It is almost ludicrous to be compelled to record that out of a quarrel, originating in a servile endeavour on the part of the two principal nobles of a great nation to usurp the functions of a maitre-d’hotel, grew an attempt at civil war, which, had not the treachery of Richelieu nipped it in the bud, might have involved France in a sanguinary and unnatural series of conflicts that would have rendered that country a frightful spectacle to all Europe.  Thus it was, however; for the Comtesse de Soissons, the mother of the young Prince, who was then only in his seventeenth year, eagerly seized so favourable an opportunity to weaken the party of the Prince de Conde, whose sudden influence threatened the future prospects of her son, by attaching to the cause of Marie de Medicis all the nobles who were opposed to the favourite, and consequently to the first Prince of the Blood by whom he was supported in his pretensions.

The ambition of the Countess was to obtain for her young son the hand of Madame Henriette de France, the third sister of the King; an alliance which she was aware would be strenuously opposed by Conde, and which she could only hope to accomplish through the good offices of the Queen-mother; and it was consequently essential that, in order to carry out her views, she should labour to augment the faction of Marie.  Her efforts were successful; between the 29th of March and the 30th of June the Ducs de Mayenne and de Vendome, the Grand Prior (the brother of the latter), the Comte de Candale, the Archbishop of Toulouse, and Henry of Savoy, Duc de Nemours, all proceeded to Angers; an example which was speedily followed by the Comte and Comtesse de Soissons, and the Ducs de Longueville, de Tremouille, de Retz, and de Rohan; who, one and all, urged Marie de Medicis once more to take up arms, and assert her authority.[47]

These successive defections greatly alarmed the favourite, who became more than ever urgent for the return of the Queen-mother to the capital; but a consciousness of her increasing power, together with the insidious advice of Richelieu, rendered her deaf alike to his representations and to his promises.  In this extremity De Luynes resolved to leave no means untried to regain the Duc de Guise; and for this purpose the King was easily persuaded to propose a double marriage in his family, by which it was believed that his own allegiance and that of the Prince de Conde to the royal cause, or rather to that of the favourite, would be alike secured.  M. de Conde was to give his daughter to the Prince de Joinville, the elder son of M. de Guise; while the latter’s third son, the Duc de Joyeuse, was to become the husband of Mademoiselle de Luynes.  The marriage articles were accordingly drawn up, although the two last-named personages were still infants at the breast; but when he took the pen in his hand to sign the contract, De Guise hesitated, and appeared to reflect.

“What are you thinking of, Monsieur le Duc?” inquired Louis, as he remarked the hesitation of the Prince.