ence of her husband?

After her return to Paris in 1624, Madame Champlain lived alone, and
became more and more detached from the world, till she asked her husband
to allow her to enter an Ursuline convent. Champlain, fearing that this
desire might arise rather from caprice than a vocation for the life of
the cloister, thought it advisable to refuse her request, and he bade
her a last adieu in 1633. After Champlain's death, Father Le Jeune
informed her that she was now free to follow the dictates of her heart.

According to the marriage settlement, Champlain was obliged to leave to
his wife, if she were still living, all his possessions. By his last
will, however, he left all his property to the church. Champlain had no
desire to injure his wife by this act; on the contrary, he knew that her
piety was great, and that she would probably applaud the course he had
taken, which was owing to his extraordinary devotion to Notre Dame de la
Recouvrance, the church which he had built and loved. Madame Champlain,
in fact, made no opposition, and the will was confirmed on July 11th,
1637. The will, however, was contested by Marie Camaret, a first cousin
of Champlain, and wife of Jacques Hersault, comptroller of customs at La
Rochelle, and a famous trial was the result. The will was contested on
two grounds: (1.) That the will was contrary to the marriage settlement,
and therefore ought to be annulled; (2.) That the will was made by
foreign hands, as it was difficult to suppose that Champlain had chosen
the Virgin Mary as his heir.

These were the contentions of Master Boileau. The attorney-general
Bignon easily refuted the second allegation by proving that Madame
Champlain had recognized the signature of her husband, and had stated
that the expression and style were his. The terms of this bequest to the
Virgin were quite natural to a man of Champlain's character, "When we
know," said the attorney, "that he frequently made use of Christian
expressions in his general conversation."

Although the authenticity of the will was proved, the attorney-general
argued that it ought to be set aside in face of the deed of settlement.
The court upheld this view, and the property of Champlain, with the
exception of the sum of nine hundred livres, derived from the sale of
his chattels, returned to his natural heirs.

This trial and other affairs prevented Madame Champlain from carrying
out her resolution, and it was not until November 7th, 16