Mary Su Stuart

Chapter 77

Henri de Bourbon, the current Duke of Vendôme, the chief patriarch of the Bourbon clan, and the only son of Queen Jeanne of Navarre.

If he hadn't gone through the female spoiler, he would have inherited the position of his mother who died unexpectedly at this moment and became the king of Navarre; in the future, he would become the first king of the Bourbon dynasty, Henry IV.Now, he can only stare at the four surviving men in Valois, gradually becoming afraid of thinking about the crown of France.

So far, he has even been "detained" by the king's side, barely able to leave Paris.Of course, being under house arrest in a disguised form, being forced to convert back to the old religion, being asked to marry, and being imprisoned in the capital... During these years, he has not had no chance of escaping.But those opportunities were wasted for various reasons.

After all, the food and wine in Paris had corroded his will.The entertainment in Paris is too rich to teach him to linger.As for the beauties in Paris, although he "loves her looks and hates her frivolity" for his wife Margot, he really dotes on other gentle and considerate mistresses.

But a letter from his mother finally woke Henry up.Jeanne, Queen of Navarre, is not young; the kingdom of Navarre is precarious, and she has been struggling to support her, looking forward to her son's return.

From heiress to queen, Jeanne has had a hard time.The southern territory of the Kingdom of Navarre has been completely occupied by the Spanish since 1512; when Jeanne's father, Henry III, succeeded to the throne in 1517, he only owned a small northern territory.Jeanne's mother was the sister of Francois I, but she didn't receive much care from her uncle. In 1541, she was even forced to marry a certain German prince—it was forced into the church.

After finally dissolving the first marriage, Jeanne remarried Antoine, Duke of Vendôme in 1548.However, infatuation encounters a fickle heart, and her husband keeps having affairs.Jeanne converted and was loyal to the Huguenots; Antoine wavered between the Protestantism and the Protestantism, and even listened to slander, and persecuted his subjects and expelled his wife as King of Navarre, which broke her heart.

But Jeanne was tenacious.Antoine's threats to sever the relationship between husband and wife, and his only son being detained in Paris and converted to faith, failed to make her succumb—Jeanne moved from the capital Bearn to La Rochelle and established a Huguenot camp; He has become one of the well-deserved soul figures of Protestantism. 【Note [-]】

Jeanne once had a very good assistant, her brother-in-law Prince Condé.Unlike his elder brother Antoine, who is weak and confused, he has clear goals, firm will, and quick-wittedness.However, since Antoine's death, Condé was also bluffed by Henry II; since then he has been entangled by the court of Paris for a long time, and even fell into the trap of the Valois royal family, and was finally deceived to the Netherlands. die in battle...

Now that Jeanne is old, she no longer dares to hope to restore Navarra herself.But she hopes that with the light of Protestantism, a more eternal spiritual kingdom can be established in southern France; after that, her successors will expand their influence, regain their homeland, and become the hero leading the new era.

She desperately hoped that her only son Henry could come to La Rochelle as soon as possible to join her and become the standard-bearer of the Huguenots as soon as possible.

Of course, Jeanne would not write so clearly in her letter.She only complained frequently that she was getting old and lonely.She also hinted at Henry, the mistress he sent out of Paris, under the careful care of his mother, finally gave birth to his only child so far, a baby boy...

The Duke of Vendôme finally sobered up.He found an excuse from his mother, and played various emotional cards in succession; the Duke of Orleans couldn't help but sigh for his cousin: "Margo does have some shortcomings, alas, maybe it's God's test."

The Duke of Alençon looked disdainful. "Flowers need to be cared for in order to bear fruit well. The nobler the flower, the more careful it is to be served. As a gardener, if you always think about the wild flowers on the roadside, don't count on it..."

Catherine felt a little relieved to see her youngest son complaining for her youngest daughter.But the point now is not about the young couple at all—the son-in-law wants to go back to the territory, on the surface, to make up for some emotional regrets; in fact, will he have another heart and rebel against the royal family?

The queen mother looked at the king hesitantly, and could only rely on him to make a decision.

"Be vigilant, you should be vigilant, but he has been in the court for so many years, and it is not appropriate to continue to restrain him." Francois sighed.

Mary didn't voice her objection either. "Human relations are important matters that cannot be ignored. Since the Duke of Vendôme has a strong will, then we should respect this important clan."

——Even if you don't let him go, in such a big palace, he will always have loopholes to exploit.In history, this Henry crossed the border while hunting, and fled in disguise.

The king and his wife looked at each other for a moment.Marie seemed to see a fire in François' eyes.

Yes, what are you afraid of?If the Duke of Vendôme really rebelled, he just took the opportunity to deal with this possibly competitive Bourbon clan in the future!

The departure of the Duke of Vendôme was confirmed so quickly.

The Duchess, however, refused to travel with him.

"No, I won't go," Margot flatly refused, "If you want to go, go by yourself." In fact, in Mary's view, the idea of ​​sister-in-law is very reasonable.The mother’s family and the in-law’s family... On one side is the close mother, on the other side is the unfamiliar mother-in-law; on the one hand, the elder brother takes care of him carefully, and on the other hand, the husband’s mistress and illegitimate children add to the trouble; Upstart La Rochelle...

Of course, Margot’s mother-in-law, Jeanne, is the queen of the country, and she has a lot of jewelry around her; Get the best treatment.

As expected by Mary, Margo pleaded with herself and Catherine very bluntly and with various reasons.The Queen Mother was quite speechless to her pleasure-seeking daughter.She confessed to the queen helplessly that she had not taught her daughter well.Alas, since she was widowed, although she has occasionally been entrusted with important tasks for the country, she is concerned about her grown-up sons and does not dare to be greedy for power and position; she spends her time dressing up, going to gardens and various recreational activities to pass the time, and enjoys decorating her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law ...

Catherine almost regretted it now.

Mary replied earnestly. "We had hoped that she had always been lively and beautiful, and that she could infect the Duke of Vendôme with joy, integrate into and love our family..."

However, taking too much pity and protecting this princess who was used for marriage made her go further and further on the road of arrogance.

The Queen Mother felt melancholy for a while.

So, can we invite the noblest and most powerful woman in this kingdom, or the whole of Europe, to discipline Margaret?

Well, Catherine did think so; however, Mary Stuart, a busy man, was on board for London in a few days.

Alas, Scotland, Ireland, and England, each of Mary's kingdoms, had an obituary.

First up is Edinburgh, Scotland.Young Mary Fleming died of an occasional bout of pneumonia.

Then there's Dublin, Ireland.Lord Norris, during a campaign against local rebels, was shot and fell off his horse, breaking his neck.

Finally, there is Ingra London.The elder of the Privy Council, Nicholas Bacon, the majestic Minister of the State Seal, passed away quietly in his sleep.

"It's true that misfortunes never come singly..." Mary flipped through the letter from Maitland, stroked the tear-stained mark on it, and let out a long sigh.

Looking up at the blue sky, looking at the white clouds for a long time, she finally felt better.Mary looked again at the windswept deck.Her two daughters, Vivienne and Matilda, are having fun.Sometimes they jumped, chased and played, and sometimes pointed at the fish jumping out of the water, just like a pair of innocent and carefree girls.

"They are really lively children. Seeing them, my sorrow seems to have finally dissipated a lot." Mary leaned on the wicker chair, looked sideways at Livingston sitting beside her, and said.

Over the years, she didn't have much time to take care of her daughter herself, so she had to entrust Mrs. Melville to accompany her carefully.And the honest Livingston, according to the instructions of his master, copied the Queen of Scots' childhood life and education experience, and took good care of the two little princesses.Mary was very grateful for this.Grateful, she bestowed the title and a large amount of property as usual, which made many female relatives who had neglected Riverston envious.

At this moment, Livingston, who is a wife and mother, replied softly: "Your Majesty's words are very reasonable. Well, the years are gone, and the youth is gone; but seeing the child grow up around the knees, I don't feel so melancholy ..."

Looking at the wrinkles in the maid's eyes, Mary was startled: Hey, she, who is the same age as her, is also middle-aged, and is gradually moving away from "young and beautiful".Tightening her wide-brimmed hat, she murmured to herself, "Sunscreen can slow down aging. In this age without photorejuvenation, botulinum toxin, and hyaluronic acid, we must do physical sunscreen." Unexpectedly, she saw a few strands of white hair on Miss Seton's temple nearby.

Holy shit, Seton often braids her hair... In the past two years, he seldom brags about how beautiful His Majesty is. Is it because she also has a lot of gray hair?Oops, the glass mirrors of this era are too small to see the whole face clearly...

Mary was about to ask Seton to come closer to explain her melancholy (?), but unexpectedly, Vivienne who ran over grabbed her long sunscreen sleeves.Her voice was crisp, and she asked tactfully:

"Your Majesty, can the musician play the bagpipe?"

"Well," Mary glanced at the bagpiper who had been brought by her daughter, "Of course you can. However, "My Heart Will Go On" cannot be played."

Just kidding, they are at sea now, what if the ship sinks—Mary has traveled through these years, and has become more and more awed by all kinds of mysterious things.

Vivienne was stunned. "Hey, so, why?"

Mary said bluntly: "It's kind of sad, I don't like it."

Vivienne observed the situation, so she quickly changed the subject. "Your Majesty, when can we... go to the sea and play in the water?"

"The sea water looks so beautiful." Matilda, the younger sister next to her, chimed in with emotion.She opened her big round eyes, turning around like her sister.

What a pair of exquisite dolls.

In fact, the two little girls have gone to the hot springs with their parents several times—François has a lot of experience in convalescing when he was young, and he yelled to take good care of his daughter early in the morning—and Mary even taught them to kick water.But the opportunity to play in the sea is quite unusual, so it's no wonder they are greedy.

"Let's talk about it when you grow up."

The two daughters stared into Mary's eyes, convinced that their mother was not being perfunctory, smiled and walked away holding hands.Livingston complimented at the right time: "The princesses are really generous and well-behaved. And they are very convinced of you."

"That's for sure," Seton interjected, "Your Majesty, for the sake of the two Highnesses, has worked so hard and planned everything...to create the best possible future."

This is true.Sometimes Mary admires herself, why her daughters who don't know much about paving the way so carefully - because they were brought into this world by themselves.She even has a little notebook, where she writes down several important figures worthy of attention in the future: Kepler, Harvey, Descartes, Boyle, Huygens, Newton, Leibniz... Alas, she is so good It is a pity that I was born a few years earlier, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to meet those big figures in the history of science in the future.

However, Francis Bacon, known as the pioneer of experimental scientific research and the founder of scientific induction, will be able to directly contact her soon after returning to London this time.

Author has something to say: Mary: I'm a Stamp Collector, Eager to Collect Celebrities

[Note [-]] Rang Na's life is really not easy...here refer to Du Niang Encyclopedia.