DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45257#0062
i8
CHANTILLY AND THE CONDES
sation brought against him by the Guises, and
condemned to death. In her despair, his unhappy
wife, Eleonore, threw herself upon her knees
before the King, imploring permission for a last
interview. The young King was about to relent;
but the Cardinal of Lorraine, fearing that she might
attain her object, drove her roughly from the Royal
presence. The unscrupulous Guises had even con-
ceived a plan of making away with this Princess
before her husband ; for (as a contemporary writer
tells us) they feared her intellect and courage
in proclaiming her husband’s innocence. They
hoped to get rid, not only of her, but also of
the King of Navarre and the Chatillons. But at
this juncture a change occurred in political affairs.
Francis II, whose health had always been
delicate, suddenly showed alarming symptoms of
decline. Catherine, the Royne Mere, cast about
to get the Regency into her own hands; and
in order to check the steadily growing power of
the Guises, she resolved to recall the Bourbons,
promising to save Conde from death if they
would accept her as Regent. The King of Navarre,
Antoine de Bourbon, consented to her proposition
in order to save his brother. The terrified Guises
entreated Catherine to keep Condfi still in prison ;
since he would, if set at liberty, get the better of
them all. It is characteristic to note that when
the state of the King’s health became desperate,
the Guises were wholly without sympathy ; though
we read that Mary Stuart nursed her dying
CHANTILLY AND THE CONDES
sation brought against him by the Guises, and
condemned to death. In her despair, his unhappy
wife, Eleonore, threw herself upon her knees
before the King, imploring permission for a last
interview. The young King was about to relent;
but the Cardinal of Lorraine, fearing that she might
attain her object, drove her roughly from the Royal
presence. The unscrupulous Guises had even con-
ceived a plan of making away with this Princess
before her husband ; for (as a contemporary writer
tells us) they feared her intellect and courage
in proclaiming her husband’s innocence. They
hoped to get rid, not only of her, but also of
the King of Navarre and the Chatillons. But at
this juncture a change occurred in political affairs.
Francis II, whose health had always been
delicate, suddenly showed alarming symptoms of
decline. Catherine, the Royne Mere, cast about
to get the Regency into her own hands; and
in order to check the steadily growing power of
the Guises, she resolved to recall the Bourbons,
promising to save Conde from death if they
would accept her as Regent. The King of Navarre,
Antoine de Bourbon, consented to her proposition
in order to save his brother. The terrified Guises
entreated Catherine to keep Condfi still in prison ;
since he would, if set at liberty, get the better of
them all. It is characteristic to note that when
the state of the King’s health became desperate,
the Guises were wholly without sympathy ; though
we read that Mary Stuart nursed her dying