ltimately determined to deny the authenticity of the documents, and
to attribute the forgery to a secretary of the Duc de Guise, who was
celebrated for his aptitude in imitating every species of handwriting.
The attempt was hazardous; but the infatuation of Henry for the
fascinating favourite was so well known, that the conspirators were
assured of the eagerness with which he would welcome any explanation,
however doubtful; and they accordingly instructed the Marquise boldly to
disavow the authorship of the obnoxious packet. The advice was,
unfortunately, somewhat tardy; as, in her first terror, Madame de
Verneuil had declared her inability to deny that she had written the
letters which had aroused the anger of the King; but she modified the
admission, by declaring that her hand had betrayed her heart, and that
she had never felt what, in a moment of pique and annoyance, she had
permitted herself to express. These were, however, mere words; and she
had no sooner become cognizant of the expedients suggested by her
advisers than she resolved to gainsay them; and accordingly, without a
moment's hesitation, she despatched a message to the monarch to entreat
that he would allow her to justify herself.

For a few days Henry remained inexorable, but at length his passion
triumphed over his pride; and instead of summoning the Marquise to his
presence as a criminal he proceeded to her residence, listened blindly
to her explanations, became, or feigned to become, convinced by her
arguments, and ultimately confessing himself to have been sufficiently
credulous to be the culprit rather than the judge, he made a peace with
his exulting mistress, which was cemented by a donation of six
thousand livres.

As is usual in such cases, all the blame was now visited upon her
accusers. Madame de Villars was exiled from the Court--a sentence to her
almost as terrible as that of death, wedded as she was to a court-life,
and by this unexpected result, separated from the Prince de Joinville,
whose pardon she had hoped to secure by her apparent zeal for the honour
of the monarch. The Prince himself was directed to proceed forthwith to
Hungary to serve against the Turks; and the unfortunate secretary, who
had been an unconscious instrument in the hands of the able
conspirators, and whom it was necessary to consider guilty of a crime
absolutely profitless to himself whatever might be its result, was
committed to a prison; there to moralize at his