Hotel de Cleves, near the Louvre. Among the domestics let into
the secret, Henri de Campion names positively Gauseville. Over them were
placed "the Sieurs d'Avancourt and De Brassy, Picardians, very resolute
men and intimate friends of Lie." The pretext given out was that the
Condes proposing to put an affront upon Madame de Montbazon, the Duke
de Beaufort, in order to oppose it, desired to have in hand a troop of
gentlemen well mounted and armed. Their parts were allotted beforehand.
A certain number were to pounce upon the Cardinal's coachman, at the
same moment that others were to open the two doors and strike him,
whilst the Duke would be at hand on horseback, with Beaupuis, Henri de
Campion, and others, to cut down or drive off those who should be
disposed to resist. Alexandre de Campion was to keep near the Duchess de
Chevreuse and at her orders; and she herself ought more than ever to be
assiduous in her attentions to the Queen, in order to smooth the way for
her friends, and, in case of success, draw the Regent to the side of the
victorious.

Several occasions favourable to the execution of this plan presented
themselves. In the first instance, Henri de Campion being with his band
in the Rue du Champ-Fleuri--one end of which joins the Rue Saint-Honore
and the other approaches the Louvre--saw the Cardinal leave the Hotel de
Cleves in his carriage with the Abbe de Bentivoglio, the nephew of the
celebrated cardinal of that name, with a few ecclesiastics and valets.
Campion inquired of one of them whither the Cardinal was going, and was
answered--to visit the Marshal d'Estrees. "I saw," says Campion, "that
if I had made use of the information, his death would have been
inevitable. But I thought that I should be so guilty in the eyes of God
and man that I resisted the temptation to do so."

The next day it was known that the Cardinal would be present at a
collation to be given by Madame du Vigean at her charming residence of
La Barre, at the entrance of the valley of Montmorency, where Madame de
Longueville was staying, and which the Queen had promised to honour
with a visit, and who had already set out. The Cardinal was repairing
thither, having with him in his coach only the Count d'Harcourt.
Beaufort ordered Campion to assemble his troop and to ride after him,
but Campion represented to the Duke that if they attacked the Cardinal
in the company of the Count d'Harcourt, they must decide upon killing
both, Harcour