a national representation,
joyfully agreed to it. The cardinal, bent on recovering his prey and
degrading the house of Bourbon, convoked the States for the sole purpose
of bringing the Prince de Conde and the king of Navarre (Antoine de
Bourbon, father of Henri IV.) to Orleans,--intending to make use of
Christophe to convict the prince of high treason if he succeeded in
again getting him within the power of the Crown.

After two months had passed in the prison at Blois, Christophe was
removed on a litter to a tow-boat, which sailed up the Loire to Orleans,
helped by a westerly wind. He arrived there in the evening and was taken
at once to the celebrated tower of Saint-Aignan. The poor lad, who did
not know what to think of his removal, had plenty of time to reflect on
his conduct and on his future. He remained there two months, lying
on his pallet, unable to move his legs. The bones of his joints were
broken. When he asked for the help of a surgeon of the town, the jailer
replied that the orders were so strict about him that he dared not allow
any one but himself even to bring him food. This severity, which placed
him virtually in solitary confinement, amazed Christophe. To his
mind, he ought either to be hanged or released; for he was, of course,
entirely ignorant of the events at Amboise.

In spite of certain secret advice sent to them by Catherine de' Medici,
the two chiefs of the house of Bourbon resolved to be present at the
States-general, so completely did the autograph letters they received
from the king reassure them; and no sooner had the court established
itself at Orleans than it learned, not without amazement, from Groslot,
chancellor of Navarre, that the Bourbon princes had arrived.

Francois II. established himself in the house of the chancellor of
Navarre, who was also _bailli_, in other words, chief justice of the
law courts, at Orleans. This Groslot, whose dual position was one of
the singularities of this period--when Reformers themselves owned
abbeys--Groslot, the Jacques Coeur of Orleans, one of the richest
burghers of the day, did not bequeath his name to the house, for in
after years it was called Le Bailliage, having been, undoubtedly,
purchased either by the heirs of the Crown or by the provinces as the
proper place in which to hold the legal courts. This charming structure,
built by the bourgeoisie of the sixteenth century, which completes so
admirably the history of a period in which king, n