Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 25.djvu/433

H cess.’ She disguised herself as the wife of a valet, and with only one confidant, passing as her husband, reached Dover on foot, crossed the Channel by the ordinary French packet, and reached Paris in safety. The queen in a transport of joy vowed to have her daughter reared in the Roman Catholic faith. She afterwards asserted that Charles had consented. The war of the Fronde in 1648 reduced Henrietta and her mother for a while to a state of destitution. They were then residing in the Louvre. Lady Dalkeith, now Countess of Morton, continued to be her governess, and Father Cyprien de Gamache was her religious teacher. When, in 1650, Charles II came to reside for some time with his mother he became much attached to Henrietta. Henrietta's early graces and vivacity rendered her a favourite at the French court. In 1654 she was allowed to be present at a fête given by Cardinal Mazarin to the members of the French and English royal families. A few months later she took part in a ballet-royal, at which Louis XIV and his brother, and her own brother, James, duke of York, were also actors. She personated Erato in the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis. The following June, with her mother and two of her brothers, she witnessed the coronation of Louis XIV at Rheims. During the visit of her elder sister, the Princess Mary of Orange, to the French court in 1656 Henrietta took a prominent part at several entertainments. She visited sacred shrines, and occasionally went to Chaliot, where her mother delighted to see her practise humility by waiting upon the nuns. Anne of Austria for a time contemplated a marriage between Henrietta and Louis XIV, to which the latter would not consent. Towards the close of 1659 the princess retired with her mother to Colombes, near Paris. On the Restoration it was understood that Henrietta would marry Philippe, duke of Anjou (1640–1701), only brother of the French king. A special envoy, the Count de Soissons, was despatched to England as the bearer of a formal demand for the princess. The queen-mother and her daughter also went to England. They set out on 19 (N.S. 29) Oct. 1660, were received everywhere with regal honours, and on leaving Calais were met by the Duke of York at the head of the whole English fleet, while Charles himself was in attendance off Dover. London was reached on 2 Nov. The House of Commons offered its congratulations to Henrietta and voted her a present of 10,000l., which she acknowledged in a graceful letter to the speaker. She apologised for her defects in writing English, but desired to supply all defects by an English heart. Henrietta became a favourite at the English court. The Duke of Buckingham professed himself her most devoted admirer, and acted in such a manner as to call forth public remark. In the meantime the Count de Soissons was busily forwarding the completion of the marriage contract. Louis created his brother Duke of Orleans and Chartres, with sufficient revenues. Knowing that the state of the English finances would make a suitable dower difficult, he tried to obtain from Charles the restoration of the port of Dunkirk. Charles refused, but promised his sister a portion of 40,000l. sterling instead. The deaths of the Duke of Gloucester and the Princess Mary of Orange (13 Sept. and 24 Dec. 1660) made the queen-mother anxious to remove Henrietta to France. After a delay caused by bad weather and her ill-health, she left Portsmouth on 25 Jan. The marriage, owing to the Lent season, was celebrated privately at the Palais Royal on 30 March 1661. The duchess became for a time the centre of attraction in the courtly circle. Louis showed her an apparent devotion which was a blind for his passion for Mlle. de la Vallière, one of her maids of honour. At her request Racine and Corneille undertook to write tragedies on the adieus of Titus and Berenice. Henrietta also patronised Molière, and stood sponsor for his infant son, born in January 1664. Her days were passed in an unceasing whirl of dissipation. For her husband she felt neither affection nor respect. Her flirtation with Arnaud, count de Guiche, already married to a daughter of the Count de Sully, led to his exile. A book purporting to give a detailed narrative of her amours with Louis, with the Count de Guiche, and with other nobles of the court was published in Holland, and only suppressed by the exertions of her best friend, Daniel de Cosnac, bishop of Valence.

The jealous temper of her husband was further roused by the fact that she was admitted to a knowledge of state secrets concealed from him. His favourite, the Chevalier de Lorraine, constantly tried to alienate him from his wife. Henrietta had become the chief agent between the English and French courts. Charles was negotiating for help from Louis at the end of 1669, and Henrietta's presence in England became desirable. Her husband's consent was necessary; but upon the exile of the Chevalier de Lorraine, the duke hurried his wife off to his country seat of Villers-Cotterets, vowing that he would not return to court until his favourite was recalled. Letters from Charles, the Duke of York, and Henry Jermyn, earl of St. Albans, were shown to him, suggesting that the duchess should