CHAPTER II.
First Hypothesis—Portrait of Buckingham—Causes of his Visit to France—Ardour with which he was received—His Passion for Anne of Austria—Character of this Princess—Journey to Amiens—Scene in the Garden—The Remembrance that Anne of Austria preserved of it.
First Hypothesis—Portrait of Buckingham—Causes of his Visit to France—Ardour with which he was received—His Passion for Anne of Austria—Character of this Princess—Journey to Amiens—Scene in the Garden—The Remembrance that Anne of Austria preserved of it.
The Duke of Buckingham, charged by Charles I. with conducting Henrietta-Maria, the new Queen of England, to London, arrived in Paris, May 24, 1625.[27]This brilliant and audacious nobleman, who had known how to become and to remain the ruling favourite of two kings utterly different in character and mind, and who, from a very humble position, had raised himself to the highest posts in the State, enjoyed throughout the whole of Europe the most striking renown. He owed it, however, less to the favours with which James I. had loaded him, and which his son had continued, than to his attractive qualities and his romantic adventures. All that Nature could bestow of grace, charm, and the power of pleasing, he had received in profusion. Deficient in the more precious gifts which retain, he possessed all those which attract. He was well made, had a very handsome countenance,[28]was of a proudbearing without being haughty, and knew how to affect, according to circumstances, the emotion which he wished to communicate to others, but did not feel himself. During a long stay in France, he had succeeded in rendering exquisite those manners which were naturally delicate, and had become accomplished in all the arts which display the elegance of the body. He excelled in arms, showed himself a clever horseman, and danced with a rare perfection. The adventurous visit to Spain which he had made with the Prince of Wales[29]had increased his reputation for elegant frivolity, and the successes which his good looks and audacity had secured him made people forget the defects of the incautious negotiator. Already extravagant during his early poverty, he dissipated his fortune as if he had always lived in the opulence for which he seemed born, displaying a magnificence and a pomp unknown in a like degree before his time. Moreover, volatile and presumptuous, as inconstant as pliant, without profundity in his views, without connection in his projects, clever in maintaining himself in power, but disastrous to the sovereigns whom he governed, by turns insolently familiar and irresistibly attractive, sometimes admired by the crowd for his supreme distinction, at others execrated for his fatal authority, not low but impetuous in his caprices, not knowing either how to foresee or to accept an obstacle, and sacrificing everything to his fancy, he possessed none of the qualities ofthe statesman although he may have had all those which characterize the courtier.
He was expected, and was received in Paris with the most eager curiosity. “M. de Buckingham,†wrote Richelieu to the Marquis d’Effiat, “will find in me the friendship which he might expect from a true brother who will render him all the services which he could desire of any one in the world,â€[30]and Louis XIII. caused to be said to him, “I assure you that you will not be considered a stranger here, but a true Frenchman, since you are one in heart, and have shown in this marriage negotiation such uniform affection for the welfare and service of the two crowns, that I think as much of it, so far as I am concerned, as the King your master. You will be very welcome here, and you will have access to me on all occasions.â€[31]
From the day of his arrival, Buckingham really showed himself “a true Frenchman†by his manner of behaving, by the ease and freedom of his movements. “He entered the court,†says La Rochefoucauld, “with more splendour, grandeur, and magnificence than if he were King.â€[32]Eight great lords and four-and-twenty knights accompanied him. Twenty gentlemen and twelve pages were attached to his person, and his entire suite was composed of six or seven hundred pages or attendants.[33]“He had all the treasuresof the Crown of England to expend, and all its jewels to wear.â€[34]He alighted at the splendid Hôtel de Luynes in the Rue Saint-Thomas-du-Louvre, which was then called the Hôtel de Chevreuse, “the most richly furnished hotel which France at present possesses,†says theMercure, and for several days the people of Paris were dazzled by the extraordinary luxury displayed by the ostentatious foreigner.[35]The admiration at the court was quite as lively, and Buckingham there pushed liberality to extravagance. Each of his sumptuous costumes was covered with pearls and diamonds intentionally fastened on so badly that a great number fell off, which the duke refused to receive when they were brought to him. His prodigality, the importance of his mission, the seductiveness which enveloped his past life, and the amiability which he invariably displayed, his title of foreigner which rendered his perfectly French manners more piquant, that art of pleasing which was so easy to him, all contributed to make him alike the hero both of the town and of the court.
Giddy with a success which surpassed even his expectations, and dazzled by the splendour which he shed around him, he saw only the Queen of France worthy of his homage, and suddenly conceived for her the most vehement passion. Too frivolous to bury this sentiment in his heart, he displayed it with complacency, and his temerity increased with his ostentation. Anne of Austria was a Spaniard and a coquette. She understood gallantry such as her country-women had learned it from the Moors—that gallantry“which permits men to entertain without criminal intentions tender sentiments for women; which inspires in them fine actions, liberality, and all kinds of virtue.â€[36]“She did not consider,†says one who best knew Anne of Austria, “that the fine talk, which is ordinarily called honest gallantry, where no particular engagement is entered into, could ever be blamable.â€[37]
So she tolerated with indulgence and without astonishment a passion congenial to her recollections of her country and her youth, and which, while flattering her self-esteem, did not at all shock her virtue. She received this homage of vanity with the complacency of coquetry, knowing herself to be most beautiful, most powerful, and most worthy of being loved. On Buckingham’s side there was indiscreet persistence, multiplied signs of being in love, and eagerness to be near her; on hers, timid encouragement, gentle sternness, severity and pardon by turns in her looks appeared to Anne of Austria the natural and ordinary incidents of a gallantry where neither her honour nor even her reputation seemed exposed to any peril. Moreover, if numerous festivities gave them frequent opportunities of seeing one another, the court being always present at the many interviews of the Ambassador with the Queen, restrained and embarrassed the enterprising audacity of the one, but entirely justified the confidence of the other.
After a week devoted to ballets, banquets, and feats of horsemanship, the wife of Charles I. set out on June 2 for England, conducted by the Duke of Buckingham, the Earls of Holland and Carlisle, and the Duke and Duchess de Chevreuse. Louis XIII., who was ill, remained at Compiègne; but Anne of Austria, as well as Marie de Medicis, accompanied by a great number of French lords, proceeded to Amiens. There the brilliant assemblies recommenced, and the Duke de Chaulnes, governor of the province, gave the three Queens a most magnificent reception. During several days the whole of the nobility of the neighbourhood came to offer their homage and augment the brilliancy of the pleasure-parties and fêtes given by the governor. The town not containing a palace sufficiently large to receive the three Queens, they were lodged separately, each being accompanied by a train of intimates and lords, who formed a little court for her. Buckingham almost constantly deserted his new sovereign in order to show himself wherever Anne of Austria was. Attached to the abode of the latter was a large garden, near the banks of the Somme. The Queen and her court were fond of walking in it. One evening, attracted, as usual, by the beauty of the place, and tempted by the mildness of the weather, Anne of Austria, accompanied by Buckingham, the Duchess de Chevreuse, Lord Holland, and all the ladies of her suite, prolonged her promenade later than usual. Violently enamoured, and arrived at such a pitch of self-conceit that everything seemed possible, the Duke was very tender, and even dared to be importunate. The early departure of Henrietta Maria rendered their separation imminent. Favoured by the falling night, and taking advantage of a moment of isolationdue to the winding of a path, he threw himself at the Queen’s feet, and wished to give way to the transports of his passion. But Anne, alarmed, and perceiving the danger that she ran, uttered a loud cry, and Putange, her equerry, who was walking a few steps behind her, rushed forward and seized the Duke. All the suite arrived in turn, and Buckingham managed to get away in the midst of the crowd.[38]
Two days afterwards Henrietta Maria quitted Amiens for Boulogne; Marie de Medicis and Anne of Austria accompanied her to the gates of the town. Anne of Austria was in a carriage with the Princess de Conti. It was there that Buckingham took leave of her. Bending down to bid her adieu, he covered himself with the window-curtain, in order to hide his tears, which fell profusely. The Queen was moved at this display of grief, and the Princess de Conti, “who gracefully rallied her, told her that she could answer to the King for her virtue, but that she would not do as much for her cruelty, as she suspected her eyes of having regarded this lover with some degree of pity.â€[39]
Too passionately enamoured for separation to be able to cure him of his love, and excited still more to see Anne of Austria again by the recollection of his gross rashness, the Duke of Buckingham, whom unfavourable winds detained at Boulogne, returned suddenly to Amiens with Lord Holland, under pretence of having an important letter to deliver to Marie de Medicis, who, owing to aslight illness, had not quitted this town. “Returned again!†said Anne of Austria to Nogent-Bautru, on learning this news; “I thought that we were delivered from him.â€[40]She had been bled that morning, and was in bed when the two English noblemen entered her chamber. Buckingham, blinded by his passion, threw himself on his knees before the Queen’s bed, embracing the coverings with ecstasy, and exhibiting, to the great scandal of the ladies of honour, the impetuous sentiments which agitated him. The Countess de Lannoi wished to force him to rise, telling him, with severity, that such behaviour was not according to French customs. “I am not French,†replied the Duke, and he continued, but always in the presence of several witnesses, to eloquently express his tenderness for the Queen. The latter, being very much embarrassed, could not at first say anything; then she complained of such boldness, but without a great deal of indignation; and it is probable that her heart took no part in the reproaches which she addressed to the duke. The next day he departed a second time for Boulogne, and never again saw the Queen of France.
Such is the famous scene at Amiens, which furnished opportunities for the gross liveliness of Tallemant des Réaux and the libertine imagination of the Cardinal deRetz.[41]The statements of La Porte, who was present, of Madame de Motteville, who collected her information from eye-witnesses, and of La Rochefoucauld, less likely to show partiality, leave no doubt of Anne of Austria’s innocence. Marie de Medicis, whose interest it then was to injure her with Louis XIII., and who often did so without scruple, could not on this occasion, says La Porte,[42]“avoid bearing witness to the truth, and telling the King that there was nothing in it; that if the Queen might have been willing to act wrongly, it would have been impossible, with so many people about her who were watching her, and that she could not prevent the Duke of Buckingham having esteem or even love for her. She related also a number of things of this kind which had happened to herself in her youth.â€
Marie de Medicis might also have quoted examples from the life of Anne of Austria herself, who had previously loved the Duke de Montmorency and the Duke de Bellegarde without her honour having been tarnished by so doing.[43]The recollection of Buckingham’s love dwelt more profoundly in the memory of all, because his passion had been more fiery and had been manifested by incautious acts. But to the end of the Queen’s life, even after the death of Louis XIII., and during the regency, it was in her presence a subject of conversation which she listened to complacently, because it flattered her self-esteem, and which she would certainly not have tolerated, had any onedared to start it, if this recollection had been to her a cause for remorse. Far from this, people familiarly jested with her about it with grace, and without offending her, since they could thus remind her of a liking which had been sufficiently strong, but had not led her to commit any fault. Richelieu, presenting Mazarin to the Queen, said, “You will like him, madam, he has Buckingham’s manner.â€[44]Much later Anne of Austria, when Regent, meeting Voiture walking along in a dreamy state, in her garden of Ruel, and asking him what he was thinking of, received in reply these verses, which did not at all offend her:—
“Je pensais que la destinée,Après tant d’injustes malheurs,Vous a justement couronnéeDe gloire, d’éclat et d’honneurs;Mais que vous étiez plus heureuseLorsque vous étiez autrefois,Je ne veux pas dire amoureuse,La rime le veut toutefois.Je pensais (que nos autres poëtesNous pensons extravagamment)Ce que, dans l’humeur où vous êtes,Vous feriez si, dans ce moment,Vous avisiez en cette placeVenir le Duc de Buckingham,Et lequel serait en disgrâce,De lui ou du père Vincent.â€[45]
Everything combines to absolve Anne of Austria from the crime of which she was accused during the troubles of the Fronde, and in the midst of the unjust passions aroused by civil war. Louis XIII.’s conduct with respectto her, and his persistent coldness, alone seemed to condemn her. But does this coldness date from Buckingham’s stay in Paris? Were the isolation in which Louis XIII. often remained and his neglect of the Queen such as people have believed up to the present time? Must we admit, as has been maintained, the proof of a criminal infidelity on the part of this Princess, deliberately committed either with Buckingham in 1625, or with an unknown individual, in 1630, with the view of being able, at the instant of Louis XIII.’s death, which then seemed imminent, to reign in the name of a child of whom she should beenceinte, and who, after the unexpected recovery of the King, became the Man with the Iron Mask?
FOOTNOTES:[27]Mercure Français, 1625, pp. 365, 366.[28]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 15.[29]The Prince of Wales had been on the point of espousing the Infanta Maria, Anne of Austria’s sister, and had proceeded to Spain with Buckingham, in order to hasten the conclusion of this project. See the very interesting Story of this negotiation in M. Guizot’sUn Projet de Mariage Royal.[30]Collection of Unpublished Documents concerning the History of France.Lettres et Papiers d’État du Cardinal de Richelieu, published by M. Avenel, vol. ii. p. 55.[31]Ibid.vol. ii. p. 71.[32]Mémoires de la Rochefoucauld, p. 340.[33]Hardwicke (State Papers), vol. i. p. 571. Documents quoted in M. Guizot’s work already cited, p. 332.[34]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 16.Mercure Français, 1625, p. 366.[35]Mercure Français,ibid.[36]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 18. “In our time,†adds Madame de Motteville, “there has existed what the Spaniards callfucezas.†“This word,†remarks the commentator on these Memoirs, “appears to come fromhuso, a distaff. It seems to express the idea of spinning love.â€[37]Ibid.[38]Mémoires de La Porte.Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 16.Mémoires de la Rochefoucauld, p. 340.[39]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville.[40]Mémoires de La Porte, pp. 8, 9. Madame de Motteville assures us that her mistress was informed of this visit by Madame de Chevreuse, which is possible. It is the only point, and moreover, a very secondary one, in which La Porte’s account differs from Madame de Motteville’s. But we must not forget that the former was an eye-witness, whilst the latter, who entered the service of Anne of Austria afterwards, learnt the events, which she describes at the commencement of her Memoirs, long subsequent to their occurrence.[41]Retz places the Amiens scene at the Louvre, and does not neglect the opportunity of blackening the Queen’s honour.[42]Mémoires de La Porte, p. 10.[43]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 18.[44]Mémoires de Tallemant des Réaux, vol. i. p. 422.[45]Père Vincent was the Queen’s confessor.—Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, vol. i. pp. 81, 82.
[27]Mercure Français, 1625, pp. 365, 366.
[27]Mercure Français, 1625, pp. 365, 366.
[28]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 15.
[28]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 15.
[29]The Prince of Wales had been on the point of espousing the Infanta Maria, Anne of Austria’s sister, and had proceeded to Spain with Buckingham, in order to hasten the conclusion of this project. See the very interesting Story of this negotiation in M. Guizot’sUn Projet de Mariage Royal.
[29]The Prince of Wales had been on the point of espousing the Infanta Maria, Anne of Austria’s sister, and had proceeded to Spain with Buckingham, in order to hasten the conclusion of this project. See the very interesting Story of this negotiation in M. Guizot’sUn Projet de Mariage Royal.
[30]Collection of Unpublished Documents concerning the History of France.Lettres et Papiers d’État du Cardinal de Richelieu, published by M. Avenel, vol. ii. p. 55.
[30]Collection of Unpublished Documents concerning the History of France.Lettres et Papiers d’État du Cardinal de Richelieu, published by M. Avenel, vol. ii. p. 55.
[31]Ibid.vol. ii. p. 71.
[31]Ibid.vol. ii. p. 71.
[32]Mémoires de la Rochefoucauld, p. 340.
[32]Mémoires de la Rochefoucauld, p. 340.
[33]Hardwicke (State Papers), vol. i. p. 571. Documents quoted in M. Guizot’s work already cited, p. 332.
[33]Hardwicke (State Papers), vol. i. p. 571. Documents quoted in M. Guizot’s work already cited, p. 332.
[34]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 16.Mercure Français, 1625, p. 366.
[34]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 16.Mercure Français, 1625, p. 366.
[35]Mercure Français,ibid.
[35]Mercure Français,ibid.
[36]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 18. “In our time,†adds Madame de Motteville, “there has existed what the Spaniards callfucezas.†“This word,†remarks the commentator on these Memoirs, “appears to come fromhuso, a distaff. It seems to express the idea of spinning love.â€
[36]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 18. “In our time,†adds Madame de Motteville, “there has existed what the Spaniards callfucezas.†“This word,†remarks the commentator on these Memoirs, “appears to come fromhuso, a distaff. It seems to express the idea of spinning love.â€
[37]Ibid.
[37]Ibid.
[38]Mémoires de La Porte.Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 16.Mémoires de la Rochefoucauld, p. 340.
[38]Mémoires de La Porte.Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 16.Mémoires de la Rochefoucauld, p. 340.
[39]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville.
[39]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville.
[40]Mémoires de La Porte, pp. 8, 9. Madame de Motteville assures us that her mistress was informed of this visit by Madame de Chevreuse, which is possible. It is the only point, and moreover, a very secondary one, in which La Porte’s account differs from Madame de Motteville’s. But we must not forget that the former was an eye-witness, whilst the latter, who entered the service of Anne of Austria afterwards, learnt the events, which she describes at the commencement of her Memoirs, long subsequent to their occurrence.
[40]Mémoires de La Porte, pp. 8, 9. Madame de Motteville assures us that her mistress was informed of this visit by Madame de Chevreuse, which is possible. It is the only point, and moreover, a very secondary one, in which La Porte’s account differs from Madame de Motteville’s. But we must not forget that the former was an eye-witness, whilst the latter, who entered the service of Anne of Austria afterwards, learnt the events, which she describes at the commencement of her Memoirs, long subsequent to their occurrence.
[41]Retz places the Amiens scene at the Louvre, and does not neglect the opportunity of blackening the Queen’s honour.
[41]Retz places the Amiens scene at the Louvre, and does not neglect the opportunity of blackening the Queen’s honour.
[42]Mémoires de La Porte, p. 10.
[42]Mémoires de La Porte, p. 10.
[43]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 18.
[43]Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, p. 18.
[44]Mémoires de Tallemant des Réaux, vol. i. p. 422.
[44]Mémoires de Tallemant des Réaux, vol. i. p. 422.
[45]Père Vincent was the Queen’s confessor.—Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, vol. i. pp. 81, 82.
[45]Père Vincent was the Queen’s confessor.—Mémoires de Madame de Motteville, vol. i. pp. 81, 82.