The king thought to make sure of Piedmont by marrying his niece, Monsieur's daughter, to the Duke of Savoy, Victor-Amadeo, quite a boy, delicate and taciturn, at loggerheads with his mother and with her favorites.

Marie Louise d'Orleans, elder sister of the young Duchess of Savoy, had married the King of Spain, Charles II., a sickly creature of weak intellect.

Louis XIV.

felt the necessity of forming new alliances; the old supports of France had all gone over to the enemy.
Sweden and Holland were already allied to the empire; the German princes joined the coalition.

The Prince of Orange, with an ever-vigilant eye on the frequent infractions of the treaties which France permitted herself to commit, was quietly negotiating with his allies, and ready to take up arms to meet the common danger.