Richelieu resolves to undermine the power of Austria--State of Europe--Opposition of the Queen-mother to a new war--Perseverance of the Cardinal--Anne of Austria joins the faction of Marie de Medicis-Gaston is appointed General of the royal army--Richelieu retires from the Court--Alarm of Louis XIII--A King and his minister--Louis leaves Paris for the seat of war--Monsieur is deprived of his command, and retires to Dauphiny--Marie de Gonzaga is sent to the fortress of Vincennes--Monsieur consents to forego his marriage until it shall receive the royal sanction, and the Princess returns to the Louvre--Marie is invested with a partial regency--Forebodings of the Cardinal--Termination of the campaign--Renewed discord--Richelieu becomes jealous of Bassompierre--Louis abandons his army, and is followed by the minister--Counterplots--An offended mistress and an ex-favourite--A hollow peace--Gaston retires to the Court of Lorraine, where he becomes enamoured of the Princesse Marguerite--The Cardinal invites him to return to Paris--Monsieur accepts the proposed conditions--The French troops march upon Piedmont--Richelieu is appointed Lieutenant-General of the royal forces in Italy--The King resolves to follow him--Anxiety of Marie de Medicis to avoid a rupture with Spain--Dissensions between the two Queens--Mademoiselle de Hautefort--Failing influence of Marie de Medicis--Self-distrust of the King--The Queen-mother endeavours to effect a reconciliation between her sons.
[CHAPTER VII]
1630
Gaston returns to France--Precarious position of the French armies--Death of the Duke of Savoy--The French besiege Pignerol--Richelieu urges the King to possess himself of the Duchy of Savoy--Marie de Medicis opposes the measure--Louis XIII overruns Savoy--The French lose Mantua--Jules Mazarin--The King is attacked by fever at Lyons--Moral effects of his indisposition--He consents to dismiss the Cardinal from office--Reconciliation of the royal family--The Court return to the capital--Richelieu endeavours to regain the favour of the Queen-mother--Policy of Marie--Richelieu seeks to effect the disgrace of Marillac--The two Queens unite their interests--Meeting of the royal brothers--Gaston inveighs bitterly against the Cardinal--The Queen-mother takes up her abode at the Luxembourg--Louis proceeds in state to bid her welcome--Monsieur publicly affronts Richelieu--A treaty is concluded with Italy--Public rejoicings in Paris--Marie dismisses the Cardinal and his relations from her household--A drama at Court--Richelieu prepares to leave Paris; but is dissuaded, and follows the King to Versailles--Exultation of the citizens at the anticipated overthrow of the Cardinal-Minister--The courtiers crowd the Luxembourg--Bassompierre at fault--Triumph of Richelieu--Hypocrisy of the Cardinal--"The Day of Dupes"--A regal minister--The Marillacs are disgraced--Anne of Austria is suspected of maintaining a secret correspondence with Spain--Gaston conspires with the two Queens against Richelieu--Divided state of the French Court--A fête at the Louvre.
[CHAPTER VIII]
1631
Richelieu interdicts all correspondence between Anne of Austria and the King of Spain--The Queen asks permission to retire to the Val de Grâce--Her persecution by the Cardinal--Marie de Medicis protects her interests--Monsieur pledges himself to support her cause--Gaston defies the minister--Alarm of Richelieu--He resolves to effect the exile of the Queen-mother--Monsieur quits the capital--Superstition of Marie de Medicis--An unequal struggle--Father Joseph and his patron--The Queen-mother resolves to accompany her son to Italy--Richelieu assures the King that Marie and Gaston have organized a conspiracy against his life--The Court proceed to Compiègne--The Queen-mother refuses to retain her seat in the Council--Richelieu regains all his influence over the King--Revenge of the Cardinal upon his enemies--Desperate position of Marie de Medicis--Her arrest is determined upon by the Council--Louis leaves her a prisoner at Compiègne--Parting interview of the two Queens--Indignity offered to Anne of Austria--Death of the Princesse de Conti--Indignation of the royal prisoner--A diplomatic correspondence--Two noble gaolers--The royal troops pursue Monsieur--The adherents of Gaston are declared guilty of lèse-majesté--Gaston addresses a declaration to the Parliament--The Queen-mother forwards a similar protest, and then appeals to the people--A paper war--The garrison is withdrawn from Compiègne--Marie resolves to effect her escape to the Low Countries--She is assured of the protection of Spain and Germany--The Queen-mother secretly leaves the fortress--She is betrayed by the Marquis de Vardes, and proceeds with all speed to Hainault, pursued by the royal troops--She is received at Mons by the Archduchess Isabella--Whence she addresses a letter to the King to explain the motives of her flight--Reply of Louis XIII--Sympathy of Isabella--The two Princesses proceed to Brussels--Triumphal entry of Marie de Medicis into the capital of Flanders--Renewed hopes of the exiled Queen--The Belgian Ambassador at the French Court--Vindictive counsels of the Cardinal--The property of the Queen-mother and Monsieur is confiscated--They are abandoned by many of their adherents--Richelieu is created a duke--A King and his minister--Marie consents to the marriage of Monsieur with Marguerite de Lorraine--The followers of the Queen-mother and the Duc d'Orléans are tried and condemned--Louis XIII proceeds to Lorraine to prevent the projected alliance of his brother--Intrigues of Gaston--Philip of Spain refuses to adopt the cause of Marie de Medicis--Marriage of Monsieur and the Princesse de Lorraine--The Queen-mother endeavours to negotiate her return to France--Richelieu determines the King not to consent--Charles de Lorraine makes his submission to the French monarch--And signs a compulsory treaty.
[CHAPTER IX]
1632
Gaston d'Orléans proceeds to Brussels--His reception--Vanity of Monsieur--Exultation of the Spanish Cabinet--Montmorency abandons the interests of Richelieu--Marie de Medicis solicits his support--He consents to second the projects of Monsieur--The Queen-mother and the Duc d'Orléans sell their jewels in order to raise troops for the invasion of France--Trial of the Maréchal de Marillac--Marie and Gaston exert themselves to save his life--He is executed--The adherents of the two royal exiles create dissensions between the mother and son--Gaston joins the Spanish army--Munificence of Isabella--Gaston marches upon Burgundy--Remonstrance of Montmorency--An ill-planned campaign--Battle of Castelnaudary--Slaughter of the rebel leaders--Cowardice of Monsieur--Montmorency is made prisoner--Gaston endeavours to make terms with the King--He abandons the cause of his mother, and that of his allies--He stipulates for the pardon of Montmorency--Richelieu refuses the condition--The treaty is signed by Monsieur--Jealousy of Louis XIII--The miniature--Montmorency is conveyed to Toulouse, and put upon his trial--Double-dealing of the Cardinal--Obduracy of the King--Execution of Montmorency--Despair of the Queen-mother--Death of the Comtesse du Fargis--The Jesuit Chanteloupe and Madame de Comballet--A new conspiracy--The Archduchess Isabella refuses to deliver up the servants of Marie de Medicis--Gaston retires to Burgundy.