vain that the King, when informed of the
circumstance, despatched the Sieur d'Escures[257] to summon the Count
to his presence in order that he might justify himself. D'Auvergne
resolutely refused to quit his retreat until he had received a formal
promise from the sovereign that he should be absolved from all blame of
whatever description, and received by his Majesty with his accustomed
favour, alleging as a pretext for making this demand, that he was on bad
terms with all the Princes of the Blood, with the Grand Equerry, and
even with his sister, Madame de Verneuil, and that he could not make
head against such a host of enemies except he were supported by
the King.

The expostulations of the royal messenger were fruitless, the Count
being more fully alive to the danger of his position than M. d'Escures
himself; and to every argument and denegation of the anxious envoy he
consequently replied by saying that it was useless to urge him to
compromise his safety while he felt certain that his ruin had been
decided upon, a fact of which he was convinced from the circumstance of
his having received no letter from any of the intimate friends of the
King since he had withdrawn from the Court, while he was sufficiently
acquainted with the bad disposition of Madame de Verneuil to be assured
that in the event of her being enabled to effect a reconciliation with
the monarch at his expense, she would not scruple to sacrifice his
interests to her own.

The embassy of M. d'Escures thus signally failed, and instead of
furthering the purpose for which it was intended, it produced a totally
opposite effect, as, warned by this attempt to regain possession of his
person, it induced M. d'Auvergne to adopt the most extraordinary
precautions. He from that moment not only refused to enter any town or
village where he might be surprised, but he also declined to hold any
intercourse even with his most familiar friends save on a highway, or in
some plain or forest where the means of escape were easy; and when
hunting, a sport to which he was passionately attached, and which was at
that period the only relaxation he could enjoy with safety, he caused
videttes to be stationed upon the surrounding heights, who were
instructed to apprise him by a concerted signal of the approach of
strangers.[258]

All his caution was, however, vain, his capture being an object of too
much importance to the King, at the present conjuncture, to be readily
relinqu