the friends of the dying man. He executed these commands to the letter; and it was among strangers, and under the care of physicians selected by the Lord of Bressuyre, that Louis d’Amboise breathed his last. Some notable inhabitants of the town attended his funeral, which was arranged by Jacques de Beaumont, who caused an inventory to be taken immediately of the furniture and title-deeds, and seized in the king’s name on the viscounty of Thouars, and all the other property of the deceased. Such was the title of Louis XI. to the estate with which he had just enriched Commines. The head of the despoiled family opposed the registration of the king’s letters, both in the parliament and in the Cour des Comptes; but after some slight resistance, both the sovereign courts were constrained to yield. Commines took possession of the gifts of Louis XI., which were destined to prove to him the source of great anxiety and the cause of painful and scandalous lawsuits. These honours and emoluments certainly recompensed Commines very amply for any loss he had sustained by leaving his native country. Louis XI., however, did not rest satisfied with these proofs of his gratitude. An advantageous marriage which he had long had in view, soon secured an increase of fortune to the Prince de Talmont, for that was the title assumed by Commines on the 27th of January, 1473, when he signed his contract of marriage with Helène de Chambes, eldest daughter of the Lord and Lady of Montsoreau. The dowry of the bride amounted to 20,000 golden crowns, as an equivalent for which Commines received from her parents the castle, town, barony, estate, and lordship of Argenton, in Poitou, with all its rich and numerous dependencies.