on of a rule which so oppressed her. Gaston, the
King's brother, had pledged his word, however little the reliance that
might be placed upon it; but the Duke de Bouillon, an experienced
soldier and an eminent politician, had openly declared himself; and his
stronghold of Sedan, situated on the frontiers of France and Belgium,
offered an asylum whence could be braved for a long while all the power
of the Cardinal. A widespread understanding had been established
throughout every part of the kingdom, amongst the clergy, and in the
Parliament. There were conspirators in the very Bastille itself, where
Marshal de Vitry and the Count de Cramail, prisoners as they were, had
prepared a _coup de main_ with an admirably-kept secrecy. The Abbe de
Retz, then twenty-five, preluded his adventurous career by this attempt
at civil war. The Duke de Guise, having effected his escape from Rheims,
and taken refuge in the Low Countries, was about to share the dangers of
the conspiracy at Sedan. But the greatest--the firmest--hope of the
Count de Soissons rested upon Spain: that power alone could enable him
to take the field from Sedan, to march upon Paris, and crush the power
of Richelieu. He therefore despatched Alexandre de Campion, one of his
bravest and most intelligent gentlemen, to Brussels to negotiate with
the Spanish Ministers and obtain from them troops and money. There he
addressed himself to Mdme. de Chevreuse, and confided to her the mission
with which he was charged, which she hastened to second with all her
influence. Having prevailed upon Olivarez to strenuously support those
requirements which the Count de Soissons and the Duke de Bouillon sought
at his hands, she despatched letters by a secret agent in the service of
Spain to the Duke de Lorraine, entreating him not to fail her in this
supreme opportunity of repairing her past misfortunes and of dealing a
mortal blow to their remorseless enemy. The Duke Charles, thus solicited
at once by Mdme. de Chevreuse, by his kinsman the Duke de Guise, by the
Spanish Minister, and, more than all, by his own restless and
adventurous ambition, broke the solemn compact he had so recently made
with France, entered into an alliance with Spain and the Count de
Soissons, and prepared with all diligence to march to the aid of Sedan.
And whilst Mdme. de Chevreuse and the emigrants brought into play every
engine they could lay hands on, Lamboy and Metternich set out for
Flanders at the head of si