favour or business admitted men to his presence, they could not
preserve that privilege without the good-liking of the Duchess of
Valentinois; for though she was no longer in possession of either
of youth or beauty, she yet reigned so absolutely in his heart,
that his person and state seemed entirely at her disposal.

The King had such an affection for the Constable, that he was no
sooner possessed of the Government, but he recalled him from the
banishment he had been sent into by Francis the First: thus was
the Court divided between Messieurs de Guise, and the Constable,
who was supported by the Princes of the blood, and both parties
made it their care to gain the Duchess of Valentinois. The Duke
d'Aumale, the Duke of Guise's brother, had married one of her
daughters, and the Constable aspired to the fame alliance; he was
not contented with having married his eldest son with Madam
Diana, the King's daughter by a Piemontese lady, who turned nun
as soon as she was brought to bed. This marriage had met with a
great many obstacles from the promises which Monsieur Montmorency
had made to Madam de Piennes, one of the maids of honour to the
Queen; and though the King had surmounted them with extreme
patience and goodness, the Constable did not think himself
sufficiently established, unless he secured Madam de Valentinois
in his interest, and separated her from Messieurs de Guise, whose
greatness began to give her uneasiness. The Duchess had
obstructed as much as she could the marriage of the Dauphin with
the Queen of Scotland; the beauty and forward wit of that young
Queen, and the credit which her marriage gave to Messieurs de
Guise, were insupportable to her; she in particular hated the
Cardinal of Loraine, who had spoken to her with severity, and
even with contempt; she was sensible he took the party of the