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In spite of certain secret advice sent to them by Catherine de' Medici, the two chiefs of the house of Bourbon resolved to be present at the States-general, so completely did the autograph letters they received from the king reassure them; and no sooner had the court established itself at Orleans than it learned, not without amazement, from Groslot, chancellor of Navarre, that the Bourbon princes had arrived.
This personage, the Orleans Jacques Coeur, one of the richest burghers of the day, was named Groslot, and had charge of Jeanne d'Albret's business with the court of France. "Do you really think so?" said the chancellor of France, appreciating the full importance of Groslot's declaration. "Are you not aware," said the burgher, "that the Queen of Navarre has nothing of the woman in her except sex?
"It is a great misfortune that the house of Navarre, instead of abjuring the religion of its fathers, does not abjure the spirit of vengeance and rebellion which the Connetable de Bourbon breathed into it," he said aloud. "We shall see the quarrels of the Armagnacs and the Bourguignons revive in our day." "No," said Groslot, "there's another Louis XI. in the Cardinal de Lorraine."
"They'll cut out plenty of work for us," remarked Groslot to Cardinal de Chatillon. In short, everybody had a word to say. Some went and came, in and out of the great hall; others hovered about the maids of honor of both queens, as if it might be possible to catch a few words through a wall three feet thick or through the double doors draped on each side with heavy curtains.
This Groslot, whose dual position was one of the singularities of this period when Reformers themselves owned abbeys Groslot, the Jacques Coeur of Orleans, one of the richest burghers of the day, did not bequeath his name to the house, for in after years it was called Le Bailliage, having been, undoubtedly, purchased either by the heirs of the Crown or by the provinces as the proper place in which to hold the legal courts.
It would be difficult, however, to go to Orleans and not take notice of the Hotel-de-Ville which stands on the place de l'Estape. This hotel-de-ville, or town-hall, is the former Bailliage, the mansion of Groslot, the most illustrious house in Orleans, and the most neglected.
She is wholly for things virile; her powerful mind turns to the great affairs of State; her heart is invincible under adversity." "Monsieur le cardinal," whispered the Chancellor Olivier to Monsieur de Tournon, who had overheard Groslot, "what do you think of that audacity?"
Having served as the dwelling of the king at a period when the court displayed much pomp and luxury, the hotel Groslot must have been the most splendid house in Orleans. It was here, on the place de l'Estape, that the Guises and the king reviewed the burgher guard, of which Monsieur de Cypierre was made the commander during the sojourn of the king.
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