nstead of the field." It was she who ventured to meddle in his
politics, she whom Marguerite of Valois, his wife, so detested that
she refused to consent to a divorce as long as Gabrielle (by whom he
had several children) remained his mistress. The latter even went so
far as to demand the baptism, as a child of France, of her son by the
king. Sully, in a rage, declared there were no "children of France,"
and took the order to the king, who had it destroyed; he then asked
his minister to go to his mistress and satisfy her, "in so far as you
can." To his efforts she replied: "I am aware of all, and do not care
to hear any more; I am not made as the king is, whom you persuade that
black is white." Upon receiving this report, the king said: "Here,
come with me; I will let you see that women have not the possession
of me that certain malignant spirits say they have." Accompanied by
Sully, he immediately went to the Duchesse de Beaufort, and, taking
her by the hand, said: "Now, madame, let us go into your room, and let
nobody else enter except Rosny. I want to speak to you both and teach
you how to be good friends." Then, having closed the door, holding
Gabrielle with one hand and Rosny with the other, he said: "Good God,
madame! What is the meaning of this? So you would vex me from sheer
wantonness of heart in order to try my patience? By God, I swear to
you that, if you continue these fashions of going on, you will find
yourself very much out in your expectations! I see quite well that you
have been put up to all this pleasantry in order to make me dismiss
a servant whom I cannot do without, and who has served me loyally for
five-and-twenty years. By God, I will do nothing of the kind! And I
declare to you that if I were reduced to such a necessity as to
choose between losing one or the other, I could better do without ten
mistresses like you than one servant like him." Shortly after this
episode, Gabrielle died so suddenly that she was supposed to have been
poisoned. Immediately after her death the divorce was granted, and
Henry married Marie de' Medici.

The third mistress, Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues, Marquise de
Verneuil, who led Henry IV. along a path of the worst debauchery,
gained control over him by lewd, lascivious methods. While
negotiations were being carried on for his divorce from Marguerite,
only a few weeks after the death of Gabrielle, he signed a promise to
marry Henriette; this, however, he failed to k