veral state carriages to be prepared, which were placed
under the charge of one of the principal officers of their household,
who received directions to invite Madame de Conde in their joint names
to take immediate possession of a suite of rooms in the Archducal palace
which they desired to appropriate to her use and that of her suite, as
better suited to the dignity of her high rank than those which she then
inhabited. He was, moreover, instructed to accept no denial, but to
insist upon the compliance of the Princess; and thus armed the courtier
proceeded to the Hotel d'Orange, where he communicated the subject of
his mission to Madame de Conde in the presence of her two confidants.
The consternation of the whole party may be imagined when, just as they
conceived themselves secure of success, they thus discovered that their
design had been betrayed; nor was it until the Princess had exhausted
every subterfuge she could invent that she found herself compelled to
accompany the Archducal envoy. It was in vain that she represented the
greater propriety of her residence under the roof of her husband's
sister during that husband's absence; she was assured that she would
find the palace equally eligible and far more worthy of her occupation.
She then pleaded her reluctance to intrude further upon the splendid
hospitality of her princely hosts; her objection was met by an assurance
that so eager were the sovereigns to receive her as a guest that they
were even at that moment waiting in the greatest anxiety to bid her
welcome, an intimation which served to convince Madame de Conde that she
had no alternative save to submit to this polite tyranny, and that upon
the instant. She accordingly summoned her attendants, and without having
been permitted to hold any private communication with her equally
discomfited friends, she entered the carriage assigned to her, and was
rapidly driven-to the palace.[415]

The indignation of the Prince de Conde equalled the mortification of the
King when he learnt the failure of the projected evasion; while the
Marquis de Coeuvres and M. de Berny demanded an audience of the
Archduke, at which they loudly complained of the insults to which the
Princess had been subjected, and which were, as they alleged, calculated
to strengthen the odious suspicions that had already been generated
against the King their master. M. de Berny, who was entirely ignorant of
the plot, was naturally the loudest in his denun