forces of the West of their chief, many of their principal officers, and the greater part of their cavalry, must have ruined their operations in that part of the country, and compelled them to remain wholly on the defensive. Moreover, he saw no immediate prospect of being able to return to France, for, though he had applied for assistance to Elizabeth, that princess was unwilling at this juncture to offend the French Court, and he got nothing from her but expressions of sympathy. One day, however, in January, 1586, he perceived two ships-of-war flying the Rochellois ensign, approaching the island. They cast anchor; an officer landed, handed the delighted prince a letter from Mlle. de la Trémoille, and informed him that they had been sent to convey him to La Rochelle. But let us see how Mlle. de la Trémoille had been faring during her lover’s enforced absence from France. CHAPTER IX Loyalty of Mlle. de Trémoille to Condé--She prevents her mother, the Duchesse de Thouars, from surrendering the Château of Taillebourg to a Catholic force--And defends it gallantly until she is relieved--She equips two ships-of-war to bring Condé from Guernsey--Reunion of the lovers--Their marriage--Condé takes the field again--Financial embarrassments of the new _ménage_--Battle of Coutras: encounter between Condé and Saint-Luc--Ill-health of the prince--He returns to Saint-Jean-d’Angely--He is suddenly taken ill, and dies in two days--Violent grief of his wife--Suspicions of the doctors--An autopsy is performed, and the prince is declared to have been poisoned--Letter of the King of Navarre to the Comtesse de Gramont--Flight of the princess’s page, Belcastel, and her head _valet-de-chambre_, Corbais--Arrest of her intendant, Brilland--The King of Navarre arrives at Saint-Jean-d’Angely, and orders the Princesse de Condé to be placed under arrest--Terrible situation of the princess. After the disastrous expedition to Angers and the flight of Condé, the Duchesse de Thouars resolved to side definitely with the Catholic party, and to do everything in her power to prevent the marriage of which she had at first so warmly approved. She had now joined Charlotte at Taillebourg, “where mother and daughter did not get on too well together,”[110] for, as is generally the case with young ladies of a romantic turn of mind, obstacles only served to fire Charlotte’s imagination, and the more opposed did the duchess become to the marriage, the more firmly did the girl resolve to remain true to her lover.