And as he terminated this envenomed monologue the Cardinal thrust the fatal paper into his breast, and clasped his hands convulsively together; his dim eyes flashed fire, his thin lips quivered, his pale countenance became livid, and the storm of concentrated pa.s.sion shook his frail form as with an ague-fit.

"The day is your own," said the Capuchin calmly; "you are now face to face with your enemies, and you know all the joints in their armour.

Every blow may be rendered a mortal one."

Richelieu smiled. The paroxysm of fury had subsided, and he was once more cold, and stern, and self-possessed. "We lose time," he said, "and I have yet to play the courtier. Are my robes ready?"

"All is prepared," quietly replied his companion, as he withdrew from the closet, where he shortly reappeared laden with the sumptuous costume of his friend and patron. A few minutes sufficed for the necessary metamorphosis; the citizen-raiment was cast aside, the crimson drapery flung over the shoulders of its owner, the jewelled cross adjusted on his breast; and before the detected n.o.bles had recovered from their consternation, the Cardinal was solemnly traversing the crowded halls surrounded by the adulation of the a.s.sembled Court. As he advanced to pay his respects to the sovereigns, he encountered Ba.s.sompierre, whom he greeted with a smile of more than usual cordiality; and the Duc de Guise, to whom he addressed a few words of courteous recognition; but the one felt that the smile was a stab, and the other that the greeting was a menace.

History has taught us the justice of those forebodings.

And still the festival went on; the fairest women of the Court fluttered and glittered like gilded b.u.t.terflies from place to place; princes and n.o.bles, attired in all the gorgeous magnificence of the time, formed a living mosaic of splendour on the marble floors; floating perfumes escaped from jewelled _ca.s.solettes_; light laughter was blent with music and with song; the dance sped merrily; and heaps of gold rapidly exchanged owners at the play tables. Nor was the scene less dazzling without; the environs of the Louvre were brilliantly illuminated; fireworks ascended from floating rafts anch.o.r.ed in the centre of the river; and troops of comedians, conjurers, and soothsayers thronged all the approaches to the palace. It was truly a regal _fete_; and when the dawn began to gleam, pale and calm through the open cas.e.m.e.nts, a hundred voices echoed the parting salutation of the Cardinal-Minister to his royal host, as he said, bowing profoundly, "None save yourself, Sire, could have afforded to his guests so vivid a glimpse of fairy-land as we have had to-night. Not a shade of gloom, nor a care for the future, can have intruded itself in such a scene of enchantment. I appeal to those around me. How say you, M. de Guise? and you, M. de Ba.s.sompierre? Shall we not depart hence with light hearts and tranquil spirits, grateful for so many hours of unalloyed and almost unequalled happiness?"

The silence of the two n.o.bles to whom his Eminence had thus addressed himself fortunately pa.s.sed un.o.bserved amid the chorus of a.s.senting admiration which burst forth on all sides; and with this final strain of the moral rack the Cardinal took his leave of the two foredoomed victims of his vengeance.

FOOTNOTES:

[130] Gaston d'Orleans, _Mem_. pp. 89, 90.

[131] Jean de Saint-Bonnet, Seigneur de Thoiras. He was created Marshal of France in 1630, and was killed in Italy, in 1636.

[132] Ambroise, Marquis de Spinola, one of the most famous generals of the seventeenth century, was the representative of an ill.u.s.trious house which was subsequently divided into several branches, some of whom established themselves in Italy, and others in Spain. The subject of our note placed himself at the head of nine thousand Italians, and commenced his military career in the Low Countries, where he distinguished himself by his extraordinary courage. The siege of Ostend having lasted so long as to weary the patience of the Archduke of Austria, he transferred the command of his troops to Spinola, by whom the place was carried in 1604.

He was then appointed general of the Spanish armies in the Low Countries, and maintained his ground, although opposed to Maurice of Na.s.sau, the most able general of his time. He rendered several other important services to the Emperor in the Palatinate, and took Breda in 1625. In 1630 he made himself master of the city and fortress of Casal; and shortly afterwards died from mortification at the ill requital of his services.

[133] Jules Mazarin, better known as Cardinal Mazarin, Prime Minister of France, was born at Piscina in the Abruzzi on the 14th of July 1602, and was of a n.o.ble Sicilian family. Having completed his studies in Italy and Spain, he attached himself to Cardinal Sacchetti, whom he followed to Lombardy, and was of great a.s.sistance to Cardinal Antonio Barbarini in concluding the peace of Quierasqua in 1631. The reputation which he acquired through this negotiation secured to him the friendship of Richelieu and the protection of Louis XIII; and in 1639 the former obtained for him the t.i.tle of Papal Vice-Legate at Avignon, and subsequently a seat in the Conclave. Nor did his good offices end even here, as he entreated Louis to appoint him Councillor of State after his own demise, a request with which the King complied; and on the death of Louis XIII the Queen-Regent Anne of Austria confided to him the government of the kingdom. Mazarin died in 1661, leaving a fortune of 200,000,000 of francs to Armand Charles de la Porte de la Meilleraye, the husband of his niece Hortense Mancini.

[134] Sismondi, vol. xxiii. pp. 142, 143.

[135] Capefigue, vol. iv. pp. 301-314. Sismondi, vol. xxiii. pp. 152, 153.

[136] "Maitre Gonin" was a _sobriquet_ applied by the Parisians to the Cardinal de Richelieu.

[137] Motteville, _Mem_. vol. i. pp. 372, 373. Brienne, _Mem_. vol. ii.

p. 12. Sismondi, vol. xxiii. pp. 154, 155. Ba.s.sompierre, _Mem_. vol. in.

pp. 275, 276. Gaston d'Orleans, _Mem_. pp. 91, 92. Le Va.s.sor, vol. vi.

pp. 538, 539. Capefigue, vol. iv. pp. 320-323.

[138] Ba.s.sompierre, _Mem_. vol. iii. p. 12. Le Va.s.sor, vol. vi. p. 542.

Siri, _Mem. Rec_. vol. vii. p. 285.

[139] Capefigue, vol. iv. pp. 326-331. Sismondi, vol. xxiii. pp. 156, 157.

[140] _MSS. de Bethune_, v. cot. 9319.

[141] Le Va.s.sor, vol. vi. pp. 539-541. Capefigue, vol. iv. pp. 324-332.

Sismondi, vol. xxiii. pp. 157, 158.

[142] Ba.s.sompierre, _Mem_. vol. iii. pp. 280, 281.

[143] "C'etait son habitude. Il sortait souvent les nuits, quand il allait en aventures amoureuses, ou pour surveiller lui-meme les menees de ses nombreux ennemis."--Blaisot, _Ma.n.u.script Memoirs of a Benedictine Monk_.

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 Grace--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--Superst.i.tion of Marie de Medicis--An unequal struggle--Father Joseph and his patron--The Queen-mother resolves to accompany her son to Italy--Richelieu a.s.sures the King that Marie and Gaston have organized a conspiracy against his life--The Court proceed to Compiegne--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 Compiegne--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 n.o.ble gaolers--The royal troops pursue Monsieur--The adherents of Gaston are declared guilty of _lese-majeste_--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 Compiegne--Marie resolves to effect her escape to the Low Countries--She is a.s.sured 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 Archd.u.c.h.ess 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 Amba.s.sador 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'Orleans 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.

In order, as he a.s.serted, to protect the interests of France, Richelieu had strictly forbidden all further correspondence between Anne of Austria and her royal brother Philip of Spain; and had further informed her that she would no longer be permitted to receive the Marquis de Mirabel, the Spanish Amba.s.sador, who had hitherto been her constant visitor and the medium of her intercourse with her family. Indignant at such an interference with her most private feelings, Anne revolted against a tyranny which aroused her southern pride; and complaining that the close confinement to which she was subjected at the Louvre had affected her health, she demanded permission to retire to the Val de Grace; a proposal which was eminently grateful to the Cardinal, who desired above all things to separate her from the Queen-mother. She had, however, no sooner left the palace than she caused M. de Mirabel to be apprised of the place of her retreat; at the same time informing him that she should continue to expect his visits, although he must thenceforward make them as privately as possible. In compliance with these instructions, the Amba.s.sador alighted from his carriage at some distance from the Val de Grace, and proceeded on foot to the convent generally towards the dusk of the evening, believing that by these precautions he should be enabled to baffle the vigilance of the watchful minister. He was, however, soon destined to be undeceived, as Richelieu, having ascertained the fact, openly denounced these meetings in the Council, expatiating upon the fatal effects of which they might be productive to France; while Marie de Medicis boldly supported her daughter-in-law, declaring that any minister who presumed to give laws to the wife of his sovereign exceeded his privilege, and must be prepared to encounter her legitimate and authorized opposition.

In this a.s.sertion she was, moreover, supported by the Duc d'Orleans, who considered himself aggrieved by the non-performance of the promises made by Richelieu to his favourites. He had, it is true, in his turn pledged himself to the King that he would no longer oppose the measures of the minister; but the pledges of Monsieur were known to be as unstable as water; and his chivalrous spirit was, moreover, aroused by the harsh treatment of his young and beautiful sister-in-law, with whom he pa.s.sed a great portion of his time. More than once he had surprised her bathed in tears, had listened to the detail of her wrongs, and soothed her sorrows; and, finally, he had vowed to revenge them.

It would appear that on this occasion at least he was in earnest, as on the 1st of January 1631, when the intense cold rendered the outward air almost unendurable, and the Cardinal had remained throughout the whole morning in his easy chair, rolled up in furs, beside a blazing fire, Monsieur was suddenly announced, and immediately entered the apartment, followed by a numerous train of n.o.bles. Richelieu rose in alarm to receive him, for he remembered a previous visit of Monsieur which was as unexpected as the present one, and probably not more threatening.

"To what, Sir," he asked with a slight tremor in his voice, as he advanced towards the Prince with a profound bow, "am I to attribute the honour of this unexpected favour?"

"To my anxiety to apprise you," said Gaston without returning his salutation, "that it was contrary to my own inclination that I lately promised you my friendship. I recall that promise, for I cannot keep it to a man of your description, who, moreover, insults my mother."

As the Prince ceased speaking the n.o.bles by whom he was accompanied laid their hands upon their swords, and the petrified Cardinal stood speechless and motionless before them, unable to articulate a syllable.

"As for myself," pursued Gaston, "I have too long submitted to your insolence, and you deserve that I should chastise you as I would a lackey. Your priestly robe alone protects you from my vengeance; but beware! You are now warned; and henceforward nothing shall form your security against the chastis.e.m.e.nt reserved for those who outrage persons of my quality. For the present I shall retire to Orleans, but you will soon hear of me again at the head of an armed force; and then, Monsieur le Cardinal, we will decide who shall hold precedence in France, a Prince of the Blood Royal, or a nameless adventurer."

With this threat, Monsieur turned and left the room, closely followed by the Cardinal, whom he overwhelmed with insult until he had descended the stairs; and even while the pale and agitated minister obsequiously held the stirrup to a.s.sist him to mount, he continued his vituperations; then, s.n.a.t.c.hing at the bridle, he dashed through the gates, and disappeared at full speed with his retinue.[144]

Alarmed at the menacing att.i.tude a.s.sumed by the Duc d'Orleans, Richelieu renewed his attempts to conciliate the Queen-mother, not only personally, but also through the medium of those about her. All these efforts, however, proved abortive; and although the King himself deeply and openly resented her resolute estrangement from the Cardinal, by whom he was at this period entirely governed, nothing could induce her to listen to such a proposal; and she was further strengthened in her resolve by the representations of her partisans, who constantly a.s.sured her of her popularity with the people, and a.s.serted that they were loud in their denunciations of the weakness of the sovereign, and the tyranny of his minister; while they antic.i.p.ated from their experience of the past that she would, by maintaining her own dignity, place some curb upon the encroaching ambition of a man who was rapidly undermining the monarchy, and sapping the foundations of the throne.

Having failed in this endeavour, Richelieu resolved no longer to delay his cherished project of effecting the exile of his former benefactress; and as a preliminary measure, he no sooner ascertained that the Duc d'Orleans had indeed retired to his government than he insinuated to Louis that Monsieur had been instigated to this overt act of opposition by the counsels of Marie de Medicis. When reproached with this new offence, the Queen-mother denied that she had encouraged the Prince to leave the capital; bitterly remarking that she was not so rich in friends as to desire the absence of any who still remembered that she was the mother and mother-in-law of the two greatest monarchs in Europe; that she had given one Queen to England, another to Spain, and a female sovereign to Savoy; and that she was moreover the widow of Henry the Great.

Little credence was, however, vouchsafed to these disclaimers; the Cardinal coldly remarking that Gaston never acted save in conformity with her will; and Louis loudly declaring that his brother had been urged to his disobedience entirely by herself, in order to gratify her hatred of his minister.[145]

The struggle continued. Encouraged by her adherents, and calculating on the feeble health of the King, who had never rallied from the severe attack by which he had been prostrated at Lyons, Marie de Medicis still flattered herself that she should ultimately triumph; an opinion in which she was confirmed by the astrologers, in whom, as we have already shown, she placed the most unbounded faith. One of these charlatans had a.s.sured her that at the close of the year 1631 she would be more powerful and fortunate than she had ever before been; and she had such perfect confidence in the prophecy that when it was uttered, although at that period surrounded by difficulty and danger, she had replied with a calm and satisfied smile: "That is sufficient. I have therefore now only to be careful of my health."

The retirement of Monsieur to Orleans tended to strengthen these idle and baseless hopes; and the flatterers of the Queen-mother consequently found little difficulty in persuading her that ere long half the nation would rise to avenge her wrongs; that all the great n.o.bles would rally round the Duc d'Orleans; and that the princ.i.p.al cities, weary of the despotism of Richelieu, would declare in favour of the heir-presumptive, in the event of the King still seeking to support his obnoxious minister.

Misled by these a.s.surances, and consulting only her own pa.s.sions, Marie de Medicis no longer hesitated. She refused to acknowledge the authority of the Cardinal, not only as regarded her own personal affairs, but also in matters of state; and absented herself from the Council, loudly declaring that her only aim in life hereafter would be to accomplish his ruin. The infatuated Princess had ceased to remember that she was braving no common adversary, and that she was heaping up coals of fire which could not fail one day to fall back upon her own head; for resolute, fearless, and vehement as she was, she had to contend against the first diplomatist of the age, whose whole career had already sufficiently demonstrated that he was utterly uninfluenced by those finer feelings which have so frequently prevented a good man from becoming great. What were to Richelieu the memories of the past? Mere incentives to the ambition of the future. Concini had been his first friend, and he had abandoned him to the steel of the a.s.sa.s.sin so soon as his patronage had become oppressive. Marie herself had overwhelmed him with benefits, but she had now lost her power, and he, who had won, was resolved to keep it. He had dared to talk of pa.s.sion to the wife of his sovereign, by whom he had been repulsed, and fearfully had he resented the affront. Such a man was no meet antagonist for the impulsive and imprudent Princess who had now entered the lists against him; and the issue of the conflict was certain.

Richelieu meekly bent his head before the storm of words by which he was a.s.sailed, but he did not remain inactive. Having resolved to terminate a rivalry for power which disorganized all his measures and fettered all his movements; and, moreover, to retain the influence which he had acquired over the mind of the weak and indolent monarch; he held long and frequent conferences with the Capuchin Father Joseph, in which it was finally decided that the Cardinal should induce his royal master to exile his mother to Moulins or some other fortified city at a distance from the capital, under a strong guard; and afterwards to surprise Monsieur and take him prisoner, before he should have time to fortify himself in Orleans, or to establish his residence in a frontier province where he could be a.s.sisted by the Emperor of Germany or the King of Spain; both of whom were at that moment earnestly endeavouring to foment discord in the French Court, and would not fail to embrace so favourable an opportunity, should time be allowed for the Prince to solicit their aid.

Had Marie de Medicis possessed more caution, Richelieu might well have doubted his power to induce her to leave the capital, where her popularity would have ensured her safety; but he had not forgotten that when he sought to dissuade her from following her son in his Italian campaign, she had resolutely replied: "I will accompany the King wherever he may see fit to go; and I will never cease to demand justice upon the author of the dissensions which now embitter the existence of the royal family."

Convinced that she would keep her word, and anxious to see her safely beyond the walls of Paris, the Cardinal accordingly began to impress more urgently than ever upon Louis his conviction that a conspiracy had been formed against his authority, if not against his life; and that not only were the Queen-mother and Monsieur involved in this nefarious plot, but also some of the greatest n.o.bles and ladies of the Court. As he had antic.i.p.ated, the King at once took alarm, and entreated him to devise some method by which he might evade so great a danger.

"Your Majesty may rest a.s.sured that I have not neglected so imperative a duty," replied Richelieu with a calm smile which at once tended to rea.s.sure his royal dupe. "If the peril be great, the means of escape are easy. You have only, Sire, to leave Paris, and organize a hunt at Compiegne. The Queen-mother will no doubt follow you thither; in which case we will profit by the opportunity to make her such advantageous offers as may induce her to accede to your wishes, and to separate herself from the cabal; and even in the event of her declining the journey, and remaining in Paris during your absence, we may equally succeed in removing from about her person the individuals who are now labouring to excite her discontent; and this object once attained, there can be little doubt that she will become more yielding and submissive.

Monsieur is, as I am informed, about to levy troops in the different provinces, and to provoke a civil war; but he will, as a natural consequence, abandon this project when deprived of the support of the Queen, and will be ready to make his submission when he is no longer in correspondence with her Majesty."

Louis eagerly acceded to the suggestion of the crafty Cardinal, and desired that preparations might be made for his departure in the course of the ensuing month; expressing at the same time his sense of the service rendered to him by the minister.[146] Richelieu felt the whole extent of his triumph. Once beyond the walls of Paris, Marie de Medicis was in the toils, and her overthrow was a.s.sured; while, as he had antic.i.p.ated, on being informed of the projected journey, she at once declared her determination to accompany the King, and resolutely refused to listen to the exhortations of her friends, by whom she was earnestly dissuaded from leaving the capital.