Be this as it may, however, it is certain that all parties believed in the utter overthrow of Richelieu; and while he was yet on his way to Versailles, the ballad-singers of the Pont Neuf were publicly distributing the songs and pamphlets which they had hitherto only vended by stealth; and the dwarf of the Samaritaine was delighting the crowd by his mimicry of Maitre Gonin.  At the corners of the different streets groups of citizens were exchanging congratulations; and within the palace all the courtiers were commenting upon the approaching triumph of M. de Marillac, whose attachment to the interests of the Queen-mother and the Duc d’Orleans had rendered him popular not only with the bulk of the people, but also with the Parliament.  Already were the presidents and councillors of the law-courts discussing the charges to be brought against the fallen minister in order to justify his dismissal; while the foreign ambassadors were equally alert in writing to acquaint their several courts with the overthrow of Richelieu and the supremacy of the Queen-mother.

The salons of Marie de Medicis were crowded.  All the great nobles who had hitherto haunted the antechambers of the Cardinal, and awaited his pleasure as humbly as that of the sovereign himself, now swarmed in the gilded galleries and stately halls of the Luxembourg; feathers waved and jewels flashed on every side; the wand of an enchanter had passed over the Court, and the metamorphosis was complete.  In the centre of this brilliant throng stood Marie de Medicis, radiant with joy, and holding the young Queen by the hand; while Monsieur took up his station a few paces from them, laughing and jesting with his favourites.

Heaven only knows what hopes and projects were formed that day—­how many air-built castles were erected which in a few brief hours were fated to vanish into nothingness.  Even Bassompierre, whose courtly tact had never hitherto deserted him, was blinded like the rest; and he, who had hitherto so assiduously paid his court to the Cardinal that he appeared to have forgotten the time when he was devoted heart and soul to the fortunes of the Queen-mother, suffered five days to elapse before he found leisure to bend his steps towards the Petit Luxembourg; an omission which he was subsequently destined to expiate in the dungeons of the Bastille.

Louis, meanwhile, had reached Versailles with his equerry and favourite, M. de Saint-Simon, to whom he bitterly inveighed against the violence of his mother; declaring that he could not dispense with the services of Richelieu, and that he should again have to contend against the same humiliations and difficulties which he had endured throughout the Regency.  As the ill-humour of the King augmented, Saint-Simon privately sent to inform the Cardinal de la Valette of the undisguised annoyance of his Majesty, who was evidently prepared to revoke the dismissal of Richelieu should he be urged to do so; and that prelate, acting upon the suggestion, lost no time in presenting himself before the monarch.  “Cousin,” said Louis with a smile, as M. de la Valette entered the apartment, “you must be surprised at what has taken place.”