Nevertheless she was not without lively anxiety in that regard.
The Rohans had refused all compromise with her. If they were
disinherited, what would they say? Would they not attack the will
on the ground of undue influence? Such was the eventuality against
which the prudent Baroness intended to guard herself. In
consequence she conceived the bold project of sheltering her own
wealth under the patronage of some member of the royal family, in
having him receive the fortune of the old Prince under a will
which at the same time should consecrate the part to be received
by her, and put it beyond all contest. She would have wished the
old Prince to choose his heir in the elder branch of the House of
Bourbon. But the Duchess of Berry, who was disinterestedness
itself, declined any arrangement of that nature. To the
insinuations made to her in favor of her son, she responded:--
"Henri will be King. The King of France needs nothing."
She did more. It is said that to the persons who bore these
advances to her, she suggested the idea of having the heritage of
the Condes pass to the family of the Duke of Orleans. But the
thing was not easy. It is true that the children of the Duke were,
by their mother, Bathilde d'Orleans, nephews of the wife of the
Duke of Bourbon. But this Prince had led a bad life with his wife,
from whom he had separated immediately after the birth of the Duke
d'Enghien, and the souvenirs of the Revolution separated him
widely from a family whose political ideas were not his.
Pages:
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104