CHAPTER XXXIV

Bassompierre arrives in England--His journey to London--He is visited secretly by the Duke of Buckingham--He visits the duke in the same manner at York House--Charles I commands him to send Père de Sancy back to France--Singular history of this ecclesiastic--Refusal of Bassompierre--His first audience of Charles I and Henrietta Maria at Hampton Court--Firmness of Bassompierre on the question of Père de Sancy--He visits the Queen at Somerset House--His private audience of the King--He reproves the presumption of Buckingham--Admirable qualities displayed by Bassompierre in the difficult situation in which he is placed--He succeeds in effecting a reconciliation between the King and Queen--His able and eloquent speech before the Council--An agreement on the question of the Queen’s French attendants is finally arrived at--Lord Mayor’s Day three centuries ago--Bassompierre reconciles the Queen with Buckingham--Stormy scene between Charles I and Henrietta Maria at Whitehall--Bassompierre speaks his mind to the Queen--Intrigues of Père de Sancy--Peace is re-established--Magnificent fête at York House--Departure of Bassompierre from London--He is detained at Dover by bad weather--England and France on the verge of war--Buckingham decides to proceed to France on a special mission and proposes to accompany Bassompierre--Embarrassment of the latter--He visits the duke at Canterbury and persuades him to defer his visit--A disastrous Channel passage--Return of Bassompierre to Paris--Refusal of the Court of France to receive Buckingham--An English historian’s appreciation of Bassompierre.....pp. 467-501