CHAPTER IX

Loyalty of Mlle. de la Trémoille to Condé--She prevents her mother, the Duchesse de Thouars, from surrendering the Château of Taillebourg to a Catholic force--And defends it gallantly until she is relieved--She equips two ships-of-war to bring Condé from Guernsey--Reunion of the lovers--Their marriage--Condé takes the field again--Financial embarrassments of the new _ménage_--Battle of Coutras: encounter between Condé and Saint-Luc--Ill-health of the prince--He returns to Saint-Jean-d’Angely--He is suddenly taken ill, and dies in two days--Violent grief of his wife--Suspicions of the doctors--An autopsy is performed, and the prince is declared to have been poisoned--Letter of the King of Navarre to the Comtesse de Gramont--Flight of the princess’s page, Belcastel, and her head _valet-de-chambre_, Corbais--Arrest of her intendant, Brilland--The King of Navarre arrives at Saint-Jean-d’Angely, and orders the Princesse de Condé to be placed under arrest--Terrible situation of the princess 125–138

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