True, Marie de Medicis was an exile and a wanderer; the royal brothers, through his means, alienated in heart; discord and suspicion rife between the monarch and his neglected wife; while even the first passion of the King’s youth had been quenched by Richelieu’s iron will.  The affection of Louis XIII for Mademoiselle de la Fayette—­an affection which did equal honour to both parties from its notorious and unquestioned propriety, but which has been too frequently recorded to require more than a passing allusion—­had been crossed and thwarted; the fair maid of honour loved and respected Anne of Austria as much as she feared and loathed the Cardinal-Minister; and she was accordingly an obstacle and a stumbling-block to be removed from his path.  She also was immured in a cloister, and was consequently no longer dangerous as a rival in the good graces of the King; yet still Richelieu was far from tranquil; and the petit coucher of the King was to him a subject of unceasing apprehension.  He was well aware that Louis was as unstable as he was distrustful; and thus a new mistress, a new favourite, or even a passing caprice, might, when he was totally unprepared for such an event, suffice to annihilate his best-considered projects.

Poor Marie!  Under such circumstances as these all her efforts at conciliation were vain; and it is probable that she would have sunk under the conviction, had not her failing courage been sustained by the affectionate and earnest representations of her daughter, Henrietta of England.

FOOTNOTES: 

[215] Le Clerc, vol. ii. pp. 197, 198.  Sismondi, vol. xxiii. pp. 253, 254.  Siri, Mem.  Rec. vol. viii. p. 354.

[216] Siri, Mem.  Rec. vol. viii. p. 272.  Le Clerc, vol. ii. pp. 202-207.

[217] Le Vassor, vol. viii. pp. 516, 517.

[218] Le Vassor, vol. ix. pp. 154-160.

[219] Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 489, 490.

[220] Siri, Mem.  Rec. vol. viii. p. 639.  Sismondi, vol. xxiii. pp. 362, 363.

[221] Bibliotheque Royale.  MSS. de Colbert, entitled Affaires de France, No. 2, 1638.

[222] Despatch of Bellievre of the 29th of December.  MSS. de Colbert, No. 26.

[223] MSS. de Bethune, quoted by Capefigue.

[224] Bazin, vol. iv. p. 130.  Le Vassor, vol. ix. pp. 35-40.  Capefigue, vol. v. pp. 342-346.  Sismondi, vol. xxiii. pp. 367-369.  Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 499-501.  Le Clerc, vol. ii. pp. 352-354.

CHAPTER XIII

1639-42