. Upon the Queen and her
immediate friends they, however, produced a contrary effect; her leaning
towards the Court of Spain inducing her to welcome every symptom of a
desire on the part of that Cabinet to maintain a good understanding with
her own Government. Her reception of the Duque de Feria was consequently
so gracious that he immediately proceeded to renew the negotiation
already mooted for the double alliance between the two nations, which
must, should it ever be effected, render their interests, at least for a
time, inseparable. No proposition could be more acceptable to Marie de
Medicis, who, harassed and dispirited, gladly welcomed any prospect of
support by which she might hope to keep her turbulent nobility in check;
while Philip on his side was anxious to effect so desirable an alliance,
as it would enable him, irrespectively of its contingent advantages, to
gain time, and thus secure the means of settling the affairs of Germany,
which were embroiled by the misunderstanding between the Emperor and
his brothers.

The Spanish Cabinet was, moreover, desirous of widening the breach
between the Catholics and Protestants of France, an attempt in which it
was zealously seconded by the Pope, who was readily persuaded that no
measure could be so desirable for the accomplishment of such a purpose
as a union between the two crowns. Thus the objections which had
appeared insuperable to Henri IV lost all their weight in the mutual
anxiety of Marie and Philip to secure the advantages which each sought
to gain; and, as the youth of Louis XIII forbade the immediate
celebration of the marriage, a private pledge was exchanged between the
ministers of France and the Spanish envoy, that the Regent should not
interfere with the measures of the House of Austria in Germany, while
Spain should refuse all support to the malcontents in her own kingdom;
and this mutual understanding once established, the double alliance was
concluded.[71]

In the midst of the important interests by which the mind of Marie de
Medicis was at this period occupied, a fresh demand upon her attention
was made by Madame de Verneuil, who on the 15th of September laid before
the Comte de Soissons, the Cardinal de Joyeuse, and the Duc d'Epernon,
the written engagement which she had received from the Duc de Guise, and
urged its enforcement. Her claim was warmly espoused by M. de Soissons,
who at once declared the document to be valid and unanswerable; while it