officers have worked very hard, and the matter
served as a good excuse for giving them a little dinner."

For the next day or two everything passed off quietly, but four of the
officers reported that when dining at a cabaret two or three of the
duke's officers had come in and entered into conversation with them, and
had brought up the subject of their riding in after the cardinal.

"You almost looked as if you were serving as a bodyguard to him," one of
them laughed.

"I daresay we did," was the answer. "It was rather a nuisance; but it
would not have been courteous to have ridden past the carriage." And he
then repeated the story as had been arranged.

Although the Duke of Beaufort had been told by some of his friends that
there were rumours abroad of a plot against Mazarin's life, and that it
would be best for him to leave Paris for a time, he refused to do so,
saying that even if it was discovered the cardinal would not dare to lay
hands on him. Moreover, the replies which had been obtained from Hector
and his officers convinced him that their riding behind Mazarin's
carriage was an accident.

On the 2nd of September the duke presented himself at the Louvre as
usual. After speaking with him for a few minutes, the queen left the
room with Mazarin, and Guibaut, captain of the Guards, at once came
forward and arrested him. He was kept at the Louvre that night, and next
day was taken to the castle of Vincennes. Two companies of Swiss guards
marched first, followed by a royal carriage containing the duke and
Guibaut. The carriage was surrounded by the royal musketeers. A body
of light cavalry followed, and the two companies of the Poitou regiment
brought up the rear. Thus the people of Paris were shown that the queen
had both the will and the power to punish, and the fickle population,
who would the day before have shouted in honour of Beaufort, were
delighted at seeing that the royal authority was once again paramount in
Paris. The other members of the party of Importants either fled or were
arrested. The Campions, Beaupuis, and others, succeeded in making their
escape from France. The Marquis of Chateauneuf, governor of Touraine,
was ordered back to his province. La Chatres, colonel general, was
dismissed from his post; the Duc de Vendome was forced to leave France;
and the ambitious Bishop of Beauvais and several other prelates were
commanded to return to their dioceses. All the members of the Vendome
family were