At first, Catherine’s attitude towards Condé was everything that he could possibly desire; she overwhelmed him with attentions; consulted him constantly on public affairs, and showed for his opinion a deference which delighted him. But all this was merely intended to put him off his guard and foster the pleasing illusions which he had entertained since the conference on the Île-aux-Bœufs. For, so far from having any intention of sharing the direction of affairs with the prince, she had determined to detach him from his alliances with the foreign Protestants, compromise him with his own party, and reduce him to political impotence. And, to accomplish this she proposed to deal with him as she had dealt with his unfortunate brother, the King of Navarre, by encouraging his taste for those sensual pleasures which the most dissolute Court in Europe offered so many opportunities of gratifying. To dominate Condé, Catherine had in reserve an auxiliary not less redoubtable than _la belle_ Rouet. It was Isabelle de Limeuil, one of the two maids-of-honour whom she had brought to the Île-aux-Bœufs, and who had already made a very favourable impression upon the inflammable prince. Isabelle was a member of a branch of the House of La Tour d’Auvergne, to which Madeleine de la Tour, the mother of Catherine de’ Medici, had belonged, and was therefore a kinswoman of the Queen-Mother.[29] She was a blond, with beautiful blue eyes and a dazzling complexion, in figure somewhat thin, but exquisitely formed. She had been well-educated, was extremely intelligent and possessed of a mordant wit, which she used freely at the expense of those admirers who did not suit her fancy, not sparing even the most exalted personages. Brantôme relates how, one day during the siege of Rouen, she rebuffed the old Connétable de Montmorency, whose bitter tongue was dreaded by all the Court. The Constable, who, in spite of his age and gravity, did not disdain an occasional _amourette_ attempted to make love to her and addressed her, in anticipation, as “his mistress.” She replied tartly that, if he supposed he would ever have the right to address her thus, he was greatly mistaken, and promptly turned her back on him. Little accustomed to such a rebuff, the old gentleman took his departure, decidedly crestfallen. “My mistress,” said he, “I leave you; you snub me cruelly.” “Which is quite fitting,” she retorted, “since you are accustomed to snub everybody else.” Her _soupirants_ were legion, and included the Duc d’Aumale; Florimond Robertet, Sieur du Fresne, one of his Majesty’s Secretaries of State;[30] Charles de la Marck, Comte de Maulevrier; Claude de la Châtre, afterwards _maréchal de France_; Brantôme and Ronsard, one of whose most charming _chansons_ she inspired: “Quand ce beau printemps je voy, J’apercoy Rajeunir la terre et l’onde, Et me semble que le jour Et l’amour Comme enfans naissent au monde.