In October, 1599, Pisani died suddenly, at the Abbey of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés,[143] to which he had removed with his charge to escape a terrible epidemic--probably typhus--which was then ravaging Paris. The choice of his successor was not an easy one, for now that Queen Marguerite had given her consent to the dissolution of her union with the King, and negotiations had been set on foot for Henri’s marriage with Marie de’ Medici, the post was diminishing in importance. General astonishment, however, was expressed when it was known that the King had conferred it upon the Comte de Belin. The count was a former Leaguer, Governor of Paris under the Duc de Mayenne, and had been one of the first of that party to attach himself to the cause of Henri IV. He had since testified great devotion to the monarch, but he was but little esteemed by the public, and had lost any military prestige he ever possessed by the promptitude with which he had capitulated at Arques, in 1596. Some privileged courtiers ventured to remonstrate with his Majesty on this appointment, to whom he drily replied: “When I wanted to make a King of my nephew, I gave him Pisani; when I wanted to make a subject of him, I gave him Belin.” The new _gouverneur_ showed himself infinitely more complaisant towards the Princesse de Condé than had his predecessor; indeed, Tallemant des Réaux declares that they “made _belles galanteries_ together,” though no attention need be paid to the unsupported statement of this incorrigible scandalmonger. He was also far more indulgent with his pupil than Pisani had ever been--a change which is generally believed to have had a very injurious effect upon the character of the young prince, who was one of those lads who require a strong hand over them. Thanks, however, to the perseverance of Lefebvre, his studies were not permitted to suffer, and he received an education both sound and varied. He became a tolerable Latin scholar, spoke Italian fluently, understood Spanish, wrote his own language correctly--a rare accomplishment in those days--and had some knowledge of theology and mathematics. In appearance, he was rather below the middle height, with a slight, well-knit figure, and “the strongly marked features which generally distinguished the Bourbons.”[144] He was passionately devoted to the chase and an excellent horseman; nor does he seem to have lacked the courage of his race, since in February, 1607, when the prince was in his nineteenth year, Henri IV. was obliged to exercise his authority to prevent a duel to which he had challenged the Duc de Nevers.