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 nobles.  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 nobles 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 chastisement 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 assist him to mount, he continued his vituperations; then, snatching at the bridle, he dashed through the gates, and disappeared at full speed with his retinue.[144]

Alarmed at the menacing attitude assumed 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 assured her of her popularity with the people, and asserted that they were loud in their denunciations of the weakness of the sovereign, and the tyranny of his minister; while they anticipated 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.