The Life of Marie de Medicis, Queen of France, Consort of Henri IV, and Regent of the Kingdom under Louis XIII — Volume 3

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Title: The Life of Marie de Medicis, Queen of France, Consort of Henri IV, and Regent of the Kingdom under Louis XIII — Volume 3

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THE LIFE OF MARIE DE MEDICIS, VOL. III

Queen of France

CONSORT OF HENRI IV, AND REGENT OF THE
KINGDOM UNDER LOUIS XIII

JULIA PARDOE

AUTHOR OF

'LOUIS XIV AND THE COURT OF FRANCE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY,'
'THE COURT AND REIGN OF FRANCIS THE FIRST,' ETC.

IN THREE VOLUMES

1890

[Illustration: Louis XIII]

CONTENTS

BOOK III

MARIE DE MEDICIS AS EXILE

CHAPTER I

1618

De Luynes resolves to compel the Queen-mother to remain at
Blois--Treachery of Richelieu--The suspicions of Marie are aroused--Her
apprehensions--She demands permission to remove to Monceaux, and is
refused--She affects to resign herself to her fate--A royal
correspondence--Vanity of the Duc d'Epernon--A Court broil--The Abbé
Rucellaï offers his services to Marie de Medicis--He attempts to win
over the great nobles to her cause--He is compelled to quit the Court,
and retires to Sedan--The Duc de Bouillon refuses to join the cabal--The
Duc d'Epernon consents to aid the escape of the Queen-mother--The
ministers become suspicious of the designs of Richelieu--He is ordered
to retire to Coussay, and subsequently to Avignon--Tyranny of M. de
Roissy--The Queen-mother resolves to demand a public trial--De Luynes
affects to seek a reconciliation with the Prince de Condé--Firmness of
the Queen-mother--The three Jesuits--Marie pledges herself not to leave
Blois without the sanction of the King--False confidence of De
Luynes--The malcontents are brought to trial--Weakness of the
ministers--Political executions--Indignation of the people--The Princes
resolve to liberate the Queen-mother.

CHAPTER II

1619

The Duc d'Epernon leaves Metz--A traitor--A minister at fault--The Duc
de Bellegarde offers an asylum to the Queen-mother--Marie de Medicis
escapes from Blois--She is conducted by M. d'Epernon to
Angoulême--Gaieties of the capital--Marriages of the Princesse Christine
and Mademoiselle de Vendôme--Louis XIII is apprised of the escape of the
Queen--Alarm of the King--Advice of De Luynes--The Council resolve to
despatch a body of troops under M. de Mayenne to remove Marie de Medicis
from the keeping of the Duc d'Epernon-Discontent of the citizens--Louis
XIII enters into a negotiation with his mother--She rejects his
conditions--Richelieu offers himself as a mediator, and is accepted--The
royal forces march on Angoulême--Marie prepares for resistance--The
Princes withdraw from her cause--Schomberg proposes to blow up the
powder-magazine at Angoulême--Critical position of the Queen-mother--She
appeals to the Protestants, but is repulsed--Schomberg takes up arms
against the Duc d'Epernon--Alarm of Marie de Medicis--Richelieu proceeds
to Angoulême--He regains the confidence of the Queen--Successful
intrigue of Richelieu--Marie is deserted by several of her friends--A
treaty of peace is concluded between the King and his mother--The envoy
of Marie incurs the displeasure of Louis XIII--The malcontents rally
round the Queen-mother--The Princes of Piedmont visit Marie at
Angoulême--Their reception--Magnificence of the Duc d'Epernon--The
Queen-mother refuses to quit Angoulême--Ambition of Richelieu--Weakness
of Marie de Medicis--Father Joseph endeavours to induce the Queen-mother
to return to the Court--She is encouraged in her refusal by
Richelieu--The rival Queens--Marie leave Angoulême--Her parting with the
Duc d'Epernon--She is received at Poitiers by the Cardinal de Retz and
the Duc de Luynes--The Prince de Condé offers the hand of his sister
Eléonore de Bourbon to the brother of De Luynes as the price of his
liberation--The sword of the Prince is restored to him--Duplicity of the
favourite--Marie resolves to return to Angoulême, but is dissuaded by
her friends--The Duc de Mayenne espouses the cause of the
Queen-mother--A royal meeting--Return of the Court to Tours--Marie
proceeds to Chinon, and thence to Angers--The Protestants welcome the
Queen-mother to Anjou--Alarm of De Luynes--Liberation of the Prince de
Condé--Indignation of Marie de Medicis--Policy of Richelieu--De Luynes
solicits the return of the Queen-mother to the capital--She refuses to
comply--De Luynes is made Governor of Picardy--His brothers
are ennobled.

CHAPTER III

1620

Louis XIII creates numerous Knights of the Holy Ghost without reference
to the wishes of his mother--Indignation of Marie de Medicis--Policy of
De Luynes--Richelieu aspires to the cardinalate--A Court quarrel--The
Comtesse de Soissons conspires to strengthen the party of the
Queen-mother--Several of the great Princes proceed to Angers to urge
Marie to take up arms--Alarm of the favourite--He seeks to propitiate
the Duc de Guise--The double marriage--Caustic reply of the Duc de
Guise--Royal alliances--An ex-Regent and a new-made Duke--The
Queen-mother is threatened with hostilities should she refuse to return
immediately to the capital--She remains inflexible--Condé advises the
King to compel her obedience--De Luynes enters into a negotiation with
Marie--An unskilful envoy--Louis XIII heads his army in Normandy--Alarm
of the rebel Princes--They lay down their arms, and the King marches
upon the Loire--The Queen-mother prepares to oppose him--She garrisons
Angers--The Duc de Mayenne urges her to retire to Guienne--She
refuses--Treachery of Richelieu--League between Richelieu and De
Luynes--Marie de Medicis negotiates with the King--Louis declines her
conditions--The defeat at the Fonts de Cé--Submission of the
Queen-mother--A royal interview--Courtly duplicity--Marie retires to
Chinon--The Ducs de Mayenne and d'Epernon lay down their arms--The Court
assemble at Poitiers to meet the Queen-mother--Louis proceeds to
Guienne, and Marie de Medicis to Fontainebleau--The King compels the
resumption of the Romish faith in Béarn--The Court return to Paris.

CHAPTER IV

1621-24

Attempt to secure a cardinal's hat for Richelieu frustrated by De
Luynes--Death of Philip III of Spain--De Luynes is created Connétable de
France--Discontent of the great nobles--Disgust of the Maréchal de
Lesdiguières--The Protestants of Béarn rise against their
oppressors--The royal troops march against them--They are worsted, and
despoiled of their fortified places--The King becomes jealous of his
favourite--_Le Roi Luynes_--Domestic dissensions--The favourite is
threatened with disgrace--Cruelty of Louis XIII--Death of De
Luynes--Louis determines to exterminate the Protestants--A struggle for
power--Prudence of Bassompierre--Condé encourages the design of the
King--The old ministers are recalled--They join with the Queen-mother in
her attempt to conclude a peace with the reformed party--Marie de
Medicis solicits a share in the government--The King complies, but
refuses to sanction the admission of Richelieu to the Council--The
Duchesse de Luynes and Anne of Austria--Frustrated hopes--Condé aspires
to the French throne--Louis XIII leaves the capital by stealth in order
to join the army at Nantes--The Queen-mother prepares to follow him, but
is overtaken by illness--Ruthless persecution of the Protestants--Siege
of La Rochelle--Venality of the Protestant leaders--Indignation of the
Catholic nobles--Resistance of the citizens of Montpellier--Military
incapacity of Condé--The Duc de Rohan negotiates a peace, and Condé
retires to Rome--Montpellier opens its gates to the King--Bad faith of
Louis XIII--Triumphal entry of the King at Lyons--Marriage of the
Marquis de la Valette and Mademoiselle de Verneuil--Richelieu is created
a cardinal--Exultation of the Queen-mother--Death of the President
Jeannin--Prospects of Richelieu--His duplicity--Misplaced confidence of
Marie de Medicis--Louis XIII returns to Paris--Change in the
Ministry--Anne of Austria and the Prince of Wales--The Queen-mother and
her faction endeavour to accomplish the ruin of the Chancellor, and
succeed--Richelieu is admitted to the Council--Indignation of
Condé--Richelieu becomes all-powerful--His ingratitude to the
Queen-mother--The Queen-mother is anxious to effect a matrimonial
alliance with England--Richelieu seconds her views--The King of Spain
applies for the hand of the Princesse Henriette for Don Carlos--His
demand is negatived by the Cardinal-Minister--La Vieuville is dismissed
from the Ministry--Duplicity of Louis XIII--Arrest of La
Vieuville--Change of ministers--Petticoat intrigues--The Duc d'Anjou
solicits the hand of Mademoiselle de Montpensier--The alliance is
opposed by the Guises and forbidden by the King.

CHAPTER V

1625-28

Death of James I.--The Princesse Henriette is married by
proxy to Charles I--The Duke of Buckingham arrives in France
to conduct his young sovereign to her new country--An arrogant
suitor--Departure of the English Queen--Indisposition of Marie
de Medicis--Arrival of Henriette in London--Growing power of
Richelieu--Suspicions of the Queen-mother--Influence of the
Jesuit Bérulle over Marie de Medicis--Richelieu urges Monsieur
to conclude his marriage with Mademoiselle de Montpensier--Character
of Gaston--He refuses to accept the hand of the lady--Arrest of M.
d'Ornano--Vengeance of Richelieu--Indignation of Monsieur--Alarm of the
Queen-mother--Pusillanimity of Gaston--Arrest of the Vendôme
Princes--Edicts issued against the great nobles--Sumptuary
laws--Execution of the Comte de Bouteville--The reign of
Richelieu--Policy of Marie and her minister--Distrust of the
King--Conspiracy against the Cardinal--Richelieu threatens to retire
from office--A diplomatic drama--Triumph of the Cardinal--Execution
of Chalais--Heartlessness of Gaston--Monsieur consents to an alliance
with Mademoiselle de Montpensier--A royal marriage--The victims
of Richelieu--Marie de Medicis and the Cardinal endeavour to
increase the dissension between Louis XIII and his Queen--Exile
of the Duchesse de Joyeuse-Accusation against Anne of Austria--She
becomes a state prisoner--Subtlety of Richelieu--Anticipated
rupture with England--Embassy of Bassompierre--Death of the Duc de
Lesdiguières--Favour of Saint-Simon--Pregnancy of the Duchesse
d'Orléans--Dissolute conduct of Monsieur--Birth of Mademoiselle--Death
of Madame--Marie de Medicis seeks to effect a marriage between Monsieur
and a Florentine Princess--Buckingham lands in France, but is
repulsed--Illness of Louis XIII--Disgust of the Duc d'Orléans--Louis
wearies of the camp--He is incensed against the Cardinal--The King
returns to Paris--Monsieur affects a passion for the Princesse Marie de
Gonzaga, which alarms the sovereign--His distrust of the
Queen-mother--Marie de Medicis withdraws her confidence from the
Cardinal--Mother and son--Louis returns to La Rochelle--The city
capitulates--Triumphal entry of Louis XIII into Paris--Exhortation of
the Papal Nuncio.

CHAPTER VI

1629

Richelieu resolves to undermine the power of Austria--State of
Europe--Opposition of the Queen-mother to a new war--Perseverance of the
Cardinal--Anne of Austria joins the faction of Marie de Medicis-Gaston
is appointed General of the royal army--Richelieu retires from the
Court--Alarm of Louis XIII--A King and his minister--Louis leaves Paris
for the seat of war--Monsieur is deprived of his command, and
retires to Dauphiny--Marie de Gonzaga is sent to the fortress of
Vincennes--Monsieur consents to forego his marriage until it shall
receive the royal sanction, and the Princess returns to the
Louvre--Marie is invested with a partial regency--Forebodings of the
Cardinal--Termination of the campaign--Renewed discord--Richelieu
becomes jealous of Bassompierre--Louis abandons his army, and is
followed by the minister--Counterplots--An offended mistress and an
ex-favourite--A hollow peace--Gaston retires to the Court of Lorraine,
where he becomes enamoured of the Princesse Marguerite--The Cardinal
invites him to return to Paris--Monsieur accepts the proposed
conditions--The French troops march upon Piedmont--Richelieu is
appointed Lieutenant-General of the royal forces in Italy--The King
resolves to follow him--Anxiety of Marie de Medicis to avoid a rupture
with Spain--Dissensions between the two Queens--Mademoiselle de
Hautefort--Failing influence of Marie de Medicis--Self-distrust of the
King--The Queen-mother endeavours to effect a reconciliation between
her sons.

CHAPTER VII

1630

Gaston returns to France--Precarious position of the French armies--Death
of the Duke of Savoy--The French besiege Pignerol--Richelieu urges the
King to possess himself of the Duchy of Savoy--Marie de Medicis opposes
the measure--Louis XIII overruns Savoy--The French lose Mantua--Jules
Mazarin--The King is attacked by fever at Lyons--Moral effects
of his indisposition--He consents to dismiss the Cardinal from
office--Reconciliation of the royal family--The Court return
to the capital--Richelieu endeavours to regain the favour of
the Queen-mother--Policy of Marie--Richelieu seeks to effect
the disgrace of Marillac--The two Queens unite their interests--Meeting
of the royal brothers--Gaston inveighs bitterly against the Cardinal--The
Queen-mother takes up her abode at the Luxembourg--Louis proceeds
in state to bid her welcome--Monsieur publicly affronts Richelieu--A
treaty is concluded with Italy--Public rejoicings in Paris--Marie
dismisses the Cardinal and his relations from her household--A
drama at Court--Richelieu prepares to leave Paris; but is dissuaded,
and follows the King to Versailles--Exultation of the citizens
at the anticipated overthrow of the Cardinal-Minister--The
courtiers crowd the Luxembourg--Bassompierre at fault--Triumph
of Richelieu--Hypocrisy of the Cardinal--"The Day of Dupes"--A
regal minister--The Marillacs are disgraced--Anne of Austria is
suspected of maintaining a secret correspondence with Spain--Gaston
conspires with the two Queens against Richelieu--Divided state of
the French Court--A _fête_ at the Louvre.

CHAPTER VIII

1631

Richelieu interdicts all correspondence between Anne of Austria and the
King of Spain--The Queen asks permission to retire to the Val de
Grâce--Her persecution by the Cardinal--Marie de Medicis protects her
interests--Monsieur pledges himself to support her cause--Gaston defies
the minister--Alarm of Richelieu--He resolves to effect the exile of the
Queen-mother--Monsieur quits the capital--Superstition of Marie de
Medicis--An unequal struggle--Father Joseph and his patron--The
Queen-mother resolves to accompany her son to Italy--Richelieu assures
the King that Marie and Gaston have organized a conspiracy against his
life--The Court proceed to Compiègne--The Queen-mother refuses to retain
her seat in the Council--Richelieu regains all his influence over the
King--Revenge of the Cardinal upon his enemies--Desperate position of
Marie de Medicis--Her arrest is determined upon by the Council--Louis
leaves her a prisoner at Compiègne--Parting interview of the
two Queens--Indignity offered to Anne of Austria--Death of the
Princesse de Conti--Indignation of the royal prisoner--A diplomatic
correspondence--Two noble gaolers--The royal troops pursue Monsieur--The
adherents of Gaston are declared guilty of _lèse-majesté_--Gaston
addresses a declaration to the Parliament--The Queen-mother forwards a
similar protest, and then appeals to the people--A paper war--The
garrison is withdrawn from Compiègne--Marie resolves to effect her
escape to the Low Countries--She is assured of the protection of Spain
and Germany--The Queen-mother secretly leaves the fortress--She is
betrayed by the Marquis de Vardes, and proceeds with all speed to
Hainault, pursued by the royal troops--She is received at Mons by the
Archduchess Isabella--Whence she addresses a letter to the King to
explain the motives of her flight--Reply of Louis XIII--Sympathy of
Isabella--The two Princesses proceed to Brussels--Triumphal entry of
Marie de Medicis into the capital of Flanders--Renewed hopes of the
exiled Queen--The Belgian Ambassador at the French Court--Vindictive
counsels of the Cardinal--The property of the Queen-mother and Monsieur
is confiscated--They are abandoned by many of their adherents--Richelieu
is created a duke--A King and his minister--Marie consents to the
marriage of Monsieur with Marguerite de Lorraine--The followers of the
Queen-mother and the Duc d'Orléans are tried and condemned--Louis XIII
proceeds to Lorraine to prevent the projected alliance of his
brother--Intrigues of Gaston--Philip of Spain refuses to adopt the cause
of Marie de Medicis--Marriage of Monsieur and the Princesse de
Lorraine--The Queen-mother endeavours to negotiate her return to
France--Richelieu determines the King not to consent--Charles de
Lorraine makes his submission to the French monarch--And signs a
compulsory treaty.

CHAPTER IX

1632

Gaston d'Orléans proceeds to Brussels--His reception--Vanity of
Monsieur--Exultation of the Spanish Cabinet--Montmorency abandons the
interests of Richelieu--Marie de Medicis solicits his support--He
consents to second the projects of Monsieur--The Queen-mother and the
Duc d'Orléans sell their jewels in order to raise troops for the
invasion of France--Trial of the Maréchal de Marillac--Marie and Gaston
exert themselves to save his life--He is executed--The adherents of the
two royal exiles create dissensions between the mother and son--Gaston
joins the Spanish army--Munificence of Isabella--Gaston marches upon
Burgundy--Remonstrance of Montmorency--An ill-planned campaign--Battle
of Castelnaudary--Slaughter of the rebel leaders--Cowardice of
Monsieur--Montmorency is made prisoner--Gaston endeavours to make terms
with the King--He abandons the cause of his mother, and that of his
allies--He stipulates for the pardon of Montmorency--Richelieu refuses
the condition--The treaty is signed by Monsieur--Jealousy of Louis
XIII--The miniature--Montmorency is conveyed to Toulouse, and put upon
his trial--Double-dealing of the Cardinal--Obduracy of the
King--Execution of Montmorency--Despair of the Queen-mother--Death of
the Comtesse du Fargis--The Jesuit Chanteloupe and Madame de
Comballet--A new conspiracy--The Archduchess Isabella refuses to deliver
up the servants of Marie de Medicis--Gaston retires to Burgundy.

CHAPTER X

1633

Monsieur returns to Flanders--The Queen-mother retires in displeasure to
Malines--Influence of Chanteloupe--Selfishness of Monsieur--Death of
Gustavus Adolphus--Richelieu seeks to withdraw the Queen-mother and her
son from the protection of Spain--Marie is urged to retire to
Florence--The Tuscan envoy--Two diplomatists--Mortification of the
Queen-mother--She desires to seek an asylum in England--Charles I.
hesitates to grant her request--Helpless position of Marie de
Medicis-The iron rule of Richelieu--The Cardinal-dramatist--Gaston avows
his marriage to the King--Louis enters Lorraine, and takes Nancy-Madame
escapes to the Low Countries--Her reception at the Court of
Brussels--Marie de Medicis takes up her residence at Ghent--Serious
indisposition of the Queen-mother--She solicits the attendance
of her physician Vautier, and is refused--Hypocrisy of the
Cardinal--Indignation of the dying Queen--She rejects the
terms of reconciliation offered by the King--Attachment of her
adherents--Richelieu negotiates the return of Gaston to France--The
favourite of Monsieur--Gaston refuses to annul his marriage--Alfeston is
broken on the wheel for attempting the life of the Cardinal--The
Queen-mother is accused of instigating the murder--The bodyguard
of the Cardinal-Minister is increased--Estrangement of Monsieur
and his mother--Madame endeavours to effect the dismissal of
Puylaurens--Insolence of the favourite--Heartlessness of Monsieur--Marie
solicits permission to return to France--She is commanded as a condition
to abandon her followers, and refuses--Death of the Archduchess
Isabella--Gaston negotiates, and consents to the most humiliating
concessions.

CHAPTER XI

1634

Increasing trials of the exiled Queen--Her property is seized on the
frontier--She determines to conciliate the Cardinal--Richelieu remains
implacable--Far-reaching ambition of the minister--Weakness of Louis
XIII--Insidious arguments of Richelieu--Marie de Medicis is again
urged to abandon her adherents--Cowardly policy of Monsieur--He
signs a treaty with Spain--The Queen-mother refuses to join in the
conspiracy--Puylaurens induces Monsieur to accept the proffered terms of
Richelieu--He escapes secretly from Brussels---Gaston pledges himself to
the King to "love the Cardinal "--Gaston again refuses to repudiate his
wife--Puylaurens obtains the hand of a relative of the minister and
becomes Duc de Puylaurens--Monsieur retires to Blois.

CHAPTER XII

1635-38

Richelieu resolves to accomplish the disgrace of Puylaurens--Gaston
proceeds to Paris during the Carnival, and his favourite is arrested in
the Louvre-He is conveyed to Vincennes, where he dies--The Queen-mother
and Madame take up their abode at Antwerp--Marie de Medicis solicits the
protection of the Pope--Her letter is coldly received--She is accused by
Richelieu of favouring the Spanish cause--She endeavours to dissuade
Louis XIII from a war with Spain, and her arguments are haughtily
repulsed--Her envoy is ordered to quit the capital--The Queen-mother
once more appeals to the Sovereign-Pontiff, who declines to excite
against himself the enmity of the Cardinal-Minister--Louis XIII pursues
the war with Spain--Monsieur and the Comte de Soissons enter into a
conspiracy to assassinate Richelieu--The Queen-mother joins the
faction--The plot is betrayed--Gaston returns to his allegiance--Marie
de Medicis induces the Comte de Soissons to enter into a treaty with
Spain--The intrigue is discovered by the Cardinal--The Queen-mother once
more solicits an asylum in England--Charles I. accedes to her request,
and endeavours to effect her reconciliation with the French
King--Richelieu determines Louis to reply by a refusal--Monsieur
abandons his wife, who becomes dependent for her support upon the
Spanish Government--Insignificance of Gaston--The Duchess of Savoy
endeavours to effect the recall of her royal mother to France--The three
Churchmen--Pregnancy of Anne of Austria--Renewed hopes of the
Queen-mother--She is again urged to reside in Tuscany--She proceeds to
Holland, and is magnificently received--The Prince of Orange intercedes
in her behalf with the French King--Richelieu reiterates his wish that
she should retire to Florence--The Dutch request her to leave the
country--Marie de Medicis embarks for England--She is received at
Gravesend by Charles I.--Takes up her abode in St. James's
Palace--Meeting between the two Queens--Precarious position of the
English King--The Court of the Queen-mother--The French Ambassador is
instructed to abstain from all intercourse with the royal exile--A last
appeal---Obduracy of the Cardinal--Richelieu, his sovereign, and his
benefactress.

CHAPTER XIII

1639-42

Charles I. despatches an envoy to Louis XIII to negotiate the recall of
the Queen-mother--Richelieu aspires to the regency--The embassy
fails-Queen Henrietta resolves to proceed in person to Paris--Her visit
is declined by the French King--Charles I. recalls his ambassador from
the Court of France--The increasing animosity of the English people
against the Queen-mother compels her to seek another retreat--She is
requested by Parliament to leave the country--Philip of Spain refuses to
afford her an asylum--She proceeds to Holland, and thence to
Antwerp--The painter-prince--A voluntary envoy--The last letter--Marie
de Medicis is commanded to quit the Low Countries--She takes refuge at
Cologne-The last home of fallen royalty--Waning health of Richelieu--His
intellectual energy--Trial of the Duc de la Valette--Trial of the
Duc de Vendôme--Affected magnanimity of the Cardinal--Senatorial
sycophancy--Exile of the Duc and Duchesse de Vendôme--Execution
of M. de Saint-Preuil--Conspiracy against Richelieu--The stolen
meetings--The titled beggar--Secret service--Complicity of Cinq-Mars
discovered--Execution of Cinq-Mars and De Thou--Cowardice of
the Duc d'Orléans--Lingering hopes of Marie de Medicis--Rubens
and Richelieu--The abortive mission--Rubens proceeds to Madrid--The
Kings of England and Spain withhold all pecuniary aid from
the Queen-mother--Despair of Marie de Medicis--Her utter
destitution--Death-bed of a crowned head--Tardy honours--Filial
affection and priestly piety--The vaults of St. Denis.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

THE THIRD VOLUME

M. de Roissy.
Cardinal de Bérulle.
Père Joseph.
Cardinal de Retz.
Marquise de Sablé.
Marquis de Caumartin.
M. de la Vieuville.
M. d'Aligre.
M. de Marillac.
Prince de Chalais.
Maréchal de Marillac.
Duc de Nevers.
Marquise de Seneçay.
Madame de Comballet.
M. de Thoiras.
Marquis de Spinola.
Cardinal Mazarin.
Père Chanteloupe.
M. de Puylaurens.
Henri II, Duc de Montmorency.
Marquis de Brézé.
Abbé de St. Germain.
M. Séguier.
Marquis d'Ayetona.
M. de Bouthillier.
Vicomte de Fabbroni.
Don Francisco de Mello.
Duc de Saint-Simon.
Marquis de Cinq-Mars.

ILLUSTRATIONS

VOL. III

1. LOUIS XIII........._Frontispiece_

2. FACSIMILE OF A LETTER TO M. DE BASSOMPIERRE,
DICTATED AND SIGNED BY MARIE DE MEDICIS ON
HER ESCAPE FROM BLOIS

3. THE CARDINAL DE RICHELIEU

Engraved by Geoffroy from the Original by Philippe de
Champagne.

4. FACSIMILE OF AN AUTOGRAPH LETTER OF THE CARDINAL
DE RICHELIEU TO M. DE BASSOMPIERRE
DURING HIS EMBASSY IN ENGLAND

5. FACSIMILE OF A LETTER TO THE MARECHAL DE BASSOMPIERRE,
SIGNED BY LOUIS XIII

6. CARDINAL MAZARIN

Engraved by Hopwood.

7. GEORGE VILLIERS, FIRST DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM

Engraved by W. Greatbach. Painted by G. P. Harding
from the Original by C. Jansens, in the Collection of
the Earl of Clarendon.

8. MARQUIS DE CINQ-MARS

Engraved by Langlois.

BOOK III

CHAPTER I

1618

It will be remembered that Marie de Medicis left the capital under a
pledge from her son himself that she was at perfect liberty to change
her place of abode whenever she should deem it expedient to do so; and
that her sojourn at Blois was merely provisional, and intended as a
temporary measure, to enable her to establish herself more commodiously
in her own castle of Monceaux. Anxious for her absence, De Luynes had
induced the King to consent to her wishes; but she had no sooner reached
Blois than he determined that she should be compelled to remain there,
as he dreaded her influence in a province of which she was the absolute
mistress; and, accordingly, she had no sooner arrived in the
fortress-palace on the Loire than he began to adopt the necessary
measures for her detention. Within a week she was surrounded by spies; a
precaution which would appear to have been supererogatory so long as
Richelieu remained about her person, as his first care on reaching Blois
was to write to the favourite to repeat his offers of service; and he
himself informs us that "from time to time he sent him an exact account
of the Queen's proceedings;" while so much anxiety did he evince to
retain the confidence of the Court party that when Marie, desirous of
repaying the sacrifice which she believed him to have made in following
her fortunes, appointed him chief of her Council, he refused to accept
this office until he had written to obtain the sanction of the King; and
publicly declared that he would not occupy any official situation
whatever in her service until he ascertained the pleasure of
his Majesty.

These servile scruples did not, however, as he himself admits, suffice
to set at rest the suspicions of De Luynes, whose knowledge of the
Bishop's character by no means tended to inspire him with any confidence
in his professions;[1] while the Queen-mother, on her side, had soon
cause to apprehend that the motives of Richelieu for his self-banishment
were far less honourable than those which she had been so eager to
attribute to him. Certain projects which she was anxious to keep
profoundly secret became known to the favourite; and her natural
distrust, coupled with this fact, induced her to be gradually less
communicative to the intriguing prelate. Her spirits, moreover, gave way
under the successive mortifications to which she was subjected; and
combined with her somewhat tardy but deep regret at the fate of the
Maréchal d'Ancre were fears for her own safety, which appeared to be
daily threatened.

Her residence at Monceaux was soon in readiness for her reception; but
when she apprised the King of her intention of removing thither, she
received an evasive reply, and was courteously but peremptorily advised
to defer her journey. Marie de Medicis from that moment fully
comprehended her real position; but with a tact and dissimulation equal
to that of Louis himself, she professed the most perfect indifference on
the subject, and submitted without any remonstrance to the expressed
wish of her son. This resignation to his will flattered the vanity of
Louis, and quieted the fears of his favourite; but it by no means
deceived the subtle Richelieu, who, aware of the inherent ambition of
Marie de Medicis, at once felt convinced that she was preoccupied with
some important design, and consequently indisposed to waste her energies
upon questions of minor moment. At short intervals she addressed the
most submissive letters to the King, assuring him of her devoted
attachment to his interests, and her desire to obey his wishes in all
things; but these assurances produced no effect upon the mind of Louis,
whose ear was perpetually poisoned by the reports which reached him
through the creatures of De Luynes, who never failed to attribute to the
cabals of the Queen-mother all the Court intrigues, whatever might be
their origin or character. Like herself, however, he was profuse in his
professions of regard and confidence in her affection for his person and
zeal for his interests, at the very time when she could not stir a yard
from the fortress, or even walk upon the ramparts, without being
accompanied by a number of armed men, denominated by De Luynes, with
melancholy facetiousness, a guard of honour. Nevertheless Marie retained
the most perfect self-command; but she was fated to undergo a still more
bitter trial than she had yet anticipated; for so little real respect
did her son evince towards her that he entered into a negotiation for
the marriage of his sister the Princesse Christine with the Prince of
Piedmont without condescending to consult her wishes upon the subject;
thus at once disregarding her privileges as a mother and as a Queen.[2]

Superadded to this mortification was a second little less poignant. As
the great nobles whom she had helped to enrich during her period of
power resumed their position at Court, she anticipated from day to day
that they would espouse her cause, and advocate her recall to the
capital; but with the single exception of the Duc de Rohan, not one of
the Princes had made an effort in her behalf; and the generous
interference of the latter had, as she was aware, excited against him
the animosity of De Luynes; while, on the contrary, the favourite showed
undisguised favour to all who abandoned her cause.

At the close of the year 1617 the Duc de Rohan had proceeded to Savoy,
and the Duc de Bouillon to Sedan; but the Ducs de Sully and d'Epernon
still remained in the capital, where the latter again displayed as much
pomp and pretension as he had done under the Regency; and at the
commencement of 1618 he had a serious misunderstanding with Du Vair, the
Keeper of the Seals, upon a point of precedence. Irascible and haughty,
he resented the fact of that magistrate taking his place on all
occasions of public ceremonial immediately after the Chancellor Sillery,
and consequently before the dukes and peers; and on Easter Sunday, when
the Court attended mass at the Church of St. Germain l'Auxerrois in
state, he seized him roughly by the arm, and compelled him to give way.
The King, indignant at so ill-timed a burst of passion, hastened to
interfere, and spoke sharply to the Duke, who did not condescend to
justify himself, but assumed an attitude of defiance, never subsequently
leaving his hôtel without the attendance of a numerous suite of
gentlemen ready to defend him in case of attack; while in addition to
this breach of etiquette, M. d'Epernon loudly complained of the bad
faith of De Luynes, who had promised, in order to induce his return to
Court, to obtain a cardinal's hat for his third son the Archbishop of
Toulouse, without, however, having subsequently made a single effort to
redeem his pledge. So bitterly, indeed, did he inveigh against the
favourite that he began to apprehend the possibility of an arrest; yet
still he lingered in the capital, as if unwilling to retreat before an
enemy whom he despised.[3]

Among the individuals who had followed the Queen-mother into exile was a
certain Abbé Rucellaï, a Florentine, who having failed to obtain
advancement at the Court of Rome, had passed over to France in the hope
of furthering his fortunes in that kingdom. His anticipations appeared
for a time likely to be realized, as he was warmly welcomed on his
arrival by his countryman Concini; but the assassination of the
favourite having blighted all his prospects, he resolved upon revenge,
and as a first step offered his services to Marie de Medicis, by whom
they were accepted. The Queen-mother had no sooner formed her little
Court than the Abbé proceeded to lay the foundations of his plot, which
was based upon her return to power, and which he was well aware must
involve the ruin of De Luynes; while at the same time he felt satisfied
that he should be amply recompensed by Marie herself for his
services.[4] No opposition had been made to the self-banishment of
Rucellaï by the Court party, as he was well known to be in infirm health
and of effeminate habits; and to exhibit in every phase of his character
the very reverse of a conspirator. He had, moreover, made friends during
his residence in Paris; and, through the interest of Zamet, had obtained
the Abbey of Signy in Champagne, which, together with his family
inheritance, secured to him an annual income of twenty thousand crowns.
This revenue he spent in the most liberal manner, and soon became very
popular from the suavity and refinement of his manners, and his extreme
generosity. An affair of gallantry had, however, involved him in a
quarrel with the nephew of the Duc d'Epernon; who, espousing the cause
of his relative, in his turn excited the hatred of the Abbé.[5]

Rucellaï had been but a short time at Blois before he felt that he could
carry out his plans with greater facility in the capital than while
subjected to the constant surveillance of the Court spies by whom Marie
de Medicis was surrounded; and he accordingly obtained permission to
return to Court, De Luynes being easily induced to believe that his
application was caused by his weariness of the monotony of Blois, and
his desire to participate once more in the gaieties of Paris. The fact,
however, was far otherwise. The thirst for vengeance had produced a
singular effect upon the Florentine; and although he still affected to
enact the sybarite, in order to mislead those whom he sought to ruin, he
became suddenly endued with a moral energy as well as a physical
strength of which no one had believed him to be possessed. Neither
fatigue, danger, nor difficulty sufficed to paralyze his exertions; and
if he was one hour at the feet of a Court beauty, he was busied the next
in the most subtle and well-devised attempts to win over one or other of
the great nobles to the cause of the exiled Queen.[6]

He experienced little difficulty in his undertaking; all the Princes
desiring the ruin of De Luynes and the return of the Queen-mother; but
when he urged that an endeavour should be made to effect her escape, to
secure her safety in a fortified town, and then to take up arms against
the favourite, he failed in finding one individual bold enough to
venture on so extreme a step, although all were ready to volunteer their
support when her flight should have been accomplished. In this extremity
Rucellaï cast his eyes upon the Duc de Bouillon, whose courage was
undoubted, and upon whose spirit of intrigue he calculated with
confidence;[7] but in order to win over the Marshal it was necessary
that he should communicate with him personally, and he accordingly
caused rumours to be spread which excited the apprehensions of the
ministers, and totally misled them as to his real designs, while at the
same time they induced De Luynes to issue an order for his immediate
departure from the capital. The Abbé complied with apparent reluctance;
and then lost no time in hastening to Signy, whence he proceeded with
all speed to Sedan.[8]

Here, however, contrary to his expectations, he was doomed to
disappointment; for while Bouillon expressed the greatest devotion for
Marie de Medicis, and asserted his wish for her restoration to power,
which he coupled with the remark that "the Court was still the same
wine-shop as ever, although they had changed the stamp of their cork,"
he pleaded his age and his infirmities as a pretext for declining to
enter into the conspiracy which was about to be organized for her
release; while, at the same time, he suggested that no individual could
be found more eligible to secure the success of such an enterprise than
M. d'Epernon. "He is both proud and daring," he said in conclusion;
"address yourself to him. This is the best advice which I can offer to
the Queen-mother." [9]

Of this fact the Abbé was himself persuaded; but two circumstances
appeared to present insurmountable obstacles to his success with the
haughty Duke. In the first place he had withdrawn from the Court greatly
incensed against Marie de Medicis, who had sacrificed his interests to
those of the Prince de Condé and the Maréchal d'Ancre; and in the next
he was the declared enemy of Rucellaï himself. The position of the Abbé
was perplexing, as he well knew that M. d'Epernon never forgave an
injury inflicted upon him by an inferior; but the crisis was one of such
importance that the Florentine resolved to make any concession rather
than abandon his design. He was aware that, however hostile the Duke
might be to himself personally, his hatred of De Luynes far exceeded any
feeling of animosity which he could possibly entertain towards a man
whom he considered as a mere adventurer; and the ambition of the Abbé
determined him to sacrifice his pride to the necessities of the cause in
which he laboured. Having therefore decided upon making his own feelings
subservient to the success of his enterprise, he returned without
hesitation to Paris, but he had still a great difficulty to overcome;
as, until the Duke should be made fully aware of the nature of his
mission, he could not venture to intrude upon his privacy, although the
moment was singularly favourable. M. d'Epernon had incurred the
displeasure of the Court by his quarrel with Du Vair, and his open
defiance of the favourite; his sons were equally incensed by the
disappointment to which the Archbishop of Toulouse had been latterly
subjected, and had been as unguarded as himself in their expressions of
disgust; but still Rucellaï was aware that he must exert the utmost
precaution in order not to excite the resentment of the man upon whose
co-operation he founded all his hopes of ultimate success; and after
having carefully considered the best method of effecting his purpose, he
decided upon inducing the Queen-mother to cause a letter to be forwarded
to the Archbishop of Toulouse, wherein he was requested to negotiate an
interview between his father and the Abbé. The young prelate willingly
undertook the task assigned to him; but whether it were that the Duke
still resented the conduct of Marie de Medicis, or that he feared to
compromise himself still further with the Court, he merely answered with
some impatience, "I am about to retire to Metz: I will not listen to any
propositions from the Queen until I am in my own government;" a reply
which did not, however, tend to discourage the persevering Florentine.

When the details of this attempt were communicated to her Marie hastened
to forward to M. d'Epernon a watch superbly ornamented with diamonds,
requesting him at the same time to confide to her the nature of his
intentions; but he again refused to give any explanations until he
should have left the capital.[10]

The journey of the Duke was not long delayed. His position became daily
more untenable; and on the 6th of May he quitted Paris, without even
venturing to take leave of the King.[11]

Rucellaï no sooner learnt that M. d'Epernon had reached Metz than he
prepared to follow up the negotiation. He had afforded an asylum at
Signy to Vincenzio Ludovici, the secretary of the Maréchal d'Ancre, who
had been sent to the Bastille at the period of his master's murder,
where he had remained until after the execution of Leonora Galigaï, when
an order was forwarded for his release. This man, who was an able
diplomatist, and had great experience in Court intrigue, possessed the
entire confidence of his new patron, who hastened to despatch him to the
Duc d'Epernon with a letter of recommendation from the Queen-mother, and
full instructions for treating with the haughty noble in her name.
Ludovici acquitted himself creditably of his mission; and although M.
d'Epernon at first replied to his representations by an indignant
recapitulation of the several instances of ingratitude which he had
experienced from the late Regent, he nevertheless admitted that he still
felt a sincere interest in her cause. This concession sufficed to
encourage the envoy; and after a time the negotiation was opened.
Vincenzio promised, in the name of the Queen, money, troops, and
fortresses; and, moreover, such advantageous conditions that the Duke
finally consented to return a decisive answer after he should have had
time to consider the proposals which had been made to him.[12]

Had M. d'Epernon followed the advice of his sons, the Marquis de la
Valette and the Archbishop of Toulouse, the enterprise might at once
have been accomplished. His vanity was flattered by the consciousness
that his services were not only essential but even indispensable to the
Queen-mother; but he had outlived the age of enthusiasm, and past
experience had made him cautious. He therefore declined giving any
definitive answer until he had ascertained who were the great nobles
pledged to the faction of the Queen-mother, and the amount of money
which she was prepared to disburse for the expenses of a civil war.

The agent of Rucellaï was ready with his reply. He informed the Duke
that the House of Guise, M. de Montmorency, the Maréchal de Bouillon,
and several others were prepared to join him so soon as he should have
declared openly in her favour; while Marie de Medicis was prepared to
advance considerable sums whenever they should be required.

Upon receiving this assurance M. d'Epernon hesitated no longer. He had
utterly forfeited his position at Court, while he had reason to
apprehend that De Luynes contemplated the confiscation of all his
offices under the Crown, and the seizure of his numerous governments; a
circumstance which determined him openly to brave the displeasure of the
King, and to espouse the interests of his mother.[13]

Throughout the whole of this negotiation Ludovici had been careful not
to betray to the Duke the fact that Rucellaï had organized the faction
of which he was about to become the leader; but he had no sooner pledged
himself to the cause than it became necessary to inform him of the
circumstance. His anger and indignation were for a time unbounded; he
was, however, ultimately induced to consent to an interview with the
Abbé, who on his arrival at Metz soon succeeded in overcoming the
prejudices of the offended noble, and in effecting his reconciliation
with the Maréchal de Bouillon. A common interest induced both to bury
past injuries in oblivion; and it was not long ere the Florentine was
enabled to communicate to Marie de Medicis the cheering intelligence
that the Cardinal de Guise, M. de Bouillon, and the Duc d'Epernon had
agreed to levy an army of twelve thousand infantry and three thousand
horse in the province of Champagne, in order to create a diversion in
case the King should march troops towards Angoulême, whither it was
resolved that she should be finally conveyed after her escape from
Blois; as well as to defend the Marquis de la Valette if an endeavour
were made to drive him out of Metz, while his father was absent with the
Queen-mother.

On receiving this intelligence Marie forwarded to Rucellaï the sum of
two hundred thousand crowns, of which he transferred a portion to the
Cardinal de Guise and the Maréchal de Bouillon; and every precaution was
taken to ensure the success of the enterprise.[14]

Despite all the caution which had been observed, however, these
transactions had not taken place without exciting the attention and
suspicions of the Court; and notwithstanding all his anxiety to secure
the confidence and goodwill of the favourite, Richelieu had been one of
the first to feel the effects of the hatred conceived against those who
under any pretext adhered to the interests of the Queen-mother. It is
true that on leaving Paris he had pledged himself to watch all her
proceedings, and immediately to report every equivocal circumstance
which might fall under his observation, but his antecedents were
notorious, and no faith was placed in his promise. De Luynes and the
ministers were alike distrustful of his sincerity; and only a few weeks
after his arrival at Blois an order reached him by which he was directed
to retire forthwith to his priory at Coussay near Mirabeau, and to
remain there until he should receive further instructions. In vain did
Marie de Medicis--who, whatever might be her misgivings as to his good
faith, was nevertheless acutely conscious of the value of Richelieu's
adhesion--entreat of the King to permit his return to Blois; her request
was denied, and the Bishop had no alternative save obedience; nor was it
long ere De Luynes induced Louis to banish him to Avignon.[15]

The annoyance of the Queen-mother upon this occasion was increased by
the fact that Richelieu was replaced at her little Court by M. de
Roissy,[16] who was peculiarly obnoxious to her. Her representations to
this effect were, however, disregarded; and she was compelled to receive
him into her household. If the statement of his predecessor be a correct
one, the unfortunate Marie had only too much cause to deprecate his
admission to her circle, as thenceforward her captivity became more
rigorous than ever, no person being permitted to approach her without
his sanction; while her favourite attendants were dismissed by his
orders (among others Caterina Selvaggio, who had accompanied her from
Florence and to whom she was much attached), and replaced by others who
were devoted to the interests of De Luynes.[17] It is, however,
difficult to believe that this account was not exaggerated, from the
extremely bitter spirit evinced by the writer; who probably endeavoured
to minimize in so far as he was able his own false behaviour towards his
royal mistress and benefactor, by an overwrought account of the
increased insults to which she was subjected after his departure.

This much is nevertheless certain, that the unfortunate Queen was
treated with a severity and disrespect which determined her to proceed
to any extremity rather than submit to a continuance of such unmitigated
mortification. Indignant at the prolonged imprisonment of Barbin, and
the harsh treatment endured by the few who still adhered to her cause,
she at length openly resisted the tyranny of her gaolers; upon which De
Luynes, perceiving that the mission of De Roissy had failed, despatched
the Maréchal d'Ornano to Blois, with express orders to leave untried no
means of intimidating her into submission; a task which he performed
with such extreme rudeness, that in the course of the interview he so
far forgot himself as to menace her with his hand, and to tell her that
should she undertake anything inimical to the interests of the
favourite, she should be exhausted "until she was as dry as wood." [18]
This insult, however, only tended to arouse the proud spirit of the
outraged Princess, who indignantly exclaimed: "I am weary of being daily
accused of some new crime. This state of things must be put an end to;
and it shall be so, even if I am compelled, like a mere private
individual, to submit myself to the judgment of the Parliament of
Paris." [19]

The new attitude thus assumed by the Queen-mother alarmed De Luynes,
whose increasing unpopularity induced him to fear that the Princes, who
did not seek to disguise their disgust at his unbridled arrogance, would
be easily persuaded to espouse her cause. He therefore endeavoured to
excite her apprehensions by affecting to accomplish a reconciliation
with M. de Condé, for which purpose he repeatedly despatched Déageant to
Vincennes in order that she might suppose the negotiation to have
commenced; but all these artifices failed to shake the resolution of
Marie de Medicis.

This display of firmness augmented the dismay of De Luynes and the
ministers, who then conjointly endeavoured to compel her to ask the
royal permission to retire to Florence; for which purpose they treated
her with greater rigour than before. Several troops of cavalry were
garrisoned in the immediate environs of Blois; she was not permitted to
leave the fortress; and orders were given that she should not, under any
pretext, be allowed to receive visitors without the previous sanction of
the favourite.[20] Still the spirit of Marie remained unbroken; and it
was ascertained that, despite all precautions, she pursued her purpose
with untiring perseverance. It thus became necessary to adopt other
measures. Cadenet, the brother of De Luynes, was accordingly instructed
to proceed to her prison, and to inform her that the King was about to
visit her, in order to make arrangements for her liberation; but the
Queen had been already apprised of his intended arrival, as well as of
the motive of his journey, and the fallacy of the promises which he had
been directed to hold out; and consequently, after coldly expressing her
sense of the intended clemency, and the gratification which she should
derive from the presence of her son, she dismissed the messenger as
calmly and as haughtily as though she had still been Regent of
the kingdom.

De Luynes and his adherents felt that hitherto nothing had been gained;
and they next determined to enlist the services of her confessor, the
Jesuit Suffren, who had, as they were aware, great influence over her
mind. Suffren declared himself ready to do all in his power to meet the
wishes of the King and his ministers, and to induce his royal penitent
to submit patiently to her captivity, should he be convinced that in so
acting he was fulfilling his duty towards both parties; and for the
purpose of a thorough understanding on this point, he suggested that an
accredited person should be named with whom he might enter into a
negotiation. De Luynes immediately appointed for this office another
Jesuit called Séguerand, and the two ecclesiastics accordingly met to
discuss the terms upon which Suffren was to offer the desired advice to
the Queen-mother; but he had no sooner ascertained that an unqualified
concession was demanded on her part without any reciprocal pledge upon
that of her enemies, than he conscientiously declined to give her any
such counsel, and the parties separated without coming to an
understanding.

This failure no sooner reached the ears of Arnoux, the King's confessor,
than he volunteered to renew the negotiation, under the impression that
he should be more successful than his colleague; an offer which was
eagerly accepted by De Luynes, who procured for him an autograph letter
from Louis XIII, which he was instructed to deliver personally into the
hands of Marie. In this letter the King stated that having been informed
of the wish of the Queen-mother to make a pilgrimage to some holy
places, he hastened to express his gratification at the intelligence;
and to assure her that he should rejoice to learn that she took more
exercise than she had lately done for the benefit of her health, which
was to him a subject of great interest; adding, moreover, that should
circumstances permit, he would willingly bear her company; but that, in
any case, he would not fail to do so in writing, as he desired that
wherever she went she should be received, respected, and honoured
like himself.

Habituated as she was to these wordy and equivocal communications, the
Queen-mother, aware that her every word and gesture would be closely
scrutinized by the reverend envoy, concealed her indignation, and
affected to experience unalloyed gratification from this display of
affection on the part of her son; a circumstance of which Arnoux availed
himself to impress upon her mind the certainty of an approaching and
complete reconciliation with the King, provided she should express her
willingness to comply with his pleasure in all things, and pledge
herself not to form any cabal against his authority, or to make any
attempt to leave Blois until he should sanction her departure; and it
would, moreover, appear that the Jesuit was eloquent, as he ultimately
succeeded in overcoming the distrust of his listener. If Suffren, who
had become weary of the monotony of Blois, and of the insignificance to
which his royal penitent was reduced by her enforced exile, was desirous
to see her once more resume her position at Court, Arnoux was no less
anxious on his part to secure her continued absence, as he apprehended
that her return to the capital would involve his own dismissal, from the
fact of his having owed his appointment to De Luynes; while whatever may
have been the arguments which he advanced, under cover of a sincere and
earnest wish to see the mother and the son once more united by those
natural bonds which had been for some time riven asunder, it is certain
that he finally effected his object, and induced the unfortunate
Princess to give full credence to his assurances of attachment towards
herself, and his pious wish to accomplish a reconciliation which was the
ardent desire of her own heart; and accordingly, before the termination
of the interview, Marie de Medicis pledged herself to all that
he required.

"I do not, Madame," said the subtle Jesuit, on receiving this assurance,
"doubt for a single instant the sincerity of your Majesty; but others
may prove less confiding than myself. I would therefore respectfully
urge you to furnish me with some document which will bear testimony to
the success of my mission, and demonstrate the excellent decision at
which you have arrived. Do this, and I will guarantee that you shall
obtain from the King your son all that you may desire."

Marie yielded; and her insidious adviser lost no time in drawing up an
act by which the imprudent Queen bound herself by a solemn oath to
submit in all things to the will and pleasure of the sovereign; to hold
no intelligence with any individual either within or without the kingdom
contrary to his interests; to denounce all those who were adverse to his
authority; to assist in their punishment; and finally, to remain
tranquilly at Blois till such time as Louis should see fit to recall her
to the capital. She was, moreover, induced to consent to the publication
of this document; and thus armed the astute Jesuit returned to Court,
where he received the acknowledgments of De Luynes, coupled with
renewed promises of favour and support.[21]

Aware of the deep devotional feelings of the Queen-mother, De Luynes
never for an instant apprehended that she would be induced to infringe
an oath by which she had invoked "God and the holy angels";[22] and he
consequently regarded her captivity as perpetual; but he forgot, when
arriving at this conclusion, that although he had, through the medium of
one Jesuit, succeeded in persuading her to consent to her own ruin,
there still remained about her person a second, whose individual
interests were involved with her own, and who would, in all probability,
prove equally unscrupulous. Such was, in fact, the case; Suffren, to
whose empire over the mind of Marie we have already alluded, did not
hesitate (when as days and weeks passed away, and no effort was made
towards her release, she began to evince symptoms of impatience, and of
regret at the act into which she had been betrayed) to assure her that
an extorted oath, however solemn, was not valid; and to impress upon her
that she was not justified before her Maker in depriving herself of that
liberty of action which had been His gift; a pious sophism which could
not but prove palatable to his persecuted mistress. Together with this
consoling conviction, she soon perceived, moreover, that she had at
least derived one benefit from her imprudence, as the Court party,
confiding in her word, made no attempt to prevent the realization of the
design which she had affected of a devotional pilgrimage; and which was
sanctioned by the letter of the King.

Anxious, however, to destroy any latent hope in which she might still
indulge of a return to power, De Luynes resolved to effect the ruin of
all who had evinced any anxiety for her restoration; and there was
suddenly a commission given to the Council, "to bring to trial the
authors of the cabals and factions, having for their object the recall
of the Queen-mother, the deliverance of the Prince de Condé, and the
overthrow of the State." The first victims of this sweeping accusation
were the Baron de Persan, the brother-in-law of De Vitry, and De
Bournonville his brother, who were entrusted with the safe keeping of
Barbin in the Bastille, and by whom he had been indirectly permitted to
maintain a correspondence with his exiled mistress; together with the
brothers Siti, of Florence, and Durand, the composer of the King's
ballets. The result of the trial proved the virulence of the
prosecutors, but at the same time revealed their actual weakness, as
they feared to execute the sentence pronounced against the three
principal offenders; and were compelled to satiate their vengeance upon
the more insignificant and less guilty of the accused parties.

M. de Persan was simply exiled from the Court; De Bournonville was
sentenced to death, but not executed; while Barbin only escaped the
scaffold by a single vote, and was condemned to banishment; a sentence
which the King subsequently aggravated by changing it to perpetual
imprisonment. The three pamphleteers, for such were in reality the
brothers Siti and Marie Durand, whose only crime appeared to have been
that they had written a diatribe against De Luynes,[23] did not,
however, escape so easily, as the two former were broken on the wheel
and burned in the Place de Grève, while the third was hanged.

Such a wholesale execution upon so slight a pretext aroused the
indignation of the citizens, and excited the murmurs of the people, who
could not brook that the person of an ennobled adventurer should thus be
held sacred, while the widow of Henry the Great was exposed to the
insults of every time-serving courtier. Nor were the nobles less
disgusted with this display of heartless vanity and measureless
pretension. The Ducs de Rohan and de Montbazon, despite their family
connexion with the arrogant favourite, had already openly endeavoured to
effect a reconciliation between Louis and the Queen-mother; and the
other disaffected Princes no sooner witnessed the effect produced upon
the populace by the cruel tyranny of De Luynes, than they resolved to
profit by this manifestation, and to lose no time in attempting the
deliverance of the royal prisoner.

Instant measures were taken for this purpose; and meanwhile the
favourite, lulled into false security, was wholly unconscious of this
new conspiracy, believing that by his late deed of blood he had awed
all his adversaries into submission.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Richelieu, _Hist. de la Mère et du Fils_, vol. i. pp. 248, 249.

[2] Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 434.

[3] Mézeray, vol. xi. p. 148. Le Vassor, vol ii. p. 7. Rohan, _Mém_. p.
153. Bassompierre, _Mém_. pp. 127, 128. Brienne, _Mém_. vol. i. pp.
334, 335.

[4] _Vie du Duc d'Epernon_, book vii.

[5] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. iv. p. 567.

[6] Bassompierre, _Mém_. p. 128.

[7] Rohan, _Mém_. book i. _Vie du Duc d'Epernon_, book vii.

[8] Bassompierre, _Mém_. p. 129.

[9] Le Vassor, vol. ii. p. 36. Richelieu, _Hist, de la Mère et du Fils_,
vol. i. p. 324. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 159, 160. Sismondi, vol. xxii.
p. 450.

[10] Le Vassor, vol. ii, pp. 37, 38.

[11] Mézeray, vol. xi. p. 148.

[12] _Relation du Cardinal de la Valette. Vie du Duc d'Epernon_, book
vii. Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 38, 39. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 148, 149.
Richelieu, _Mém_. book ix. p. 490.

[13] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 39, 40. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 149, 150.

[14] Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 161, 162. Le Vassor, vol. ii. p. 41.

[15] Le Vassor vol. i. p. 736. Richelieu, _Hist. de la Mère et du Fils_,
vol. i. pp. 252-293.

[16] Jean Jacques de Mesmes, Seigneur de Roissy, was the descendant of
an ancient and illustrious family, which had produced several eminent
men. He was a pupil of the learned Passerat, who resided for thirty
years in his father's house. He died in 1642, senior Councillor
of State.

[17] Richelieu, _Hist. de la Mère et du Fils_, vol. i. p. 261.

[18] Brienne, _Mém_. vol. i. p. 337.

[19] Déageant, _Mém_. pp. 129-131.

[20] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. iv. pp. 555, 556. Lumières pour l'Hist. de
France dans les Defenses de la Reine-mère.

[21] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. iv. pp. 557-561. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp.
168-170.

[22] Mézeray, vol. xi. p. 169.

[23] Fontenay-Mareuil, _Mém_. p. 418.

CHAPTER II

1619

The Duc d'Epernon leaves Metz--A traitor--A minister at fault--The Duc
de Bellegarde offers an asylum to the Queen-mother--Marie de Medicis
escapes from Blois--She is conducted by M. d'Epernon to
Angoulême--Gaieties of the capital--Marriages of the Princesse Christine
and Mademoiselle de Vendôme--Louis XIII is apprised of the escape of the
Queen--Alarm of the King--Advice of De Luynes--The Council resolve to
despatch a body of troops under M. de Mayenne to remove Marie de Medicis
from the keeping of the Duc d'Epernon--Discontent of the citizens--Louis
XIII enters into a negotiation with his mother--She rejects his
conditions--Richelieu offers himself as a mediator, and is accepted--The
royal forces march on Angoulême--Marie prepares for resistance--The
Princes withdraw from her cause--Schomberg proposes to blow up the
powder-magazine at Angoulême--Critical position of the Queen-mother--She
appeals to the Protestants, but is repulsed--Schomberg takes up arms
against the Duc d'Epernon--Alarm of Marie de Medicis--Richelieu proceeds
to Angoulême--He regains the confidence of the Queen--Successful
intrigue of Richelieu--Marie is deserted by several of her friends--A
treaty of peace is concluded between the King and his mother--The envoy
of Marie incurs the displeasure of Louis XIII--The malcontents rally
round the Queen-mother--The Princes of Piedmont visit Marie at
Angoulême--Their reception--Magnificence of the Duc d'Epernon--The
Queen-mother refuses to quit Angoulême--Ambition of Richelieu--Weakness
of Marie de Medicis--Father Joseph endeavours to induce the Queen-mother
to return to the Court--She is encouraged in her refusal by
Richelieu--The rival Queens--Marie leaves Angoulême--Her parting with
the Duc d'Epernon--She is received at Poitiers by the Cardinal de Retz
and the Duc de Luynes--The Prince de Condé offers the hand of his sister
Eléonore de Bourbon to the brother of De Luynes as the price of his
liberation---The sword of the Prince is restored to him--Duplicity of
the favourite--Marie resolves to return to Angoulême, but is dissuaded
by her friends--The Duc de Mayenne espouses the cause of the
Queen-mother--A royal meeting--Return of the Court to Tours--Marie
proceeds to Chinon, and thence to Angers--The Protestants welcome the
Queen-mother to Anjou--Alarm of De Luynes--Liberation of the Prince de
Condé--Indignation of Marie de Medicis--Policy of Richelieu--De Luynes
solicits the return of the Queen-mother to the capital--She refuses to
comply--De Luynes is made Governor of Picardy--His brothers
are ennobled.

The Duc d'Epernon, to whom had been confided the important task of
effecting the escape of the Queen-mother from her fortress-prison, had
discussed all the necessary measures with the Abbé Rucellaï, who had, as
we have stated, acquired his entire confidence; and his first step was
to request permission of the King to leave Metz (where he had been
ordered to remain for the purpose of watching the movements in Germany),
and to proceed to Angoulême. But as he was aware that this permission
would be refused, he did not await a reply, and commenced his journey on
the 22nd of January (1619), accompanied by a hundred gentlemen well
armed, forty guards, and his personal attendants; taking with him the
sum of eight thousand pistoles together with the whole of his jewels. In
consequence of the amount of his baggage he was not enabled to travel
more than ten leagues each day; but as no impediment presented itself,
he arrived safely at Confolens in Poitou, where he was joined by his son
the Archbishop of Toulouse, who was awaiting him in that city with the
principal nobles of his several governments.[24]

Meanwhile Rucellaï had entrusted one of his lackeys with letters for the
Queen-mother, in which he informed her of the day of the Duke's intended
departure from Metz; but this man, convinced by the earnest manner in
which his master enjoined him to take the greatest precautions in the
delivery of his despatches, that the packet in his possession was one of
importance, instead of proceeding to Blois, hastened to the capital, and
offered to some of the followers of De Luynes to put a secret into the
possession of their master, provided he were well recompensed for his
treachery. The favourite was duly informed of the circumstance, but
prosperity had rendered him incautious, and he neglected to avail
himself of the intelligence; suffering several days to elapse before he
made any inquiry as to the nature of the communication which had thus
been volunteered. Fortunately for the Queen-mother, one of her own
adherents was less dilatory; and having ascertained that the
confidential lackey of Rucellaï had arrived in Paris, he caused him to
be found, and took possession of the letters before they could be
transferred to the hands of her enemy. As, however, he in his turn
delayed to forward them to Marie de Medicis, she became alarmed by the
silence of the Duc d'Epernon, and believed that her friends had
abandoned her to her fate; a conviction which reduced her to despair.
Her hopes had latterly been excited; the representations and arguments
of Suffren, seconded by her own desires, had quieted the scruples of her
conscience; and this new check was bitter in the extreme. A thousand
fears assailed her; treachery and hatred enveloped her on all sides; and
superadded to her own ruin, she was forced to contemplate that of all
who had adhered to her fallen fortunes; when, precisely as she was about
to abandon all hope, Du Plessis, the confidant of M. d'Epernon, arrived
at Blois with the welcome intelligence that the Duke was awaiting her at
Loches, very uneasy on his side at the non-receipt of her reply to
his letters.

The appearance of the messenger quieted the apprehensions of Marie, but
she still remained in a position of considerable perplexity from the
fact that all her most devoted adherents were absent negotiating with
the great nobles on her behalf, having found their mission one of far
greater difficulty than the profuse professions of the latter had led
her to anticipate. The Duc de Bellegarde, her relative, had written to
dissuade her from placing herself in the hands of a noble whose
arrogance could not fail to disgust those who desired to serve her. "As
for myself, Madame," he concluded, "I am quite ready to receive your
Majesty in my government of Burgundy, but I cannot offer my services in
any part of the kingdom which is subject to the authority of M.
d'Epernon." Such an assurance alarmed the Queen-mother, who had great
reason to fear that the same objection would be even more stringently
urged by others less interested in her safety; but she had now gone too
far to recede. The Duke had already incurred the risk of the King's
displeasure by leaving Metz without the royal permission; he was at that
moment anticipating her arrival at Loches, whence he was to conduct her
to the château of Angoulême; and finally, she felt all the force of the
arguments of Du Plessis, who reminded her that every moment was
precious, as from hour to hour the enterprise might become known to the
favourite, and consequently rendered abortive.[25]

Hasty preparations were made; and during the night of the 21st of
February she escaped by a ladder from the window of her closet, attended
only by the Comte de Brienne, a single waiting-woman, and two
individuals of her household. It was not, however, without considerable
difficulty that she accomplished this portion of her undertaking, as at
the last moment it was discovered that, from her great bulk, the
casement would scarcely admit the passage of her person. Despair
nevertheless made her desperate; and after several painful efforts she
succeeded in forcing herself through the aperture; but her nerves were
so much shaken by this unlucky circumstance, that when she had reached
the platform, whence a second ladder was to conduct her to the ditch of
the fortress, she declared her utter inability to descend it; and she
was ultimately folded in a thick cloak, and cautiously lowered down by
the joint exertions of her attendants. The Comte de Brienne and M. du
Plessis then supported her to the carriage which was in waiting at the
bridge; and Marie de Medicis found herself a fugitive in her son's
kingdom, surrounded only by half a dozen individuals, and possessed of
no other resources than her jewels.

The fugitives travelled at a rapid pace until they reached Montrichard,
where the Archbishop of Toulouse, the Abbé Rucellaï, and several other
persons of note had assembled to offer their congratulations to the
Queen. Relays of horses were also awaiting her; and after a brief halt
the journey was resumed. At a short distance from Loches she was met by
the Duc d'Epernon at the head of a hundred and fifty horsemen; hurried
greetings were exchanged, and without further delay the whole party
entered the town; where the first act of Marie de Medicis, after she had
offered her acknowledgments to her liberators, was to address a letter
to the King, wherein she set forth her reasons for leaving Blois without
his permission, in terms as submissive as though he had not broken his
faith towards herself; coupled with assurances of her affection for his
person, and her zeal for his welfare.

Nothing, perhaps, is more painfully striking than the mutual deception
practised by mother and son throughout the whole correspondence
consequent on their separation. The abuse of terms was so open and so
palpable, and the covert rancour so easily perceptible in both, that it
is impossible to suppress a feeling of disgust as the eye rests upon the
elaborately-rounded periods and hollow professions with which their
several letters abound.

Marie remained two days at Loches, in order to await those of her
attendants who were to rejoin her upon the instant; and then proceeded,
still under the escort of the Duc d'Epernon, to Angoulême; where she was
shortly afterwards joined by several disaffected nobles who had retired
from the Court, unable to brook the authority of the favourite; while,
anxious to retain the confidence of those who were personally attached
to her, although they had declined to join her faction, she despatched a
confidential messenger to the capital with numerous letters, and among
others one to the Maréchal de Bassompierre, in which she explained the
motives of her flight.

Paris had, meanwhile, been a scene of constant festivity. The
dissipations of the Carnival, and the Fair of St. Germain, had occupied
the time and thoughts of the whole Court; while the Louvre had put forth
all its magnificence in honour of the nuptials of the Princesse
Christine and the Prince de Piedmont; as well as those of Mademoiselle
de Vendôme, the natural sister of the King, and the Duc d'Elboeuf.
Ballets, balls, and banquets were given by all the great nobles;
fireworks and illuminations amused the populace; and finally, the young
sovereign became so thoroughly weary of the tumult about him that he
retired to St. Germain-en-Laye, in order to escape from it, and to
obtain the rest which he was not, however, destined to find even there;
for he had no sooner arrived than he was followed by a courier charged
with despatches announcing the escape of the Queen-mother.

Alarmed by the intelligence, Louis immediately returned to the capital
and summoned his Council, before whom he laid the letter written by
Marie at Loches, and a second also addressed to himself by M. d'Epernon,
in which, with consummate sophistry, the Duke endeavoured to justify his
share in her flight. Nor was De Luynes less terrified than his royal
master by this sudden transition of affairs; and he consequently
laboured to impress upon the King and his ministers the absolute
necessity of refusing to hold any intercourse with the Queen-mother
until Louis should be in a position to compel her obedience to his will,
and to reduce the insurgent nobles who had openly declared in her favour
to complete submission. The letters which were laid before the Council
containing, moreover, a demand for the reform of the government, every
individual holding office under the Crown had a personal interest in
supporting this advice; and it was consequently resolved that Louis
should affect to believe that his mother had been forcibly removed from
Blois by the Duc d'Epernon, and that a large body of troops should be
forthwith assembled for her deliverance, under the command of the Duc de
Mayenne, from whom it was known that she had parted on bad terms.[26]
So extreme a resolution no sooner became known, however, than it created
general dissatisfaction. The unnatural spectacle of a son in arms
against his mother inspired all right-minded people with horror; and
when the King a few days subsequently proceeded to the Parliament to
verify some financial edicts (the enormous recent outlay of the Court
having exhausted the royal treasury) he was coldly received, and instead
of the loyal acclamations with which he had hitherto been greeted, he
heard on all sides murmured expressions of discontent and impatience.
These manifestations of popular disaffection alarmed the ministers, and
a new council was held, at which it was determined that before
proceeding to the _ultima ratio regum_ a negotiation should be attempted
with the emancipated Princess; and for this purpose the Comte de Béthune
and the Abbé Bérulle[27] were despatched to Marie de Medicis with full
powers to conclude a treaty between herself and the King.

The first suggestion offered to the Queen-mother by the royal envoys was
her abandonment of M. d'Epernon; but she indignantly refused to adopt so
treacherous a line of policy, declaring that she would listen to no
compromise which involved a disavowal of her obligations to one whom she
justly considered as her liberator. "Moreover, Messieurs," she said
proudly, "even were I capable of such an act of treachery, I am unable
so to misrepresent the conduct of the gallant Duke, who holds in his
possession not only the letter of the King, wherein he gives me full
authority to leave Blois, and to proceed whithersoever I may see fit in
the interest of my health, but also one which I myself addressed to him
from Blois entreating his assistance in my escape from that fortress,
and his escort to Angoulême. I request, therefore, that as loyal
gentlemen you will refrain from accusing M. d'Epernon of an act of
violence which the respect due to the mother of his sovereign would have
rendered impossible on his part. I am here because I was weary of the
constraint and insult of which I had been so long the victim; and I am
ready to accept the whole responsibility of the step which I have seen
fit to take."

As the determined attitude of the Queen-mother rendered all further
discussion upon this point at once idle and impolitic, De Luynes
resolved to induce her to come to terms with the King without any
allusion to M. d'Epernon; and for this purpose the Archbishop of Sens
was directed to act in concert with the two original envoys, and to
endeavour to convince her that a prolonged opposition to the will of
the sovereign could only terminate in her own destruction. Still,
however, Marie remained firm, rejecting the conditions which were
proposed to her as unworthy alike of her rank and of the position she
had hitherto held in the kingdom; and the month of March went by without
the attainment of any result. De Luynes, irritated by a pertinacity
which threatened his tenure of authority, renewed his entreaties for the
formation of a strong army with which he could secure the overthrow of
the Duc d'Epernon; and at the same time he suggested to Louis the recall
of the Bishop of Luçon, who had once more offered his services as a
negotiator between the contending parties.

The young King, who saw only through the eyes of his favourite, was
induced to comply with both proposals; and Marie de Medicis no sooner
ascertained that the royal troops were about to march upon Angoulême,
than she made preparations for defence. In order to do this more
effectually she addressed autograph letters to the Ducs de Mayenne and
de Rohan, to the Maréchal de Lesdiguières, and to several other great
nobles, soliciting their support in the impending struggle; but with the
sole exception of M. de Rohan, they all returned cold and negative
replies, informing her that the duty which they owed to the King would
not permit them to comply with her request; after which they forwarded
her letters to the Court, together with the answers which they had made,
thus purchasing their safety at the expense of their honour. The Duc de
Rohan, on receiving her application, also declined to assist her, it is
true; but he did so loyally and respectfully, assuring her Majesty that
he greatly regretted she should so long have delayed requesting his
co-operation, as he would have served her zealously and faithfully,
whereas he was now no longer in a position to espouse her interests, the
King having commanded him to remain in his government of Poitou in order
to maintain peace in that province, a duty which his honour consequently
enforced upon him; but declaring at the same time that even while
obeying the commands of her son, he would not undertake anything
inimical to her own interests, and entreating her to effect an
understanding with the sovereign in order to avert the evils of a civil
war, and to ensure to herself the liberty and safety which could alone
enable her to rally about her person all those who were sincerely
desirous of serving her.

Although touched by the manliness and dignity of this reply, the
Queen-mother bitterly felt the loss of such an ally; nor were her
disappointment and mortification lessened when she discovered that the
Maréchal de Schomberg, anxious to convince Louis of the extent of his
zeal, and so to possess himself of the royal favour, had formed the
design of blowing up the powder-magazine of Angoulême, and thus
terminating the negotiation by a _coup de main_ of which she and her
adherents were destined to be the victims. The project was indeed
discovered and defeated, but the impression which it left upon her mind
was one of gloom and discouragement.[28]

We have already seen that the Duc de Mayenne had protested to Rucellaï
his attachment to the cause and person of Marie; yet he did not hesitate
to accept the command of the army which was organized against her, and
to march upon the province of Angoumois at the head of twelve thousand
men. The position of the Queen--mother was critical. She issued
continual commissions for the levy of troops, but she was unable to
furnish the necessary funds for their support, and in this difficulty
she resolved to appeal to the Protestants who were at that time holding
their General Assembly at La Rochelle. She was aware that they were
inimical to De Luynes, and she trusted that they might consequently be
induced to join her own faction. Once more, however, she was doomed to
disappointment. They were dissuaded from such a project by Du
Plessis;[29] and M. d'Epernon, after the most strenuous efforts, could
not succeed in raising more than six thousand foot and one thousand
horse with which to make head against the royal army.

Moreover, Schomberg, Lieutenant of the King in Limousin under M.
d'Epernon, who was the governor of the province, declared against him,
and took the town of Uzerche which was feebly garrisoned,[30] while the
Duke was engaged in checking the advance of Mayenne; nor was it long
ere intelligence arrived at Angoulême that Boulogne-sur-Mer had opened
its gates to the royal forces, and thus revolted against the authority
of Epernon, who was also governor of Picardy.[31]

These disasters were a source of great anxiety to Marie de Medicis, who
began to apprehend that should the Duke be in like manner despoiled of
his other fortified cities he would no longer be in a position to afford
her any protection; but fortunately De Luynes had also taken alarm. The
citizens made no attempt to conceal their dissatisfaction, the populace
openly murmured in the streets, and the favourite had not yet had time
to forget the popular vengeance which had been wreaked upon the wretched
Concini; no wonder therefore that he trembled for himself. Richelieu had
been, as already stated, recalled from his exile at Avignon, and the
moment was now arrived in which his services were essential to De
Luynes, by whom he was forthwith despatched to Angoulême, on the
understanding that the King had perfect confidence in his fidelity, and
placed implicit reliance on his desire to prove his affection to his
person. The astute prelate required no further explanation as to what
was required of him; he was aware that his compulsory absence had caused
his services to be more than ever coveted by the Queen-mother, and he
lost no time in setting forth upon his treacherous errand, furnished
with a letter to Marie, below which Louis wrote with his own hand: "I
beg you to believe that this document explains my will, and that you
cannot afford me greater pleasure than by conforming to it."

The effect of Richelieu's presence at the Court of the Queen-mother soon
became apparent. He had so thoroughly possessed himself of her
confidence that she suffered him to penetrate even to the inmost
recesses of her heart; and great and dignified as she could be under
excitement, we have already shown that Marie de Medicis never had
sufficient strength of character to rely on herself for any lengthened
period. Exhausted by the violence of the sudden emotions to which she
was often a prey, all her energy deserted her after the impulse had
passed away, and she gladly clung to the extraneous support of those who
professed to espouse her interests. Richelieu had studied her
temperament, and understood it. Before he had been many days at
Angoulême the Duc d'Epernon and his son became aware that they no longer
possessed the same influence as heretofore, while the Abbé Rucellaï,
indignant at the coldness with which his advice was received and his
services were requited, withdrew in disgust, accompanied by several of
her most attached servants; among others the Marquis de Thémines, who,
shortly afterwards, irritated by a reverse of fortune which he had not
foreseen, sought a pretext of quarrel with Henri de Richelieu, the elder
brother of the Bishop of Luçon, whom he challenged and left dead upon
the field. Thus the unhappy Queen now lay wholly at the mercy of her
insidious counsellor; while he, on his part, acted with so subtle a
policy that his services were alike essential to both parties, and he
saw himself in a position to profit by the projected reconciliation, in
whatever manner it might be ultimately accomplished.

Meanwhile the Archbishop of Sens, the Comte de Béthune, and the Abbé de
Bérulle, in conjunction and with the assistance of Richelieu, were still
proceeding with the negotiation; and, finally, the King, anxious to
terminate the affair, gave a commission to the Cardinal de la
Rochefoucauld to conclude the treaty. The conditions were easily agreed
upon, as Marie was enslaved by the influence of Richelieu, and
disheartened by the lukewarmness of her former friends, while Louis was
weary of a contention which made him hateful in the eyes of all Europe,
and which fettered his movements without adding to his renown.

On the 30th of April the necessary documents were accordingly signed,
and by these the Queen-mother was authorized to constitute her household
as she should deem fitting, to reside wherever she thought proper, and
to preserve all her revenues intact; while, in consideration of these
privileges, she consented to exchange her government of Normandy for
that of Anjou. She was, moreover, to receive six hundred thousand livres
for the liquidation of her debts; and M. d'Epernon fifty thousand
crowns to indemnify him for the loss of the town of Boulogne, and with
his adherents to be declared exonerated from all blame, and permitted to
retain possession of their offices under the Crown; and, finally, to the
demand made by the Queen-mother that she should be placed in possession
of the city and castle of Amboise, or, failing that, of those of Nantes,
the Abbé de Bérulle was authorized to inform her on the part of the King
that "in addition to the government of Anjou, the town and fortress of
Angers, and the Ponts de Cé, he was willing to give her, in lieu of what
she asked, the city and castle of Tours, together with four hundred men
for the protection of those places, a company of gendarmes, and a troop
of light-horse, in addition to her bodyguards; the whole to be
maintained at his own expense." [32]

This treaty was no sooner completed than Marie de Medicis wrote to her
son to express the joy which she experienced at their reconciliation;
and she entrusted her letter to the Comte de Brienne, with instructions
to deliver it into the hands of the King, who had removed with his Court
to Tours, ostensibly for the purpose of a more speedy meeting with the
Queen-mother. The result proved, however, that Marie could not have
selected a worse messenger, as De Brienne, who was young and arrogant,
soon gave offence both to Louis and his favourite. Having declared that
he would not, under any circumstances, show the most simple courtesy to
De Luynes, he did not remove his hat when he met him in the royal
ante-room; a want of respect which excited the displeasure of the
monarch, who was easily led to believe that he had been instructed by
his mistress to affect this contempt towards an individual with whom he
himself condescended to live on the most familiar terms; and,
consequently, when De Brienne next presented himself to receive the
reply of his Majesty to his despatches, he was desired not to thrust
himself into the presence of the King, who would select an envoy less
wanting in reverence to his sovereign when he should deem it advisable
to forward his own missive to Angoulême. The ill-advised equerry of
Marie was therefore compelled to retire without his credentials, and the
Queen-mother was subjected to the mortification of offering an ample
apology to Louis, through the medium of the messenger whom he in his
turn despatched to her, for the arrogance and discourtesy of her
follower.[33]

Meanwhile Marie de Medicis once more saw herself at the head of a Court
nearly equal in numbers and magnificence to that of the King himself,
and daily presided over festivities which satisfied even her thirst for
splendour and display. It sufficed that any noble felt himself aggrieved
by the presumption, or disappointed by the want of generosity of the
favourite, to induce him to offer his services to the Queen--mother, who
welcomed every accession of strength with a suavity and condescension
rendered doubly acceptable from the contrast which it exhibited with the
morose indifference of the King, and the insolent haughtiness of De
Luynes. Thus constant arrivals afforded a pretext for perpetual
gaieties; and the Duc d'Epernon received the new allies of his royal
mistress with a profusion and recklessness of expenditure which excited
universal astonishment.

De Luynes had considered it expedient to offer his congratulations to
the Queen-mother and M. d'Epernon upon the reconciliation which had
taken place, and in order to evince his respect for Marie had caused M.
de Brantès his brother to accompany the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld to
Angoulême for this purpose, where both were received with a splendour,
and feasted with a pomp and elegance, to which they had been long
unaccustomed at the Court of Paris.

All these entertainments were, however, surpassed by those given by the
Duke on the occasion of a visit paid to her Majesty by Victor Amédée de
Piedmont, her new son-in-law, and his brother Prince Thomas of Savoy,
who had obtained the sanction of the King to proceed to Angoulême to
offer their respects to their illustrious relative. The two Princes were
met beyond the gates of the city by M. d'Epernon at the head of a party
of mounted nobles attired in their state dresses, and apartments
furnished in the most costly manner were prepared for them in the
episcopal palace, to which they were conducted amid the firing of
cannon, the sounds of martial music, and the acclamations of the
citizens; rushes and green boughs were strewn along their path, the
balconies of the houses were draped with tapestry and coloured cloths,
and a banquet had been prepared which was presided over by the
Queen-mother. The town of Angoulême was meanwhile alive with excitement
and delight until nightfall, when the streets were brilliantly
illuminated, and the joyous multitude were entertained by the
munificence of the Duc d'Epernon with a brilliant display of fireworks
which continued until midnight. Nothing, in short, evinced to the august
visitors any symptom of a reverse of fortune, such as they had been led
to expect, in the position and circumstances of Marie de Medicis. They
had merely exchanged one scene of royal display for another; and when,
upon the morrow, they were invited to attend a hunt which had been
organized in their honour, their surprise and gratification were too
evident for concealment.[34]

That the Queen-mother deeply felt the extent of the sacrifice made by M.
d'Epernon in her cause can admit of no doubt, for she was aware that he
was rapidly exhausting his resources in order to uphold her dignity; and
it is equally certain that she, on her side, was unwearied in her
efforts to ensure to him the gratitude and respect of her royal guests;
an attempt in which she so fully succeeded that on the return of the two
young Princes to the capital, the admiration which they expressed both
of the Queen and her deliverer excited the displeasure of De Luynes, who
could ill brook the rivalry of a man whom he at once feared and hated.
It was rumoured that this visit of the royal brothers to Angoulême had
been authorized by Louis at the suggestion of the favourite, who had
laboured to convince them of his anxiety for the return of Marie to the
Court, and had solicited their assistance in impressing upon her the
sincerity of his professions. Be this as it may, however, it is at least
certain that if the Princes lent themselves to his views, they failed in
producing the desired effect upon her mind; as, despite the invitation
of the King that she should approach nearer to Tours in order to
facilitate their projected interview, she constantly excused herself
upon the most frivolous pretexts, and continued to reside at Angoulême
without making the slightest preparation to obey his summons.[35]

This reluctance on her part to conclude a reconciliation, of which she
had hitherto expressed herself so desirous, excited the surprise and
apprehension of the Court, who sought a solution of the mystery from the
Bishop of Luçon; but the wily Richelieu was careful not to betray that
they were his own counsels which regulated the conduct of the
Queen-mother. He had well weighed his position, and he felt that it was
not yet sufficiently assured to enable him to oppose his influence to
that of De Luynes. He aspired to a seat in the Council, and in order to
attain it he must render himself more necessary to the favourite than he
had hitherto been enabled to do; a fact to which he was keenly alive.
Should the mother and the son meet at that moment, he was aware that the
excitable temperament of Marie could not fail to betray her into the
power of De Luynes, and with her would fall his own fortunes; whereas
time must necessarily calm her first exultation and render her more
tenacious of her power. Thus, then, Richelieu jealously watched every
change in her mood, excited her distrust, aggravated her animosities,
and, finally, convinced her that her strength existed only in opposition
to the King's will. Marie, naturally suspicious, lent herself readily to
this specious reasoning; she had sufficient knowledge of the character
of her son to feel that his eager desire to obliterate the past was
produced by no feeling of affection towards herself, but might simply be
attributed to his anxiety to weaken a faction which had become
formidable, and by depriving her adherents of a pretext for opposing his
authority, to rid himself of a danger which augmented from day to day.
Too readily the prey of her passions, Marie de Medicis exulted in this
conviction; and had Louis and his ministers been wise enough to accept
her reluctance as a refusal to return to Court, and abandoned all
attempts to change her determination, it is probable that this simulated
indifference, and the powerlessness to which it must ere long have
reduced both herself and her followers, would have caused her immediate
compliance; but, bent upon compelling her obedience, they, by successive
endeavours to overcome her disinclination to resign the comparative
independence to which she had attained, only played into the hands of
the astute Bishop, by strengthening her resolution to resist.

Shortly after the departure of the Princes of Savoy, the Capuchin Father
Joseph du Tremblay,[36] the confidential friend of Richelieu, was
ordered to proceed in his turn to Angoulême, and to endeavour to induce
Marie de Medicis, with whom the courtly monk was known to be a
favourite, to resume the position to which she was entitled as the widow
of one sovereign and the mother of another; and as a preliminary step,
to meet the King according to his expressed wish, before his return to
the capital. This was, however, only another false step on the part of
De Luynes, as the reverend father felt by no means disposed to thwart
the measures of the man to whom he looked for his own future
advancement; and his mission, in consequence, so signally failed that
the suspicions of the Court party were once more aroused against
Richelieu, although they were unable wholly to fathom the depth of his
subtle policy. These suspicions were, moreover, strengthened by the fact
that a new letter, addressed by the King to his mother, full of the most
pressing entreaties that she would divest herself of her distrust, and
confide in his affection (which letter was delivered to her by the Duc
de Montbazon, the father-in-law of De Luynes), produced no better
result. In vain did the Duke represent the earnest desire of Louis to
terminate a state of things so subversive of order, and so opposed to
all natural feeling, and assure her of the sincerity with which his
Majesty invited her to share his power; Marie, prompted by the astute
prelate, refused to yield.

"I am not invited to return to Court," she said bitterly; "I am to be
constrained to do so; but I will consent only upon one condition. Let
the Duc de Mayenne be my surety that I shall be treated as becomes my
dignity, both by the King and his favourite, and I will again enter the
capital. Without this safeguard I will not place myself in the power of
an adventurer."

Mayenne refused, however, to offer any such pledge, declaring that it
would not become him to interfere in any misunderstanding between the
sovereign and his mother; and Marie de Medicis thus saw herself under
the necessity of seeking some other method of evading compliance. A
pretext was soon found, however; and when next urged upon the subject,
she declared that her disinclination to involve the Court in new
difficulties must prevent her reappearance in the royal circle until the
question of precedence was clearly established between herself and the
Queen-consort.

Anne of Austria had not failed, from her first arrival in France, girl
as she was, to express great contempt for the House of Medicis, and to
assert the superiority of her own descent over that of her
mother-in-law; an assumption which had aroused all the indignation of
Marie, who had revenged herself by constantly speaking of Anne as "the
little Queen"; an insult which was immediately retorted by her
daughter-in-law in a manner that was keenly felt by the haughty Italian,
puerile and insignificant as it was. On every occasion Louis terminated
the letters that he addressed to her by subscribing himself "your very
humble and obedient son," and Marie insisted that his wife should follow
his example; but Anne refused to make such a concession, declaring that
as the Queen-mother merely signed herself "your very affectionate
mother," she would, on her side, do no more than subscribe herself
"your very affectionate daughter." Nor was this the only subject of
dispute, for Anne of Austria also insisted that as reigning Queen she
had a right to precedence over a Princess, who, although she had
formerly occupied the throne, had, by the death of her husband,
degenerated into a subject; nor could she be convinced to the contrary
even by past examples. In vain did Louis insist that his young wife
should yield, and rebuke her when she was wanting in respect to the
widowed Queen; the Spanish pride of Anne was proof against his
displeasure, and it was found impossible to reconcile their conflicting
claims.[37]

In the month of August the King conferred the promised _bâton_ of
Maréchal de France upon Charles de Choiseul, Marquis de Praslin, and
Jean François de la Guiche, Sieur de Saint-Géran.

The contention between Anne of Austria and her royal mother-in-law
remained undecided; and the position which the latter was to occupy at
the Court was consequently not clearly defined. She had obtained no
single advantage for which she had striven; no guarantee upon which she
had insisted; and, nevertheless, on the 19th of August, she left
Angoulême for the capital with a suite of ten coaches, each drawn by six
horses, and an escort of five hundred horsemen. The Duc d'Epernon bore
her company to the extreme frontier of his government, where they parted
with mutual manifestations of affection and goodwill. As the Duke, who
had alighted from the carriage where he had hitherto occupied a place
beside her Majesty, stood near the door expressing his last wishes for
her prosperity, and was about to raise her hand to his lips, Marie, who
was drowned in tears, drew a costly diamond from her finger, which she
entreated him to wear as a mark of her gratitude for the signal services
that he had rendered to her in her need; and then throwing herself back
upon her cushions she wept bitterly.

Well might she weep! She left behind her those who had rallied about her
in her misfortunes; and she was going forth into an uncertain future, of
which no human eye could penetrate the mysteries. The die was, however,
cast; and as a last demonstration of his respect and regard for her
person M. d'Epernon had instructed his son the Archbishop of Toulouse to
follow his royal mistress to Court; while he himself saw the brilliant
train depart, impoverished it is true by his uncalculating devotion to
her cause, but proud and happy in the conviction that without his aid
she would still have been a captive.

The retinue of the Queen-mother comprised the ladies of honour, the Duc
de Montbazon, the Bishop of Luçon, and several other individuals of
note; and thus attended she reached Poitiers, where the carriages of the
King were awaiting her arrival, and relays of horses were provided to
expedite her journey to Tours. From Poitiers she despatched Richelieu
in advance to announce her approach to Louis; and on his return to
report the completion of his mission, he was eloquent on the subject of
the graciousness of his reception both by the King and the favourite.

As she drew near the city Marie was met by the Cardinal de Retz[38] and
the Père Arnoux, accompanied by a numerous train of gentlemen, by whom
she was conducted to the Château de Montbazon, where she was to pass the
night; and on the following morning the newly-made Duc de Luynes arrived
to pay his respects to the mother of his sovereign. The Queen devoured
her mortification, and received her unwelcome guest with great
affability; but he had not been long in her presence ere he renewed all
her suspicions of his duplicity.

The Prince de Condé, who feared that a reconciliation between Louis and
the Queen-mother would militate against his release, had exerted himself
to the utmost to procure his liberty before they should have time to
meet; and aware that it was only through the influence of De Luynes that
he could accomplish his object, he did not hesitate to bribe the
favourite by an offer of the hand of his sister Eléonore de Bourbon, the
widow of Philip, Prince of Orange, for his brother Cadenet. De Luynes
was dazzled: an alliance with the first Prince of the Blood exceeded all
his hopes; while the liberation of M. de Condé, was, moreover,
essential to his own interests; as should he secure the friendship of so
powerful a noble, he would be better able to oppose not only the Duc
d'Epernon, but also all the leaders of the Queen-mother's faction. It
was, however, no part of his policy to betray his consciousness of this
necessity to the illustrious captive; whose imprisonment he nevertheless
rendered less irksome by according to him sundry relaxations from which
he had hitherto been debarred. A serious indisposition by which M. de
Condé was at this period attacked, moreover, greatly assisted his
projects; and the medical attendants of the Prince having declared that
they entertained but slight hopes of his recovery, De Luynes hastened to
entreat of the King that he would hold out to the invalid a prospect of
deliverance, which could not fail to produce a beneficial effect upon
his health. Nor did he experience any difficulty in inducing Louis to
comply with his request, as personally the King bore no animosity to the
Prince, whose arrest had not been caused by himself. The royal
physicians were forthwith despatched to Vincennes, with orders to exert
all their skill in alleviating his sufferings; and a few days
subsequently the Marquis de Cadenet followed with the sword of the
Prince, which he was commissioned to restore to its owner, accompanied
by the assurance that so soon as his Majesty should have restored order
in the kingdom, he would hasten to set him at liberty; but that,
meanwhile, he begged him to take courage, and to be careful of his
health.[39]

Cadenet was welcomed as his brother had anticipated; and was profuse in
his expressions of his own respect and regard for the illustrious
prisoner, and in his protestations of the untiring perseverance with
which the favourite was labouring to effect his release; while Condé was
equally energetic in his acknowledgments, declaring that should he owe
his liberty to De Luynes, he would prove not only to the latter, but to
every member of his family, his deep sense of so important a service.

Relying on this assurance, the favourite, whose greatest anxiety was to
prevent a good understanding between the King and his mother, had no
sooner concluded the compliments and promises to which Marie had
compelled herself to listen with apparent gratification, than he
hastened to inform her of the pledge given by Louis to terminate the
captivity of M. de Condé; craftily adding that his Majesty had hitherto
failed to fulfil it, as he desired to accord this signal grace to the
Prince conjointly with herself. Marie de Medicis, however, instantly
comprehended the motive of her visitor; and was at no loss to understand
that the liberation of a man whom she had herself committed to the
Bastille, and whom she had thus converted into an enemy, was intended as
a counterpoise to her own power. This conviction immediately destroyed
all her trust in the sincerity of her son and his ministers; and, unable
to control her emotion, she shortly afterwards dismissed De Luynes, and
retired to her closet, where she summoned her confidential friends, and
declared to them that she was resolved to return with all speed to
Angoulême without seeing the King.

From this dangerous determination she was, however, with some difficulty
dissuaded. They, one and all, represented that she had now gone too far
to recede; and reminded her that she was surrounded on every side by the
royal troops, while she was herself accompanied only by the members of
her household, who would be unable to offer any resistance should an
attempt be made to impede her retreat; and that, consequently, her only
safe plan of action was passively to incur the danger which she dreaded,
to dissimulate her apprehensions, and to watch carefully the progress
of events.

Marie could not, in fact, adopt a wiser course. The Duc de Mayenne, who
had espoused the royal cause against Epernon, was indignant at the
ingratitude and coldness with which his services had been requited, and
did not seek to disguise his discontent; while the nobles of Guienne, by
whom he had been followed, were in an equal state of irritation. This
circumstance was favourable to the Queen-mother, who lost no time in
persuading the Duke to make common cause with her against the favourite;
a proposition to which, excited by his annoyance, he at once acceded;
convinced that the projected reconciliation could not, under existing
circumstances, be of long duration.[40] On the 5th of September Marie
de Medicis accordingly left Montbazon for Consières, where she was to
have her first interview with the King; and having ascertained upon her
arrival that he was walking in the park of the château, she hastily
alighted and went to seek him there, followed by the Ducs de Guise, de
Montbazon, and de Luynes, the Cardinal de Retz, and the Archbishop of
Toulouse, by whom she had been received, as well as by a dense crowd of
spectators who had assembled to witness the meeting. The crowd was so
great that it became necessary to clear a passage before the King could
approach his mother, to whom he extended his arms, and for a few moments
both parties wept without uttering a syllable. This silence was,
however, ultimately broken by Louis, who exclaimed in a voice of deep
emotion: "You are welcome, Madame. I thank God with all my heart that He
has fulfilled my most ardent wish."

"And I have henceforth nothing more to desire," replied Marie; "I shall
now die happy since I have had the consolation of once more seeing you,
Sire, and of embracing my other children. I have always loved you
tenderly; and I entreat of you to do me the justice to believe that I
have the most sincere attachment to your person, and every anxiety to
promote the welfare of your kingdom." [41]

It is painful to reflect that these expressions, so natural from the
lips of two individuals thus closely allied, who had been long at
variance, and had at length met in amity, should have been the mere
outpourings of policy; and yet, it is equally impossible not to be
struck by their hollowness and falsehood; Louis being, at that very
moment, endeavouring to undermine the influence of his mother by
estranging from her cause all those who still clung to her waning
fortunes; while Marie was labouring with equal zeal to strengthen her
position, by attracting to her faction all the discontented nobles whose
individual vengeance could be gratified by opposing in her name, and
apparently in her interests, the projects of those who had blighted
their own prospects, or wounded their own pride.

When both parties had become more calm, Louis gave his hand to his
mother and conducted her to the château, where they remained together
for the space of three hours awaiting the arrival of the young Queen,
the Princess of Piedmont, and Madame Henriette, who ultimately reached
Consières, accompanied by all the Princesses, and great ladies of the
Court, occupying a train of upwards of fifty coaches; and the ceremonial
of reception had no sooner terminated than the king proceeded on
horseback to Tours, followed by the whole of this splendid retinue. The
two Queens occupied the same carriage, and were lavish in their
expressions of mutual regard and goodwill; but the comedy was
imperfectly acted on both sides, although neither affected to doubt the
sincerity of the other. It was necessary that the piece should be played
out, and the performers were skilful enough to bring it to a close
without openly betraying the distastefulness of their task.

At the supper which followed the arrival of the Court at Tours every
mark of respect was shown to the Queen-mother. She was seated at the
right hand of Louis, while Anne of Austria occupied a place upon his
left. The Prince of Piedmont presented the _serviette_, and persisted in
remaining standing, and bareheaded, although Marie desired a stool to be
placed near her, and entreated him to seat himself. It is consequently
needless to add that she was overwhelmed with adulation; and that the
courtiers vied with each other in demonstrations of delight.

The twelve succeeding days were passed in a series of _fêtes_, of which
Marie de Medicis was the heroine; but it nevertheless became evident ere
the close of that period that all parties were fatigued by the efforts
which they were making to conceal their real sentiments; and a return to
the capital was no sooner mooted than the Queen-mother openly declared
that she would not be carried to Paris in triumph, but would defer her
entrance into that city until after her visit to Angers. This resolution
deeply offended the King, who, on taking leave of her, at once proceeded
to Compiègne, while the Prince and Princess of Piedmont departed for
Turin, and Marie removed to Chinon, where she remained for a few days in
order to give the magistrates of Angers time to complete the
preparations for her reception. At the Ponts de Cé she was met by the
Maréchal de Bois-Dauphin at the head of fifteen hundred horsemen; and
thus escorted she reached the gates of the city, where she was
magnificently received, and welcomed with acclamations.[42]

De Luynes, alarmed by the protracted sojourn of the Queen-mother at
Angers, and her resolute refusal to return to the capital, became more
than ever anxious to effect the liberation of M. de Condé; an anxiety
that was moreover heightened by intelligence which reached the Court
that a deputation from the Protestants, who were then holding their
Assembly at Loudun, had waited upon her Majesty, for the purpose of
expressing their joy at her arrival and sojourn in Anjou, and of
communicating to her the demands which they were about to make to
the King.

It is true that Marie, although she did not disguise her gratification
at this mark of respect, was prudent enough not to advance any opinion
upon the claims which they set forth, and restricted herself to offering
her acknowledgments for their courtesy, coupled with the assurance that
they should find her a good neighbour; but even this reply, guarded as
it was, did not satisfy the Court, who pretended to discover a hidden
meaning in her words, and decided that she should have referred the
deputation to the King, in order to place herself beyond suspicion. Nor
were they less disconcerted on learning that all the nobility of the
province were constant visitors at her Court; and that she had
established herself in her government so thoroughly that she evidently
entertained no intention of abandoning her post.

As each succeeding day rendered the position of the Queen-mother more
threatening towards himself, the favourite resolved towards the middle
of October to effect the instant release of the Prince de Condé; and he
accordingly obtained the authority of the King to proceed to Vincennes,
with full power to open the gates of the fortress, and to liberate the
prisoner; while Louis himself proceeded to Chantilly, the château of the
Duc de Montmorency, who had married the sister of the Prince, to which
residence De Luynes was instructed to conduct the emancipated noble.

It is sickening to be compelled to recapitulate the constant result of
such events in that age of servility and moral degradation. The
favourite, who by a word could have liberated the first Prince of the
Blood from the Bastille before he was transferred to the fortress of
Vincennes, bowed his haughty head to the dust before him, and entreated
his protection; while Condé, in his turn, on being introduced into the
presence of the King, demanded pardon upon his knees for an offence of
which he did not even know the nature; and which he could only estimate
by the extent of the chastisement that had been inflicted on him. This
idle ceremony accomplished, M. de Condé immediately found himself a
member of the Privy Council; all the honours of his rank as first Prince
of the Blood were accorded to him; and the King issued a declaration by
which it was asserted that his recent captivity had been the act of
"certain ill-advised persons who abused the name and authority of the
sovereign." [43]

This declaration excited the indignation of the Queen-mother and
Richelieu, by whose advice the arrest of Condé had been determined; but
while Marie loudly expressed her displeasure, the more cautious prelate
endeavoured to disguise his annoyance. He looked farther into the future
than his impetuous mistress, and he saw that his hour of revenge had not
yet come. De Luynes, anxious to appease the Queen, declared that the
obnoxious declaration had not been submitted to him before its
publication, and threw the whole blame upon Du Vair, by whom it was
drawn up; conjuring her at the same time to return to the capital, where
alone she could convince herself of his earnest desire to serve her.

The close alliance formed between Condé and the favourite sufficed,
however, to deter Marie from making this concession; while many of those
about her did not hesitate to insinuate that the respect with which the
Prince affected to regard her person, and the desire that he expressed
to see her once more at Court, was a mere subterfuge; and that his real
anxiety, as well as that of De Luynes, was to separate her from the
nobles of Anjou, and the friends whom she possessed in her own
government, in order that she might be placed more thoroughly in their
power. The Queen-mother was the more inclined to adopt this belief from
the circumstance that, even while urging her return, Louis had given her
to understand the inexpediency of maintaining so numerous a bodyguard,
when she should be established in the capital, as that by which she had
surrounded herself since her arrival at Angers; and this evident desire
on the part of the King to diminish at once her dignity and her
security, coupled with her suspicions of Condé and De Luynes, rendered
her more than ever averse to abandon the safe position which she then
occupied, and to enter into a new struggle of which she might once more
become the victim.[44]

On his return to Paris, after his interview with the Queen-mother, Louis
bestowed the government of Picardy upon De Luynes, who resigned that of
the Isle of France, which he had previously held, to the Duc de
Montbazon his father-in-law. The two brothers of the favourite were
created Marshals of France; Brantès by the title of Duc de
Piney-Luxembourg--the heiress of that princely house having, by command
of the King, bestowed her hand upon him, to the disgust of all the great
nobles, who considered this ill-assorted alliance an insult to
themselves and to their order--while Cadenet, in order that he might in
his turn be enabled to aspire to the promised union with the widowed
Princess of Orange, was created Duc de Chaulnes. The latter marriage was
not, however, destined to be accomplished, Eléonore de Bourbon
rejecting with disdain a proposition by which she felt herself
dishonoured; nor can any doubt exist that her resistance was tacitly
encouraged by Condé: who, once more free, could have little inclination
to ally himself so closely with a family of adventurers, whose
antecedents were at once obscure and equivocal. This mortification was,
however, lessened to the discomfited favourite by the servility of the
Archduke Albert, the sovereign of the Low Countries; who, being anxious
to secure the support of the French king, offered to De Luynes the
heiress of the ancient family of Piquigny in Picardy, who had been
brought up at the Court of Brussels, as a bride for his younger brother.
Despairing, despite all his arrogance, of effecting the alliance of
Cadenet with a Princess of the Blood, the favourite gladly accepted the
proffered alliance; and M. de Chaulnes was appointed Lieutenant-General
in Picardy, of which province De Luynes was the governor, and where he
possessed numerous fine estates.

FOOTNOTES:

[24] Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 449, 450. Mézeray, vol. xi. p. 172.
Matthieu, _Hist, des Derniers Troubles_, book iii. p. 626.

[25] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 71, 72. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 172, 173.

[26] Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 451, 452. Mézeray, vol. xi. p. 174.
Bassompierre, _Mém_. p. 129. Matthieu, _Hist. des Derniers Troubles_,
book iii. p. 621.

[27] Pierre de Bérulle, the descendant of an ancient and noble family of
Champagne, was born on the 14th of February 1575, and soon became
remarkable for his virtue and science. He was the friend of St. François
de Sales, the founder of the Congregation of the Oratory in France, and
was promoted to the conclave by Urban VIII in 1627. He did not, however,
long enjoy his new dignity, having died at the altar while saying mass
on the 2nd of October 1629, before he had attained his fifty-sixth year.
He was the author of several theological works. An ably-written life of
the Cardinal de Bérulle is due to the pen of M. Hubert de Cérisy.

[28] Rohan, _Mém_. book i. pp. 116, 117. Richelieu, _Hist, de la Mère et
du Fils_, vol. ii. pp. 353, 354. Le Vassor, vol. ii. p. 77. _Mercure
Français_, 1619.

[29] _Vie de Du Plessis-Mornay_, book iv.

[30] Matthieu, _Hist, des Derniers Troubles_, book iii. p. 636.

[31] Le Vassor, vol. ii. p. 102. Déageant, _Mém_. pp. 203, 204. _Vie du
Duc d'Epernon_, book viii.

[32] Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 179-181. Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 452, 453.
Bassompierre, _Mém_. p. 129. Richelieu, _Hist. de la Mère et du Fils_,
vol. ii. p. 356. Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. iv. pp. 626, 627.

[33] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. iv. pp. 631, 632.

[34] _Vie du Duc d'Epernon_, book viii.

[35] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. iv. pp. 632, 633. Le Vassor, vol. ii. p.
115. Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 454. Bassompierre, _Mém_. p. 129.
Fontenay-Mareuil, _Mém_. pp. 436-450. Richelieu, _Hist, de la Mère et du
Fits_, vol. ii. p. 372.

[36] François Le Clerc du Tremblay, known as the Capuchin Father Joseph,
was the elder son of Jean Le Clerc, President of the Court of Requests
at Paris, and of Marie de la Fayette. His sponsors were the Duc
d'Alençon (brother of Francis II) and the Duchesse d'Angoulême, the
natural sister of that Prince. He was a man of great learning and
talent, but cunning, ambitious, and unscrupulous, who had attached
himself to the fortunes of Richelieu, of whom he was the _âme damnée_,
and who endeavoured to cause him, in his turn, to be admitted to the
honours of the conclave. He died suddenly at Ruel on the 18th of
December 1638; and some years subsequently the Duchesse de Guise having,
at her own expense, repaved the choir of the Capuchin church, the tomb
of _la petite Eminence Grise_, as he was familiarly called by the
Parisians, was placed beneath that of Père Ange (the Cardinal-Duc de
Joyeuse), in front of the steps of the high altar. Richelieu had caused
an eulogistic and lengthy inscription on marble to be affixed to his
sepulchre; but the Parisians, who more truly estimated his merits, added
others considerably more pungent, among which the most successful was
the following:--

"Passant, n'est-ce pas chose étrange
Qu'un démon soit auprès d'un ange?"

[37] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 118, 119. Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. v. pp.
49-51. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 184, 185.

[38] Henri de Gondy, Master of the King's Oratory, and subsequently
Archbishop of Paris, on the resignation of his uncle Pierre, Cardinal de
Gondy, who died in 1616.

[39] Matthieu, _Hist. des Derniers Troubles_, book iii. p. 639.

[40] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 121, 122.

[41] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. v. pp. 53-56.

[42] Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 453, 454. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 187, 188.
Bassompierre, _Mém_. p. 129. Brienne, _Mém_. vol. i. p. 339. Richelieu,
_Hist. de la Mère et du Fils_, vol. ii. pp. 306-309.

[43] _Mercure Français_, 1619. Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 150, 151. Siri,
_Mém. Rec_. vol. v. pp. 59-63. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 188-191.

[44] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 153, 154.

CHAPTER III

1620

Louis XIII creates numerous Knights of the Holy Ghost without reference
to the wishes of his mother--Indignation of Marie de Medicis--Policy of
De Luynes--Richelieu aspires to the cardinalate--A Court quarrel--The
Comtesse de Soissons conspires to strengthen the party of the
Queen-mother--Several of the great Princes proceed to Angers to urge
Marie to take up arms--Alarm of the favourite--He seeks to propitiate
the Duc de Guise--The double marriage--Caustic reply of the Duc de
Guise--Royal alliances--An ex-Regent and a new-made Duke--The
Queen-mother is threatened with hostilities should she refuse to return
immediately to the capital--She remains inflexible--Condé advises the
King to compel her obedience--De Luynes enters into a negotiation with
Marie--An unskilful envoy--Louis XIII heads his army in Normandy--Alarm
of the rebel Princes---They lay down their arms, and the King marches
upon the Loire--The Queen-mother prepares to oppose him--She garrisons
Angers--The Duc de Mayenne urges her to retire to Guienne--She
refuses--Treachery of Richelieu--League between Richelieu and De
Luynes--Marie de Medicis negotiates with the King--Louis declines her
conditions--The defeat at the Ponts de Cé--Submission of the
Queen-mother--A royal interview--Courtly duplicity--Marie retires to
Chinon--The Ducs de Mayenne and d'Epernon lay down their arms--The Court
assemble at Poitiers to meet the Queen-mother--Louis proceeds to
Guienne, and Marie de Medicis to Fontainebleau--The King compels the
resumption of the Romish faith in Béarn--The Court return to Paris.

As no Chevaliers of the Order of the Holy Ghost had been created since
the death of Henri IV, their number had so much decreased that only
twenty-eight remained; and De Luynes, aware that himself and his
brothers would necessarily be included in the next promotion, urged
Louis XIII to commence the year (1620) by conferring so coveted an
honour upon the principal nobles of the kingdom. The suggestion was
favourably received; and so profusely adopted, that no less than
fifty-five individuals were placed upon the list, at the head of which
stood the name of the Duc d'Anjou. But although some of the proudest
titles in France figured in this creation, it included several of minor
rank who would have been considered ineligible during the preceding
reigns; a fact which was attributed to the policy of the favourite, who
was anxious to render so signal a distinction less obnoxious in his own
case and that of his relatives; while others were omitted whose
indignation at this slight increased the ranks of the malcontents.[45]

Marie de Medicis, who had not yet forgiven the royal declaration in
favour of the Prince de Condé, was additionally irritated that these
honours should have been conceded without her participation; for she
immediately perceived that the intention of the favourite had been to
reserve to himself the credit of obtaining so signal a distinction for
the noblemen and gentlemen upon whom it was conferred, and to render her
own helplessness more apparent. As such an outrage required, however,
some palliation, and De Luynes was anxious not to drive the Queen-mother
to extremity, he induced the King to forward for her inspection the
names of those who were about to receive the blue ribbon, offering at
the same time to include one or two of her personal adherents should she
desire it; but when, in running her eye over the list, Marie perceived
that, in addition to the deliberate affront involved in a delay which
only enabled her to acquire the knowledge of an event of this importance
after all the preliminary arrangements were completed, it had been
carefully collated so as to exclude all those who had espoused her own
cause, and to admit several who were known to be obnoxious to her, she
coldly replied that she had no addition to make to the orders of the
King, and returned the document in the same state as she had
received it.[46]

The indignation expressed by the Queen-mother on this occasion was
skilfully increased by Richelieu, who began to apprehend that so long as
Marie remained inactively in her government he should find no
opportunity of furthering his own fortunes; while, at the same time, he
was anxious to revenge himself upon De Luynes, who had promised to
recompense his treachery to his royal mistress by a seat in the
Conclave; and it had been confided to him that the first vacant seat was
pledged to the Archbishop of Toulouse, the son of the Duc d'Epernon. In
order, therefore, at once to indulge his vengeance, and to render his
services more than ever essential to the favourite, and thus wring from
his fears what he could not anticipate from his good faith, he resolved
to exasperate the Queen-mother, and to incite her to open rebellion
against her son and his Government.

Circumstances favoured his project. The two first Princes of the Blood,
M. de Condé and the Comte de Soissons, had at this period a serious
quarrel as to who should present the finger-napkin to the King at the
dinner-table; Condé claiming that privilege as first Prince of the
Blood, and Soissons maintaining that it was his right as Grand Master of
the Royal Household. The two great nobles, heedless of the presence of
the sovereign, both seized a corner of the _serviette_, which either
refused to relinquish; and the quarrel became at length so loud and so
unseemly that Louis endeavoured to restore peace by commanding that it
should be presented by his brother the Duc d'Anjou. But although the two
angry Princes were compelled to yield the object of contention, he could
not reduce them to silence; and this absurd dissension immediately
split the Court into two factions; the Duc de Guise and the friends of
the favourite declaring themselves for Condé; while Mayenne,
Longueville, and several others espoused the cause of the Comte
de Soissons.

It is almost ludicrous to be compelled to record that out of a quarrel,
originating in a servile endeavour on the part of the two principal
nobles of a great nation to usurp the functions of a _maître-d'hôtel_,
grew an attempt at civil war, which, had not the treachery of Richelieu
nipped it in the bud, might have involved France in a sanguinary and
unnatural series of conflicts that would have rendered that country a
frightful spectacle to all Europe. Thus it was, however; for the
Comtesse de Soissons, the mother of the young Prince, who was then only
in his seventeenth year, eagerly seized so favourable an opportunity to
weaken the party of the Prince de Condé, whose sudden influence
threatened the future prospects of her son, by attaching to the cause of
Marie de Medicis all the nobles who were opposed to the favourite, and
consequently to the first Prince of the Blood by whom he was supported
in his pretensions.

The ambition of the Countess was to obtain for her young son the hand of
Madame Henriette de France, the third sister of the King; an alliance
which she was aware would be strenuously opposed by Condé, and which she
could only hope to accomplish through the good offices of the
Queen-mother; and it was consequently essential that, in order to carry
out her views, she should labour to augment the faction of Marie. Her
efforts were successful; between the 29th of March and the 30th of June
the Ducs de Mayenne and de Vendôme, the Grand Prior (the brother of the
latter), the Comte de Candale, the Archbishop of Toulouse, and Henry of
Savoy, Duc de Nemours, all proceeded to Angers; an example which was
speedily followed by the Comte and Comtesse de Soissons, and the Ducs de
Longueville, de Trémouille, de Retz, and de Rohan; who, one and all,
urged Marie de Medicis once more to take up arms, and assert her
authority.[47]

These successive defections greatly alarmed the favourite, who became
more than ever urgent for the return of the Queen-mother to the capital;
but a consciousness of her increasing power, together with the insidious
advice of Richelieu, rendered her deaf alike to his representations and
to his promises. In this extremity De Luynes resolved to leave no means
untried to regain the Duc de Guise; and for this purpose the King was
easily persuaded to propose a double marriage in his family, by which it
was believed that his own allegiance and that of the Prince de Condé to
the royal cause, or rather to that of the favourite, would be alike
secured. M. de Condé was to give his daughter to the Prince de
Joinville, the elder son of M. de Guise; while the latter's third son,
the Duc de Joyeuse, was to become the husband of Mademoiselle de Luynes.
The marriage articles were accordingly drawn up, although the two
last-named personages were still infants at the breast; but when he took
the pen in his hand to sign the contract, De Guise hesitated, and
appeared to reflect.

"What are you thinking of, Monsieur le Duc?" inquired Louis, as he
remarked the hesitation of the Prince.

"I protest to you, Sire," was the reply, "that, while looking at the
name of the bride, I had forgotten my own, and that I was seeking to
recall it."

De Luynes bit his lips and turned away, while a general smile proved how
thoroughly the meaning of the haughty Duke had been appreciated by the
courtiers.[48]

In addition to these comparatively unimportant alliances, two others of
a more serious nature were also mooted at this period, namely, those of
Monsieur (the King's brother) with Mademoiselle de Montpensier, the
daughter of the Duchesse de Guise; and of Madame Henriette de France
with the Comte de Soissons; a double project which afforded to the
favourite an admirable pretext for despatching Brantès, the
newly-created Duc de Luxembourg, to Angers, to solicit the consent of
the Queen-mother, and to entreat her to reappear at Court and thus
sanction by her presence the decision of the sovereign.

"The King has determined wisely," was her reply; "and the affair can be
concluded when I am once more in the capital. I feel satisfied that his
Majesty will not decide upon either of the marriages during my absence;
but will remember not merely what is due to me as a Queen, but also as
a mother."

"Am I then authorized to state, Madame, that you will shortly arrive in
Paris?" demanded the envoy.

"I shall immediately return, Sir," coldly replied Marie, "when I can do
so with honour; but this can only be when the King shall have issued a
declaration which may repair the injury done to my administration by
that which he conceded to the Prince de Condé."

The Duke attempted to remonstrate, but he was haughtily silenced; and
thus saw himself compelled to retire from the presence of the irritated
Princess with the conviction that he had utterly failed to produce the
effect anticipated from his mission.[49]

As a last resource the Duc de Montbazon was once more despatched to the
Queen-mother, with full authority to satisfy all her demands, whatever
might be their nature; and also with instructions to warn her that,
should she still refuse to obey the commands of the King, she would be
compelled to do so; while, at the same time, he was commissioned to
announce that Louis was ready to receive her at Tours as he had formerly
done, in order to convince her of his anxiety to terminate their
misunderstanding. This portion of his mission was, however, strongly
combated alike by M. de Condé and the ministers, who saw in it a proof
of weakness unworthy of a great sovereign; but the apprehensions of the
favourite so far outweighed his sense of what was due to the dignity of
his royal master, that he refused to listen to their representations,
and Louis accordingly left the capital, and advanced slowly towards the
province of Angoumois, awaiting the result of this new negotiation.

Marie remained inflexible; Richelieu had not yet accomplished his
object; and the King, who had already reached Orleans, returned to
Paris, to the great triumph of the Queen-mother's faction. Months were
wasted in this puerile struggle, which contrasted strangely with the
important interests which at that period occupied the attention of all
other European sovereigns; and meanwhile the faction of Marie de Medicis
became more formidable from day to day; until, finally, the Prince de
Condé declared his conviction that stringent measures could alone secure
to the monarch any hope of averting the serious consequences with which
he was threatened by the disaffection of his most powerful nobles. De
Luynes was quite ready to adopt this reasoning in order to ensure his
own safety; but it met with earnest opposition from the Cardinal de
Retz, Arnoux, and many others of the favourite's confidential friends,
who dreaded that by the fall of Marie de Medicis, Condé, whose ambitious
views were evident to all, would attain to a degree of authority and
power against which they could not hope successfully to contend; and
they accordingly counselled their patron rather to effect his own
reconciliation with the exiled Queen, and by rendering himself necessary
alike to the mother and the son, at once strengthen his own influence
and weaken that of the first Prince of the Blood.

In accordance with this advice De Luynes entered into a negotiation with
Marie, during the course of which the Marquis de Blainville was
despatched several times to Angers, authorized to hold out the most
brilliant promises should she consent to resume her position at the
French Court. Unfortunately, however, the zealous envoy overacted his
part by assuring her that De Luynes was strongly attached to her person,
and anxious only to secure her interests; a declaration which instantly
startled her suspicious temper into additional caution; but his next
step proved even more fatal to the cause he had been deputed
to advocate.

"I can assure you, Madame," he went on to say, encouraged by the
attentive attitude of his royal auditor, "that M. le Duc has ever
entertained the most perfect respect towards your Majesty. More than
once, indeed, it has been suggested to him to secure your person, and
either to commit you to Vincennes, or to compel your return to
Florence; nay, more; a few of your most inveterate enemies, Madame, have
not hesitated to advise still more violent measures, and have
endeavoured to convince him that his own safety could only be secured by
your destruction; but M. de Luynes has universally rejected these
counsels with indignation and horror; and this fact must suffice to
prove to your Majesty that you can have nothing to apprehend from a man
so devoted to your cause that he has undeviatingly made his own
interests subservient to yours."

This argument, which, while it revolted her good sense, revealed to the
Queen-mother the whole extent of the risk that she must inevitably incur
by placing herself in the power of an individual who had suffered such
measures to be mooted in his presence, produced the very opposite effect
to that which it had been intended to elicit; and it was consequently
with a more fixed determination than ever that Marie clung to the
comparatively independent position she had secured, and thus rendered
the negotiation useless.[50]

The alarm of De Luynes increased after this failure, and having become
convinced of the impolicy of provoking a second civil war, he continued
his attempts at a reconciliation through other channels; but as each in
turn proved abortive, he began to tremble lest by affording more time
for the consolidation of the Queen's faction, he might ultimately work
his own overthrow; and it was consequently determined that the advice of
the Prince de Condé should be adopted. The delay which had already
taken place had, however, sufficed to permit of a coalition among the
Princes which rendered the party of the malcontents more formidable than
any which had yet been opposed to the royal authority; and it was not
without considerable misgivings that, early in July, De Luynes
accompanied the King to the frontier of Normandy, where it had been
decided that he should place himself at the head of his army.[51]

Before leaving the capital it was considered expedient that Louis should
attend a meeting of the Parliament, in order to justify the extreme step
which he was about to take; and he accordingly presented himself before
that body, to whom he declared the excessive repugnance with which he
found himself under the imperative necessity of taking up arms against
the Queen his mother, and excused himself upon the plea of her having
headed the malcontents, by whom the safety of the throne and kingdom was
endangered; and, this empty formality accomplished, little attention was
conceded to the recommendation of the President and Advocate-General,
who implored of his Majesty to adopt less offensive measures, and to
avoid so long as it might be in his power an open war with his august
parent.[52] Louis had complied with the ceremony required of him; and
while De Luynes was trembling for his tenure of power, the young
sovereign was equally anxious to commence a campaign which promised
some relief from the tedium of his everyday existence, and some prospect
of his definitive release from the thraldom of the adverse faction.

The success of the royal army exceeded the most sanguine expectations of
the young sovereign, and awakened in him that passion for war by which
he was subsequently distinguished throughout the whole of his reign. The
Ducs de Longueville and de Vendôme, alarmed by a manifestation of energy
for which they were not prepared, and fearing the effects of further
resistance, scarcely made an effort to oppose him; and thus, in an
incredibly short space of time, he possessed himself of Rouen, Caen,
Alençon, and Vendôme; and advanced upon the Loire at the head of his
whole army.

This unlooked-for celerity caused the greatest consternation in the
party of Marie, who had anticipated that the conquest of Normandy would
have occupied the royal forces during a considerable period, and relying
on this contingency, had not yet completed the defences of Angers. The
Queen herself, however, continued to refuse all overtures of
reconciliation, and after having vainly demanded a month's truce, she
turned her whole attention to the formation of such an army as might
enable her to compete with that by which she saw herself assailed. Her
forces already amounted to fifteen hundred horse and eight thousand
infantry, and she was anticipating a strong reinforcement, which was to
be supplied by the Duc de Rohan and the Comte de Saint-Aignan. Her first
care was to garrison the town and citadel of Angers, in order to secure
her personal safety; but this precaution did not satisfy the Duc de
Mayenne, who urged her to retire to Guienne, where he had collected a
force of ten thousand men, and thus to place herself beyond all
possibility of capture. The Duc d'Epernon, on the other hand, who was
jealous of the influence which such a step must necessarily give to his
rival, strongly dissuaded the Queen from condescending to retreat before
the royal army; and suggested that M. de Mayenne would more effectually
serve her cause and uphold her honour by marching his troops to Angers,
and thus strengthening her position. This suggestion, by whatever motive
it were prompted, was one of sound policy; nor can there be any doubt
that it would have been readily adopted by Marie de Medicis, had there
not been a traitor in the camp, whose covert schemes must have been
foiled by such an addition to the faction of his royal mistress.

That traitor was Richelieu, by whom every movement in the rebel army,
and every decision of the Queen-mother's Council, was immediately
revealed to De Luynes. The wily Bishop, faithful to his own interests,
and lured onward by the vision of a cardinal's hat, no sooner saw the
impression produced upon the mind of Marie by the proposal of Epernon
than he hastened to oppose a measure which threatened all his hopes, and
succeeded with some difficulty in persuading her that both these great
nobles could more effectually serve her in their own governments than by
adding a useless burthen to her dower-city, which was already gorged
with troops, and which, in the event of a siege, might suffer more from
internal scarcity than external violence.

Bewildered by the uncertainty of the struggle which was about to
supervene, Marie de Medicis was readily induced to believe in the wisdom
of securing two havens of refuge in case of defeat, and to renounce the
peril of hazarding all at one blow. The arguments of Richelieu were
specious; she had the most perfect faith in his attachment and fidelity;
and thus, despite the most earnest remonstrances of her other
counsellors, she decided upon following the suggestions of the man who
was seeking to build up his own fortunes upon the ruin of her hopes.[53]

Neither Richelieu nor De Luynes were deceived as to the feeling which
thus induced them to make common cause. There was no affectation of
regard or confidence on either side; their mutual hatred was matter of
notoriety, but they were essential to each other. Without the aid of the
favourite, the Bishop of Luçon could never hope to attain the seat in
the Conclave which was the paramount object of his ambition; while De
Luynes, on his side, was apprehensive that should the army of the King
be defeated, his own overthrow must necessarily result, or that, in the
event of success, the Prince de Condé would become all-powerful: an
alternative which presented the same danger to his own prospects. Thus
both the one and the other, convinced that by stratagem alone they could
carry out their personal views, eagerly entered into a secret
negotiation, which terminated in a pledge that Richelieu should succeed
to a cardinalate provided he delivered up his too confiding mistress to
the royal troops when they marched upon the Fonts de Cé.

This fortress, which protected the passage to Anjou, was only a league
distant from Angers, where the Queen-mother had taken up her residence;
and Richelieu, to whom its safety had been confided, no sooner effected
a final understanding with De Luynes than he removed all the ammunition
from the fortress, and placed his own relatives and friends in command
of the garrison, with full instructions as to the part which they were
to enact when confronted with the troops of the sovereign.

Although wholly unsuspicious of the treachery of which she was thus
destined to become the victim, the alarm of the Queen-mother was excited
by the rapid approach of her son, and she at length resolved to attempt
a tardy reconciliation; for which purpose she despatched the Duc de
Bellegarde, the Archbishop of Sens, and the Jesuit Bérulle to the King
with an offer to that effect. Louis received her envoys with great
courtesy, and declared himself ready to make every concession as
regarded Marie personally, and even to extend his pardon to the Comte
and Comtesse de Soissons; but he peremptorily refused to include the
other disaffected nobles in the amnesty; when the Queen, on her side,
declined every arrangement which involved the abandonment of her
followers; and thus the negotiation failed in its object, while the
royal army continued to advance.[54]

On reaching La Flèche the King convened a council, at which it was
proposed to besiege the city of Angers; but Louis, who was aware of the
plot that had been formed between De Luynes and Richelieu, declared that
his respect for his mother would not permit him to attack a town in
which she had taken up her abode; while he even instructed the Duc de
Bellegarde to propose to her fresh conditions of peace, and to assure
her that his intention in approaching so near to her stronghold was
simply to secure an interview, and to induce her to return with him to
the capital.

This assurance produced the desired effect upon Marie de Medicis, who
was becoming alike wearied and disgusted by the perilous position in
which she had been placed by the unexpected energy of her son; and she
consequently hastened to sign the treaty. But the concession came too
late. On the previous day, Bassompierre, Créquy, and several other
officers of rank marched to Sorges, within a league of the Fonts de Cé,
at the head of their men, for the mere purpose of skirmishing; they,
however, met with no opposition, and they finally reached the bridge,
where five thousand troops of the Queen-mother were entrenched. These
they attacked; and at the third charge the whole body fled in such
confusion that the royal forces entered with them pell-mell into the
city. The command of the fort had been given to the Duc de Retz, who,
apprised by the Cardinal his uncle that the Queen-mother had been
betrayed, hastily effected his escape, and the castle was surrendered at
the first summons. In vain did the Duc de Bellegarde represent that the
town had been taken after the Queen had signed the treaty of
reconciliation, and complain that this outrage had been committed
subsequently to the conclusion of a peace proposed by the sovereign; the
Prince de Condé, desirous of mortifying Marie de Medicis, only replied
that the messenger should have made greater haste to deliver so
important a document, as the King's officers were not called upon to
divine the nature of the Queen's decision.[55]

On the following day Louis himself entered Ponts de Cé, where he was
surprised to find the shops open, and the inhabitants as quietly
pursuing their avocations as though no rumour of war had reached their
ears. The shouts of "Vive le Roi!" were as energetic as those of "Vive
la Reine!" had been only a few weeks previously; and thus, through the
selfish treason of two ambitious and unprincipled individuals, Marie de
Medicis, who at once felt that all further opposition must be
fruitless, saw the powerful faction which it had cost her so much
difficulty and so hard a struggle to combine, totally overthrown, and
herself reduced, even while she still possessed an army of thirty
thousand men in Poitou, Angoumois, and Guienne, to accept such
conditions as it might please the King to accord to her.

Bewildered by the defeat of her troops and the loss of Ponts de Cé, the
unhappy Queen resolved to effect her escape, and to throw herself on the
protection of the Ducs de Mayenne and d'Epernon; but this project was
defeated by Richelieu, who lost no time in communicating her intentions
to the favourite; and parties of cavalry were in consequence thrown out
in every direction to oppose her passage. Apprised of this precaution,
although unconscious of its origin, Marie perceived that she had no
alternative save submission; and she accordingly declared herself ready
to obey the will of the King, whatever might be its nature; an assurance
to which Louis replied that he was ready to receive her with open arms,
and to grant her requests in so far as they regarded herself personally,
although he was resolved to prove to the leaders of her faction that he
was the master of his own kingdom.[56]

On the conclusion of the treaty a meeting was appointed between the King
and his mother at the castle of Brissac, whither he repaired to await
her arrival; and she was no sooner made acquainted with this
arrangement than she hastened to the place of rendezvous, escorted by
five hundred horsemen of the royal army. She was met midway by the
Maréchal de Praslin, and a short time afterwards by the Duc de
Luxembourg, at the head of a strong party of nobles, by whom she was
warmly welcomed; and finally, when she was within a few hundred yards of
the castle, Louis himself appeared, who, as her litter approached,
alighted in his turn, an example which she immediately followed, and in
the next instant they were clasped in each other's arms.

"I have you now, Madame," exclaimed the King with a somewhat equivocal
smile; "and you shall not escape me again."

"Sire," replied the Queen, "you will have little trouble in retaining
me, for I meet you with the firm determination never more to leave you,
and in perfect confidence that I shall be treated with all the kindness
and consideration which I can hope from so good a son."

These hollow compliments exchanged, Louis retired a pace or two in order
to enable the Prince de Condé and the Duc de Luynes to pay their
respects to the Queen-mother, by whom they were most graciously
received; while Richelieu was no less warmly greeted by the young King
and his favourite. No one, in fine, who had witnessed the scene, could
have imagined that heart-burning and hatred were concealed beneath the
smiles and blandishments which were to be encountered on all sides; or
that among those who then and there bandied honeyed words and gracious
greetings, were to be found individuals who had staked their whole
future fortunes upon a perilous venture, and many of whom had lost.

After a few days spent at Brissac the King departed for Poitou, while
Marie repaired to Chinon, whence she was to follow him in a few days;
and thus terminated the second exile of the widow of Henry the Great,
even as the first had done, in mortification and defeat.[57]

As a matter of course, the Ducs de Mayenne and d'Epernon no sooner saw
that the cause of the Queen-mother had become hopeless than they
hastened to make their submission to the King; although the former,
fearing that his known hostility to the favourite might militate against
his future interests, first endeavoured to induce M. d'Epernon to join
him in forming a new faction for their personal protection; but this
attempt met with no encouragement, Epernon declaring that as his royal
mistress had seen fit to trust to the clemency of the sovereign, he felt
bound to follow her example, and that he advised M. de Mayenne to adopt
the same course. Such a reply naturally sufficed to convince his
colleague that he had no other alternative; and after the professions
usual on such occasions both nobles prepared to lay down their
arms.[58]

Louis having learnt at Poitiers that the Queen was on her way to join
him, immediately proceeded to Tours to await her arrival, and to conduct
her to the former city, whither she accompanied him with all the great
ladies of the Court; and four days subsequently Marie de Medicis
followed with her slender retinue. She was welcomed by Anne of Austria
with haughty courtesy; and during the ensuing week all was revelry and
dissipation. The young Queen gave a splendid ball in honour of her
august mother-in-law; and on the morrow the Jesuits performed a comedy
at which all the Court were present.

It is probable, however, that Marie de Medicis did not enter with much
zest into these diversions, as she could not fail to perceive that the
courtesy evinced towards her was reluctant and constrained; and when, on
the arrival of the Duc de Mayenne, she witnessed the coldness of his
reception, her fears for her own future welfare must have been
considerably augmented. At his first audience Mayenne threw himself at
the feet of the King, protesting his sorrow for the past, and imploring
the royal pardon with all the humility of a criminal, but Louis alike
feared and hated the veteran leaguer, and he replied harshly: "Enough,
M. le Duc; I will forget the past should the future give me cause to do
so." And as he ceased speaking he turned away, leaving the mortified
noble to rise at his leisure from the lowly attitude which he had
assumed.[59]

Two days subsequently the King resumed his journey to Guienne, Marie de
Medicis proceeded to Fontainebleau, and Anne of Austria returned to
Paris. As Louis reached Chizé he was met by the Duc d'Epernon, who, in
his turn, sued for forgiveness, which was accorded without difficulty;
and thus the Queen-mother found herself deprived of her two most
efficient protectors,[60] and clung more tenaciously than ever to the
support of the treacherous Richelieu.

The next care of Louis was to compel the resumption of the Roman
Catholic religion in Béarn; after which he followed the Court to the
capital, whither he had already been preceded by the Queen-mother.

FOOTNOTES:

[45] _Mercure Français_, 1620. _Pièces Curieuses faites durant le Règne
du Connétable de Luynes_, pp. 1-3.

[46] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. v. pp. 70-72. _Vie du Duc d'Epernon_, book
viii. Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 458. Fontenay-Mareuil, _Mém_. p. 458. Le
Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 183, 184. Richelieu, _Hist. de la Mère et du Fils_,
vol. ii. pp. 397, 398.

[47] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 183, 184. Fontenay-Mareuil, _Mém_. pp.
461-467.

[48] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. v. pp. 106-108. Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 186,
187.

[49] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 186, 187. Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. v. pp.
106-110.

[50] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. 1620, pp. 110-122.

[51] Le Vassor, vol. ii. p. 206. Pontchartrain, _Mém_. p. 313.
Fontenay-Mareuil, _Mém_. p. 462. Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 462, 463.
Matthieu, _Hist, des Derniers Troubles_, book iii. p. 650.

[52] Mézeray, vol. xi. p. 202. _Mercure Français_, 1620-1621.

[53] Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 206, 207. _Lumières pour l'Hist. de France_.
Bernard, book iii.

[54] _Mercure Français_, 1620. Siri, _Mém. Rec_, vol. v. pp. 135-137. Le
Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 212, 213.

[55] Le Vassor, vol. ii. p. 213. Mézeray, vol. xi. p. 210.

[56] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 213, 214. _Mercure Français_, 1620. Siri,
_Mém. Rec_. vol. v. pp. 139, 140. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 210, 211.

[57] _Mercure Français_, 1620. Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. v. pp. 140, 141.
Brienne, _Mém_. vol. i. pp. 342, 343. Bassompierre, _Mém_. édit.
Petitot, vol. ii. pp. 193-199.

[58] _Vie du Duc d'Epernon_, book iii. Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 216, 217.

[59] _Mercure François_, 1620.

[60] Le Vassor, vol. ii. p. 217. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 212, 213.

CHAPTER IV

1621-24

Attempt to secure a cardinal's hat for Richelieu frustrated by De
Luynes--Death of Philip III of Spain--De Luynes is created Connétable de
France--Discontent of the great nobles--Disgust of the Maréchal de
Lesdiguières--The Protestants of Béarn rise against their
oppressors--The royal troops march against them--They are worsted, and
despoiled of their fortified places--The King becomes jealous of his
favourite--_Le Roi Luynes_--Domestic dissensions--The favourite is
threatened with disgrace--Cruelty of Louis XIII--Death of De
Luynes--Louis determines to exterminate the Protestants--A struggle for
power--Prudence of Bassompierre--Condé encourages the design of the
King--The old ministers are recalled--They join with the Queen-mother in
her attempt to conclude a peace with the reformed party--Marie de
Medicis solicits a share in the government--The King complies, but
refuses to sanction the admission of Richelieu to the Council--The
Duchesse de Luynes and Anne of Austria--Frustrated hopes--Condé aspires
to the French throne--Louis XIII leaves the capital by stealth in order
to join the army at Nantes--The Queen-mother prepares to follow him, but
is overtaken by illness--Ruthless persecution of the Protestants--Siege
of La Rochelle--Venality of the Protestant leaders--Indignation of the
Catholic nobles--Resistance of the citizens of Montpellier--Military
incapacity of Condé--The Duc de Rohan negotiates a peace, and Condé
retires to Rome--Montpellier opens its gates to the King--Bad faith of
Louis XIII--Triumphal entry of the King at Lyons--Marriage of the
Marquis de la Valette and Mademoiselle de Verneuil--Richelieu is created
a cardinal--Exultation of the Queen-mother--Death of the President
Jeannin--Prospects of Richelieu--His duplicity--Misplaced confidence of
Marie de Medicis--Louis XIII returns to Paris--Change in the
Ministry--Anne of Austria and the Prince of Wales--The Queen-mother and
her faction endeavour to accomplish the ruin of the Chancellor, and
succeed--Richelieu is admitted to the Council---Indignation of
Condé--Richelieu becomes all-powerful--His ingratitude to the
Queen-mother--The Queen-mother is anxious to effect a matrimonial
alliance with England--Richelieu seconds her views--The King of Spain
applies for the hand of the Princesse Henriette for Don Carlos--His
demand is negatived by the Cardinal-Minister--La Vieuville is dismissed
from the Ministry--Duplicity of Louis XIII--Arrest of La
Vieuville--Change of ministers--Petticoat intrigues--The Duc d'Anjou
solicits the hand of Mademoiselle de Montpensier--The alliance is
opposed by the Guises and forbidden by the King.

During the absence of the King from Paris, the Maréchal d'Estrées, who
was at that period Ambassador at Rome, was engaged in soliciting two
seats in the Conclave, the first for the Archbishop of Toulouse, and the
second for the Bishop of Luçon; while Marie de Medicis lost no
opportunity of entreating Bentivoglio, the Papal Nuncio, to further the
interests of the latter, impressing upon him that no period could be
more favourable than the present, when Louis XIII had enforced upon a
whole refractory province the performance of the rites which it had so
long rejected. To this argument the Cardinal had nothing to object, and
he accordingly listened with complacency to her representations; but
they were rendered abortive by De Luynes, who privately informed him
that neither the sovereign nor himself sincerely desired the promotion
of Richelieu, and that their apparent anxiety for his advancement had
been merely assumed to gratify the Queen-mother; while, far from being
disposed to consider the dissent of the Pontiff to this application as a
slight, his Majesty would be gratified should he reject it, as he had
reason to feel dissatisfied with the Bishop of Luçon, whom he was
consequently not disposed to support in an ambition which he considered
to be at once inordinate and premature. Paul V needed no further hint;
he had been unwilling to countenance the elevation of two French
prelates, and accordingly he replied to all the urgent solicitations of
M. d'Estrées with evasive replies, until at length, wearied by his
pertinacity, he laid before him a letter from Louis himself wherein he
revoked all his former orders. The indignation of the Ambassador was
only exceeded by that of Richelieu when they severally discovered that
they had been duped; but the death of the Pope, and the election of
Gregory XV, which occurred in the following month (February), once more
renewed their hopes.

The demise of Paul V was followed by that of Philip III of Spain, and
negotiations were immediately commenced with his successor for the
restoration of the Valteline to the Grisons, which were happily
concluded for the moment; but, whatever satisfaction this event might
have elicited at the Court of France, it was counterbalanced by another,
in which the great nobles felt a more personal and intimate interest. On
the 2nd of April Charles Albert, Duc de Luynes, was invested with the
sword of Connétable de France; and thus in the short space of four
years, without having distinguished himself either as a warrior or a
statesman, had risen from the obscure position of a Gentleman of the
Household, and of a petty provincial noble, to the highest dignity which
could be conferred upon a subject.

The ceremony of his investiture was conducted with extraordinary pomp;
and when he had taken the oath, De Luynes received from the hands of the
King a sword richly ornamented with diamonds, which was buckled on by
Gaston, Duc d'Anjou.[61] The murmurs elicited by this extraordinary
promotion were universal, and the rather as it had long been promised to
the Duc de Lesdiguières, who was compelled to content himself with a
brevet of Marshal of France, and the title of colonel-general of the
royal army, which constituted the veteran soldier the lieutenant of De
Luynes, who had never been upon a field of battle.[62]

The remainder of the year was occupied in a campaign against the
Protestants, who, on the departure of the King from Béarn, had rallied
in the defence of their religion, and revolted against the outrages to
which they had been subjected by a lawless rabble. Their churches had
been desecrated and burnt down at Tours, Poitiers, and other cities,
themselves publicly insulted, and they began to apprehend that they were
about to be despoiled of all the privileges accorded to them by the
Edict of Nantes. Under these circumstances they had convoked a general
assembly at La Rochelle, in order to decide upon the measures necessary
for their preservation; and although warned immediately to dissolve the
meeting, they had refused compliance with the royal edict, even while
aware that they were not strong enough to contend with any prospect of
ultimate success.[63]

The new Connétable eagerly seized this opportunity of exerting his
authority, and an army of forty thousand infantry and eight thousand
horse was marched towards the Loire, at the head of which were the King
himself, De Luynes, and the Maréchal de Lesdiguières; while, as though
the projected expedition had been a mere party of pleasure, not only did
a crowd of the great nobles volunteer to swell the ranks of the already
enormous host, but the two Queens, the Duchesse de Luynes, and a
numerous suite of ladies also accompanied the troops to share in the
campaign. The result of this fearful contest is known. The unhappy
Protestants were driven from their strongholds, and with the exception
of Montauban, which was so gallantly defended that the King was
ultimately compelled to raise the siege, they found themselves utterly
despoiled, and exposed to every species of insult.

No event could have been more unfortunate for the ambitious Connétable
than the successful defence of Montauban. Louis loved war for its own
sake, but he was also jealous of success; and he felt with great
bitterness this first mortification. He had, moreover, become conscious
that he was a mere puppet in the hands of his ambitious favourite; and
he was already becoming weary of a moral vassalage of which he had been
unable to calculate the extent. As the brilliant Connétable flashed past
him, glittering with gold, the plumes of his helmet dancing in the wind,
and the housings of his charger sparkling with gems, he looked after him
with a contemptuous scowl, and bade the nobles among whom he stood
admire the regal bearing of _le Roi Luynes_; nor was he the less bitter
because he could not suppress a consciousness of his own disability to
dispense with the services of the man whom he thus criticized.

Upon one point Louis XIII greatly resembled his mother; with all his
arrogance and love of power, he possessed no innate strength of purpose,
and constantly required extraneous support; but it was already easy for
those about him to perceive that fear alone continued to link him with
the once all-powerful favourite. Rumour said, moreover, that superadded
to the jealousy which the King entertained of the daily increasing
assumption of the Connétable there existed another cause of discontent.
The Duchesse de Luynes was, as we have said, both beautiful and
fascinating, and Louis had not been proof against her attractions,
although his ideas of gallantry never overstepped the bounds of the most
scrupulous propriety. The lady had on her part welcomed his homage with
more warmth than discretion, and the favourite had not failed to
reproach her for a levity by which he considered himself dishonoured.
Madame de Luynes had retorted in no measured terms, and the young
sovereign, who detested finding himself involved in affairs of this
nature, and who had, moreover, reason to believe that he was not the
only individual favoured by the smiles of the coquettish beauty, soon
evinced an aversion towards both husband and wife, which encouraged the
enemies of De Luynes to hint that the reverse which his Majesty had
lately suffered at Montauban might be entirely attributed to the
incapacity and selfishness of the Connétable. This opinion soothed the
wounded vanity of the King, and he talked vehemently of his regret for
the brave men who had fallen, among whom was the Duc de Mayenne, and
bitterly complained of the dishonour to which he had been subjected;
while in order to revenge himself at once upon De Luynes and the
Duchess, he condescended to the meanness of informing the former that
the Prince de Joinville was enamoured of his wife, and subsequently
boasted to Bassompierre that he had done so. The Marquis listened in
astonishment to this extraordinary communication, and in reply ventured
to assure his Majesty that he had committed a serious error in seeking
to cause a misunderstanding between a married couple.

"God will forgive me for it should He see fit to do so," was the sullen
retort of Louis. "At all events it gave me great pleasure to be revenged
on him, and to cause him this annoyance; and before six months have
elapsed I will make him disgorge all his gains." [64]

The rumour of his projected disgrace soon reached the ears of the
bewildered favourite, who instantly resolved to redeem himself by some
more successful achievement. He accordingly ordered the troops to march
upon and besiege Monheur, an insignificant town on the Garonne, which
was feebly garrisoned by two hundred and sixty men, and which was in
consequence sure to fall into his hands. As he had foreseen, the place
soon capitulated, but the late reverse had rendered Louis less
accessible than ever to the claims of mercy; and although by the terms
of the treaty he found himself compelled to spare the lives of the
troops, numbers of the inhabitants were put to death, and the town was
sacked and burned.[65] This paltry triumph did not, however, suffice to
reinstate the Connétable in the good graces of his royal master, who
continued to indulge in the most puerile complaints against his former
favourite; and the latter's mortification at so sudden and unexpected a
reverse of fortune so seriously affected his health that, while the
ruins of the ill-fated town were still smouldering, he expired in an
adjacent village of a fever which had already caused considerable
ravages in the royal army.

When intelligence of the decease of De Luynes was communicated to the
King he did not even affect the slightest regret, and the courtiers at
once perceived that the demise of the man upon whom he had lavished so
many and such unmerited distinctions was regarded by Louis as a
well-timed release. So careless indeed did the resentful monarch show
himself of the common observances of decency that he gave no directions
for his burial; and, profiting by this omission, the enemies of the
unfortunate Connétable pillaged his residence, and carried off every
article of value, not leaving him even a sheet to supply his
grave-clothes. The Maréchal de Chaulnes and the Duc de Luxembourg, his
brothers, with whom at his first entrance into life he had shared his
slender income, and whom in his after days of prosperity he had alike
ennobled and enriched, looked on in silence at this desecration of his
remains, lest by resenting the outrage they should incur the displeasure
of the King; and it is on record that the Abbé Rucellaï and one of his
friends alone had the courage and generosity to furnish the necessary
funds for embalming the body and effecting its transport to its last
resting-place.[66]

The resolute position still maintained by the Protestants chafed the
arrogant temper of Louis XIII, who, although personally incapable of
sustaining the royal authority, was yet jealous of its privileges.
Political and civil liberty was in his eyes a heresy to be exterminated
at whatever cost; and while he was as infirm in purpose as a child, he
grasped at absolute monarchy, and panted to acquire it. This, as he at
once felt, could never be achieved while there existed within his
kingdom a party which claimed to limit his prerogative, and to maintain
the rights which it had acquired under his predecessors, and thus he
eagerly resolved to rid himself of so dangerous an enemy; but although
his determination was formed, he found himself unequal to the
self-imposed task; he had no reliance on his own strength, and until he
had selected a new favourite upon whom he could lean for support, he
dared not venture upon so serious an undertaking.

There were, however, many candidates for the vacant honour, and De
Luynes was scarcely in his grave ere two separate parties began to
strive for pre-eminence. That of the ministers was headed by Henri de
Gondy, Cardinal de Retz, President of the Council, Schomberg, Grand
Master of the Artillery and Superintendent of Finance, and De Vic,
Keeper of the Seals, who exerted all their efforts to dissuade the King
from again placing himself in the power of a favourite; believing that
should he consent to retain the government in his own hands, they need
only flatter his foibles to secure to themselves the actual
administration of the kingdom; a policy which they commenced by urging
him to follow up his intention of pursuing the war against the
Protestants.

On the other hand, the courtiers who were anxious for peace, and who
desired to see Louis once more quietly established in his capital, were
earnest that he should advance Bassompierre to the coveted dignity; nor
were they without sanguine hope of success, as even before the death of
De Luynes, the wit, courage, and magnificence of the courtly soldier had
captivated the admiration of the King, who had evinced towards him a
greater portion of regard than he vouchsafed to any other noble of his
suite; while so conscious were the ministers of this preference, that in
order to rid themselves of so dangerous an adversary, and to effect his
removal from the Court, they offered to Bassompierre the lieutenancy of
Guienne and the _bâton_ of a marshal. These honours were, however,
declined--not from ambition, for Bassompierre, although brave in the
field, was an ardent votary of pleasure, and the Court was his world;
but he was wise enough to feel that he did not possess the necessary
talent for so perilous a post as that which his friends would fain have
assigned to him; and he was the first to declare that the intrigues of
both parties would fail, since the King must ere long fall, as a natural
consequence, under the dominion of his mother, or that of the Prince de
Condé.[67]

On the 28th of January Louis re-entered Paris, where he was received
with enthusiasm; and the meeting between the mother and son was highly
satisfactory to both parties. In compliance with the advice of
Richelieu, Marie de Medicis exhibited towards the young sovereign a
deferential tenderness and a modest exultation, which flattered his
vanity, and disarmed his apprehensions. No allusion was made to the
past, save such as afforded opportunity for adulation and triumph; Louis
began to look upon himself as a conqueror, and the Queen-mother already
entertained visions of renewed power and authority.

So soon as the death of De Luynes had been made known to M. de Condé, he
had hastened to meet the King, in order to forestall the influence of
Marie. Aware that she anxiously desired a termination of the war, he
threw himself into the cabal of the ministers, and urged Louis to
complete the work which he had so ably commenced, by compelling the
Protestants to evacuate La Rochelle, Montauban, and Royan, the only
fortified towns of which they still remained in possession; conscious
that should he succeed in once more involving the country in civil war,
his royal kinsman would not be able to dispense with his own support.

Louis had, however, recalled Jeannin and Sillery to his councils, both
of whom were jealous of the Prince, and wounded by his arrogance, and
who did not, consequently, hesitate to advise the King to offer
conditions to the reformed party, and to endeavour to conclude a peace;
while Marie de Medicis earnestly seconded their views, expressing at the
same time her desire to become once more associated in the government.
To her extreme mortification Louis hesitated; he had resolved to share
his authority only with his favourites, and he was aware that Marie
would not enter into their views; while he was equally averse to permit
the interference of Richelieu, whose power over the mind of the
Queen-mother was matter of notoriety. In this dilemma he appealed to the
two ministers, who, eager to counteract the influence of Condé, urged
him to accede to her wishes, representing at the same time the danger
which he must incur by exciting her displeasure, and thus inducing her
to oppose his measures. When he urged the powerlessness to which she was
reduced by her late reverses, they respectfully reminded him that her
faction, although dispersed for the moment, was by no means annihilated;
nor did they fail to impress upon him that her adhesion would be
necessary in order to enable him to counteract the pretensions of the
Prince de Condé, who had already given evidence of his anxiety to place
himself at the head of affairs, and to govern the nation in his name.
This argument prevailed. The Queen-mother was admitted to the Council on
the understanding that the Bishop of Luçon should be excluded, and she
accepted the condition without comment, feeling convinced that when she
had succeeded in establishing her own position, she should find little
difficulty in accomplishing all minor measures.[68]

Madame de Luynes had no sooner ascertained that she had irretrievably
lost the favour of the King than she devoted herself to Anne of Austria,
who was soon induced to forget her previous jealousy, and to whom her
society ere long became indispensable. In many respects the tastes of
the girl-Queen and the brilliant widow of the Connétable were singularly
similar, although Anne was a mere tyro in gallantry beside her more
experienced friend. Both were young, handsome, and giddy; greedy of
admiration, and regardless of the comments of those about them; and
never perhaps did any Princess of Spain more thoroughly divest herself
of the _morgue_ peculiar to her nation than the wife of Louis XIII,
whose Court set at defiance all etiquette which interfered with the
amusement of the hour. In vain did the King and his mother expostulate;
Anne of Austria merely pouted and persisted; and even her panegyrist,
Madame de Motteville, has recorded that she did not hesitate in
after-years to admit that she had numbered among her adorers the Duc de
Montmorency, who previously to the passion with which she inspired him
had been the devoted slave of the beautiful Marquise de Sablé;[69] the
Duc de Bellegarde, of whose antiquated worship she made for a while the
jest of her circle, and her own pastime; and finally, George Villiers,
Duke of Buckingham, who, mistaking her levity for a more tender feeling,
was presumptuous and reckless enough to endanger her reputation;[70]
while her imprudent encouragement of the attentions of Richelieu, which
subsequently caused her so much and such bitter suffering, has also
become matter of history. In addition to Madame de Luynes, Anne of
Austria had adopted as her especial favourites the intriguing Princesse
de Conti and Mademoiselle de Verneuil, the natural sister of the King;
and while Louis was absorbed by visions of absolute empire, and
meditating the destruction of his Protestant subjects, the private
circle of the Queen was loud with revelry, and indulging in amusement to
the very verge of impropriety.

At the period of the sovereign's return to Paris hopes were entertained
that Anne would shortly give an heir to the French throne; and while
Marie de Medicis, whose policy it had been to maintain the coldness and
indifference of the royal couple, was trembling at the increase of
influence which could not fail to accrue to the young Queen should she
become the mother of a Dauphin, Louis was impatiently anticipating the
moment which would enable him to present to his good citizens of Paris a
successor to his regal honours. Great therefore was his consternation
when he was apprised that the Queen, while running across the great hall
of the Louvre with Madame de Luynes and Mademoiselle de Verneuil, had
fallen and injured herself so severely that all hopes of a Dauphin were
for the moment at an end.

In the first paroxysm of his anger he ordered the two ladies, whom he,
perhaps justly, regarded as the cause of the accident, to quit the
palace within three days on pain of his most serious displeasure; but
the Duchess, to whom exile from the Court was equivalent to a
death-warrant, lost no time in despatching a messenger to the Prince de
Joinville (who had recently assumed the title of Duc de Joyeuse),
entreating him to exert all his influence to save her from this
disgrace; nor did she make the appeal in vain. The Prince, who was
devotedly attached to her, at once declared himself her champion, and
despite the advice of his friends, not only induced Louis to rescind his
order, but offered his hand to the lady, who subsequently became
celebrated as Duchesse de Chevreuse; and together with her own pardon
also obtained that of Mademoiselle de Verneuil, with permission to both
parties to retain their position in the Queen's household.[71]

Meanwhile the Prince de Condé continued to urge upon the King the
expediency of following up his project of aggression against the
Protestants, and proposed to him that he should join the army with
Monsieur his brother, leaving Marie de Medicis in the capital; for which
advice many designing and unworthy motives were attributed to him by his
enemies. As an immediate consequence such an arrangement must naturally
have tended to increase the dependence of the young sovereign upon
himself, while the late accident of the Queen having removed all
prospect of a new heir to the throne, should the chances of war prove
fatal to the King and the Duc d'Anjou, the crown of France became the
legitimate right of Condé himself. What tended to strengthen the belief
that the Prince actually contemplated such a result, was the fact that
it had been predicted to him by an astrologer that at the age of four
and thirty he would be King of France; and the superstition so common at
the time caused considerable faith to be placed in the prophecy, not
only by himself but by many of his friends. Condé had now attained to
within a year of the stated period; and as a few months previously Louis
had been seriously indisposed, while the Duc d'Anjou had barely escaped
with life from an illness which he had not yet thoroughly conquered, not
a doubt was entertained by the party opposed to him that his great
anxiety to see himself at the head of an army arose from his conviction
that in such a position he should be the more readily enabled to enforce
his pretensions.[72]

Be his motives what they might, however, the ministers, who were anxious
that Louis should absent himself from the capital before he fell under
the dominion of a new favourite who might thwart their own views,
zealously seconded the advice of M. de Condé; and although Marie de
Medicis strenuously opposed the renewal of civil warfare, and the Duc de
Lesdiguières represented to the King the ardent desire of the
Protestants to conclude a peace, all their efforts were impotent to
counteract the pernicious counsels of the Prince, which were destined
to darken and desecrate all the after-reign of Louis XIII. Marie then
endeavoured to dissuade the King from heading his troops in person; or,
should he persist in this design, at least to forego that of leaving her
in the capital, and of exposing Monsieur to the dangers of the campaign.
All that she could obtain was a promise that the Duc d'Anjou should
remain in Paris, while as Louis had named no precise period for his own
departure it was believed that he would not leave the city before the
termination of the Easter festival, and that meanwhile circumstances
might occur to induce him to change his resolution. But while Marie de
Medicis indulged in this hope, the same anticipation had produced a
different effect upon the minds of Condé and his party, who secretly
urged upon the King that longer delay could only tend to afford
facilities to the Protestants for strengthening their faction, and
consequently their means of resistance, an argument which determined
Louis at once to carry out his project; and so alarmed was the Prince
lest some circumstance might supervene to impede the departure of the
monarch, that he finally induced him to have recourse to the undignified
expedient of quitting the Louvre by a back entrance at dusk on Palm
Sunday, and of proceeding to Orleans, where he remained until the close
of Easter, awaiting the arrival of the great officers of his household,
who had no sooner joined him than he embarked with the troops who had
been stationed there, and hastened with all possible speed to Nantes,
where he appointed the Prince de Condé lieutenant-general of
his army.[73]

The indignation of the Queen-mother was unbounded when she became
apprised of the departure of the King, which she at once attributed to
the anxiety of M. de Condé to remove him beyond her own influence, and
she consequently made immediate preparations for following the royal
fugitive; but although she exerted all her energy to accomplish this
object, her mental agitation overcame her physical strength; and when
she reached the town of Nantes, which Louis had already quitted, she was
unable to proceed farther, and was compelled by indisposition to remain
inactive, and to leave her adversaries in possession of the field.

The war which supervened was one of great triumph to the royal army, if
indeed the massacre of his own subjects can reflect glory upon a
sovereign; but the laurels gained by Louis and his troops were sullied
by a series of atrocious and bootless cruelties, which made them matter
of reproach rather than of praise. In vain did the Maréchal de
Lesdiguières, the Duc de Bouillon, and even Sully, who had once
controlled the destinies of France, make repeated offers of submission;
the Prince de Condé had sufficient influence over the infatuated King to
render every appeal useless, and to induce him to persist in the
wholesale slaughter of the unhappy Protestants.

In the affair of La Rochelle alone Bassompierre informs us that "there
died upon the field, killed in cold blood, and without resistance, more
than fifteen hundred men, while more than as many prisoners were taken
who were sent to the galleys: the rest were put to death by the
followers of M. de la Rochefoucauld and by the peasantry. So that M. de
Soubise re-entered La Rochelle with thirty horsemen out of the seven
hundred whom he had with him, and not four hundred infantry of the seven
thousand who comprised his army on the preceding day." [74]

The leaders of the Protestants, some alarmed for their personal safety,
and others gained over by the offers of the Court, began to desert the
cause for which they had so long contended, and to make terms with the
sovereign. The Duc de la Force sold himself for two hundred thousand
crowns and the _bâton_ of a marshal; the Duc de Sully, after repeated
delays, surrendered his fortress of Cadenac; the veteran De Lesdiguières
abandoned not only his friends, but also his faith, for the sword of
Connétable de France; and finally the Marquis de Châtillon, the grandson
of the brave and murdered Coligni, delivered himself up together with
the stronghold of Aigues Mortes; thus leaving no men of mark among the
reformers, save the two brothers MM. de Soubise and de Rohan; the former
of whom was then in England soliciting the assistance of James I.,
while the latter was endeavouring to raise troops in the Cévennes for
the protection of Montpellier and Nîmes, both which cities were
threatened with siege.[75]

The favours accorded to the renegade Protestant leaders having caused
great dissatisfaction among the Catholic nobles of Louis XIII, the King
found himself compelled to gratify these also by honours and emolument.
The Duc d'Epernon was made Governor of Guienne, a province which had
never hitherto been bestowed save on a Prince of the Blood; while
Bassompierre succeeded to the marshal's _bâton_ vacated by Lesdiguières
on his promotion; and M. de Schomberg was invested with the governments
of Angoumois and Limousin.

Towards the close of August the troops marched upon Montpellier, but the
arrival of the new Connétable excited the jealousy of Condé, who refused
to submit to his authority. Lesdiguières, who, although he had abandoned
his faith, had not yet ceased to feel a lively interest in the cause of
his co-religionists, was eager to effect a peace, and for this purpose
had conferred with the Duc de Rohan, who was equally anxious to obtain
the same result; but for a considerable time the threatened cities
refused to listen to any compromise. At length, however, the
representations of Rohan prevailed, and the negotiation was nearly
completed when M. de Condé haughtily declared that whatever might be
the conditions conceded by the King and the Connétable, he would deliver
over the city to pillage so soon as he had entered the gates. The
citizens of Montpellier, who were aware that, despite the capitulations
made with other places, the most enormous atrocities had been committed
in the towns which had surrendered, persisted in their turn that they
would only admit Lesdiguières within their walls provided he were
accompanied neither by Louis nor the Prince de Condé; a resolution which
excited the indignation of the King, and the negotiation consequently
failed. The Connétable returned to Guienne, and once more M. de Condé
found himself in undisputed command of the royal army.

The incapacity of the Prince, the casualties of war, and the sickness
which manifested itself among the troops, had, however, greatly tended
to weaken the military resources of the sovereign; the Cardinal de Retz
and De Vic, the Keeper of the Seals, had both fallen victims to disease;
while numbers of the nobility had been killed; and De Rohan, with his
usual perspicacity, decided that the moment had now arrived in which,
could he ever hope to do so, he might be enabled to effect the desired
treaty. Louis, who had become weary of the overweening pretensions and
haughty dictation of Condé, secretly encouraged him to persist in his
attempt; and the Duke immediately exerted himself to prevail upon the
inhabitants of Montpellier to receive his Majesty into their city.

While he was thus engaged, the Prince, who soon discovered from the
altered demeanour of the King that he should be unable to prevent the
conclusion of a peace, resolved to absent himself from the army. He had
been apprised by his emissaries of the recall of Lesdiguières, and he at
once comprehended that the presence of the Connétable could be required
for no other purpose than that of weakening his own authority, and of
thwarting his own views; and acting upon this conviction, he did not
hesitate to inform Louis that he was aware of the projected return of
the veteran noble; adding that, as he could not bring himself to obey
the orders of an individual so greatly his inferior in birth, he
preferred retiring for a time to Italy, should his Majesty graciously
accord him permission to absent himself. Louis required no entreaties to
concede this favour to his arrogant kinsman; and, accordingly, to the
undisguised satisfaction of the harassed army, the Prince departed for
Rome; the Duc de Lesdiguières replaced him in his command; and, finally,
the King having acceded to the conditions demanded by the citizens of
the beleaguered town, they consented to receive him within their walls,
provided that at his departure he withdrew the whole of his troops.

All the terms of the treaty were observed save this last demand. An
edict of pacification was duly signed and registered; and Louis, in the
month of November, quitted Montpellier with the bulk of his army, but
left two regiments in garrison within the very heart of the city. The
Protestants were, however, too weary of warfare, and too much exhausted
by suffering, to resent this infraction of their rights; and they
consequently saw the King set forth for Lyons without expostulation or
remonstrance.[76] Had they been enabled to make a final effort, it is
probable that they might have imposed still more favourable conditions,
as after the departure of Condé Louis relapsed into his usual
helplessness; for although perfectly competent to direct the manoeuvres
of a body of troops on a review-ground, he was totally unequal to the
command of an army; and with the littleness of a narrow mind, he was at
the same time jealous of his generals; neither was he able to comprehend
either the precise political position of his own kingdom, or that of
Europe; and thus, although he assumed an appearance of authority, so
soon as the controlling influence of the paramount favourite was
withdrawn, his powers were paralyzed, and he no longer possessed any
defined principle of action.

The entry of the King at Lyons was celebrated with the utmost
magnificence. Had he achieved the conquest of half Europe he could not
have been greeted with more enthusiasm than awaited him on this
occasion, when his hand still reeked with the blood of hundreds of his
own subjects, and the shrieks of injured women and slaughtered children
were still appealing to Heaven for vengeance. Triumphal arches,
ecclesiastical and municipal processions, salvos of artillery,
flourishes of trumpets, all the pomp and circumstance of war blent with
the splendour of triumph, awaited him on his arrival in that city. The
two Queens with their separate Courts, and the Duke and Duchess of Savoy
with a brilliant retinue, were assembled to give him welcome; and while
the houseless inhabitants of Montpellier and of the smouldering villages
of Guienne were wandering about the ruins of their once happy and
prosperous homes, the streets of Lyons swarmed with velvet-clad
courtiers and jewelled dames, hurrying from ball to banquet, and wholly
absorbed in frivolity and pleasure. Theatrical performances took place
every evening; and on the 12th of November the three Courts assisted at
the marriage of Mademoiselle de Verneuil and the Marquis de la Valette,
the second son of the Duc d'Epernon, which was celebrated with great
pomp. The King presented to his sister a dowry of two hundred thousand
crowns, to which the Marquise, her mother, added one hundred thousand
more. This union was followed by that of Madame de Luynes with the
Prince de Joinville; and the two marriages were followed by Italian
comedies, fireworks, and public illuminations.[77]

The most important event, however, which occurred during the sojourn of
the King at Lyons, was the admission of the Bishop of Luçon to the
Conclave. The long-coveted hat was forwarded to the French sovereign by
Gregory XV, from whose hands it was received by Richelieu. The
Queen-mother triumphed; but neither Louis nor his ministers felt the
same exultation as Marie and her favourite; for guardedly as the new
Cardinal had borne himself while awaiting this honour, his spirit of
intrigue had already become notorious, and his extraordinary talents
excited alarm rather than confidence. The death of the Cardinal de Retz,
which had occurred while the King was with the army in Languedoc, had
created two important vacancies; one in the Holy College, and the other
in the royal Council, to both of which the astute Richelieu aspired; but
Louis, urged by his ministers, decidedly refused to admit him to the
Privy Council, and he was fain to content himself for the moment with
the honours of the scarlet hat, while M. de la Rochefoucauld was
appointed to the vacant seat in the Council.

The President Jeannin had died in the month of October, at the ripe age
of eighty-two; a demise which was followed by those of De Vic, the
Keeper of the Seals, and the Duc de Bouillon; and thus three
stumbling-blocks had been removed from the path of Richelieu, whose
professions of attachment to Marie de Medicis became more fervent than
ever; while he was meanwhile carefully measuring the strength of those
to whom he was opposed, studying the foibles of the King, and gradually
forming a party at Court which might enable him to secure his own
ultimate elevation, and to render himself independent of Marie's
protection.

The ceremony of his admission to the Conclave had no sooner been
concluded in the chapel of the Archbishop's palace, than Richelieu
hastened to place the symbol of his new dignity at the feet of his
benefactress.

"Madame," he said, at the close of a harangue full of the most
exaggerated declarations of devotion to her person, "this honour, for
which I am indebted to the benevolence of your Majesty, will ever cause
me to bear in mind the solemn vow I have made to shed my blood in
your service."

Marie listened and believed; and in addition to the scarlet hat, and the
dignity of Minister of State which it involved, the deceived Princess in
the short space of a few months bestowed upon her future enemy the
enormous sum of nine hundred thousand crowns, besides sacerdotal plate
to an almost incredible amount. No timely presentiment warned her how
the "solemn vow" was to be observed; and the influence of the selfish
and unprincipled churchman became greater than ever.[78]

The King did not return to Paris until the 10th of January (1623), and
shortly after his arrival another change took place in the ministry.
Schomberg had excited the animosity of the Chancellor Sillery, his son
the Marquis de Puisieux (who, since the death of De Luynes, had risen
greatly in the favour of Louis), and the Marquis de Caumartin,[79] who,
on the demise of M. de Vic, had been appointed Keeper of the Seals. He
was also avowedly obnoxious to M. de la Vieuville,[80] the
adjutant-general of the royal army; and these nobles combined to effect
his ruin. As, however, M. de Schomberg was protected by the Prince de
Condé, the conspirators were for a time compelled to forego their
purpose, but the Prince had no sooner taken his departure for Italy than
they hastened to poison the mind of the King against his finance
minister; an attempt in which they so easily succeeded, that although
Schomberg undertook to prove the fallacy of every charge which was
brought against him, Louis refused to admit his justification, and he
was dismissed from his charge, which was conferred upon De la Vieuville;
while by the death of De Caumartin, which shortly afterwards occurred,
Sillery once more found himself in possession of the seals. His triumph
was, however, of short duration, the King having conceived an
extraordinary aversion to the Chancellor, although he was aware that he
could not safely dispense with his services; and accordingly, a short
time subsequently, the seals were again reclaimed, and bestowed upon M.
d'Aligre.[81]

On the return of Louis XIII to the capita

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