ever been the desire of his life to find an opportunity
of sacrificing his own happiness to that of his Majesty; that he did not
seek to deny the extent of his disappointment; but that he nevertheless
voluntarily pledged himself never again to renew a suit which
counteracted the views and wishes of his sovereign, and trusted that
this new passion might be productive of as much delight to his Majesty
as the loss of such a bride must have grieved himself, had he not been
amply consoled by the consciousness of having merited the confidence
of his King.

"Then," he says, with a _naivete_ at which it is impossible to suppress
a smile, "the King embraced me, and wept, assuring me that he would
further my fortunes as though I were one of his natural children, that
he loved me dearly, as I must be well assured, and that he would reward
my frankness and friendship." [398]

On quitting the royal presence, the discomfited courtier hastened to
confide his sorrows to M. d'Epernon, who endeavoured to console him with
the assurance that the King's passion for Mademoiselle de Montmorency
was a mere passing caprice, as well as his declared intention of
marrying her to the Prince de Conde; reminding him, moreover, that as
the admiration of the monarch for the young lady had already become
matter of notoriety, it was highly improbable that M. de Conde would,
under the circumstances, accept her as a wife. The worthy minister had,
however, forgotten that the Prince was entirely dependent upon his royal
relative; that he had not yet been invested with any government or
official post; and that he was young, ambitious, and high-spirited.
Bassompierre bears testimony to his possession of the latter quality by
his assurance that, important as the favour of the monarch could not
fail to be to the young Prince in his peculiar position, he did not
finally give his personal consent to the alliance until he had obtained
a solemn declaration from Henry of the perfect purity of his
proffered bride.

It is very singular that throughout all the details given of this affair
by contemporary writers, no mention is made of the measures adopted by
the King to induce or to enforce the violation of the plighted word of
the Connetable to Bassompierre. Even he himself is totally silent upon
the subject, whence we are compelled to infer that the will of the
sovereign was considered to be beyond appeal, and that his sole pleasure
exonerated the Duc de Montmoren