Chapter IX

Loyalty of Mlle. de la Trémoille to Condé--She
prevents her mother, the Duchesse de Thouars,
from surrendering the Château of Taillebourg to a
Catholic force--And defends it gallantly until she
is relieved--She equips two ships-of-war to bring
Condé from Guernsey--Reunion of the lovers--Their
marriage--Condé takes the field again--Financial
embarrassments of the new _ménage_--Battle of Coutras:
encounter between Condé and Saint-Luc--Ill-health of
the prince--He returns to Saint-Jean-d’Angely--He is
suddenly taken ill, and dies in two days--Violent grief
of his wife--Suspicions of the doctors--An autopsy is
performed, and the prince is declared to have been
poisoned--Letter of the King of Navarre to the Comtesse
de Gramont--Flight of the princess’s page, Belcastel,
and her head _valet-de-chambre_, Corbais--Arrest of her
intendant, Brilland--The King of Navarre arrives at
Saint-Jean-d’Angely, and orders the Princesse de Condé to
be placed under arrest--Terrible situation of the princess 125–138

CHAPTER X

The King of Navarre appoints a special commission for the
trial of Brilland--Brilland is put to the question--His
confessions under torture implicate the Princesse de Condé,
but on the following day he disavows them--He is found
guilty and condemned to be dismembered by horses--The
princess denies the competency of the court and appeals
to the Parlement of Paris--But the King of Navarre and
the commissioners ignore the decrees of that body--The
commission directs that the princess shall be brought
to trial--She gives birth to a son--The prosecution is
dropped, but the princess remains in captivity--The
Président de Thou interests himself in her case--Means by
which he obtains from Henri IV. the recognition of her
son’s rights, and, with them, the acknowledgment of the
princess’s innocence 139–148

CHAPTER XI

Education of Henri II. de Bourbon, Prince de
Condé--Appearance and character of the young prince--He is
offered and accepts the hand of Charlotte de Montmorency,
unaware that Henry IV. is desperately enamoured of the
lady--Conversation of the King with Bassompierre--Marriage
of Condé and Mlle. de Montmorency--Infatuation of the
King for the young princess--Condé refuses to accept the
odious rôle assigned to him, and “plays the devil”--Violent
scenes between him and the King--He removes with his wife
to Picardy--Amorous escapade of Henri IV.--Condé, summoned
to Court for the accouchement of the Queen, leaves the
princess behind him--Indignation of Henri IV.--Condé
flies with his wife to Flanders---Fury of the King, who
sends troops in pursuit of the fugitives--Refusal of the
Archdukes to deliver them up--Condé goes to Cologne, while
the princess proceeds to Brussels 149–162