Chapter 4 CLAIRE-CLEMENCE, PRINCESSE DE CONDé

MAZARIN with difficulty restrained his impatience at numerous Royal favours bestowed on Condé. Indeed, whilst the latter was engaged in keeping the Army loyal, he agitated against him and did his utmost to undermine the confidence placed in him by the Queen-Regent. In this way the warrior and the priest soon became open adversaries. If it was hard for Condé to submit to the tyranny of Richelieu, still less could he put up with the haughty insolence of the Italian, who stood between him and his own Royal relations.

It was natural, therefore, that he should become bitter and think himself insufficiently recompensed for the great services he had rendered to the King. All those members of the aristocracy who were likewise irritated against Mazarin gradually crowded round Condé, and he who had defeated the so-called Old Fronde now became the leader of the second, known as the Young Fronde. Mazarin, therefore, found an excuse for undermining the position of Condé and succeeded in making the Queen believe that the second Fronde, led on by Condé, was opposed to the Government. In order to counteract these false reports, the Prince came to the Palais-Royal to pay a formal visit to her Majesty, who was, however, ill in bed. His own mother (now the Dowager Princess), who had always been on terms of great intimacy with Anne of Austria, was then at her bedside. It was the last interview between Condé and his mother. Her Majesty seemed tired, and after a few words dismissed the Prince, who then proceeded to the Salle de Conseil, where Mazarin awaited him. There he found also his younger brother, Conti, and his brother-in-law, Monsieur de Longueville. Presently Mazarin under some pretext left the room, and no sooner had he gone than the captain of the Queen's body-guard, Captain Quitaut, entered, and making his way towards Condé and the others, said, not however without embarrassment, "Gentlemen, I have the Queen's orders to arrest you." Condé for a moment seemed thunderstruck. Was this her Majesty's gratitude for the victories he had gained against the enemies of France? Then, seeing that this arrest was intended in all seriousness, he addressed the group of councillors around him, saying, "Can you believe that I, who have always served the King so well, am now a prisoner?" For a space they all stood speechless. Presently someone offered to speak to the Queen, and all left the apartment. Then, since they did not return, Quitaut was compelled to carry out his orders. A door then was opened into a dark passage, and there appeared some of the King's men-at-arms. Condé, his brother Conti, and M. de Longueville were overcome with amazement. It was indeed true! Mazarin had triumphed. They were transported then and there to the donjon of Vincennes, that self-same prison wherein Henri II de Condé, with his wife the beautiful Charlotte, had been secluded for three years.

The hour was past midnight when they reached the prison, and Condé found himself shut up in a cell whence little could be seen but a tiny patch of sky. He did not, however, lose his courage, and his spirit never seemed to forsake him, even though he was behind prison walls. One day he learned from the doctors who came to visit his sick brother Conti, that his wife Claire-Clemence was employing every effort she could to get him free. To while away his weary hours he took a fancy to cultivating flowers. "Is it not strange," he said to the doctor, "that I should be watering carnations, whilst my wife is fighting!"

After her husband's unforeseen imprisonment, Claire-Clemence was permitted to join the Dowager Princesse de Condé at Chantilly, since Mazarin looked upon her as harmless. It was rather Condé's sister, Madame de Longueville, whom he feared, and whom he had intended to arrest with her husband. She, however, escaped in time, braving by night a terrible storm at sea, and joined Turenne, who helped her in her attempts to liberate the prisoners.

Nor did Claire-Clemence remain inactive. She consulted with Lenet, a great friend of the Condé family, who had come to Chantilly, on what course to adopt to set her husband at liberty. Rumours reached her that she would be separated from her son, at which she was greatly alarmed. Taking Lenet aside, she declared to him emphatically that she would never be separated from her only child; but that she intended, on the contrary, to conduct him at the head of an army to deliver his father. This indomitable courage on the part of Condé's spouse was to be the first step in a course of action which later on contributed much to his eventual deliverance.

Meanwhile spring had come, and, in spite of the great misfortune which had befallen the Grand Condé, Chantilly became the resort of a crowd of visitors, who flocked round its brilliant chatelaine, Charlotte de Montmorency, Dowager Princesse de Condé. The young Duc d'Enghien took his morning rides on his pony, anglers with rod and line repaired to the ponds, gay parties of pleasure-seekers roamed over the lawns and along the avenues, and the woods resounded with the winding of the huntsman's horn. In the evening the guests assembled in the splendid apartments of the castle to hear music, or listen to the many interesting tales related by the Dowager Princess, who loved above all else to dilate upon the attentions shown to her by Henri IV.

Plate XIII.

CHANTILLY BEFORE 1687.

CHANTILLY IN THE TIME OF THE GRAND CONDE.

Soon, however, the visits to the Chateau of Lenet and of Madame de Chatillon, both of whom had played a prominent part in the Fronde, were reported at Court; and one day the Princesses were suddenly surprised by the sight of Swiss guards stationed around their dwelling, and Monsieur de Vauldy simultaneously arrived at the Chateau with special orders from the King himself. He first asked for the Dowager Princess and endeavoured to persuade her to leave Chantilly for Berry; which, however, she flatly declined to do. In despair, the envoy, who had orders from the King not to show force, then asked to see the Princesse Claire-Clemence. On being conducted into a bedchamber, a lady lying in bed was pointed out to him as the Princesse de Condé; and he was told that she was suffering from so severe a cold that she could not possibly leave Chantilly at once. Furthermore a child, also suffering in the same way, was shown to him as the young Duc d'Enghien. These persons were, however, in reality an English governess and the gardener's son, for the Princess herself, with her son in her arms, had made good her escape by a pathway that had by chance been left unguarded. Some of her ladies and gentlemen followed her at a distance until she safely reached a spot in the woods where she found a carriage, which had been kept always ready for emergencies. In this conveyance, after a fatiguing journey, she reached Montroux, an old country-seat of the Condés, where the hero of Rocroy had passed his early youth. Thence she wrote to the Queen, stating that she had undertaken this journey to show obedience to the Royal commands, since she had been desired to leave Chantilly. Anne of Austria took this communication good-humouredly enough, and admired the pluck of the young mother, whilst everybody was amused at Vauldy's discomfiture. At Montroux the Princess soon found herself surrounded by friends and partisans; and she succeeded in arousing enthusiasm by her easy and natural method of expression in speaking, which, upon occasions of importance, could rise to flights of real eloquence.

In order to be of service to the State and to the Prince, she decided to push on in the company of Lenet and Coligny to Bordeaux, whence the Duc de Bouillon came out to meet her. The Princess, mounted on a splendid charger named "Le Brézé," which had come from her father's stables, was received with Royal honours by Turenne, who defrayed all her expenses and those of her escort as far as Bordeaux.

Claire-Clemence and her supporters now decided to attack Mazarin openly for having imprisoned the Princes, but the Cardinal, getting wind of it, ordered the gates of Bordeaux to be shut in her face. The people of the city, however, revolted against such an injustice and opened the gates by force, crying, "Vive le Roi, et point de Mazarin." It may be remarked here that the citizens of Bordeaux had every reason to be grateful to Condé for his kindness to them when, upon a previous occasion, they had revolted against their hated Governor, the Duc d'Epéron. The Princesse de Condé decided to approach the city by water, and as soon as her ship came in sight, it was saluted by a cannonade from eighty vessels, whilst more than twenty thousand people welcomed her at the landing-stage. The streets were adorned with flowers, and public enthusiasm was so great that she was compelled to show herself on the balcony of her palace until midnight to receive the ovations of the populace.

In order to secure the support of the Bordeaulese, Claire-Clemence resolved to present her petition before their Parlement in person. With great spirit, therefore, she made her way to the Chamber of the Councillors, accompanied by her son. "I come to demand justice of the King against the violence of Mazarin," she said imploringly, "and I place my person and that of my son in your hands." At the same time the little Duke, dropping on one knee, cried out: "Gentlemen, I implore you to assume the place of a father to me; since the Cardinal has deprived me of my own." The whole assembly was deeply touched, and after some deliberation, the members of the Parlement agreed to extend to her their protection to the suppliants.

It would be superfluous to pursue here in full detail all the efforts made by Claire-Clemence at Bordeaux on behalf of her husband. The chief difficulty now was, however, that Mazarin, having treated Condé with such injustice and violence, was afraid to set him free; and he therefore even went so far as to entertain ideas of destroying him altogether. The Court, meanwhile, in spite of the events which were taking place at Bordeaux, had removed the Princes from the fortress of Vincennes to a prison at Havre; and at the same time ordered the Princess to leave Bordeaux and retire to Montroux. After distributing handsome gifts to all those who had befriended her, she departed with a numerous cortège, amid a shower of flowers; and on hearing that the Queen was at Bourg-sur-Mer, sought an interview with her. With her little son beside her, she fell upon her knees before Anne and begged for her husband's freedom. Her Majesty's answer was: "I am very glad, my cousin, that you at length recognise that you adopted a wrong course by which to get what you so intensely desire. But now that you seem to take another more fitting and more humble attitude I will see whether I can satisfy your request."

To the united efforts of Claire-Clemence and of Condé's devoted friend Lenet, there was also now added the powerful help of Anne de Gonzague, Princess Palatine, whose influence extended from Paris to Warsaw and even to Stockholm. She persuaded no less a person than Queen Christina of Sweden to plead for the Grand Condé's liberty. Moreover, her sister, Marie de Gonzague, Queen of Poland, who had never ceased to be the hero's devoted friend, also came to his aid with considerable effect.

Meanwhile France was rent by civil war, and Anne of Austria began to regret the loss of Condé's strong arm, which had done so much for her infant son, Louis XIV. The disorder, in fact, became so great and the clamour for Condé's liberation so imperative, that Mazarin was compelled to proceed to Havre with an order under the Queen-Regent's sign-manual for his unconditional release. The Cardinal entered the cell wherein the Princes were confined in his travelling attire and himself announced to them that their captivity was at an end. Whereupon compliments were exchanged and healths drunk; Mazarin even privately affirming to Condé that it was not to him that he owed his long imprisonment. A carriage was in waiting for the liberated prisoners, and Mazarin, taking his leave of them, bowed so low as to create unbounded mirth amongst those present. Then he himself departed into exile; whence, however, it was not very long ere he returned.

All Paris turned out to welcome Condé, and no less than 5,000 cavaliers, the flower of the French aristocracy, went out to meet the Princes at Saint-Denis. They were conducted by Gaston d'Orléans to the Palais-Royal, where they were received by the Queen-Regent and the young King, who welcomed them with his accustomed warmth, as if nothing had occurred. In the evening a supper was given in their honour by Monsieur the King's uncle, and a ball by the Duchesse de Chevreuse. Next day a solemn session of the Parlement took place, and for several nights Paris was brilliantly illuminated.

The young Princesse de Condé came from Montroux, accompanied by the Ducs de Bouillon and de Rochefoucauld, and the Prince, who appreciated to the full all that she had done for him, endeavoured to show his gratitude. He met her with a train of twenty carriages to accompany her entry into Paris; and nothing could have touched the Princess's heart more profoundly than to hear the crowds along the road repeat: "Voici une femme fort chèrie de son mari." It testified to the sympathy held by the public for this long-neglected wife.

From Paris the reunited pair proceeded to Chantilly, where festivities and hunting-parties followed fast one upon another. Condé, however, felt bound to claim a certain amount of recompense for the great wrong which had been done to him. He demanded for himself the Governments of Burgundy and Champagne, besides other rewards for his friends de Rochefoucauld and Nemours. At first the Queen-Regent promised everything, but presently, upon the remonstrance of the exiled Mazarin, went back on her word.

This was sufficient to enrage Condé once more, and a report spread that amid the rural charms of Chantilly he had opened negotiations with Spain. Gondi, Archbishop of Paris, anxious to obtain a scarlet hat for himself, went secretly to the Queen, and knowing that Her Majesty was lamenting Mazarin's absence, promised her that he and Gaston d'Orléans would bring the Cardinal back from exile if Condé were once more arrested. Condé, although his freedom was so recent, felt insecure and retired with his wife and son to Saint-Maur, where Madame de Longueville joined them; so that he was not present when Louis XIV was proclaimed King, but was holding council with his adherents at Chantilly. "Il faut pousser M. le Prince" was a stock saying of Mazarin and Gondi (now Cardinal de Retz), both of whom were endeavouring to goad Condé to his own destruction.

Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, along with his many great qualities, had unfortunately inherited also all the faults of the Condés-faults which the Duchesse de Nemours (daughter-in-law of his sister, Madame de Longueville) describes as follows: "Ils avaient des airs si moqueurs, et disaient des choses si offensentes que personne ne les pouvaient souffrir ... quand on leurs déplaisait ils poussaient les gens jusqu'a la dernière extremité, et ils n'etaient capable d'aucune reconnaissance pour les services qu'on leurs avait rendu." These were the qualities which at this period of his life turned the scale against him. It was not against France or the King that Condé proposed to fight, but against the Italian Cardinal, the trusted confidant of Anne of Austria; and his grievance was that he had not only been deprived of his liberty, but that attempts had even been made upon his life. It was for that reason that Condé did not take part in any of the festive celebrations held at the King's Proclamation, and he made his excuses in a letter presented to the King by his brother, the Prince de Conti. This was unquestionably a great blunder, and was done against his wife's wishes, who had given such great proofs of devotion and courage.

On September 13, 1651 Condé retired to Montroux, where his sister, Madame de Longueville, and the leaders of his party triumphed over his last scruples. It was then that he pronounced the famous words: "Vous me forcez à tirer l'epée,-eh bien! soit! mais souvenez vous que je serai le dernier à la remettre dans le fourreau."