1620
Louis XIII creates numerous Knights of the Holy Ghost without reference
to the wishes of his mother--Indignation of Marie de Medicis--Policy of
De Luynes--Richelieu aspires to the cardinalate--A Court quarrel--The
Comtesse de Soissons conspires to strengthen the party of the
Queen-mother--Several of the great Princes proceed to Angers to urge
Marie to take up arms--Alarm of the favourite--He seeks to propitiate
the Duc de Guise--The double marriage--Caustic reply of the Duc de
Guise--Royal alliances--An ex-Regent and a new-made Duke--The
Queen-mother is threatened with hostilities should she refuse to return
immediately to the capital--She remains inflexible--Condé advises the
King to compel her obedience--De Luynes enters into a negotiation with
Marie--An unskilful envoy--Louis XIII heads his army in Normandy--Alarm
of the rebel Princes---They lay down their arms, and the King marches
upon the Loire--The Queen-mother prepares to oppose him--She garrisons
Angers--The Duc de Mayenne urges her to retire to Guienne--She
refuses--Treachery of Richelieu--League between Richelieu and De
Luynes--Marie de Medicis negotiates with the King--Louis declines her
conditions--The defeat at the Ponts de Cé--Submission of the
Queen-mother--A royal interview--Courtly duplicity--Marie retires to
Chinon--The Ducs de Mayenne and d'Epernon lay down their arms--The Court
assemble at Poitiers to meet the Queen-mother--Louis proceeds to
Guienne, and Marie de Medicis to Fontainebleau--The King compels the
resumption of the Romish faith in Béarn--The Court return to Paris.
As no Chevaliers of the Order of the Holy Ghost had been created since
the death of Henri IV, their number had so much decreased that only
twenty-eight remained; and De Luynes, aware that himself and his
brothers would necessarily be included in the next promotion, urged
Louis XIII to commence the year (1620) by conferring so coveted an
honour upon the principal nobles of the kingdom. The suggestion was
favourably received; and so profusely adopted, that no less than
fifty-five individuals were placed upon the list, at the head of which
stood the name of the Duc d'Anjou. But although some of the proudest
titles in France figured in this creation, it included several of minor
rank who would have been considered ineligible during the preceding
reigns; a fact which was attributed to the policy of the favourite, who
was anxious to render so signal a distinction less obnoxious in his own
case and that of his relatives; while others were omitted whose
indignation at this slight increased the ranks of the malcontents.[45]
Marie de Medicis, who had not yet forgiven the royal declaration in
favour of the Prince de Condé, 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 Condé 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; Condé 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 Condé; while Mayenne,
Longueville, and several others espoused the cause of the Comte
de Soissons.
It is almost ludicrous to be compelled to record that out of a quarrel,
originating in a servile endeavour on the part of the two principal
nobles of a great nation to usurp the functions of a _maître-d'hôtel_,
grew an attempt at civil war, which, had not the treachery of Richelieu
nipped it in the bud, might have involved France in a sanguinary and
unnatural series of conflicts that would have rendered that country a
frightful spectacle to all Europe. Thus it was, however; for the
Comtesse de Soissons, the mother of the young Prince, who was then only
in his seventeenth year, eagerly seized so favourable an opportunity to
weaken the party of the Prince de Condé, whose sudden influence
threatened the future prospects of her son, by attaching to the cause of
Marie de Medicis all the nobles who were opposed to the favourite, and
consequently to the first Prince of the Blood by whom he was supported
in his pretensions.
The ambition of the Countess was to obtain for her young son the hand of
Madame Henriette de France, the third sister of the King; an alliance
which she was aware would be strenuously opposed by Condé, and which she
could only hope to accomplish through the good offices of the
Queen-mother; and it was consequently essential that, in order to carry
out her views, she should labour to augment the faction of Marie. Her
efforts were successful; between the 29th of March and the 30th of June
the Ducs de Mayenne and de Vendôme, the Grand Prior (the brother of the
latter), the Comte de Candale, the Archbishop of Toulouse, and Henry of
Savoy, Duc de Nemours, all proceeded to Angers; an example which was
speedily followed by the Comte and Comtesse de Soissons, and the Ducs de
Longueville, de Trémouille, de Retz, and de Rohan; who, one and all,
urged Marie de Medicis once more to take up arms, and assert her
authority.[47]
These successive defections greatly alarmed the favourite, who became
more than ever urgent for the return of the Queen-mother to the capital;
but a consciousness of her increasing power, together with the insidious
advice of Richelieu, rendered her deaf alike to his representations and
to his promises. In this extremity De Luynes resolved to leave no means
untried to regain the Duc de Guise; and for this purpose the King was
easily persuaded to propose a double marriage in his family, by which it
was believed that his own allegiance and that of the Prince de Condé to
the royal cause, or rather to that of the favourite, would be alike
secured. M. de Condé was to give his daughter to the Prince de
Joinville, the elder son of M. de Guise; while the latter's third son,
the Duc de Joyeuse, was to become the husband of Mademoiselle de Luynes.
The marriage articles were accordingly drawn up, although the two
last-named personages were still infants at the breast; but when he took
the pen in his hand to sign the contract, De Guise hesitated, and
appeared to reflect.
"What are you thinking of, Monsieur le Duc?" inquired Louis, as he
remarked the hesitation of the Prince.
"I protest to you, Sire," was the reply, "that, while looking at the
name of the bride, I had forgotten my own, and that I was seeking to
recall it."
De Luynes bit his lips and turned away, while a general smile proved how
thoroughly the meaning of the haughty Duke had been appreciated by the
courtiers.[48]
In addition to these comparatively unimportant alliances, two others of
a more serious nature were also mooted at this period, namely, those of
Monsieur (the King's brother) with Mademoiselle de Montpensier, the
daughter of the Duchesse de Guise; and of Madame Henriette de France
with the Comte de Soissons; a double project which afforded to the
favourite an admirable pretext for despatching Brantès, the
newly-created Duc de Luxembourg, to Angers, to solicit the consent of
the Queen-mother, and to entreat her to reappear at Court and thus
sanction by her presence the decision of the sovereign.
"The King has determined wisely," was her reply; "and the affair can be
concluded when I am once more in the capital. I feel satisfied that his
Majesty will not decide upon either of the marriages during my absence;
but will remember not merely what is due to me as a Queen, but also as
a mother."
"Am I then authorized to state, Madame, that you will shortly arrive in
Paris?" demanded the envoy.
"I shall immediately return, Sir," coldly replied Marie, "when I can do
so with honour; but this can only be when the King shall have issued a
declaration which may repair the injury done to my administration by
that which he conceded to the Prince de Condé."
The Duke attempted to remonstrate, but he was haughtily silenced; and
thus saw himself compelled to retire from the presence of the irritated
Princess with the conviction that he had utterly failed to produce the
effect anticipated from his mission.[49]
As a last resource the Duc de Montbazon was once more despatched to the
Queen-mother, with full authority to satisfy all her demands, whatever
might be their nature; and also with instructions to warn her that,
should she still refuse to obey the commands of the King, she would be
compelled to do so; while, at the same time, he was commissioned to
announce that Louis was ready to receive her at Tours as he had formerly
done, in order to convince her of his anxiety to terminate their
misunderstanding. This portion of his mission was, however, strongly
combated alike by M. de Condé and the ministers, who saw in it a proof
of weakness unworthy of a great sovereign; but the apprehensions of the
favourite so far outweighed his sense of what was due to the dignity of
his royal master, that he refused to listen to their representations,
and Louis accordingly left the capital, and advanced slowly towards the
province of Angoumois, awaiting the result of this new negotiation.
Marie remained inflexible; Richelieu had not yet accomplished his
object; and the King, who had already reached Orleans, returned to
Paris, to the great triumph of the Queen-mother's faction. Months were
wasted in this puerile struggle, which contrasted strangely with the
important interests which at that period occupied the attention of all
other European sovereigns; and meanwhile the faction of Marie de Medicis
became more formidable from day to day; until, finally, the Prince de
Condé declared his conviction that stringent measures could alone secure
to the monarch any hope of averting the serious consequences with which
he was threatened by the disaffection of his most powerful nobles. De
Luynes was quite ready to adopt this reasoning in order to ensure his
own safety; but it met with earnest opposition from the Cardinal de
Retz, Arnoux, and many others of the favourite's confidential friends,
who dreaded that by the fall of Marie de Medicis, Condé, whose ambitious
views were evident to all, would attain to a degree of authority and
power against which they could not hope successfully to contend; and
they accordingly counselled their patron rather to effect his own
reconciliation with the exiled Queen, and by rendering himself necessary
alike to the mother and the son, at once strengthen his own influence
and weaken that of the first Prince of the Blood.
In accordance with this advice De Luynes entered into a negotiation with
Marie, during the course of which the Marquis de Blainville was
despatched several times to Angers, authorized to hold out the most
brilliant promises should she consent to resume her position at the
French Court. Unfortunately, however, the zealous envoy overacted his
part by assuring her that De Luynes was strongly attached to her person,
and anxious only to secure her interests; a declaration which instantly
startled her suspicious temper into additional caution; but his next
step proved even more fatal to the cause he had been deputed
to advocate.
"I can assure you, Madame," he went on to say, encouraged by the
attentive attitude of his royal auditor, "that M. le Duc has ever
entertained the most perfect respect towards your Majesty. More than
once, indeed, it has been suggested to him to secure your person, and
either to commit you to Vincennes, or to compel your return to
Florence; nay, more; a few of your most inveterate enemies, Madame, have
not hesitated to advise still more violent measures, and have
endeavoured to convince him that his own safety could only be secured by
your destruction; but M. de Luynes has universally rejected these
counsels with indignation and horror; and this fact must suffice to
prove to your Majesty that you can have nothing to apprehend from a man
so devoted to your cause that he has undeviatingly made his own
interests subservient to yours."
This argument, which, while it revolted her good sense, revealed to the
Queen-mother the whole extent of the risk that she must inevitably incur
by placing herself in the power of an individual who had suffered such
measures to be mooted in his presence, produced the very opposite effect
to that which it had been intended to elicit; and it was consequently
with a more fixed determination than ever that Marie clung to the
comparatively independent position she had secured, and thus rendered
the negotiation useless.[50]
The alarm of De Luynes increased after this failure, and having become
convinced of the impolicy of provoking a second civil war, he continued
his attempts at a reconciliation through other channels; but as each in
turn proved abortive, he began to tremble lest by affording more time
for the consolidation of the Queen's faction, he might ultimately work
his own overthrow; and it was consequently determined that the advice of
the Prince de Condé should be adopted. The delay which had already
taken place had, however, sufficed to permit of a coalition among the
Princes which rendered the party of the malcontents more formidable than
any which had yet been opposed to the royal authority; and it was not
without considerable misgivings that, early in July, De Luynes
accompanied the King to the frontier of Normandy, where it had been
decided that he should place himself at the head of his army.[51]
Before leaving the capital it was considered expedient that Louis should
attend a meeting of the Parliament, in order to justify the extreme step
which he was about to take; and he accordingly presented himself before
that body, to whom he declared the excessive repugnance with which he
found himself under the imperative necessity of taking up arms against
the Queen his mother, and excused himself upon the plea of her having
headed the malcontents, by whom the safety of the throne and kingdom was
endangered; and, this empty formality accomplished, little attention was
conceded to the recommendation of the President and Advocate-General,
who implored of his Majesty to adopt less offensive measures, and to
avoid so long as it might be in his power an open war with his august
parent.[52] Louis had complied with the ceremony required of him; and
while De Luynes was trembling for his tenure of power, the young
sovereign was equally anxious to commence a campaign which promised
some relief from the tedium of his everyday existence, and some prospect
of his definitive release from the thraldom of the adverse faction.
The success of the royal army exceeded the most sanguine expectations of
the young sovereign, and awakened in him that passion for war by which
he was subsequently distinguished throughout the whole of his reign. The
Ducs de Longueville and de Vendôme, alarmed by a manifestation of energy
for which they were not prepared, and fearing the effects of further
resistance, scarcely made an effort to oppose him; and thus, in an
incredibly short space of time, he possessed himself of Rouen, Caen,
Alençon, and Vendôme; and advanced upon the Loire at the head of his
whole army.
This unlooked-for celerity caused the greatest consternation in the
party of Marie, who had anticipated that the conquest of Normandy would
have occupied the royal forces during a considerable period, and relying
on this contingency, had not yet completed the defences of Angers. The
Queen herself, however, continued to refuse all overtures of
reconciliation, and after having vainly demanded a month's truce, she
turned her whole attention to the formation of such an army as might
enable her to compete with that by which she saw herself assailed. Her
forces already amounted to fifteen hundred horse and eight thousand
infantry, and she was anticipating a strong reinforcement, which was to
be supplied by the Duc de Rohan and the Comte de Saint-Aignan. Her first
care was to garrison the town and citadel of Angers, in order to secure
her personal safety; but this precaution did not satisfy the Duc de
Mayenne, who urged her to retire to Guienne, where he had collected a
force of ten thousand men, and thus to place herself beyond all
possibility of capture. The Duc d'Epernon, on the other hand, who was
jealous of the influence which such a step must necessarily give to his
rival, strongly dissuaded the Queen from condescending to retreat before
the royal army; and suggested that M. de Mayenne would more effectually
serve her cause and uphold her honour by marching his troops to Angers,
and thus strengthening her position. This suggestion, by whatever motive
it were prompted, was one of sound policy; nor can there be any doubt
that it would have been readily adopted by Marie de Medicis, had there
not been a traitor in the camp, whose covert schemes must have been
foiled by such an addition to the faction of his royal mistress.
That traitor was Richelieu, by whom every movement in the rebel army,
and every decision of the Queen-mother's Council, was immediately
revealed to De Luynes. The wily Bishop, faithful to his own interests,
and lured onward by the vision of a cardinal's hat, no sooner saw the
impression produced upon the mind of Marie by the proposal of Epernon
than he hastened to oppose a measure which threatened all his hopes, and
succeeded with some difficulty in persuading her that both these great
nobles could more effectually serve her in their own governments than by
adding a useless burthen to her dower-city, which was already gorged
with troops, and which, in the event of a siege, might suffer more from
internal scarcity than external violence.
Bewildered by the uncertainty of the struggle which was about to
supervene, Marie de Medicis was readily induced to believe in the wisdom
of securing two havens of refuge in case of defeat, and to renounce the
peril of hazarding all at one blow. The arguments of Richelieu were
specious; she had the most perfect faith in his attachment and fidelity;
and thus, despite the most earnest remonstrances of her other
counsellors, she decided upon following the suggestions of the man who
was seeking to build up his own fortunes upon the ruin of her hopes.[53]
Neither Richelieu nor De Luynes were deceived as to the feeling which
thus induced them to make common cause. There was no affectation of
regard or confidence on either side; their mutual hatred was matter of
notoriety, but they were essential to each other. Without the aid of the
favourite, the Bishop of Luçon could never hope to attain the seat in
the Conclave which was the paramount object of his ambition; while De
Luynes, on his side, was apprehensive that should the army of the King
be defeated, his own overthrow must necessarily result, or that, in the
event of success, the Prince de Condé would become all-powerful: an
alternative which presented the same danger to his own prospects. Thus
both the one and the other, convinced that by stratagem alone they could
carry out their personal views, eagerly entered into a secret
negotiation, which terminated in a pledge that Richelieu should succeed
to a cardinalate provided he delivered up his too confiding mistress to
the royal troops when they marched upon the Fonts de Cé.
This fortress, which protected the passage to Anjou, was only a league
distant from Angers, where the Queen-mother had taken up her residence;
and Richelieu, to whom its safety had been confided, no sooner effected
a final understanding with De Luynes than he removed all the ammunition
from the fortress, and placed his own relatives and friends in command
of the garrison, with full instructions as to the part which they were
to enact when confronted with the troops of the sovereign.
Although wholly unsuspicious of the treachery of which she was thus
destined to become the victim, the alarm of the Queen-mother was excited
by the rapid approach of her son, and she at length resolved to attempt
a tardy reconciliation; for which purpose she despatched the Duc de
Bellegarde, the Archbishop of Sens, and the Jesuit Bérulle to the King
with an offer to that effect. Louis received her envoys with great
courtesy, and declared himself ready to make every concession as
regarded Marie personally, and even to extend his pardon to the Comte
and Comtesse de Soissons; but he peremptorily refused to include the
other disaffected nobles in the amnesty; when the Queen, on her side,
declined every arrangement which involved the abandonment of her
followers; and thus the negotiation failed in its object, while the
royal army continued to advance.[54]
On reaching La Flèche the King convened a council, at which it was
proposed to besiege the city of Angers; but Louis, who was aware of the
plot that had been formed between De Luynes and Richelieu, declared that
his respect for his mother would not permit him to attack a town in
which she had taken up her abode; while he even instructed the Duc de
Bellegarde to propose to her fresh conditions of peace, and to assure
her that his intention in approaching so near to her stronghold was
simply to secure an interview, and to induce her to return with him to
the capital.
This assurance produced the desired effect upon Marie de Medicis, who
was becoming alike wearied and disgusted by the perilous position in
which she had been placed by the unexpected energy of her son; and she
consequently hastened to sign the treaty. But the concession came too
late. On the previous day, Bassompierre, Créquy, and several other
officers of rank marched to Sorges, within a league of the Fonts de Cé,
at the head of their men, for the mere purpose of skirmishing; they,
however, met with no opposition, and they finally reached the bridge,
where five thousand troops of the Queen-mother were entrenched. These
they attacked; and at the third charge the whole body fled in such
confusion that the royal forces entered with them pell-mell into the
city. The command of the fort had been given to the Duc de Retz, who,
apprised by the Cardinal his uncle that the Queen-mother had been
betrayed, hastily effected his escape, and the castle was surrendered at
the first summons. In vain did the Duc de Bellegarde represent that the
town had been taken after the Queen had signed the treaty of
reconciliation, and complain that this outrage had been committed
subsequently to the conclusion of a peace proposed by the sovereign; the
Prince de Condé, desirous of mortifying Marie de Medicis, only replied
that the messenger should have made greater haste to deliver so
important a document, as the King's officers were not called upon to
divine the nature of the Queen's decision.[55]
On the following day Louis himself entered Ponts de Cé, where he was
surprised to find the shops open, and the inhabitants as quietly
pursuing their avocations as though no rumour of war had reached their
ears. The shouts of "Vive le Roi!" were as energetic as those of "Vive
la Reine!" had been only a few weeks previously; and thus, through the
selfish treason of two ambitious and unprincipled individuals, Marie de
Medicis, who at once felt that all further opposition must be
fruitless, saw the powerful faction which it had cost her so much
difficulty and so hard a struggle to combine, totally overthrown, and
herself reduced, even while she still possessed an army of thirty
thousand men in Poitou, Angoumois, and Guienne, to accept such
conditions as it might please the King to accord to her.
Bewildered by the defeat of her troops and the loss of Ponts de Cé, the
unhappy Queen resolved to effect her escape, and to throw herself on the
protection of the Ducs de Mayenne and d'Epernon; but this project was
defeated by Richelieu, who lost no time in communicating her intentions
to the favourite; and parties of cavalry were in consequence thrown out
in every direction to oppose her passage. Apprised of this precaution,
although unconscious of its origin, Marie perceived that she had no
alternative save submission; and she accordingly declared herself ready
to obey the will of the King, whatever might be its nature; an assurance
to which Louis replied that he was ready to receive her with open arms,
and to grant her requests in so far as they regarded herself personally,
although he was resolved to prove to the leaders of her faction that he
was the master of his own kingdom.[56]
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
Maréchal 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 Condé 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]
Louis having learnt at Poitiers that the Queen was on her way to join
him, immediately proceeded to Tours to await her arrival, and to conduct
her to the former city, whither she accompanied him with all the great
ladies of the Court; and four days subsequently Marie de Medicis
followed with her slender retinue. She was welcomed by Anne of Austria
with haughty courtesy; and during the ensuing week all was revelry and
dissipation. The young Queen gave a splendid ball in honour of her
august mother-in-law; and on the morrow the Jesuits performed a comedy
at which all the Court were present.
It is probable, however, that Marie de Medicis did not enter with much
zest into these diversions, as she could not fail to perceive that the
courtesy evinced towards her was reluctant and constrained; and when, on
the arrival of the Duc de Mayenne, she witnessed the coldness of his
reception, her fears for her own future welfare must have been
considerably augmented. At his first audience Mayenne threw himself at
the feet of the King, protesting his sorrow for the past, and imploring
the royal pardon with all the humility of a criminal, but Louis alike
feared and hated the veteran leaguer, and he replied harshly: "Enough,
M. le Duc; I will forget the past should the future give me cause to do
so." And as he ceased speaking he turned away, leaving the mortified
noble to rise at his leisure from the lowly attitude which he had
assumed.[59]
Two days subsequently the King resumed his journey to Guienne, Marie de
Medicis proceeded to Fontainebleau, and Anne of Austria returned to
Paris. As Louis reached Chizé he was met by the Duc d'Epernon, who, in
his turn, sued for forgiveness, which was accorded without difficulty;
and thus the Queen-mother found herself deprived of her two most
efficient protectors,[60] and clung more tenaciously than ever to the
support of the treacherous Richelieu.
The next care of Louis was to compel the resumption of the Roman
Catholic religion in Béarn; after which he followed the Court to the
capital, whither he had already been preceded by the Queen-mother.
FOOTNOTES:
[45] _Mercure Français_, 1620. _Pièces Curieuses faites durant le Règne
du Connétable de Luynes_, pp. 1-3.
[46] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. v. pp. 70-72. _Vie du Duc d'Epernon_, book
viii. Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 458. Fontenay-Mareuil, _Mém_. p. 458. Le
Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 183, 184. Richelieu, _Hist. de la Mère et du Fils_,
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