CHAPTER 11 – SPY OF THE SUN KING
21:46 (Paris Time)
Tuesday, March 8, 1661 ‘A’
Château de Vincennes
Eastern suburbs of Paris, France
The doctor and his assistant walked out of Cardinal Mazarin’s bedroom and bowed respectfully in front of King Louis XIV, who was waiting and sitting in the adjacent lounge with a number of members of his court.
“We have performed a bleeding on His Eminence, Your Majesty. He should feel better now. He is however quite weak and should rest.”
“Thank you, Doctor. You may go now.” Said the King politely, making the doctor and his assistant bow again before walking out of the lounge. Nancy, who was part of the King’s entourage, threw a contemptuous glare at the doctor and spoke in a low voice to nobody in particular as the door of the lounge closed.
“Of course he will be weak, you moron! What do you expect when you take blood from a dying man?”
“Still in bad terms with the court’s doctor, my dear Nancy?” Asked King Louis, a smirk on his face. She nodded to him, still visibly angry.
“Bleedings and enemas: that’s all he and most of the doctors in France know what to do. Even the ancient Greeks and Romans practiced better medicine than this, Your Majesty! Could we at least forbid more bleedings on the Cardinal, unless we want him to die tonight?”
“Then you would deprive the good doctor of half of his remedies, if we believe you, my dear.”
“Which is why he and his colleagues should be sent back to study real medicine, Your Majesty! One day, you should ask that charlatan how much blood there is inside the body of an average man, then you should have a condemned prisoner bled to death to find out how much blood there is in reality in his veins. You may well then find out that the doctors who practice bleedings in France overestimate the amount of blood in a human body by a factor of three or even four, Your Majesty.”
The young King, who was only 22 years old, looked critically at Nancy for a moment as he thought those words over, then nodded once.
“An interesting proposition, my dear Marquess. I may do just that one fine day. Right now, I want to see our poor friend. You may all follow me but please keep some distance from the bed and keep quiet.”
King Louis, accompanied by his mother, Queen Anne of Austria, and by his wife, Queen Maria-Theresa, then entered the bedroom, followed a moment later by Nancy and the other twenty or so aristocrats present in the lounge. They found Cardinal Mazarin as pale as a sheet as he lay in his bed, attended by the King’s Jesuit confessor, Father De La Chaise. Taking a chair near the bed, Louis XIV sat and eyed sadly the man who had taught him everything about politics and power and had been like a second father to him.
“My poor Mazarin, this is indeed a sad moment for me and France.”
Despite being very weak and in pain, Mazarin managed a smile and spoke in a faint voice to his king.
“For you it may be, Your Majesty, but I suspect that many in France will rejoice once I am dead. I have made too many enemies during my years of service to France to believe that everybody around loves me, especially in Paris.”
“Forget about those, my friend. Here, you have only friends.”
Mazarin was nearly tempted to contradict Louis as he scanned the faces around his bed, seeing a few men and even women who wouldn’t mind see him dead right now. Instead, he nodded once slowly.
“And I thank God for it, Your Majesty. I am however very tired and may make a poor conversation partner right now.”
“Then we will let you rest, my friend.” Said King Louis, who then made a gesture for his followers to leave. Once alone with Mazarin and Father De La Chaise, Louis looked back down at the pale face of his prime minister, a lump in his throat.
“Is there anything else I could do for you, my friend?”
“A few, Your Majesty.” Said with an effort Mazarin. “Have you read my testament, the one I sent you?”
“I have! Your nieces will be treated as if they are from my own family and will lack nothing. All of your other requests will be respected, and I mean all.”
Mazarin nodded, satisfied. In the course of administering France for Louis, he had amassed a huge fortune and extensive art collections and was worried that they would fall in the wrong hands after his death, which was indeed near.
“Good! Next, I would like to give you an ultimate piece of advice, my dear Louis. Come closer.”
Louis bent over the bed, approaching his ear to Mazarin’s mouth. The cardinal then spoke in a whisper.
“Never use another prime minister, Your Majesty.”
The young king was taken aback at first by this, then realized what Mazarin truly meant.
“I…I understand, my friend. I will follow your advice. Could you name me someone I could trust to help me administer France?”
Again, Louis approached his ear to Mazarin, who answered without a hesitation.
“My own assistant, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, is a man of both high integrity and high abilities. He managed my own financial affairs with brilliance and utter loyalty. You can trust him completely.”
“I will certainly keep him by my side. Anything else, my friend?”
This time, Mazarin spoke in a normal volume, so that Father De La Chaise could hear as well. Louis could now see a faint smile on Mazarin’s face.
“Without wanting to diminish the precious spiritual support given by Father De La Chaise, I would like to enjoy the presence of a beautiful woman to hold vigil on me during what may be my last night in this world. I want that woman to be an intelligent one as well. You know us Italians, Your Majesty: we talk much, even with women.”
While Father De La Chaise seemed scandalized by this request, King Louis grinned to Mazarin.
“Your wish is granted, my friend. Do you have any specific woman in mind?”
“Only one woman in your court is both beautiful and truly intelligent, Your Majesty. Could you send me the Marquess of Saint-Laurent? She has been and still is my best operative when it comes to delicate, complicated missions.”
Louis nodded at that: he himself admired the tall young marquess and had continued to frequent her over the years, often bringing her with him on his hunting expeditions around his hunting lodge in Versailles.
“I will send her to you right after this. Don’t try too many things with her, though: she could drain the last of your energy quickly. I know that from experience.”
Mazarin managed a short laugh then and patted the young man’s shoulder.
“She is another one you would do well to keep around you, Your Majesty.”
“I was going to do that anyway, my friend.” Replied Louis with a grin before getting up. He then glanced at Father De La Chaise, who understood the silent message and left the bedroom. Louis followed him and stopped in the middle of the adjacent lounge, where his mother, wife and court nobles were still waiting.
“Our friend wants to rest now. We better leave him in peace for the night. I will see you all early tomorrow morning, so that we could resume our vigil.”
As the men and women rose from their chairs and sofas to leave, Louis went to Nancy and gently touched her left arm, making her stop and look at him.
“Nancy, our friend wishes to have you to stand vigil on him during the night. Can I count on you for this?”
“Of course, Your Majesty!” She said at once, not appearing surprised by this. The others around them that heard that looked by contrast stunned, if not shocked. Ignoring them, Louis let Nancy enter the bedroom, then gallantly took the arm of his wife and queen, Maria-Theresa of Spain, to escort her to her apartments. Maria-Theresa may not have been pretty and was rather slow-witted but Louis, even while running around with other women of the court, always showed utter courtesy and consideration to his wife and honored her bed nearly every night.
Inside the bedroom, Nancy curtsied before approaching Mazarin’s bed, then sat on the bed next to the cardinal. Nancy stared back at Mazarin, a serious expression on her face.
“I am here, Your Eminence. Do you wish for my company, for answers or for both?”
Mazarin nodded when he saw that she had read his true intentions: it was not solely because of her good looks and charms that she was such a good secret operative. She always had understood things quickly and then acted even faster, with utter efficiency. Her only weakness, if he could call it that way, was her uncommon tolerance and kindness, which contrasted with the way she could turn into a dangerous killer when needed.
“For both. You always intrigued me, Nancy, apart from fascinating me. Years ago, I asked my loyal D’Artagnan what he knew about you. He then surprised me by refusing to tell me, claiming that he had vowed not to tell anyone about you. I am now dying and would go more content if my curiosity could be satisfied about you.”
“D’Artagnan was always a man of his word, Your Eminence, which is one of the reasons why I love him. You are right about you dying, so I will reveal to you my secret, on the condition that you treat it like a confession and keep it confidential.”
“Then, I am ready to hear your confession, my dear Nancy.”
Even though they were alone in the room, Nancy didn’t take any chances and laid herself on the bed, close to Mazarin and with her mouth near his ear. She started caressing his chest while speaking softly in his ear in Italian.
“Do not be alarmed by what I will tell you, Your Eminence. I am not an enemy of France and never will be, on the contrary. My name is really Nancy Laplante and I was indeed born in New France, but in the year 1982. I am from the future.”
Mazarin swallowed hard while staring with shock into her eyes. Somehow, he believed her at once. This young woman, despite her discretion, had proved to have abilities and knowledge totally unheard of in any other women, or in fact any man.
“Why are you here?”
“At first, I came to explore the history of France in this century. Then I fell in love with D’Artagnan. From then on, my attachment to this France grew with the years. Now, I consider myself a true part of this France.”
“Why do you say ‘this France’?”
“Because I have known France in many centuries, Your Eminence, both in the past and in the future. I even met the famous Joan of Arc. I can’t however tell you about future France, as it could put in danger preordained history.”
“Can…can you still travel through time?”
“At will, Your Eminence.”
“But, how?”
“By divine favor, Your Eminence. The One graced me with many incredible gifts after choosing me following a number of tests.”
“You were chosen? Then the Jansenists are right?”
“No!” Replied at once Nancy in a firm tone. “The Jansenists pretend that we are all born with the original sin and that only a few chosen ones will be accepted by God. I refuse that notion, as I believe that we all come to this world as innocents and that we are all considered equal in God’s mind. He chose me to help protect the innocents and promote true justice because I was better than most in many things and truly cared about the others around me. I am however still most human and am not ashamed one bit of being a woman.”
Sweat was now rolling on Mazarin’s forehead. Taking her handkerchief, Nancy delicately wiped the beads away while speaking more soft words.
“Please rest now, Your Eminence. You are weak and tired.”
“Could…could you heal me, Nancy? You always swore at those damn court doctors, as if you knew much more than them in medicine.”
“Knowing more in medicine than these ignorant snobs isn’t difficult, Your Eminence. Yes, I could heal you but I won’t. Not because I hate you but because your death is already preordained and changing it could throw history into chaos. Like it or not, you will be a well known historical figure, Your Eminence.”
“I guess that I should be flattered by that.” Said in a resigned tone Mazarin. “You are right about me being tired. Will you stay nearby tonight, Nancy?”
“I will be here in this room until someone relieves me tomorrow morning, Your Eminence. Now, sleep.”
Getting up from the bed, Nancy went to sit in a chair besides the bed, where Mazarin could see her easily. She then started her vigil as the dying prime minister went into an agitated sleep.
Four hours later, with the bedroom dark save for a single candle on a dresser and with the castle mostly silent, Nancy heard Mazarin’s breathing become progressively more laborious. Hurrying to his side, she took one of his hands and found it cold, while his heartbeat was both erratic and weak. Nancy understood at once that the man was about to die. She started caressing gently his face and hair, making the cardinal wake up and look at her with eyes that had problems focusing.
“Is this how angels look like?” Asked weakly Mazarin, prompting a tear to roll down Nancy’s cheek.
“What your spirit is about to see will be even more beautiful, Your Eminence. You were mostly a good man, considering the standards of this time. I am sure that God will be kind to your spirit.”
“Look…after…Louis, p…please!” Said Mazarin with his last breath as his eyes lost focus. Nancy swallowed hard, in tears, and held his head until he had stopped breathing. She checked his pulse and, finding none, got back on her feet. Walking quickly out of the bedroom, she crossed the adjacent lounge and opened the door giving on the hallway, where she knew a musketeer would be on guard duty. She in fact encountered two of them, who stood on each side of the door, and addressed the senior one in an urgent voice.
“Monsieur Hubert, could you please advise the King at once that His Eminence just died?”
“Yes, Madame la Marquise!” Replied the musketeer at once, bowing, before hurrying away. Letting the other musketeer stay at his post, Nancy returned into the bedroom and started lighting all the candles in the room, then threw a couple more logs in the fireplace to revive the fire. King Louis XIV, followed by many members of his court, entered the room less than ten minutes later. The young sovereign approached the bed and eyed tearfully his dead prime minister for a moment, then looked at Marshall Gramont, who was standing besides him.
“Marshall, we just lost a good friend.”
“Indeed, Your Majesty!”
Seeing the Marquess of Besmaux, who was governor of the Bastille and was once the captain of the cardinal’s guards, cry, the King patted his back gently.
“Besmaux, console yourself, as you found a good new master.”
As they all contemplated the dead cardinal in his bed, a junior minister lamented in a shaken voice.
“But, to whom will we present our problems now?”
“To me!” Pronounced at once King Louis in a calm but firm voice. As his courtiers stared at him, he looked around him to see who was present and pointed in turn at his foreign minister and his war minister.
“Messieurs De Lionne and Le Tellier, let’s go to my study! We need to talk!”
The Queen Mother, along with Chancellor Séguier, was about to follow the King when the latter put his hand up abruptly.
“Please, Mother! I wish to confer only with my two ministers.”
Anne of Austria was left shocked and hurt as she watched her son leave with his two ministers, muttering to her ladies in waiting.
“I knew that he would become ungrateful and would want to show that he could do things by himself.”
Nancy heard her but didn’t remark on it, letting the hidden miniature cameras and microphones in her tiara film the scene and record the words spoken. Queen Anne had tasted power as Queen Regent for more than seventeen years and had let her son on a tight leash…up to now. She was now going to realize how independent of spirit her son truly was.
07:23 (Paris Time)
Thursday, March 10, 1661 ‘A’
Château de Vincennes, eastern suburbs of Paris
France
The seven members of the High Council appeared mostly stunned and off balance when they filed out of the King’s private study, having been summoned very early by Louis. The many nobles and ladies of the court that had congregated at the news of the unexpected meeting and were wandering close by descended at once on the ministers and state secretaries to know what it had been about. Queen Anne of Austria was the first to intercept Chancellor Pierre Séguier, who appeared the most disturbed of the lot.
“So, what was it all about?” Asked anxiously the Queen Mother, who had been nearly ignored, albeit politely, by her son since Mazarin’s death. The old chancellor hesitated, then answered in a low voice where some bitterness showed.
“King Louis is going to govern by himself, Your Majesty, that’s what! I was told not to apply the royal seal to any official document unless on the direct order of the King or through one of the state secretaries or ministers, who will themselves have to get the King’s permission before pursuing any policy or signing any official acts. I’m just going to be a simple guardian for the royal seal, for God’s sake! The King also told Superintendent Fouquet to use Monsieur Colbert in order to manage the finances of France.”
“But, this is tantamount to a revolution!” Exclaimed Anne of Austria. “How could Louis hope to do everything by himself? How could he govern without me?”
“Well, he seemed pretty sure of himself inside there, Your Majesty.” Replied the chancellor before walking away from her.
A bit further down the hallway, the superintendent of finances, Nicolas Fouquet, was having a conversation of his own with some of his supporters and informants in the court.
“But, he can’t rule without a prime minister!” Exclaimed a count who was in the pay of Fouquet, like half of the court nobles. Fouquet, a brilliant and cultured man who could charm most people when he wanted to but who was also a man supremely confident of himself, dismissed those words with a wave of the hand.
“He won’t rule without a prime minister, and that prime minister will be me. The King will change his mind quickly enough when he will realize the workload involved in governing.”
“And Colbert?” Asked another nobleman. “He was Mazarin’s creature. Are we going to have the cardinal’s shadow over us even after his death? Colbert helped him amass his millions and will corrupt the King to Mazarin’s ways.”
“I will deal with Colbert my own way, gentlemen. Don’t worry! We now…”
Fouquet then saw something that cut him in mid-sentence. He then left his supporters where they were and walked quickly towards the door that led to the King’s study. D’Artagnan, who was guarding the door with two of his musketeers, politely but firmly blocked his path.
“I am sorry, Your Excellency, but the King cannot receive you right now.”
Fouquet looked haughtily at that simple sub-lieutenant of the musketeers who dared oppose him.
“But I just saw the Marquess of Saint-Laurent enter the study!”
D’Artagnan nodded politely at that but his eyes showed that he was not intimidated one bit by the superintendent of finances.
“She was called in by the King, Your Excellency.”
“Her? An upstart savage girl from New France? How could she warrant a private meeting with the King at such a time?”
D’Artagnan’s eyes then hardened, and his tone of voice cooled down perceptibly.
“That, Monsieur, is solely the King’s business!”
Seeing that he wouldn’t succeed in intimidating the musketeer and knowing from experience that D’Artagnan couldn’t be bought, Fouquet let that go and turned around, returning to his circle of supporters. Once with them, he faced one of his informants with the most access to the close entourage of the King.
“Madame d’Huxelles, what do you know about that Marquess of Saint-Laurent? Why would the King receive her in private at such a time?”
“Maybe he just wants to jump her bones!” Said a nobleman, cutting off the woman’s answer and attracting a displeased look from Fouquet.
“Monsieur De Chartrain, I believe that I was asking Madame d’Huxelles, not you. Go ahead, madame.”
The noblewoman kept her voice low as she answered him, so that others couldn’t hear her, while the nobleman who had cut her off smarted from Fouquet’s retort.
“Your Excellency, it is true that the Marquess of Saint-Laurent is known to be one of the mistresses of the King, but I believe that she is much more than that. We all heard about her prowess in fights during the Fronde and how she was raised in the wilds of New France. What many don’t realize is that she has been taking orders directly from Cardinal Mazarin, that is until last Tuesday, when she was the last one to be with him as he was dying in his bed. I heard a number of times in the past years the young King rejoice after the marquess had just returned from one of her frequent trips out of Paris, claiming that she had just completed some sort of mission.”
“So, you are saying that the Marquess of Saint-Laurent was some kind of secret agent of Cardinal Mazarin, madame?”
“Doesn’t it make sense, Your Excellency? That woman proved that she can be very dangerous when she wants to and is knowledgeable about many things, apart from being able to speak a godly number of languages.”
“Hmm, you may be right, madame, but then why be called in by the King at such a moment?”
“Maybe the King wants her to become his secret agent, Your Excellency.”
“But he has already hundreds of men in his service that can do his bidding. Why bother with her right now?” Objected the Count De Chartrain. Madame d’Huxelles gave him a no-nonsense look.
“Can those men make a man talk in bed? Do you know many of them that can speak more than four languages? Don’t underestimate her, monsieur. Personally, I wouldn’t want to mess with her.”
“Maybe she can be bought?” Suggested one of the noblemen in the group, making d’Huxelles laugh in derision.
“Keep dreaming, Monsieur de Marignan! That woman is an idealist. No amount of gold will buy her.”
“What do you mean exactly by idealist, Madame d’Huxelles?” Asked Fouquet, interested by that notion.
“I heard her a few times as she chatted with other ladies of the court and even with the young king. She has those dreams of the lowly people in France being fed and educated properly, of the people of all nations living in peace and tolerance together one day.”
“You are right: she is an idealist.” Said Fouquet, smiling. Her informer didn’t smile, though, and stared at him with utter seriousness.
“But a dangerous idealist, Your Excellency. She can be as mellow as an angel but she can also become very deadly if need be. Remember the two secret agents of Cromwell found with their throats slit in Paris ten years ago. Word is that she effectively killed those two men. Remember also the nine thugs killed by her after they tried to stop her from arriving at the Palais Royal.”
Fouquet nodded, now sobering on the subject.
“I see what you mean, madame. I will thus treat the Marquess of Saint-Laurent with due caution.”
Inside the King’s study, Nancy found King Louis sitting on a sofa and waiting for her. Louis kept a serious expression and did not invite her to sit with him, simply nodding his head politely at her entrance. Nancy made a curtsy in front of him, then looked into his eyes.
“You wanted to see me, Your Majesty?”
“Yes, my good Marquess.”
The use by Louis of her title rather than her first name told Nancy at once that this was strictly official business. She thus let the King go on.
“Now that our poor friend the Cardinal is dead, I have decided to take the reins of power myself, without a prime minister. However, I will need good advice from my ministers and state secretaries, along with good information on what goes around France, so that I can be warned in advance of any foreign hostile move against France. Monsieur De Lionne has a good network of ambassadors and diplomatic agents around Europe, but I need on top of that someone who can cover certain delicate situations in a discreet manner. I know from your past missions for Cardinal Mazarin that you would be the perfect person for such a job. In short, I would like you to become my personal secret operative, my dear Nancy.”
“I would be honored to serve you in this capacity, Your Majesty.” Said Nancy while curtsying again, making Louis smile briefly with satisfaction.
“Excellent! Before I confirm you in this position, I need to know first that I can count on your complete loyalty. You have English blood in your veins and you served the interests of the Stuarts before. You also adopted an English boy who is a Protestant. However, while we are presently good friends of the English King, I don’t know how long we will stay so. My question is if I can count on your undivided loyalty towards France.”
“Your Majesty,” answered calmly Nancy, “while all that you said was true, I now consider myself a French noblewoman, pure and simple. My loyalty is purely to France and I do not serve the Stuarts anymore, and this has been so for the last nine years. As for relations between France and England, I have seen enough in the past years to show me how fickle diplomatic alliances can be and also how internal political considerations could push present allies into making moves detrimental or hostile to France. King Charles II of England is a good man but he has to deal with a parliament that has a will of its own and that also controls his purse. The question of religious practice in England is also still a very thorny issue, with Protestants in the parliament hostile to any spread of Catholicism in England. On the maritime issue, the English Navigation Acts, by prohibiting foreign ships from transporting goods to and from England, is bound to provoke hostilities with other maritime nations, notably the Dutch United Provinces. Eventually, France is bound to get dragged at least partly into any such future hostilities.”
Louis nodded in appreciation at that, pleased to see that she was as knowledgeable as he had hoped her to be in such things. There was however one point that still concerned him about her.
“And your own religious point of view will not influence you in this, Nancy?”
Nancy measured her words carefully then, as she fully realized how sensitive questions of religion were in this time period.
“Your Majesty, I will be the first to recognize that I am not much of a churchgoer, contrary to you. While not an atheist, I personally believe that public religious practice does nothing to prove the real piety or christian worth of a person. Rather, I prefer to prove myself as a good Christian through acts and deeds of kindness, tolerance and compassion rather than through hours spent in church. Also, I do not call myself a Catholic or a Protestant but consider myself a Christian, pure and simple, Your Majesty. As for my son James, while he is still nominally a Protestant, he is like me a non-practicing Christian and follows my philosophy of good practical deeds instead of attending church.”
Louis was silent for a while as he digested those words. He firmly believed in the primacy of the Catholic Church and was a devout Catholic himself. However, while Nancy’s admission of non-practice hurt him a bit, he knew her well enough to know that she effectively was a generous, kind and tolerant person whose acts indeed marked her as a good Christian. In fact, Louis had nothing but disdain towards many supposedly devout Catholics in his court who resumed their lying, stealing and cheating the moment they stepped out of church.
“Nancy, I know for a fact that you believe in what you just said and I can respect your point of view. Just be discreet about it, though, as many around us have little tolerance for anything but blind obedience to the Catholic Church.”
“I fully realize that, Your Majesty. Do you have a mission for me at this time?”
“I certainly do, my dear!” Said the King, finally getting to what truly concerned him. “In order to reinforce the links between us and the English crown, I have planned to have my brother Philippe marry Princess Henriette-Anne of England, and this by the end of this month.”
Louis had somehow expected Nancy to laugh at that notion, as his brother Philippe was widely known to be an effeminate who preferred men to women and who liked to go around in dresses while wearing perfumes and powders. To his surprise, Nancy kept a straight face at that, so he went on.
“Well, I have already asked Monsieur De Lionne to arrange through our ambassador in London to get the consent of King Charles II for such a marriage. A diplomatic delegation will soon leave for London to escort Princess Henriette-Anne back to Paris. Your official duty will be to be part of that delegation and to help escort the future Duchess of Orléans, while at the same time instructing her as delicately as possible about the little, uh, quirks of her future husband. However, your main goal will actually be to discreetly gauge the sentiments towards France in England and ascertain if they are preparing for any w