ion that Levasseur intended to declare himself an independent
prince.[114] So the governor-general, already in bad odour at court for
having given Levasseur means of establishing a little Geneva in Tortuga,
began to disavow him to the authorities at home. He also sent his
nephew, M. de Lonvilliers, to Tortuga, on the pretext of complimenting
Levasseur on his victory over the Spaniards, but really to endeavour to
entice him back to St. Kitts. Levasseur, subtle and penetrating,
skilfully avoided the trap, and Lonvilliers returned to St. Kitts alone.

Charlevoix relates an amusing instance of the governor's stubborn
resistance to de Poincy's authority. A silver statue of the Virgin,
captured by some buccaneer from a Spanish ship, had been appropriated by
Levasseur, and de Poincy, desiring to decorate his chapel with it, wrote
to him demanding the statue, and observing that a Protestant had no use
for such an object. Levasseur, however, replied that the Protestants had
a great adoration for silver virgins, and that Catholics being "trop
spirituels pour tenir a la matiere," he was sending him, instead, a
madonna of painted wood.

After a tenure of power for twelve years, Levasseur came to the end of
his tether. While de Poincy was resolving upon an expedition to oust him
from authority, two adventurers named Martin and Thibault, whom
Levasseur had adopted as his heirs, and with whom, it is said, he had
quarrelled over a mistress, shot him as he was descending from the fort
to the shore, and completed the murder by a poniard's thrust. They then
seized the government without any opposition from the inhabitants.[115]
Meanwhile there had arrived at St. Kitts the Chevalier de Fontenay, a
soldier of fortune who had distinguished himself against the Turks and
was attracted by the gleam of Spanish gold. He it was whom de Poincy
chose as the man to succeed Levasseur. The opportunity for action was
eagerly accepted by de Fontenay, but the project was kept secret, for if
Levasseur had got wind of it all the forces in St. Kitts could not have
dislodged him. Volunteers were raised on the pretext of a privateering
expedition to the coasts of Cartagena, and to complete the deception de
Fontenay actually sailed for the Main and captured several prizes. The
rendezvous was on the coast of Hispaniola, where de Fontenay was
eventually joined by de Poincy's nephew, M. de Treval, with another
frigate and materials for a siege. Learning of the mur