Condé had a natural taste for gardening--even during his imprisonment at Vincennes he had amused himself by cultivating carnations--and his greatest pleasure in his declining years was to embellish the retreat which he had chosen for himself. In 1662, he had begun the enlargement of the park, and, under the direction of the celebrated gardener Le Nôtre, parterres were traced around the château, long alleys, bordered by trim hedges, stretching away into the forest began to make their appearance, and trees, shrubs, and rare plants were gathered from all quarters. But want of money imposed prudence, and it was not until some years later, when _Monsieur le Prince’s_ finances were once more in a satisfactory condition, that the work took a wide scope. Then it was that Gitard constructed the grand staircase; that Mansart built the Orangerie, and commenced the Ménagerie; that the aqueduct which brought to Chantilly the water of the fountain of the Hôtel-Dieu-des-Marais was made; that the parterres were completed and new avenues pierced in all directions; that the fountains which “were silent neither day nor night”[220] were erected, and that Chantilly began to assume the appearance which it was to retain until the Revolution. Condé, however, had another and more important occupation in his retirement than the embellishment of Chantilly. One of the greatest disappointments of the prince’s life was his only son, the Duc d’Enghien, to whom, as we have mentioned, he was most tenderly attached. As a child, _Monsieur le Duc_--to give him his official designation--had been charming, but this early promise had unhappily not been fulfilled, either in appearance or in character; while, though he undoubtedly possessed great abilities, he was quite incapable of employing them to any useful purpose. Saint-Simon has drawn of him one of his most arresting portraits: [Illustration: HENRI JULES DE BOURBON, DUC D’ENGHIEN (AFTERWARDS PRINCE DE CONDÉ) FROM AN ENGRAVING BY N. POILLY, AFTER THE PAINTING BY MIGNARD]