egard with favour any measure
which must tend to diminish the chances of their own succession; while
the latter, moreover, desired to become himself the husband of
Mademoiselle de Montpensier, and the Princesse de Conde aspired to unite
her own daughter, still a mere infant, to the brother of the King. The
other great nobles were also disinclined to see the young Prince form so
close an alliance with the Duc de Guise; and the Duke of Savoy was eager
to bestow on him the hand of Marie de Gonzaga, the heiress of
Montferrat, and thus to secure to himself a powerful ally against the
perpetual aggressions of his numerous enemies.

D'Ornano, as we have seen, had been commanded to renew the negotiation
of marriage between Gaston and the bride destined for him by Henri IV,
but private reasons decided him against the measure; and, in
consequence of his representations, the Prince formally refused to obey
the expressed wishes of the King. The moment was a favourable one for
Richelieu, who had long sought a pretext for ridding himself of
Monsieur's favourite friend and counsellor; and he accordingly lost no
time in impressing upon Louis that, as the young Prince was entirely
governed by M. d'Ornano, no concession could be expected from him until
that individual had been removed from about his person. Nor was the
Marechal alone an object of suspicion and uneasiness to the minister,
for it was not long ere he ascertained that the party of the Prince was
hourly becoming more formidable, and that were the cabal not crushed in
its infancy, it might very soon tend to endanger at once the safety of
the sovereign and the tranquillity of the kingdom; while he also learned
through his emissaries that his own security was no less involved in the
issue than that of Louis himself.

Under these circumstances Richelieu at once felt that the only method by
which he could hope to control Gaston was by proceeding with the utmost
severity against all such persons as should be convicted of endeavouring
to excite the mind of the Prince against his royal brother; a policy
which Louis eagerly adopted. In accordance with this resolution, during
the sojourn of the Court at Fontainebleau in the month of May, the King
on his return from a hunting-party, after having retired to rest,
suddenly rose again, dressed himself, and at ten o'clock at night
summoned M. d'Ornano to his presence, whom he entertained for a time
with an account of the day's sport, and o