ed earnestly into the
views of her favourite, consenting to withdraw her confidence from
Sillery, and to follow thenceforward the counsels of Villeroy and
Jeannin.[203]

The delay consequent upon the recovery of the Queen and her daughter
enabled the Prince de Conde to strengthen his party, and to advance
towards Paris, with an army of five thousand infantry and two thousand
horse. His troops were, however, badly armed, and might at once have
been beaten or dispersed by the Marechal de Bois-Dauphin, had that
general marched against them; but, fettered by the stringent orders
which he had received not to give battle to the enemy, he remained
inactive; and the Duc de Bouillon profited by his inertness to seize
Chateau Thierry, whence he marched to Mere-sur-Seine.

Meanwhile M. de Conde ascertained that the King had issued on the 10th
of September a proclamation of _lese-majeste_ against himself and his
adherents; to which he replied by another, wherein he affirmed that he
had taken up arms for the sole purpose of preventing a foreign invasion.
He then crossed the Seine, with the intention of possessing himself of
the town of Sens; a project in which he, however, failed, Bois-Dauphin
and his adjutant-general, the Marquis de Praslin, having already
garrisoned the place.[204]

The two armies were at this period in such close juxtaposition that an
engagement appeared inevitable; but whether it were that Bois-Dauphin
was deficient in ability, or that he had resolved, whatever might be the
result of his inaction, to obey implicitly the instructions of the
Queen, he vacated Sens after a few slight skirmishes. Be the real cause
of his supineness what it might, it excited the indignation of
Bassompierre, Praslin, the Marquis de Coeuvres, and the other leaders of
the royal army, who did not scruple to accuse him of incapacity;
declaring, moreover, that he had harassed the troops far more than if he
had led them into action.[205]

On the arrival of the Court at Angouleme the Queen was agreeably
surprised by the appearance of the Comte de Saint-Pol,[206] who, she had
been led to believe, had joined the faction of Conde with his nephew the
Duc de Longueville; and her exultation was increased when, with
assurances of his fidelity to the Crown, he placed under her orders the
two fortresses of Fronsac and Caumont.[207]

Profiting by the retreat of the Marechal de Bois-Dauphin, the Duc de
Bouillon had made all haste to pass the Loir