Fair enough. Would Carlos marry Nicole then as her first husband? And how would the French react to the Spanish house of Habsburg (indeed, any branch of the house of Habsburg) having a claim to the duchy of Lorraine? Especially since the Habsburgs AFAIK dug up the Testament of René in the first place to prevent France annexing Lorraine by marriage between Louis XIII and Nicole.
France gets mad, maybe claims Lorraine for no reason other than spite. I can see the marriage coming about in this sort of scenario:
1614: Philip III of Spain, hoping to obtain the Duchy of Lorraine for his second son, the Infante Carlos de Hapsburg, contracts a marriage between him and the eldest child and daughter of the Duke of Lorraine, Nicole de Lorraine. This managed to occur due to the fear of the Duke of Lorraine that his Duchy would become a French appendage, as the King of France had attempted to contract his own marriage to the Princess of Lorraine.
1620: Having faced many years of protests and road blocks for the union from Louis XIII of France. Having managed to have it briefly possible, the 12 year old Princess of Lorraine is married to the 13 year old Infante of Spain. The Princess of Lorraine would join her husband in Madrid later that year.
1623: Hearing the Duke of Lorraine was growing sickly, the Princess of Lorraine and her Spanish husband were brought to Lorraine. Fearing his brother's growing power, the new King of Spain Philip IV refused to send a large military support with him. Louis XIII of France, hoping to create a rival to the Hapsburg-Lorraine family, married his 14 year old sister Henrietta Maria de France to Charles de Lorraine, the son of the potential rival to the Ducal Throne through the male line. A strong choice, by marrying his sister and the senior French Princess at the time Louis XIII of France had made a challenge.
1624: With the death of Henry II, Duke of Lorraine, Nicole de Lorraine and Charles de Hapsburg were jointly coronated as the Duke and Duchess of Lorraine. As their marriage had stipulated, they were not Regent and Consort, but had been crowned equally as Regents. Hearing the news, Louis XIII of France began an attack on Lorraine, sending troops against the Duchy. In response, Nicole and Charles began to set their own army on the defensive, and Charles would begin to send letters to his brother demanding support, as his father had promised in the marriage treaty.
1625: Philip IV of Spain was slow in returning his brother's letters, and only sent half the amount of troops as was promised. They did, however, turn the tide of battle. Both sides were beginning to slow, thus the fresh Spaniard troops allowed the Duke and Duchess of Lorraine to save their position. The war dragged on for another 3 months, but ultimately the French army had lost their advantage and never regained it. However, with this humiliating loss did not come recognition from Louis XIII of France. Referring to the Duke and Duchess as usurpers, he kept his sister and her husband at the court as the "true" Duke and Duchess of Lorraine. Thus, when their first child, a son, was born Louis de Lorraine, he was hailed as the heir to the Duchy of Lorraine.
1626-1629: Having kept their Duchy, the Duke and Duchess of Lorraine were not strongly suggested that the need for an heir was imperative. The birth of a second son to the opposing side in 1627 was worrying, and thus the two were put under pressure to have it be done. Unfortunately, no child would come until 1629, when the Duchess went into labour and gave birth to Charles de Lorraine, who was appropriately entitled the Prince de Lorraine.
1633: Pregnant with her second child, the Duchess of Lorraine was the first to hear that the French King was once again marching troops to her country, on behalf of his brother-in-law. Once again sending requests to his brother, the Duke of Lorraine brought the Lorraine army back together and once again defended his Duchy. Giving birth in May to a Princess of Lorraine, named Philippa de Lorraine in an effort to sway to the King of Spain to help them, the Duchess traveled personally to Madrid to convince her brother-in-law to help. Being greeted by the Queen of Spain, the French Princess Elisabeth de France, Nicole de Lorraine found herself left without hope of help. Thus, once it became obvious the King of Spain would not support them, she instead traveled to Portugal. There, she found the nobility much more receptive to her, as she drew upon their lack of satisfaction with the Hapsburg rule. Thus, when she returned to Lorraine, she returned with an army led by the Duke of Braganza. Amongst the Portuguese ladies that Nicole brought with her to Lorraine was the Duke's bride, the Lady Luisa de Guzmán, who became a close friend of the Duchess. Once again, it was the fresh foriegn troops that saved the day for Lorraine, and Louis XIII of France had to admit bitter defeat. Among the casualties was the rival Duke of Lorraine, Charles de Lorraine, who left his bride a widow with five children.
1637: Hoping to end the enmity between the two rival branches of Lorraine, the Duchess of Lorraine traveled to France to broach a betrothal between the eldest of the daughters of Henrietta Maria de France and Charles of Lorraine, Elisabeth de Lorraine. A bright and able girl of 9, Nicole thought the match prudent and the union a hopeful one. Her hopes were, at the time, crushed as Louis XIII of France, speaking on behalf of his sister, announced that he did not treat with Usurpers. Furious, the Duchess would instead treat with his sister, Christine de France, recently widowed and much more independent of her brother. Thus, the Prince of Lorraine was betrothed to Luisa Cristina of Savoy.
1639: Giving birth to her third and final child, the Princess Renata de Lorraine, a Princess who would die before the year was out.
1640: Upon hearing that the Duke of Braganza had declared himself King of Portugal, the Duke and Duchess of Lorraine were left in a strange and uncomfortable position. As a cadet branch of the Spanish Hapsburgs, they theoretically should have supported Philip IV of Spain in his retaking the Portuguese Throne. However, practically, the Lorraine Hapsburg family was more closely connected to the new Braganza Portuguese royals, and there had even been talk of a marriage between the Duke's eldest son Teodósio of Braganza, who was now, if you agreed the Duke of Braganza was King, the heir to the Portuguese Throne. In contrast, attempts to have a betrothal between the Prince of Asturias and the Princess of Lorraine had failed. Thus, it was obvious as to why the Duke and Duchess of Lorraine supported the Braganza side. This did, however, create an awkward situation with France. Supporting the Braganza side had the odd effect of putting the two on the same side, against the Duke of Lorraine's brother. With this unity, the previously desired match between Elisabeth de Lorraine and Charles de Lorraine became a reality and the Savoy match was set to the side. This came as this girl's two elder brothers, Louis and Nicholas de Lorraine, both died of smallpox. Thus, Elisabeth de Lorraine was now the heir to her father's claim.
TBC