But that is to anticipate. Meanwhile, Henry had pursued his
preparations undeterred by either warnings or prognostications.
There had been so many conspiracies against his life already that
he was become careless and indifferent in such matters. Yet
surely there never had been one that was so abundantly heralded
from every quarter, or ever one that was hatched under conditions
so propitious as those which he had himself created now. In his
soul he was not at ease, and the source of his uneasiness was the
coronation of the Queen, for which the preparations were now
going forward.
He must have known that if danger of assassination threatened him
from any quarter it was most to be feared from those whose
influence with the Queen was almost such as to give them a
control over her--the Concinis and their unavowed but obvious
ally the Duke of Epernon. If he were dead, and the Queen so left
that she could be made absolute regent during the Dauphin's
minority, it was those adventurers who would become through her
the true rulers of France, and so enrich themselves and gratify
to the full their covetous ambitions. He saw clearly that his
safety lay in opposing this coronation--already fixed for the
13th May--which Maria de' Medici was so insistent should take
place before his departure for the wars.
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