he building itself was burned,
and several adjacent houses were involved in the conflagration. Having
accomplished these outrages and encouraged the people to imitate his
lawless example, the aged constable returned to the city. He had well
earned the contemptuous name which the Huguenots henceforth gave him of
"Le Capitaine _Brulebanc_."[71] If the triumvirate succeeded, it was plain
that all liberty of worship was proscribed. It was even believed that the
Duchess of Guise had been sent to carry a message, in the king's name, to
her mother, the aged Renee of France, to the effect that if she did not
dismiss the Huguenot preachers from Montargis, and become a good Catholic,
he would have her shut up for the rest of her life in a convent.[72]
Whatever truth there may have been in this story, one thing was certain:
in Paris it would have been as much as any man's life was worth to appear
annoyed at the constable's exploit, or to oppose the search made for arms
in suspected houses. Every good Catholic had a piece of the Huguenots'
benches or pulpit in his house as a souvenir; "so odious," says a
contemporary, "is the new religion in this city."[73] Meantime, on Easter
Monday (the thirtieth of March) Conde left Meaux at the head of fifteen
hundred horse, the flower of the French nobility, "better armed with
courage than with corselets"--says Francois de la Noue. As they approached
the capital, the whole city was thrown into confusion, the gates were
closed, and the chains stretched across the streets.[74] But the host
passed by, and at St. Cloud crossed the Seine without meeting any
opposition. Here the news of the seizure of the person of Charles by the
triumvirs first reached the prince, and with it one great object of the
expedition was frustrated.[75] The Huguenots, however, did not delay, but,
instead of turning toward Fontainebleau, took a more southerly route
directly for the city of Orleans. D'Andelot, to whom the van had been
confided, advanced by a rapid march, and succeeded by a skilful movement
in entering the city, of which he took possession in the name of the
Prince of Conde, acting as lieutenant of the king unlawfully held in
confinement. Catharine de' Medici, who, having been forced into the party
of the triumvirs, had with her usual flexibility promptly decided to make
the most of her position, sent messengers to Conde hoping to amuse him
with negotiations while a powerful Roman Catholic detachment should by