performing their duty to the King,
to avail themselves to the uttermost of so favourable an opportunity of
furthering their individual interests.

At length all was over: every cabinet and chest had been ransacked to
its deepest recesses; every article of use or ornament had been
displaced in search of plunder; and the wretched Leonora was warned that
it was time to depart. She rose silent and rigid; and as De Vitry
preceded her from the room, his guards closed up behind her. A carriage
was in waiting at the foot of the staircase by which she descended; the
twilight was rapidly deepening into night, and her melancholy path was
lighted at intervals by the torches of the numerous attendants who were
hurrying through the corridors in the service of their several
employers. The long dark shadows of the Louvre lay heavy on the dull
pavement of the court, save where they were broken at intervals by the
resinous flambeaux which glared and flickered against the walls of the
building. All looked wild, and sad, and strange; and not one kindly
accent fell upon the ear of the unhappy captive as she was hurried
onward. A few harsh words were uttered in a tone of authority: she was
lifted into the conveyance which had been prepared for her: the
cavalcade slowly traversed the enclosure; and then as the iron gates of
the palace were passed, the horses were lashed into a gallop; and in
less than an hour the life-long companion of Marie de Medicis,
husbandless, childless, and friendless, was an occupant of the gloomy
prison-chamber which had recently been vacated by the Prince de Conde.

The noise created by the entrance of the new prisoner, the clashing of
arms, the grating of the heavy portcullis, as it groaned and strained in
its ascent, the dull fall of the drawbridge, the voices of men, and the
rattling of wheels, awakened the Prince; who, with the natural weariness
of a captive, had already retired to rest. Summoning an attendant he
demanded to know the cause of the disturbance.

"It is M. de Vitry, Monseigneur," was the reply; "who has just
transferred the Marechale d'Ancre to the safe keeping of the governor."

"Good!" said the Prince, as he once more settled himself to sleep; "I
have now one enemy the less." [292]

This rapid succession of misfortunes produced an extraordinary effect
upon the sensitive organization of Leonora Galigai. As we have already
hinted, she had for a considerable period suffered under mental
halluc