House and Garden 
Pont de Ce in 1621, Pierre Gosselin and 
Louis Gillion, all artists of renown, looked 
after the interior decorations, the woodwork 
was left in charge of Antoine Harmot and 
Rene Legras and the glass of Pallustre and 
Colleart. The present building rose on the 
ruins of the old one and was shortly ready 
for the reception of royalty. 
It was here, as we have already noted, that 
Marie de Medici was reconciled with her son 
Louis XIII. on August 13th, 1619. The 
King had been awaiting his mother with 
impatience. They met but a short distance 
from Brissac and embraced with the greatest 
affection. They were received right royally 
by Charles de Cosse, Field Marshal of 
France, and the reconciliation was cemented 
by a residence of five days under a common 
roof. The king had given letters patent to 
his host raising Brissac to the rank of a 
Duche-pairie, hut the Parliament had hither¬ 
to refused to register them. It was not until 
fuly 8th, 1620, that this formality was carried 
into effect. 1 he Due de Brissac did not, 
however, live long to enjoy his new honours 
as he died in the following June. 
It would be easy to dwell at considerable 
length on the subsequent history of this illus¬ 
trious family. Many stories have been told 
by Tallemant des Reaux, by the Due de 
Saint Simon and by those other scandal¬ 
mongers who have handed down to us the 
gossip of the French Court. One of the 
most extraordinary characters in the family 
was the Marquis d’Assigny who was a 
travesty of Don Quixote. He used to send 
messengers into the forests of Brittany to 
warn him of the numerous fair ladies who 
were held prisoners in their castles and 
strongholds. He pretended to go to the spot 
and returned a different way boasting the 
whole time of his deeds of chivalry. When 
his servants were at dinner a man would rush 
in and tell them that the enemy were ap¬ 
proaching the castle. They would immedi¬ 
ately arm and sally forth in search of the foe 
only to learn that the imaginary force had 
fled on learning how well they were prepared 
for their reception. 
Another peculiar member of the family 
was the Marechale de La Meilleraye. They 
were discussing the death of the Chevalier 
de Soissons, a man of notoriously bad life and 
a brother of Prince Eugene of Savoy: “So 
far as I am concerned,” said she, “I am sure 
God would think twice before consigning a 
man of such illustrious birth to eternal per¬ 
dition.” She married General St. Ruth as 
her second husband. Her tongue was sharp 
and she led him a life. He used to lose his 
temper and beat her. The king sent for 
him on several occasions and remonstrated 
with him; but he generally gave way on the 
slightest provocation. He was given ap¬ 
pointments first in Guyenne and then in Ire¬ 
land where he lost his life at the battle of 
Aughrim just as he was on the point of win¬ 
ning the day for King James II. 
The fourth Duke married a sister of the 
Due de St. Simon; but was not much be¬ 
loved by his satirical brother-in-law who 
attacks him without mercy in his Memoirs. 
On his death without issue, in 1698, his 
estates were much involved and an inter¬ 
esting point arose. There were doubts in 
St. Simon’s mind as to whether he could 
afford to take up the castle and whether he 
could otherwise succeed to the dukedom. 
The fourth Duke’s sister, the Marechale de 
Villeroy, gave way to him for the honour of 
the family. The Dukes were, however, 
divided in their opinions, some of them such as 
the Due de Rohan, hoped to enhance their 
prestige by reducing their number and 
argued that the title ought only to descend 
from father to son in direct succession. 1 he 
others, such as the Dues de St. Simon, de La 
Tremoille, de Chevreuse and de Beauvil- 
liers,were fearful for their own privileges. 
It was not much more than a century since 
this title had first been given outside the 
charmed circle of the royal family and they 
were anxious to preserve its inheritance to 
all their descendants without exception. The 
dispute waxed warm but St. Simon eventu¬ 
ally prevailed, and the fifth Duke took the 
oath on May 6th, 1700. 
His son, Jean Paul Timoleon, the sixth 
Duke, distinguished himself by his retort 
to the Comte de Charolais, who, finding him 
with his mistress said to him: 
“Leave the room, Sir.” 
“Sir, your highness’s forefathers would 
have said: ‘Let us leave the room.’ 
The eighth Duke, though at one time the 
lover of Madame Dubarry, was a man of the 
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