A short time subsequently a nobleman of Bearn arrived in Paris and requested an audience of the King, which he had no sooner obtained than he informed him that he had been instructed in a vision to seek his presence in order to warn him of his approaching death.  Henry, however, who piqued himself in public upon denying credence to these supernatural revelations, and who, moreover, imagined that the object of his countryman was to obtain a recompense for his zeal, treated the matter lightly and ordered three hundred crowns to be presented to the stranger to defray his travelling expenses.  This present he, however, respectfully refused, protesting that he had acted only upon a principle of duty, and that he should be amply recompensed should his warning suffice to induce the monarch to adopt such precautions as would enable him to escape the threatened peril.[427]

Only a few nights previous to her coronation the Queen suddenly awoke from a profound slumber uttering a piercing shriek and trembling in every limb.  Alarmed by her evident state of agony, the monarch, having at length succeeded in restoring her to a state of comparative composure, urged her to explain the cause of her terror, but for a considerable time she refused to yield to his entreaties.  Overcome at last, however, by his evident anxiety and uneasiness, she informed him that she had just had a frightful dream, in which she had seen him fall under the knife of an assassin.[428]

Two remarkable coincidences also demand mention, particularly as they occurred at a distance from the capital.  On the day of the King’s assassination his shield, bearing his blazon, which was attached to the principal entrance of the chateau of Pau in Bearn, fell heavily to the ground and broke to pieces; while immediately afterwards the cows of the royal herd, which had previously been grazing quietly in the park, began to low in a frightful manner, and suddenly the bull known as the king rushed violently against the gate whence the trophy had fallen and then sprang into the moat, where it was drowned.  The effect produced upon the inhabitants of the district was instantaneous; loud and lamentable shouts of “The King is dead!” arose on all sides, and within two hours every Bearnais felt convinced that his beloved monarch had ceased to exist.[429]

It is useless to multiply these strange tales; but it is certain that they did not fail in their effect upon the mind of the monarch, however he might struggle to conceal the feelings which they excited, for Bassompierre relates that during the preparations which were making for the coronation of the Queen, Henry repeatedly alluded to his approaching death with a sadness which evinced his entire belief in the predictions that had reached him.

“I know not wherefore, Bassompierre,” he said on one occasion, “but I am persuaded that I shall never again see Germany, nor do I believe that you will go to Italy.  I shall not live much longer.”