to extricate the
Catholic King from his slavery, he is lost. In the first place, Madame
des Ursins must be got rid of, there need be no hesitation about that."
In the month following, he insists that they should "keep firm, and get
rid of her;" and, in July, 1703, to bring Torcy to a decision, he
adds,--"She is now detested by the Spaniards." Madame des Ursins repaid
him hate for hate, and never spoke of him save with a lofty contempt
befitting an offended great lady. "He has cut a greater figure," she
wrote to Cardinal de Noailles, "by the insolent things he has written
about me, than by any merit of his own. I think that I can never forgive
him if he does not first retract everything which he has advanced
against me. In truth, it ought not to be permitted that so insignificant
a person should outrage a woman of my rank." Matters having reached this
pass, it was clear that one or the other must succumb. It was the lot of
the Marquis de Louville. Two couriers reaching Versailles from Spain,
determined his fall. On the 22nd of October, a despatch from the Duke de
Beauvilliers announced it to him. "It is done," wrote the duke, "we are
lost. The step is taken. You are to be instantly recalled."[25]

[25] Collection of M. Geffroy, p. 457.

The Archbishop of Seville, Arias, who was of the same politics, was
shortly afterwards sent back to his diocese. The Duke de Montellano
replaced him in the presidency of Castile, and a Papal brief, obtained
some months after his disgrace, enjoined him not to quit Seville again.
There remained Porto-Carrero and the Cardinal d'Estrees, recently
nominated ambassador of France. They were the firmest supporters of
their cause and the most formidable adversaries of the Princess:
Porto-Carrero, by his high position, by the recollection of services
rendered at the period of the will; Cardinal d'Estrees, by his influence
at the Court of Versailles, by the protection of Noailles, by the
energetic support of the entire French party. The strife was fierce; but
the resources of Madame des Ursins were equal to the emergency. The Duke
de Montellano, president of the Council of Castille, counterbalanced the
authority, until then unlimited, of Porto-Carrero; the auditorship of
finance, which had always appertained to the prime minister, being taken
from him. Weakened by this check and rivalry, the Cardinal abruptly
changed his policy and placed himself at the head of the anti-French
party; he refuse