afternoon, aided by Cardinal Tencin. His Governor, the Chevalier
Graeme, was not in the secret. The Prince waited for him till
midnight, and was in a mortal anxiety. He believed that the English
attempts to kidnap or assassinate himself had been directed against
his brother. At last, after three days, he received a letter from
the Duke of York, 'explaining his fatal design' to accept a
cardinal's hat. 'Prince Charles is determined never to return to
Rome, BUT RATHER TO TAKE REFUGE IN SOME HOLE IN A ROCK.'

Charles, in fact, saw that, if he was to succeed in England, he could
not have too little connection with Rome. D'Argenson describes his
brother Henry as 'Italian, superstitious, a rogue, avaricious, fond
of ease, and jealous of the Prince.' Cardinal Tencin, he says, and
Lord and Lady Lismore, have been bribed by England to wheedle Henry
into the cardinalate, 'which England desires more than anything in
the world.' Charles expressed the same opinion in an epigram. Lady
Lismore, for a short time believed to be the mistress of Louis XV.,
was deeply suspected. Whatever may be the truth of these charges, M.
de Puysieux, an enemy of Charles, succeeded at the Foreign Office to
d'Argenson, who had a queer sentimental liking for the Prince.
Cardinal Tencin was insulted, and was hostile; the Lismores were
absolutely estranged, if not treacherous; there was a quarrel between
James and Henry in Rome, and Charles, in Paris. {35a} Such was the
state of affairs at the end of 1747, while Pickle was still a
prisoner in the Tower of London, engaged, he tells us, in acts of
charity towards his fellow-captives!

Meanwhile Charles's private conduct demands a moment's attention.
Madame de Pompadour was all powerful at Court. {35b} This was,
therefore, a favourable moment for Charles, in a chivalrous affection