I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 565 The King of England bids us farewell (middle)

   "We watched Mademoiselle Marie fall to the ground," said Madame Aubigne.

   She probably will not forget the scene of that night for the rest of her life - Mary's maid rushed into St. George's Cathedral desperately, asking for help from the Duchess there, the second wife of James II.

Although James II had shamelessly crowned herself, the lady still humbly asked others to call herself a Duchess—not because she felt that her husband and master should not be, she told James II She became a king because the queen should have been enshrined by the king instead of making her own decision. This kind of rhetoric really won the favor of James II, and it also made some people have some initial changes in her.

But this weak change is nothing compared to the inheritance of the Stuart dynasty. The two daughters of James II grew up almost under the protection and care of their mother and grandfather, and they were indifferent to this indifferent father. She doesn't have any good feelings, and she doesn't like her, a woman who has replaced her mother's position. How could the Duchess like them, but she must go, or when the dust settles, the crime will fall on her.

Not to mention that once James II has achieved his goal, she is the Queen of England, and her status is noble. There are not one or two queens of England who were pushed to the guillotine. She and James II have no children yet, and they are foreigners. Catholics, and even James II felt that the daughter-killing was detrimental to his reputation, and she was pushed out to appease the anger of ministers and the populace.

St. George's Cathedral is not far from St. James's Palace. The problem is that it was late at night, and the streets were blocked by corpses, collapsed buildings, overturned carriages and randomly stacked barricades. Don't even think about carriages. Only on horseback. But riding a horse in the dark night is not an easy thing. Mary's maid is still escorted by the only two attendants, but the queen's body is not something that a low-class person can touch casually - a joke, she may He is the only person in the entire court who needs to maintain chastity.

   At this moment, Madame Aubigne stood up.

As for how Madame Aubignet got to London - it's a long story - Madame Aubigne spent a wonderful and leisurely time in Paris, as a hostage and messenger of Pope Innocent XI, She didn't need to worry about food, clothing, housing, and transportation, and was respected as a queen's female official. She also contributed to the establishment of the girls' school at the invitation of the Duchess of Montpensier, and later served as the school's Latin teacher. , Madame Montespan was born with the king's son, whom she also took care of for some time.

And it was during this period that she had more opportunities to meet the king. Not only did Madame Montespan begin to be suspicious of her, and even people in Versailles were speculating whether she would become the next royal lady—for the sake of To avoid this kind of embarrassment and infamy, Madame Aubigne, who was plain-faced and did not dress up at all, could only take the opportunity of King Innocent XI's serious illness to escape back to Rome.

  Innocent XI should have left some money and manpower to his only descendant, just when Madame Aubigne considered whether she should ask the Duchess of Montpensier to do things in her domain? Still accept the invitation of the eldest princess to live in Sweden for a few years, or go to see the lord of the county. I heard that she is pregnant. Although Mrs. Aubigne is not married, she has taken care of Mrs. Montespan and her children. , feel like I should be able to help.

  The English solved her troubles - the messenger of James II, or his subordinate, "invited" Madame Aubigne to England to be the governess of the two princesses. As we said before, in this era, let alone tutors, even teachers in schools with royal backgrounds are discriminated against. Of course Madame Aubigne does not want to, but this is not something she can decide if she wants to— She has no support in Rome.

The situation at that time was very chaotic, and Madame Aubigne could only submit temporarily. She had been by the two princesses’ side for the past two years. Fortunately, after listening to the advice of the daughter of the Duke of Modena, James II really wanted a wise man. The lady came to educate the two children, and Madame Aubigne avoided him deliberately, but she did not make any extracurricular problems - but neither Marie nor her sister were willing to accept the guidance of Madame Aubigne - Madame Aubigne was of course also a Catholic, Like their stepmother, they believed that she had been sent by her stepmother to spy on and torture them, turning a blind eye to Madame Aubigne's good intentions.

If they were willing to listen to Madame Aubigne...or even the Duchess, the catastrophe of the night would not have come at all—not to mention the Duchess, who was sent to Paris as a papal emissary, She was surrounded by wily and shrewd people, and even if she couldn't compete head-to-head with MPs or James II, she would at least teach them to hide where their fathers couldn't before the conspiracy was completed.

  But they were determined to follow James II because they were unwilling to stay with the Catholics...

As soon as Mrs. Aubigne heard it, she knew that these two children were only afraid of death - James II was tortured to the point of going mad by Charles II before, and his obsession with the throne was enough to make him abandon everything, including the most beautiful things in human nature. things, even blood ties between close relatives - after Mary had agreed with those MPs to drag him off the throne, no, if earlier, to cut him off forever just a step away from the throne At that time, Mary was not his eldest daughter, but his mortal enemy.

   And at this time, the wind blew again, and it started to rain.

   "Too bad, too bad," said the Duchess's valet, alarmed. "How do we get to St James's Palace? Maybe it is God's will."

The Duchess    looked anxiously at Madame Aubigne in the flash of lightning, she did not want to leave such a deadly handle to her husband and the English.

"That's the way it is," said Madame Aubigne, raising her hands, quickly wrapping the kerchief around her bun, pulling down the ribbons on the cuffs and the overskirt, which Madame Montespan had invented. , like a drawn drapery over her skirt, very beautiful but also cumbersome, in the stunned eyes of people, she ordered her attendants to bring her her own horse, and she was glad that she might have to ride to escape, so she put on her own Sewn trousers, straddling the saddle on one side, then reaching out to the Duchess, pulling the Duchess onto the horse.

"It's dark, it's windy, and it's raining. The fighting soldiers will all hide in the fortress, and neither muskets nor artillery can be fired. We just need to keep an eye on our feet and don't break the horse's hooves." Madame Oberin said, and instructed her attendants to take off the porch. Glass kerosene lamps on the road, hung around the horse's neck to illuminate the road.

   Then they hurried off.

Looking back now in the warm and dry room, Madame Aubigne would applaud her own boldness and bravery, walking across the battlefield in the wet, pitch-black, invisible rainy night, to face a furious beast— If it wasn't for the Duchess taking good care of her for the past two years, she is the kind of person who reciprocates, and would not be willing to take part in it anyway.

The attendants rushed up eagerly, and covered them with beaver-skin cloaks, which blocked most of the rain, but the rain came from all directions, and a lot of icy water went straight into their open arms and naked bodies. The face, Madame Aubigne's eyes were constantly blurred by the dripping rain, she could barely breathe, and a mouth felt as if she was being waterboarded - Madame Aubigne could only sigh that she was fortunate to learn it with the eldest princess when she was in Paris After straddled, she strengthened her body again, otherwise she would fall down halfway.

Not only did she not fall down, but she was able to hunched her back to block some rain for the Duchess in her arms. Even so, when she arrived at James Palace, the Duchess was about to faint, and Madame Aubigne squeezed her arm tightly. Between her fingers—it hurts to pinch her there, to wake her up, and she screamed at the maids who were hiding in the shadows to help her bring the Duchess to where "His Majesty" was.

They don't have to work too hard. St. James's Palace is an old palace, basilica style, that is, a huge rectangular building with a wall between the turrets and arrow towers. The houses are built along the wall, and there is an empty space in the middle. The square, as soon as the Duchess entered the square, she saw James II, and the guillotine, which was so rough that it could be seen as a makeshift.

Madame Aubigne's heart sank all of a sudden, if James II remembers to go back to the room, no matter what he decides to do with the two daughters, at least there is still some sense, but now it seems that even the majestic Even the rain could not quench his anger, he stood in the rain curtain, as dark as a rock statue, he must watch his daughter lose her head.

But the lady Mary showed enough courage and courage, or was forced to go mad by death, and it was difficult for the two strong attendants to catch her. The executioner on the side was also temporarily by a nobleman He also showed an embarrassed look. He was really worried. Instead of cutting off Miss Mary's head, he cut off his own leg or the hand of his colleague.

   It's also possible that he didn't want James II, the likely king of England, to remember how he executed a noble woman.

The Duchess was in ecstasy at the time. Fortunately, it was too late. She even showed a smile to James II. Madame Aubigne couldn't stop it - James II was furious, and he shouted to his eldest daughter: "You think you can Live, don't you?" He yelled, "No, no one will stop me!"

   said, he grabbed the executioner's great sword and slashed at the eldest daughter.

The sword also slashed a squire, and Miss Mary's shoulder, and the shaking kerosene lamp could only illuminate a very small spot—a little golden light in the black, a corner of white cloth and a shining blade, if It wasn't Marie's shrill cry, and Madame Aubigne couldn't tell if she was bleeding, but James II stepped forward and swung the second sword, which only cut half of her neck, the Duchess. Seeing her stepdaughter fall down, making vague cooing and hissing noises like a slaughtered chicken in the kitchen, it suddenly softened, and Madame Aubigne didn't even have time to support her and ran away. To the other side, the second daughter of James II, who was there, let out a sharp cry uncontrollably.

Seeing that she was about to attract the attention of James II, Madame Aubigne could only mention the girl - when the attendant next to her was about to stop her, she only shouted: "This is Stuart's daughter!" After driving them back, James II was completely sane, but his attendants were still sober, England did not strictly obey the Salic law, and women could inherit the throne. Who knows how things will develop? After all, these two kings looked like they couldn't give birth to boys.

In his rage, James II seemed to have forgotten to order his subordinates to arrest the second daughter and Madame Aubigne. He chased after him with a great sword, while Madame Aubigne dragged the poor girl around the corridor on the promenade. The Pillar deals with James II...

   "And then?" The Duke of Vendôme couldn't help but ask: "I'm sorry, we really shouldn't let you recall such terrible things, but how did you..."

   Having said this, Madame Aubigne couldn't help but show a confused look, "I think," she said expectantly, "God bless it."

Just when she was exhausted, and she couldn't dodge the next sword - a thunderbolt slashed down, hitting the great sword held high by James II... He immediately fell in a dazzling light. , The people present shouted in unison, even the duchess who just woke up. After waiting for several minutes, a brave attendant went up to check.

James II's skin was scorched, and he could not speak or open his eyes. In a panic, the Duchess ordered people to block the news, move the Duke into the tower, and invite doctors and wizards to visit him. As for Madame Aubigne and her only stepdaughter temporarily returned to another room for the same treatment, eating, bathing and resting.

"But neither a doctor nor a wizard," said Madame Aubigne, "can cure a man who has been penetrated by lightning, and the wizard said, unless the methods of the dark wizards are used, which, of course, they used on Carlos II. The solution, but everyone knows that this is drinking poison to quench thirst. The Duchess was the only one who made the decision when the Duke was still unable to sober and express his thoughts. After thinking for a long time, she finally let the doctors and wizards continue to 'treat', but never mentioned it. That 'last resort.'"

She sighed. In fact, James II woke up briefly a few days later, but only the Duchess talked with him for a while, and then he passed out again, until he died of fever, and he did not die. If I could say one more word, Madame Aubigne guessed that the Duchess might have some new ideas. Although the devil-like behavior of Carlos II was guarded by the Spaniards, how could there be an impermeable wall in the world? Over time, people always know the truth.

The Duchess may have thought about whether or not to gamble, but thinking of the Duke of York, James II was originally a ruthless person. If something terrible is to be done, the squire can escape, but the queen cannot.

   The Duke of Modena and the Church of Rome will certainly be disappointed, but it is clear that the Duchess has chosen a path in her favor.

   (end of this chapter)