up by the queen-mother, who talked with him
for a few moments; another risked saying a word to the king, who replied
with either a nod or a brief sentence. A German nobleman, the Comte de
Solern, stood at the corner of the fireplace behind the young queen, the
granddaughter of Charles V., whom he had accompanied into France. Near
to her on a stool sat her lady of honor, the Comtesse de Fiesque, a
Strozzi, and a relation of Catherine de' Medici. The beautiful Madame de
Sauves, a descendant of Jacques Coeur, mistress of the king of Navarre,
then of the king of Poland, and lastly of the Duc d'Alencon, had
been invited to supper; but she stood like the rest of the court, her
husband's rank (that of secretary of State) giving her no right to be
seated. Behind these two ladies stood the two Gondis, talking to them.
They alone of this dismal assembly were smiling. Albert Gondi, now Duc
de Retz, marshal of France, and gentleman of the bed-chamber, had been
deputed to marry the queen by proxy at Spire. In the first line of
courtiers nearest to the king stood the Marechal de Tavannes, who was
present on court business; Neufville de Villeroy, one of the ablest
bankers of the period, who laid the foundation of the great house of
that name; Birago and Chiverni, gentlemen of the queen-mother, who,
knowing her preference for her son Henri (the brother whom Charles
IX. regarded as an enemy), attached themselves especially to him; then
Strozzi, Catherine's cousin; and finally, a number of great lords,
among them the old Cardinal de Lorraine and his nephew, the young Duc de
Guise, who were held at a distance by the king and his mother. These
two leaders of the Holy Alliance, and later of the League (founded in
conjunction with Spain a few years earlier), affected the submission of
servants who are only waiting an opportunity to make themselves masters.
Catherine and Charles IX. watched each other with close attention.

At this gloomy court, as gloomy as the room in which it was held, each
individual had his or her own reasons for being sad or thoughtful. The
young queen, Elizabeth, was a prey to the tortures of jealousy, and
could ill-disguise them, though she smiled upon her husband, whom she
passionately adored, good and pious woman that she was! Marie Touchet,
the only mistress Charles IX. ever had and to whom he was loyally
faithful, had lately returned from the chateau de Fayet in Dauphine,
whither she had gone to give birth to a chi