any he found there. Marechal de Biron, who wished
for nothing so much as such an opportunity, was apprised of it,
and, under pretence of joining M. de Cornusson, the seneschal of
Toulouse, who was expected with a reinforcement for his army,
he began his march; but, instead of pursuing the road, according
to the orders he had issued, he suddenly ordered his troops to
file off towards Nerac, and, before nine in the morning, his
whole force was drawn up within sight of the town, and within
cannonshot of it.

The King my husband had received intelligence, the evening before,
of the expected arrival of M. de Cornusson, and was desirous of
preventing the junction, for which purpose he resolved to attack
him and the Marshal separately. As he had been lately joined
by M. de La Rochefoucauld, with a corps of cavalry consisting
of eight hundred men, formed from the nobility of Saintonge,
he found himself sufficiently strong to undertake such a plan.
He, therefore, set out before break of day to make his attack
as they crossed the river. But his intelligence did not prove
to be correct, for De Cornusson passed it the evening before.
My husband, being thus disappointed in his design, returned to
Nerac, and entered at one gate just as Marechal de Biron drew
up his troops before the other. There fell so heavy a rain at
that moment that the musketry was of no use. The King my husband,
however, threw a body of his troops into a vineyard to stop the
Marshal's progress, not being able to do more on account of the
unfavourableness of the weather.

In the meantime, the Marshal continued with his troops drawn up
in order of battle, permitting only two or three of his men to
advance, who challenged a like number to break lances in honour
of their mistresses. The rest of the army kept their ground, to
mask their artillery, which, being ready to play, they opened
to the right and left, and fired seven or eight shots upon the
town, one of which struck the palace. The Marshal, having done
this, marched off, despatching a trumpeter to me with his excuse.
He acquainted me that, had I been alone, he would on no account
have fired on the town; but the terms of neutrality for the town,
agreed upon by the King, were, as I well knew, in case the King
my husband should not be found in it, and, if otherwise, they
were void. Besides which, his orders were to attack the King
my husband wherever he should find him.

I must acknowledge on every other o