arguments of MM. de Marquemont,[45] d'Ossat,[46] and Duperron,[47] whom
the Duke had, by command of the monarch, entrusted with this difficult
and dangerous mission, when they represented that the birth of a dauphin
must necessarily avert all risk of a civil war in France, together with
the utter hopelessness of such an event unless their royal master were
released from his present engagements; and that the sovereign-pontiff
had even expressed his willingness to second the washes of the French
monarch. But the consent of Marguerite herself was no less important;
and with a view to obtain this, the minister addressed to her a letter,
in which he expressed his ardent desire to effect a reconciliation
between herself and the King, in order that the prayers of the nation
might be answered by the birth of a Dauphin; or, should she deem such an
event impossible, to entreat of her to pardon him if he ventured to take
the liberty of imploring her Majesty to make a still greater sacrifice.

Sully had felt that it was unnecessary to explain himself more clearly,
as a reconciliation between Henri IV and his erring consort had, from
the profligate life which she was known to have led at Usson, become
utterly impossible; nor could she doubt for an instant the nature of the
sacrifice which was required at her hands. It was not, therefore,
without great anxiety that he awaited her reply, which did not reach him
for the space of five months; at the expiration of which period he
received a letter, wherein she averred her willingness to submit to the
pleasure of the King, for whose forbearance she expressed herself
grateful; offering at the same time her acknowledgments to the Duke
himself for the interest which he exhibited towards her person. From
this period a continued correspondence was maintained between the exiled
Queen and the minister; and she proved so little exacting in the
conditions which she required as the price of her concession, that the
affair would have been concluded without difficulty, had not the