[154] De Thou, vol. x. p. 375.

[155] M. de la Riviere had originally been the chief medical attendant
of the Due de Bouillon, who ceded him to Henri IV, by whom he was
appointed his body-surgeon, in which office he succeeded M. d'Aliboust.
He was born at Falaise, in Normandy, and was the son of Jean Ribel,
professor of theology at Geneva. He himself, however, embraced the
reformed religion, and died in 1605, sincerely regretted by the monarch,
to whom his eminent talents and unwearied devotion had greatly
endeared him.

[156] Sully, _Mem_. vol. vi. pp. 46-49.

[157] Gaston Henri, the son of Henri IV and of Henriette d'Entragues,
Marquise de Verneuil, originally took orders, and became the incumbent
of several abbeys, among others that of St. Germain-des-Pres. He was
subsequently made Bishop of Metz, and bore that title for a considerable
time. On the 1st of January 1662, having been created a knight of the
Order of the Holy Ghost, and in the following year a duke and peer, he
took the title of Duc de Verneuil, and as such was sent to England in
1665 as ambassador extraordinary. Finally, in 1666, Louis XIV bestowed
upon him the government of Languedoc, when he sold his church
property, and married (in 1668) Charlotte Seguier, the widow of
Maximilien-Francois de Bethune III, Duc de Sully. He died without issue,
at Versailles, on the 28th of May 1682.

CHAPTER III

1602

Court festivities--The Queen's ballet--A gallant prelate--A poetical
almoner--Insolence of the royal favourite--Unhappiness of the
Queen--Weakness of Henry--Intrigue of Madame de Villars--The King
quarrels with the favourite--They are reconciled--Madame de Villars is
exiled, and the Prince de Joinville sent to join the army in
Hungary--Mortification of the Queen--Her want of judgment--New
dissension in the royal menage--Sully endeavours to restore
peace--Mademoiselle de Sourdis--The Court removes to Blois--Royal
rupture--A bewildered minister--Marie and her foster-sister--Conspiracy
of the Dues de Bouillon and de Biron--Parallel between the two
nobles--The Comte d'Auvergne--Ingratitude of Biron--He is betrayed--His
arrogance--He is summoned to the capital to justify himself--He refuses
to obey the royal summons--Henry sends a messenger to command his
presence at Court--Precautionary measures of Sully--The President
Jeannin prevails over the obstinacy of Biron--Double treachery of La
Fin--The King endeavours to induce Biron to confess his cr