He now demanded that the marquis should inform him instantly of her
place of concealment. This command the marquis had firmly declined
to comply with. He admitted that he could guess where she would
take refuge; but that as he sympathized with her in her objection
to the match which his Majesty had been pleased to make for her, he
must decline to say a word which could lead to her discovery. Upon
leaving the king's presence he was at once arrested, and conveyed
to the Bastille.
Imprisonment in the Bastille, although rigorous, was not, except in
exceptional cases, painful for men of rank. They were well fed and
not uncomfortably lodged; and as the governor had been a personal
friend of the marquis previous to his confinement, he had been
treated with as much lenity as possible. After he had been a year
in prison, the governor came to his room and told him that Rupert
had been drowned by the overflowing of the moat at Loches, and that
if therefore his daughter was, as it was believed, actuated by an
affection for the Englishman in refusing to accept the husband that
the king had chosen for her, it was thought that she might now
become obedient. He was therefore again ordered to name the place
of her concealment.
The marquis replied that he was not aware that his daughter had any
affection for Rupert beyond the regard which an acquaintance of
many years authorized; and that as he was sure the news would in no
way overcome her aversion to the match with the Duc de Carolan, he
must still decline to name the place where he might suspect that
she had hidden herself.
Pages:
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346