le the circle by which he had surrounded himself, and which
consisted of M. le Grand[57], the Comte de Lude[58], MM. de Thermes[59],
de Castelnau[60], de Calosse, de Montglat,[61] de Frontenac,[62] and de
Bassompierre,[63] was but ill calculated to arouse in him better and
nobler feelings. Ambitious, wealthy, witty, and obsequious, they were
one and all interested in flattering his vanity, gratifying his tastes,
and pandering to his passions; and it is melancholy to contemplate the
perfect self-gratulation with which some of the highest-born nobles of
the time have in their personal memoirs chronicled the unblushing
subserviency with which they lent themselves to the encouragement of the
worst and most debasing qualities of their sovereign. Even before his
departure for Blois, and during the period of his temporary retirement
from the Court, while Henry still wore the mourning habits which he had
assumed in honour of his dead mistress, the more intimate of his
associates could discover no means of consolation more effective than by
inducing him to select another favourite.

"All the Court," says a quaint old chronicler, himself a member of the
royal circle, "were aware that the King had a heart which could not long
preserve its liberty without attaching itself to some new object, a
knowledge which induced the flatterers at Court who had discovered his
weakness for the other sex to leave nothing undone to urge him onward in
this taste, and to make their fortunes by his defeat." [64]

Unfortunately the natural character of the King lent itself only too
readily to their designs; and, as already stated, they had profited by
the opportunity afforded to them during the short retreat at
Fontainebleau to arouse the curiosity of Henry on the subject of a new
beauty. Whether at table, at play, or lounging beneath the shady avenues
of the stately park, the name of Catherine Henriette d'Entragues was
constantly introduced into the conversation, and always with the most
enthusiastic encomiums;[65] nor was it long ere their pertinacity
produced the desired effect, and the monarch expressed his desire to see
the paragon of whom they all professed to be enamoured. A hunting-party
was accordingly organized in the neighbourhood of the chateau of
Malesherbes, where the Marquis d'Entragues was then residing with his
family; and the fact no sooner became known to the mother of the young
beauty, whose ambition was greater than her morality,