Note 246 — Chapter VIII
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Under a specious pretext the Swiss Guards were detained in the great court of the palace; the Marquis de Thémines[246] undertook to demand the sword of the Prince, and to secure his person, volunteering at the same time to procure the assistance of his two sons, and seven or eight nobles upon whose fidelity he could rely; arms were introduced into one of the apartments of the Queen-mother in a large chest, which was understood to contain costly stuffs from Italy; and a number of the youngest and most distinguished noblemen of the Court, to whom Marie appealed for support, took a solemn oath of obedience to her behests, without inquiring into the nature of the service to which they were thus pledged.