was publicly
exposed during two days, and then drawn upon a hurdle to the place of
execution, where it was torn asunder by horses; the quarters of the body
being subsequently attached to four wheels which were placed in the
principal roads leading to the capital.

The ignominy with which the body was treated was, as Sully asserts, in
accordance with the earnest request of the Due de Villeroy, who could
not disguise from himself the difficulty of his own position; nor was it
until after several days' deliberation that Henry, remembering the
extent of the confidence placed by the Duke in the traitor by whom his
interests had been so seriously compromised, could sufficiently control
his indignation to assure him that he in no wise suspected him of
complicity, but should continue to regard him with the same trust and
favour as heretofore. The people were, however, less amenable; nor did
they scruple to accuse M. de Villeroy of participation in the crime of
his follower. They could not forget that he had been an active member of
the League; and they looked with jealousy upon every transaction in
which he was involved; while, fortunately for the Duke, the King was
ultimately prevailed upon to believe in the sincerity of his regret,
and to remember that since he had attached himself to the royal cause he
had rendered essential service to the country; nor did the murmurs of
his enemies, who had begun to hope that the treason of his secretary
must involve his own ruin, induce the monarch to exhibit towards him
either distrust or severity. So lenient, indeed, did the King show
himself, that after having being detained for a short time in prison,
the Spaniard who had been taken with L'Hote was set at liberty, as too
insignificant for trial, and as the mere tool of his master.[235]

While this affair had monopolized the attention of the King, Madame de
Verneuil, enraged by a continual estrangement which threatened the most
dangerous results to herself, and resolved at all hazards to recall the
attention of the monarch, began to assert more openly and arrogantly
than ever her claim upon his hand, and the right of her son to the
succession; while at the same time her brother, the Comte d'Auvergne,
pretexting a quarrel with M. de Soissons, quitted the Court, and
proceeded to the Low Countries, where he had for some time past been
actively engaged in organizing a conspiracy, in support of this
extravagant and hopeless pretension.