considerable heiress, both because of her wealth and the
illustrious house of Anjou from which she was descended, was
promised in marriage to the Duc de Maine, the younger brother of
the Duc de Guise.

The marriage was delayed because of the youth of this heiress,
but the elder of the brothers, the Duc de Guise, who saw much of
her, and who saw also the burgeoning of what was to become a
great beauty, fell in love with her and was loved in return. They
concealed their feelings with great care; the Duc de Guise, who
had not yet become as ambitious as he was to become later, wanted
desperately to marry her, but fear of angering his uncle, the
Cardinal de Lorraine, who had taken the place of his dead father,
prevented him from making any declaraton.

This was how the matter stood when the ruling house of Bourbon,
who could not bear to see any benefit accruing to that of de
Guise, decided to step in and reap the profit themselves by
marrying this heiress to the Prince de Montpensier.

This project was pursued with such vigour that the parents of
Mlle. de Mezieres, despite the promises given to the Cardinal de
Lorraine, resolved to give her in marriage to the young Prince.
The house of de Guise was much displeased at this, but the Duc
himself was overcome by grief, and regarded this as an
insupportable affront. In spite of warnings from his uncles, the
Cardinal and the Duc de Aumale--who did not wish to stand in the
way of something which they could not prevent--he expressed
himself with so much violence, even in the presence of the Prince
de Montpensier, that a mutual enmity arose between them which