as Henry had anxiously
anticipated, he took the precaution to have relays of post-horses
secretly secured all along the road to the Low Countries.[405]

On his arrival at Muret the Prince lost not a moment in causing the
Princess to enter a carriage drawn by eight horses which he had provided
for the purpose, and at once proceeded to Flanders by way of Artois. The
dread of dishonour, coupled with the fear of arrest upon the road, lent
wings to his speed; and without once alighting the Prince and his fair
companion reached Landrecies;[406] the entire suite of the first Prince
and Princess of the Blood comprising on this occasion only Messieurs de
Rochefort and de Tournay, and Mademoiselle de Certeau, with a valet and
a femme-de-chambre, who followed on horseback.

The news of their flight reached Fontainebleau on the following evening,
while the Queen was still convalescent (having given birth to her third
and last daughter, Henriette Marie, on the 26th of November), and the
King was endeavouring to employ the interval which must ensue before the
arrival of the Princess by pursuing with renewed ardour his favourite
pastime. Pimentello, the hated of Sully, had returned to Court, and the
play was consequently "fast and furious." It was in the very height of
this maddening excitement, when he was surrounded by piles of gold, and
devotees as earnest as himself at the same shrine discreetly assembled
in his private closet, that Henry, whose spirits were exalted by his
hopes, and who was risking sum after sum with a recklessness which would
have taken away the breath of his finance minister, received from M.
d'Elbene,[407] and subsequently from his lieutenant of police, the
important and mortifying intelligence that his destined prey had escaped
him. The agitation which the King exhibited when convinced of the truth
of this report exceeded any that he had hitherto evinced even upon the
most important occasions, and hastily rising from the table, he murmured
in the ear of Bassompierre who was seated next to him, "Ah! my friend, I
am lost. The man has taken his wife into the depths of a forest. I know
not if it be to escape with her from France, or to put her to death.
Take care of my money, and keep up the play until I have procured more
certain and detailed information." [408]

From his closet Henry proceeded to the last place on earth which might,
under the circumstances, have been anticipated. He went straight to the
chamb