onarch.

This he did, however, in a manner little calculated to reconcile Henry
to the reluctance which he had exhibited in performing this duty; for
after having declared his earnest sympathy with the grief of his
Majesty, he went on to remark that those who knew who he was, and for
whom he spoke, could not fail to be startled by such an assertion,
although he on his part, could assure his Majesty of his sincerity, as
while others were weeping over the body of Madame, who had died a
Protestant and a heretic, his master and himself were mourning for
her soul.

To this unexpected exordium the King replied, with considerable
indignation, that he had more faith in the mercy of God than to believe
that a Princess who had passed her life in the fulfilment of all her
social duties was destined to be condemned from the nature of her creed,
and that he himself entertained no doubt of her salvation.[230] After
which he diverted the conversation into another channel, with a tone and
manner sufficiently indicative to the Nuncio that he must not presume to
recur to so delicate a subject.

The body of Madame was, at the King's desire, conveyed to Vendome, and
deposited beside that of her mother, a dispensation to this effect
having been, after many delays, accorded by the Pope; although too late
for the Duchess to have been made aware that this the earnest wish of
her heart had been conceded.

At this period a new cause of uneasiness aroused the sovereign from his
private grief. To his extreme surprise he had received intelligence from
the Sieur de Barrault[231] that all the most secret deliberations of
his council were forthwith communicated to the King of Spain, without a
trace of the source whence this important information could be derived;
and for a time the mystery defied all the investigations which were
bestowed upon it by Henry and his ministers. At length, however, long
impunity rendered the culprit daring, and it was ascertained that Philip
III was in possession of copies of the several letters written by the
French monarch to the King of England, the Prince of Orange, and other
friendly powers, all inimical to Spain, a circumstance which at once
rendered it apparent that this treachery must be the work of some
official in whom the greatest confidence had hitherto been placed; and
steps were forthwith taken to secure the identification of the traitor,
which was effected through the agency of another equally unworthy