he death of the
Duc d'Alencon deprived her of the last friend whom she possessed on
earth; and not even the security that she derived from the
impregnability of the fortress in which she had found an asylum could
preserve her from great and severe suffering. The castle, with its
triple ramparts, its wide moat, and its iron portcullis, might indeed
defy all human enemies, but it could not exclude famine; and during her
sojourn within its walls, which extended over a period of two-and-twenty
years, she was compelled to pawn her jewels, and to melt down her plate,
in order to provide food for the famishing garrison; while so utterly
destitute did she ultimately become, that she found herself driven to
appeal to the generosity of Elizabeth of Austria, the widow of her
brother Charles IX, who thenceforward supplied her necessities.

In the year 1589 Henry of Navarre ascended the throne of France, having
previously, for the second time, embraced the Catholic faith;[27] but
for a while the _liaisons_ which he found it so facile to form at the
Court, and his continued affection for the Comtesse de Guiche,[28]
together with the internal disturbances and foreign wars which had
convulsed the early years of his reign, so thoroughly engrossed his
attention, that he had made no attempt to separate himself from his
erring and exiled wife; nor was it until 1598, when the Edict of Nantes
had ensured a lasting and certain peace to the Huguenots: and that _la
belle Gabrielle_[29] had replaced Madame de Guiche, and by making him
the father of two sons, had induced him to contemplate (as he had done
in a previous case with her predecessor) her elevation to the throne,
that he became really anxious to liberate himself from the trammels of
his ill-omened marriage.

Having ascertained that the Duc de Bouillon,[30] notwithstanding the
concessions which he had made to the Protestant party, had been recently
engaged, in conjunction with D'Aubigny[31] and other zealous reformers,
in endeavouring to create renewed disaffection among the Huguenots,
Henry resolved to visit Brittany, and personally to express to the Duke
his indignation and displeasure.

On his arrival at Rennes, where M. de Bouillon was confined to his bed
by a violent attack of gout, the King accordingly proceeded to his
residence; where, after having expressed his regret at the state of
suffering in which he found him, he ordered all the attendants to
withdraw, and seating himse