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 asserted, 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 Ambassador, 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 Ambassador 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 assertion 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 passed 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.