Marie de Medicis, who had not yet forgiven the royal declaration in favour of the Prince de Conde, was additionally irritated that these honours should have been conceded without her participation; for she immediately perceived that the intention of the favourite had been to reserve to himself the credit of obtaining so signal a distinction for the noblemen and gentlemen upon whom it was conferred, and to render her own helplessness more apparent.  As such an outrage required, however, some palliation, and De Luynes was anxious not to drive the Queen-mother to extremity, he induced the King to forward for her inspection the names of those who were about to receive the blue ribbon, offering at the same time to include one or two of her personal adherents should she desire it; but when, in running her eye over the list, Marie perceived that, in addition to the deliberate affront involved in a delay which only enabled her to acquire the knowledge of an event of this importance after all the preliminary arrangements were completed, it had been carefully collated so as to exclude all those who had espoused her own cause, and to admit several who were known to be obnoxious to her, she coldly replied that she had no addition to make to the orders of the King, and returned the document in the same state as she had received it.[46]

The indignation expressed by the Queen-mother on this occasion was skilfully increased by Richelieu, who began to apprehend that so long as Marie remained inactively in her government he should find no opportunity of furthering his own fortunes; while, at the same time, he was anxious to revenge himself upon De Luynes, who had promised to recompense his treachery to his royal mistress by a seat in the Conclave; and it had been confided to him that the first vacant seat was pledged to the Archbishop of Toulouse, the son of the Duc d’Epernon.  In order, therefore, at once to indulge his vengeance, and to render his services more than ever essential to the favourite, and thus wring from his fears what he could not anticipate from his good faith, he resolved to exasperate the Queen-mother, and to incite her to open rebellion against her son and his Government.

Circumstances favoured his project.  The two first Princes of the Blood, M. de Conde and the Comte de Soissons, had at this period a serious quarrel as to who should present the finger-napkin to the King at the dinner-table; Conde claiming that privilege as first Prince of the Blood, and Soissons maintaining that it was his right as Grand Master of the Royal Household.  The two great nobles, heedless of the presence of the sovereign, both seized a corner of the serviette, which either refused to relinquish; and the quarrel became at length so loud and so unseemly that Louis endeavoured to restore peace by commanding that it should be presented by his brother the Duc d’Anjou.  But although the two angry Princes were compelled to yield the object of contention, he could not reduce them to silence; and this absurd dissension immediately split the Court into two factions; the Duc de Guise and the friends of the favourite declaring themselves for Conde; while Mayenne, Longueville, and several others espoused the cause of the Comte de Soissons.