ed him as such. But
during the visit of the king and queen the Count de Saint-Geran fell ill,
over fatigued, no doubt, by the trouble he had taken to give them a
suitable reception, over and above the worry of his own affairs.

During his illness, which only lasted a week, he made in his will a new
acknowledgment of his son, naming his executors M. de Barriere, intendant
of the province, and the sieur Vialet, treasurer of France, desiring them
to bring the lawsuit to an end. His last words were for his wife and
child; his only regret that he had not been able to terminate this
affair. He died on the 31st of January 1659.

The maternal tenderness of the countess did not need stimulating by the
injunctions of her husband, and she took up the suit with energy. The
ladies de Ventadour and du Lude obtained by default letters of
administration as heiresses without liability, which were granted out of
the Chatelet. At the same time they appealed against the judgment of the
lieutenant-general of the Bourbonnais, giving the tutelage of the young
count to the countess his mother, and his guardianship to sieur de
Bompre. The countess, on her side, interpleaded an appeal against the
granting of letters of administration without liability, and did all in
her power to bring back the case to the Tournelle. The other ladies
carried their appeal to the high court, pleading that they were not
parties to the lawsuit in the Tournelle.

It would serve no purpose to follow the obscure labyrinth of legal
procedure of that period, and to recite all the marches and
countermarches which legal subtlety suggested to the litigants. At the
end of three years, on the 9th of April 1661, the countess obtained a
judgment by which the king in person--

"Assuming to his own decision the civil suit pending at the
Tournelle, as well as the appeals pled by both parties, and the
last petition of Mesdames du Lude and de Ventadour, sends back
the whole case to the three assembled chambers of the States
General, to be by them decided on its merits either jointly or
separately, as they may deem fit."

The countess thus returned to her first battlefield. Legal science
produced an immense quantity of manuscript, barristers and attorneys
greatly distinguishing themselves in their calling. After an
interminable hearing, and pleadings longer and more complicated than
ever, which however did not bamboozle the court, judgment wa