her temperament, and understood it.  Before he had been many days at Angouleme the Duc d’Epernon and his son became aware that they no longer possessed the same influence as heretofore, while the Abbe Rucellai, indignant at the coldness with which his advice was received and his services were requited, withdrew in disgust, accompanied by several of her most attached servants; among others the Marquis de Themines, who, shortly afterwards, irritated by a reverse of fortune which he had not foreseen, sought a pretext of quarrel with Henri de Richelieu, the elder brother of the Bishop of Lucon, whom he challenged and left dead upon the field.  Thus the unhappy Queen now lay wholly at the mercy of her insidious counsellor; while he, on his part, acted with so subtle a policy that his services were alike essential to both parties, and he saw himself in a position to profit by the projected reconciliation, in whatever manner it might be ultimately accomplished.

Meanwhile the Archbishop of Sens, the Comte de Bethune, and the Abbe de Berulle, in conjunction and with the assistance of Richelieu, were still proceeding with the negotiation; and, finally, the King, anxious to terminate the affair, gave a commission to the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld to conclude the treaty.  The conditions were easily agreed upon, as Marie was enslaved by the influence of Richelieu, and disheartened by the lukewarmness of her former friends, while Louis was weary of a contention which made him hateful in the eyes of all Europe, and which fettered his movements without adding to his renown.

On the 30th of April the necessary documents were accordingly signed, and by these the Queen-mother was authorized to constitute her household as she should deem fitting, to reside wherever she thought proper, and to preserve all her revenues intact; while, in consideration of these privileges, she consented to exchange her government of Normandy for that of Anjou.  She was, moreover, to receive six hundred thousand livres for the liquidation of her debts; and M. d’Epernon fifty thousand crowns to indemnify him for the loss of the town of Boulogne, and with his adherents to be declared exonerated from all blame, and permitted to retain possession of their offices under the Crown; and, finally, to the demand made by the Queen-mother that she should be placed in possession of the city and castle of Amboise, or, failing that, of those of Nantes, the Abbe de Berulle was authorized to inform her on the part of the King that “in addition to the government of Anjou, the town and fortress of Angers, and the Ponts de Ce, he was willing to give her, in lieu of what she asked, the city and castle of Tours, together with four hundred men for the protection of those places, a company of gendarmes, and a troop of light-horse, in addition to her bodyguards; the whole to be maintained at his own expense.” [32]