is said to be the mother of invention, I found means to write
many letters to him.

Some few days after I had been put under arrest, my brother had
intelligence of it, which chagrined him so much that, had not
the love of his country prevailed with him, the effects of his
resentment would have been shown in a cruel civil war, to which
purpose he had a sufficient force entirely at his devotion. He
was, however, withheld by his patriotism, and contented himself
with writing to the Queen my mother, informing her that, if I was
thus treated, he should be driven upon some desperate measure.
She, fearing the consequence of an open rupture, and dreading
lest, if blows were once struck, she should be deprived of the
power of bringing about a reconciliation betwixt the brothers,
represented the consequences to the King, and found him well
disposed to lend an ear to her reasons, as his anger was now
cooled by the apprehensions of being attacked in Gascony, Dauphiny,
Languedoc, and Poitou, with all the strength of the Huguenots
under the King my husband.

Besides the many strong places held by the Huguenots, my brother
had an army with him in Champagne, composed chiefly of nobility,
the bravest and best in France. The King found, since my brother's
departure, that he could not, either by threats or rewards, induce
a single person among the princes and great lords to act against
him, so much did everyone fear to intermeddle in this quarrel,
which they considered as of a family nature; and after having
maturely reflected on his situation, he acquiesced in my mother's
opinion, and begged her to fall upon some means of reconciliation.
She thereupon proposed going to my brother and taking me with