Montpezat had ill
understood his instructions; he ought to have kept an eye upon the
Bourbons without displaying any bad disposition towards them, so long as
they prosecuted their journey peacefully; the object was, on the
contrary, to heap upon them marks of respect, and neglect nothing to give
them confidence. Marshal de Termes, despatched in hot haste, went to
open the gates of Poitiers to the princes, and receive them there with
the honors due to them. They resumed their route, and arrived on the
30th of October at Orleans.

The reception they there met with cannot be better described than it has
been by the Duke of Aumale: "Not one of the crown's officers came to
receive the princes; no honor was paid them; the streets were deserted,
silent, and occupied by a military guard. In conformity with usage, the
King of Navarre presented himself on horseback at the great gate of the
royal abode; it remained closed. He had to pocket the insult, and pass
on foot through the wicket, between a double row of gentlemen wearing an
air of insolence. The king awaited the princes in his chamber; behind
him were ranged the Guises and the principal lords; not a word, not a
salutation on their part. After this freezing reception, Francis II.
conducted the two brothers to his mother, who received them, according to
Regnier de la Planche's expression, 'with crocodile's tears.' The Guises
did not follow them thither, in order to escape any personal dispute, and
so as not to be hearers of the severe words which they had themselves
dictated to the young monarch. The king questioned Conde sharply; but
the latter, 'who was endowed with great courage, and spoke as well as
ever any prince or gentleman in the world, was not at all startled, and
defended his cause with many good and strong reasons,' protesting his
own innocence and accusing the Guises of calumniation. When he haughtily
alluded to the word of honor which had been given him, the king,
interrupting him, made a sign; and the two captains of the guard, Breze
and Chavigny, entered and took the prince's sword. He was conducted to a
house in the city, near the Jacobins', which was immediately barred,
crenelated, surrounded by soldiers, and converted into a veritable
bastile. Whilst they were removing him thither, Conde exclaimed loudly
against this brazen violation of all the promises of safety by which he
had been lured on when urged to go to Orleans. The only answer he
re