Series 3 > Foreign correspondence with Marie de Lorraine, Queen of Scotland, from the originals in the Balcarres papers > Volume 7

BALCARRES PAPERS
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after having reduced the kingdom of Scotland to order,
even permanently. Also the members of the family were
all older, and their occupations came more into the sphere
of public life ; while Antoinette de Bourbon, after the
death of her husband in 1550, withdrew almost entirely
from the life of the Court. In 1548 she wrote 1 of the
journey to Rome of Charles de Lorraine, Cardinal de Guise,
and his brother Claude, Marquis de Mayenne. De Bouille
places the visit of the Cardinal in the previous year, but
gives no indication as to its duration, except that Charles
de Lorraine was in France in October 1548. It is possible
that the Duchess was referring to the visit after its com¬
pletion, for it cannot be an allusion to his attendance at
the Conclave for the election of Julius m. towards the end
of 1548. In the same year,2 the Duke d’Aumale wrote at
some length to his sister about his approaching marriage,
the preliminaries of which were in the hands of other
members of his family while he was engaged in the sup¬
pression of the revolt in Guienne. This marriage, a
triumph for the diplomacy of the Cardinal, his brother, and
the French sympathies of the Duchess of Ferrara,3 Renee
de France, over other proposed alliances, appeared a matter
of indifference to him. He said nothing about his bride,
Anne d’Est, except that she had been met by his father,
the Duke of Guise, at Grenoble, but explained to his sister
that marriage for him did not mean settling down : ‘ Some
marry to rest at home afterwards, but I am not one of
those.’ His nephew, Fra^ois d’Orleans,4 approved the
lady when he saw her on her arrival at Court, ‘ who is one
of the most beautiful and pleasant princesses who could
be seen.’ The festivities on the occasion of the wedding
were recorded by De Lorges,5 including a tournament, so
1 Letter VII. 8 Letter XII.
3 De Bouille, Hist, des Dues de Guise, vol. i. pp. 180-200.
4 Letter XIII. 6 Letter XIV.