“You have but to assert yourself, Sire, and to exert your authority.”

“Were I to do so,” retorted Louis, “I should only incur the hatred and ill-offices of my mother, for I should forthwith visit my vengeance upon her favourite; but we have had brawls enough in France, and I am weary of all these conflicting murmurs.  Induce the Marechal and his wife to quit the country; let them carry away all their wealth, and even bribe them, by new gifts should it be necessary.  Impoverished as she is, France will still be able to find a few thousand crowns with which to purchase their departure.”

Although this extraordinary leniency by no means fulfilled the wishes of De Luynes, he dared not venture further at the moment; and he accordingly induced the Bishop of Carcassonne to propose to the Queen-mother that she should herself suggest the return of Concini and Leonora to Italy.  A year or two previously Marie de Medicis would have repelled such a proposition with anger and impatience, but she had begun to feel that her own authority had been invaded by the Marechal; and she consented to act upon the advice of the prelate.

Heart-stricken by misfortune, the Marechale listened without one expostulation to the order of her royal foster-sister; her ambition had long been crushed, and she pined for rest.  Aware, moreover, that by obeying the wishes of the Queen-mother she should also fulfil those of her husband, she promised immediate compliance with the will of Marie, and forthwith commenced the necessary preparations.

This unqualified acquiescence in the pleasure of the Queen did not, however, satisfy the views of De Luynes, who could not brook that the immense wealth of the Marechal d’Ancre should pass into other hands than his own; and he consequently laboured to impress upon the King that the apparent obedience of Concini was a mere subterfuge, as he publicly boasted that France contained not a single individual who would dare to attempt anything to his prejudice.

“Convince him to the contrary, Sire,” said one of his confidential friends to the young monarch.  “Declare to the Queen-mother your determination to be governed no longer in your own kingdom, although you are still willing to be guided by her advice; and then command the instant departure of her dissimulating favourites.  Do this, and you will not fail to be obeyed.”

“Be not misled, Sire,” said De Luynes in his turn, when this officious but well-meaning counsellor had withdrawn; “your Majesty will not be obeyed so readily as many would lead you to anticipate.  Concini is too rapacious willingly to leave the country while there remains one jewel to be filched from your royal crown; and he is too ambitious to abandon without a struggle the factitious power which he has been permitted to exert.” [274]

“What is to be done then, if the Italian refuses to quit France?  I am in no position to compel his obedience, nor am I inclined to issue an order which I cannot enforce.”