after
having lost a great number of men,--M. de Vezins, who commanded in
the town, disputing their entrance for two or three days, from
street to street, and even from house to house. The King my husband
displayed great valour and conduct upon the occasion, and showed
himself to be a gallant and brave general. Though the Huguenots
succeeded in this attempt, their loss was so great that they
gained nothing from it. Marechal de Biron kept the field, and
took every place that declared for the Huguenots, putting all
that opposed him to the sword.

From the commencement of this war, the King my husband doing
me the honour to love me, and commanding me not to leave him, I
had resolved to share his fortune, not without extreme regret,
in observing that this war was of such a nature that I could not,
in conscience, wish success to either side; for if the Huguenots
got the upper hand, the religion which I cherished as much as
my life was lost, and if the Catholics prevailed, the King my
husband was undone. But, being thus attached to my husband, by
the duty I owed him, and obliged by the attentions he was pleased
to show me, I could only acquaint the King and the Queen my mother
with the situation to which I was reduced, occasioned by my advice
to them not having been attended to. I, therefore, prayed them,
if they could not extinguish the flames of war in the midst of
which I was placed, at least to give orders to Marechal de Biron
to consider the town I resided in, and three leagues round it,
as neutral ground, and that I would get the King my husband to
do the same. This the King granted me for Nerac, provided my
husband was not there; but if he should enter it, the neutrality
was to cease, and so to remain as long as he continued there. This
convention was observed, on both sides, with all the exactness I
could desire. However, the King my husband was not to be prevented
from often visiting Nerac, which was the residence of his sister
and me. He was fond of the society of ladies, and, moreover, was
at that time greatly enamoured with Fosseuse, who held the place
in his affections which Rebours had lately occupied. Fosseuse did
me no ill offices, so that the King my husband and I continued to
live on very good terms, especially as he perceived me unwilling
to oppose his inclinations.

Led by such inducements, he came to Nerac, once, with a body
of troops, and stayed three days, not being able to leave the
agreeable comp