Bassompierre had meanwhile greatly distinguished himself at the Pass of Susa, which had been forced by the French troops; and his vigour, activity, and courage had rendered him the idol of the soldiers, who justly attributed to his able exertions no small portion of the success which had attended the royal arms.  The military renown of the brilliant courtier, whom he had hitherto affected to regard merely as a spoilt child of fortune, was, however, highly distasteful to the Cardinal, whose flatterers did not fail to persuade him that the victory was due to his own admirable arrangements, rather than to the valour of any of the generals who had braved the dangers of the hazardous expedition; and he consequently sought to excite the jealousy and suspicion of Louis against the zealous Marechal, who little imagined that his prowess in the field was fated to involve his personal safety.

The sojourn at Susa, a wretched locality in which, while awaiting the ratification of the treaties consequent upon its capture, Louis could not even enjoy the diversion of hunting, soon exhausted the patience of the monarch, who declared his intention of returning to France previous to the conclusion of the necessary arrangements; and although he was earnestly entreated by Soranzo, the Venetian Ambassador, to forego his purpose, he resolutely refused to listen to his representations; and on the 28th of April he accordingly commenced his homeward journey, simply taking the precaution, in order to satisfy his several allies, of leaving Richelieu with a strong body of troops, and full authority to terminate as he should see fit the pending negotiations.  The Cardinal, however, felt as little inclination as his royal master to waste his time and to exhaust his energies at such a distance from the Court; and thus to enable his enemies to gain the unoccupied ear of the King, who was, as he had already experienced, easily swayed by those about him.  During his absence from the capital his emissaries had been careful to report to him every movement of the Queen-mother and the Duc d’Orleans; and he felt that he was lost should they again succeed in acquiring the confidence of the weak and wavering Louis.  Within a fortnight after the departure of the monarch, he consequently made his own hasty preparations for a similar retreat; and having placed six thousand infantry and five hundred horse under the command of the Marechal de Crequy, with orders that he should vigilantly guard the several passes and rigidly enforce the orders of the King, he set forth in his turn for Paris, in order to counteract the designs of the rival faction.