means, for everybody was very desirous of peace. The king was at that time in the garden; so I revived the discourse before the Cardinal, who told me that it was most proper for him, being an ecclesiastic, to begin it. I answered, if he did not, I would; for I perceived the king was inclinable enough, and so were all that were about him. After which I took my leave; and at my departure I told the Prince of Orange (who commanded the army in chief), that if I began anything in that business, my addresses should be to him; and so I went to Casale, where I was well received by all that family, and found them nearly all in favour of the Lord Constantine, as a fitter person for the guardianship of the children; for he was incapable of the succession, to which the Marquis of Saluzzo pretended a right. For several days together, I assembled both the nobility, clergy, and townsmen, and, at the request of most of them, I declared that it was my master’s pleasure that the Lord Constantine should be continued in the government; for, considering the king’s forces on that side of the mountains, and the affection that country had always retained to the court of France, I presumed they would not contradict the king’s desires. I had scarce been three days at Casale before there arrived a gentleman from the Marquis of Mantua, captain-general of the Venetians, with compliments of condolence upon the death of the late Marchioness; for he was related to the family of Montferrat. This gentleman was steward of the marquis’s household, and he and I by degrees began to consult how we might prevent the battle that was likely to occur shortly; for all things tended to war, and the king was encamped not far from Vercelli; though, to speak the truth, he had only passed the river, and let his army encamp there, which was but ill-provided with tents and pavilions, for they had brought but few with them, and those few were lost; besides, the ground was moist,—for winter was coming on, and the country is but low.