On Wednesday the admiral had an audience of the king, in the course of which Charles spoke to him about the Guise faction, remarking that he was not sure of them; they had come in strong force to the wedding, and were well armed; and to keep them in order he proposed to introduce “his arquebusiers” into the city under certain officers whom he named. Coligny thanked his majesty: “Although I believe myself quite safe, I willingly leave the matter in your hands.” In the course of the day, 1200 of the guard marched into Paris, and were quartered in the Louvre and its vicinity. This was a measure of precaution. There was every probability of a collision in the streets, and a strong force was necessary to command the respect of both factions. Charles was gradually recovering from the effects of his mother’s entreaties at Montpipeau: the more he saw of the admiral, the more he was pleased with the loyalty and honesty of the old Huguenot warrior. Anjou and Catherine had attentively watched the change. In that remarkable statement which the duke is believed to have made to one of his attendants, he says: “We had observed that if either of us ventured to speak with the king after the long and frequent conversations he used to have with the admiral, we found him strangely out of temper; he looked angry, and the answers he gave were unaccompanied by the honor and respect he used to show the queen. One day, shortly before the massacre, I went expressly to see the king, and entered his closet as the admiral left it; but as soon as my brother observed me, he began to pace the room angrily, looking at me askance, and playing with the handle of his dagger, so that I expected he would attack me every minute. As he continued in this furious mood, I began to regret having entered the room, and with some trouble contrived to leave it without attracting his notice. I went straight to my mother, and told her what had happened, and after comparing things together, we came to the conclusion that the admiral had inspired the king with some sinister opinion of us, and we therefore determined to get rid of him, and to concert the means with the Duchess of Nemours, whom alone we ventured to admit into the plot, because of the mortal hatred she bore to the admiral.”[556] One account says that a council was held at Monceaux, shortly after the scene at Montpipeau, at which Anjou, Tavannes, Retz, Sauve, and Catherine were present, and where it was resolved to assassinate Coligny; that Catherine told the Duchess of Nemours, and that the court then returned to Paris. This does not contradict Anjou’s narrative, though it does not exactly harmonize with it.

The Duchess of Nemours was the widow of the late Duke of Guise. She had married again, but still nourished the most rancorous hatred against the supposed murderer of her first husband. Her son, who had been admitted into the plot, proposed that she should kill the admiral with her own hand, in the midst of the court festivities, and before the eyes of the king.[557] When the duchess refused to take so active a part in Coligny’s murder, they sent for Maurevel, the king’s assassin (le tueur du roi), as he was called.[558] This man had been brought up in the late Duke of Guise’s household; and when a price had been set upon the admiral’s head, he made an attempt on Coligny’s life, but killed Jacques de Mouy instead. He was rewarded, however, for his good intentions, and not only received the promised 2000 crowns, but at the king’s express desire the collar of the Order was conferred upon him. This was the ruffian whom Anjou and Henry of Guise hired to murder the great Huguenot leader. After receiving the necessary instructions he repaired to his post; and while he was watching day after day for his victim, Catherine was devising fresh amusements in honor of her daughter’s marriage.[559]