prepared in his
turn to join his friends; but as their purpose had by this time become
apparent to the Regent, she caused him to be confined in an apartment of
the Louvre; whence, however, he succeeded a short time afterwards in
escaping by a door that had long been unused, and which being covered by
the tapestried hanging of the chamber had been at length forgotten.

The Marechal de Bouillon, however, upon whom the cabal mainly relied, as
his sovereignty of Sedan gave them the assurance of a secure retreat
should they be menaced with reprisals, made no haste to imitate his
dupes. He had been far too crafty to compromise himself beyond
redemption with a party which might ultimately fail; and he had
consequently calculated with great care the probable chances of
furthering his own fortunes. After the departure of the Princes he
formed his decision; and his first act was to wait upon the ministers,
and to reveal to them the intentions of M. de Conde and his adherents; a
communication which excited more annoyance than surprise in those to
whom it was addressed. He then proceeded to the Louvre, where he
repeated to the Regent what he had previously declared to her ministers;
and although he tempered his information with assurances of the respect
and attachment of the self-exiled Princes towards her person, Marie
considered the mere fact of such a coalition so dangerous, that even
when Bouillon volunteered to exert all his influence to induce them to
abandon their design, and to return to the capital, although she
accepted his offer, and permitted him to follow them ostensibly for that
purpose, she was far from feeling reassured; and she soon had reason to
discover that her fears were only too well--grounded; as the Duke, after
an elaborate leave-taking at the palace, publicly declared that he was
about to proceed to Sedan in order to avoid arrest.

This fact, coupled with the escape of M. de Vendome, who lost no time in
reaching Brittany, where he was joined by the Duc de Retz[170] with an
armed force, and took the town of Lamballe, sufficed to convince Marie
that no faith must be placed in the professions of Bouillon; and she
accordingly forwarded orders to all the governors of the royal
fortresses to forbid the entrance of the Duc de Vendome within their
walls, and commanded the Parliament to issue an edict for the
suppression of levies of troops throughout Provence. This done, she next
despatched the Duc de Ventadour to