They were stormy councils. At one of these the Duke of Beaufort and
Nemours had a dispute, drew their swords, and were going to attack
one another, when Mademoiselle, by entreaties and commands, forced
them to lay down their arms.
All this time I had no news from my family. We were in a strange
condition. Here was I following Mademoiselle, who represented her
father and the neutral party, but was really devoted to the Prince;
my son was in attendance on the King, whom we were keeping out of his
own city; my mother, brother, and sister were in Paris, which held
for the Parliament. My half-brother, Solivet, had repaired to M. de
Turenne's army, which was fighting for the King, and my brother-in-
law, d'Aubepine, was on the staff of the Prince.
There was scarcely any family that was not divided and broken up in
the same way, and it was hard to say why there was all this war and
misery, except that there was irreconcilable hatred between the
Prince and the Cardinal, and the Queen was determined to cling to the
latter.
I knew nothing of what was passing at home till a day or two after
Easter Sunday, when one of the gentlemen of the household of the Duke
of Orleans, who had come with letters for Mademoiselle, seemed
surprised to see me, and on my pressing him for intelligence, he told
me that my dear brother was at the point of death. He was quite sure
of it, for he had spoken with M. de Poligny, who told him that M.
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