been sent prisoner to a fortress:
but he had emerged from his confinement, had again enjoyed the smiles
of his master, and had gained the heart of one of the greatest ladies in
Europe, Anna Maria, daughter of Gaston, Duke of Orleans, granddaughter
of King Henry the Fourth, and heiress of the immense domains of the
house of Montpensier. The lovers were bent on marriage. The royal
consent was obtained. During a few hours Lauzun was regarded by the
court as an adopted member of the house of Bourbon. The portion
which the princess brought with her might well have been an object
of competition to sovereigns; three great dukedoms, an independent
principality with its own mint and with its own tribunals, and an income
greatly exceeding the whole revenue of the kingdom of Scotland. But this
splendid prospect had been overcast. The match had been broken off.
The aspiring suitor had been, during many years, shut up in an Alpine
castle. At length Lewis relented. Lauzun was forbidden to appear in the
royal presence, but was allowed to enjoy liberty at a distance from the
court. He visited England, and was well received at the palace of James
and in the fashionable circles of London; for in that age the gentlemen
of France were regarded throughout Europe as models of grace; and many
Chevaliers and Viscounts, who had never been admitted to the interior
circle at Versailles, found themselves objects of general curiosity and
admiration at Whitehall. Lauzun was in every respect the man for the
present emergency. He had courage and a sense of honour, had been
accustomed to eccentric adventures, and, with the keen observation
and ironical pleasantry of a finished man of the world, had a strong
propensity to knight errantry. All his national feelings and all his
personal interests impelled him to undertake the adventure from which
the most devoted subjects of the English crown seemed to shrink. As the
guardian, at a perilous crisis, of the Queen of Great Britain and of
the Prince of Wales, he might return with honour to his native land;
he might once more be admitted to see Lewis dress and dine, and might,
after so many vicissitudes, recommence, in the decline of life, the
strangely fascinating chase of royal favour.

Animated by such feelings, Lauzun eagerly accepted the high trust which
was offered to him. The arrangements for the flight were promptly made:
a vessel was ordered to be in readiness at Gravesend: but to reach
Gravesend was