Increasing trials of the exiled Queen—Her property is seized on the frontier—She determines to conciliate the Cardinal—Richelieu remains implacable—Far-reaching ambition of the minister—Weakness of Louis XIII—Insidious arguments of Richelieu—Marie de Medicis is again urged to abandon her adherents—Cowardly policy of Monsieur—He signs a treaty with Spain—The Queen-mother refuses to join in the conspiracy—Puylaurens induces Monsieur to accept the proffered terms of Richelieu—He escapes secretly from Brussels—–Gaston pledges himself to the King to “love the Cardinal “—Gaston again refuses to repudiate his wife—Puylaurens obtains the hand of a relative of the minister and becomes Duc de Puylaurens—Monsieur retires to Blois.
CHAPTER XII
1635-38
Richelieu resolves to accomplish the disgrace of Puylaurens—Gaston proceeds to Paris during the Carnival, and his favourite is arrested in the Louvre-He is conveyed to Vincennes, where he dies—The Queen-mother and Madame take up their abode at Antwerp—Marie de Medicis solicits the protection of the Pope—Her letter is coldly received—She is accused by Richelieu of favouring the Spanish cause—She endeavours to dissuade Louis XIII from a war with Spain, and her arguments are haughtily repulsed—Her envoy is ordered to quit the capital—The Queen-mother once more appeals to the Sovereign-Pontiff, who declines to excite against himself the enmity of the Cardinal-Minister—Louis XIII pursues the war with Spain—Monsieur and the Comte de Soissons enter into a conspiracy to assassinate Richelieu—The Queen-mother joins the faction—The plot is betrayed—Gaston returns to his allegiance—Marie de Medicis induces the Comte de Soissons to enter into a treaty with Spain—The intrigue is discovered by the Cardinal—The Queen-mother once more solicits an asylum in England—Charles I. accedes to her request, and endeavours to effect her reconciliation with the French King—Richelieu determines Louis to reply by a refusal—Monsieur abandons his wife, who becomes dependent for her support upon the Spanish Government—Insignificance of Gaston—The Duchess of Savoy endeavours to effect the recall of her royal mother to France—The three Churchmen—Pregnancy of Anne of Austria—Renewed hopes of the Queen-mother—She is again urged to reside in Tuscany—She proceeds to Holland, and is magnificently received—The Prince of Orange intercedes in her behalf with the French King—Richelieu reiterates his wish that she should retire to Florence—The Dutch request her to leave the country—Marie de Medicis embarks for England—She is received at Gravesend by Charles I.—Takes up her abode in St. James’s Palace—Meeting between the two Queens—Precarious position of the English King—The Court of the Queen-mother—The French Ambassador is instructed to abstain from all intercourse with the royal exile—A last appeal—–Obduracy of the Cardinal—Richelieu, his sovereign, and his benefactress.