as valid; and to entreat of his
Holiness to disregard all assurances to the contrary, from whatever
quarter they might proceed.

In order to give additional weight to these declarations, Gaston sent
them by an express to the Papal Court; but his messenger, having been
arrested on the frontier, was conveyed to Paris, and committed to the
Bastille; upon which a second envoy was despatched, who succeeded in
accomplishing his mission.[210] This obstacle to the coveted
establishment of his niece enraged the almost omnipotent minister, while
Gaston, in his turn, encouraged by the representations of his favourite,
communicated to the Marquis d'Ayetona the conditions of the treaty which
had been proposed to him, and declared that he would enter into no
engagement without the sanction of the Spanish sovereign. The past
career of Monsieur had by no means tended to induce an unreserved
confidence in those whom he affected to regard, and the able Governor
accordingly replied, with an equal degree of sincerity, that he strongly
advised the Prince to terminate a struggle which could only tend to
distract the kingdom over which he would, in all probability, soon be
called upon to rule; but at the same time to insist upon the royal
recognition of his marriage, as well as upon holding a fortified town as
a place of refuge, should he thereafter require such protection. He,
moreover, pointed out Chalon-sur-Saone as an eligible stronghold; and
having thus indicated conditions which he was well aware would never be
conceded, the Marquis flattered himself that he had, for a time at
least, rendered a reconciliation between the royal brothers
impracticable.[211]

He was greatly encouraged in this belief when Monsieur, who affected to
regard his return to France as a mere chimera, subsequently consented to
sign a treaty with Spain, by which he pledged himself not to enter into
any agreement with Louis XIII, be the conditions what they might; and,
in the event of a war between the two nations, to attach himself to the
cause of Philip, who was to place under his orders an army of fifteen
thousand men.[212]

This treaty was signed by the Duc d'Orleans and the Marquis d'Ayetona,
and countersigned by the Duque de Lerma and Puylaurens; and the
Spaniards had no sooner succeeded in obtaining it, than both the Marquis
and the Prince of Savoy, who had recently entered the Spanish service,
urged the Queen-mother to join the faction. Marie, however, rej