Before the expiration of the four years, some clerks of Provence produced a new will of King Charles I.[201], brother to St. Louis, and the wills of other kings of Sicily of the house of France. By these it was pretended, that not only the county of Provence belonged to the king, but the kingdom of Sicily also, and other places possessed by the house of Anjou, and that the Duke of Lorraine had no title to any of them (which other people denied). And those who were against the Duke of Lorraine’s title, addressed themselves to this Stephen de Vers, who persuaded his master that the last King Charles, Count of Provence, son of Charles of Anjou, Count du Maine, and nephew to King René, had left it to him by his will; for King René had made him his heir before he died, and preferred him before the Duke of Lorraine, who was his daughter’s son; and this, they urged, was done by King René, in consideration of the wills of Charles I. and his wife, the Countess of Provence, by which they had enjoined that that kingdom and the county of Provence should not be separated, nor descend to a daughter, whilst there was a son living of their line. And they affirmed that the wills of their immediate successors, and particularly the will of Charles II.[202], were to the same effect. During these four years, they that had the management of the king (who were the Duke and Duchess of Bourbon, and a chamberlain named the Lord of Graville[203], and other lords of his bed-chamber, who at that time had great power) sent for the Duke of Lorraine to court, and put him into places of great trust and authority, in order that, as he was a person of a more enterprising temper than most of the courtiers, he might aid and assist them in their undertakings[204]; besides, they questioned not to find a way to get rid of him when they had no further need of him, as they did afterwards, when they found they were strong enough to manage affairs by themselves, and that the power of the Duke of Orleans[205] and the rest of the nobility in his faction was weakened. But after the expiration of the four years, the Duke of Lorraine refused to stay any longer at court, unless they would either put him into possession of the county of Provence, or secure it to him in writing at a fixed time, and meanwhile continue his pension of thirty-six thousand francs: to which they would not agree; so the Duke of Lorraine left court, highly disgusted with their conduct.