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Memoirs and Historical Chronicles of the Courts of Europe - Marguerite de Valois, Madame de Pompadour, and Catherine de Medici by Various
page 117 of 359 (32%)
a man much attached to the Spanish interest. He informed me that
he had received orders from the King my brother to conduct me
in safety on my return. He said that he had prevailed on Don
John to permit Barlemont to escort me to Namur with a troop of
cavalry, and begged me to obtain leave of the citizens to admit
Barlemont and his troop to enter the town, that they might receive
my orders.

Thus had they concerted a double plot; the one to get possession
of the town, the other of my person. I saw through the whole design,
and consulted with the Cardinal de Lenoncourt, communicating to
him my suspicions. The Cardinal was as unwilling to fall into
the hands of the Spaniards as I could be; he therefore thought it
advisable to acquaint the townspeople with the plot, and make our
escape from the city by another road, in order to avoid meeting
Barlemont's troop. It was agreed betwixt us that the Cardinal
should keep Du Bois in discourse, whilst I consulted the principal
citizens in another apartment. Accordingly, I assembled as many
as I could, to whom I represented that if they admitted Barlemont
and his troop within the town, he would most certainly take
possession of it for Don John. I gave it as my advice to make a
show of defence, to declare they would not be taken by surprise,
and to offer to admit Barlemont, and no one else, within their
gates. They resolved to act according to my counsel, and offered
to serve me at the hazard of their lives. They promised to procure
me a guide, who should conduct me by a road by following which I
should put the river betwixt me and Don John's forces, whereby
I should be out of his reach, and could be lodged in houses and
towns which were in the interest of the States only.

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