On the conclusion of the treaty a meeting was appointed between the King and his mother at the castle of Brissac, whither he repaired to await her arrival; and she was no sooner made acquainted with this arrangement than she hastened to the place of rendezvous, escorted by five hundred horsemen of the royal army.  She was met midway by the Marechal de Praslin, and a short time afterwards by the Duc de Luxembourg, at the head of a strong party of nobles, by whom she was warmly welcomed; and finally, when she was within a few hundred yards of the castle, Louis himself appeared, who, as her litter approached, alighted in his turn, an example which she immediately followed, and in the next instant they were clasped in each other’s arms.

“I have you now, Madame,” exclaimed the King with a somewhat equivocal smile; “and you shall not escape me again.”

“Sire,” replied the Queen, “you will have little trouble in retaining me, for I meet you with the firm determination never more to leave you, and in perfect confidence that I shall be treated with all the kindness and consideration which I can hope from so good a son.”

These hollow compliments exchanged, Louis retired a pace or two in order to enable the Prince de Conde and the Duc de Luynes to pay their respects to the Queen-mother, by whom they were most graciously received; while Richelieu was no less warmly greeted by the young King and his favourite.  No one, in fine, who had witnessed the scene, could have imagined that heart-burning and hatred were concealed beneath the smiles and blandishments which were to be encountered on all sides; or that among those who then and there bandied honeyed words and gracious greetings, were to be found individuals who had staked their whole future fortunes upon a perilous venture, and many of whom had lost.

After a few days spent at Brissac the King departed for Poitou, while Marie repaired to Chinon, whence she was to follow him in a few days; and thus terminated the second exile of the widow of Henry the Great, even as the first had done, in mortification and defeat.[57]

As a matter of course, the Ducs de Mayenne and d’Epernon no sooner saw that the cause of the Queen-mother had become hopeless than they hastened to make their submission to the King; although the former, fearing that his known hostility to the favourite might militate against his future interests, first endeavoured to induce M. d’Epernon to join him in forming a new faction for their personal protection; but this attempt met with no encouragement, Epernon declaring that as his royal mistress had seen fit to trust to the clemency of the sovereign, he felt bound to follow her example, and that he advised M. de Mayenne to adopt the same course.  Such a reply naturally sufficed to convince his colleague that he had no other alternative; and after the professions usual on such occasions both nobles prepared to lay down their arms.[58]