exts signally failed. Yet neither Henry nor his agent M.
de Preau would yield to discouragement; passion on the one hand, and
ambition on the other, lent them strength to persevere; and having
exhausted their first scheme of attack, they next represented the
necessity of her presence at the approaching coronation of the Queen,
where it was important that she should occupy the position suited to her
rank as first Princess of the Blood; and next they alleged the
impossibility of furthering her views in the separation from her husband
which she was about to demand, unless she were enabled personally to
expose her reasons to the Parliament. Moreover, Madame de Conde had
written to the French ministers to complain of violence and
imprisonment, and the King insisted upon the necessity of her
liberation.

De Preau, however, zealous as he was, made no impression upon the
firmness of the Archduke. The Spanish Cabinet had rendered itself
responsible for his opposition, and he defied the menaces of France, a
circumstance which decided Henry upon immediate war. The resolution
which he had taken of heading the army in person determined him, before
his departure from France, solemnly to invest the Queen with the title
of Regent during his absence; but the precautions which he took to name
an efficient Council by whom she was to be assisted in the government of
the kingdom excited the indignation and resentment of her personal
favourites, especially of Concini, who thus saw himself rendered
powerless when he had hoped to assert his influence and to improve his
fortunes; and under the pressure of this disappointment he hastened to
represent to his royal mistress the utter emptiness of the dignity with
which Henry proposed to invest her.

"You are an uncrowned Queen," he said, "and you are about to become a
powerless Regent. Thus, Madame, you will be known by two high-sounding
titles, neither of which will in reality appertain to you. Cause
yourself to be crowned, and then you will indeed possess the authority
which is your due and the honour of which you have heretofore been
unjustly deprived. Cease to be a puppet in the hands of a faithless
husband, and at least compel this coming war, undertaken for the
recovery of a new mistress, to be the means of establishing your own
rightful position."

This advice was eagerly accepted by Marie, whose ambition had at length
been aroused by a consideration of the failing health and advanced ag