ects to the King and his august mother.

On reaching the Louvre he was informed that Louis was at the Tuileries,
where he would spend the morning, and that the Regent dined at the Hotel
de Zamet; upon which the Duke determined to proceed thither, where he
found her attended by the Duc de Villeroy, Bassompierre, M. and Madame
d'Ancre, and the principal members of her household. As Sully was
announced Marie uttered a gracious welcome, and ungloving her hand,
presented it to him to kiss; which he had no sooner done than she
assured him of her continued regard and requested that he would talk no
more of retiring from the service of the King, whose youth and
helplessness rendered the good offices of those who had enjoyed the
confidence of his royal father doubly necessary to himself; and finally,
despite all that had previously occurred, the Duke took his leave almost
shaken in his belief that Marie had been induced to sanction his
dismissal.

This illusion was, moreover, encouraged by the conduct of the
courtiers, who had no sooner ascertained the nature of his reception by
the Queen, than they flocked to the Arsenal to compliment him upon his
return to Court; and Zamet took an opportunity of impressing upon him
that he was indebted for the undisguised favour of Marie to the
influence of the Marquis d'Ancre; who subsequently visited him in his
turn, but so visibly with the intention of inducing him to uphold the
extravagant pretensions which he was about to advance, that Sully did
not disguise his disgust, and they separated mutually dissatisfied.

On the morrow the Duke proceeded, according to appointment, to the
Louvre, where he was immediately admitted to the private closet of
Marie; but he had scarcely crossed the threshold ere he became aware
that his contention with Concini had induced a coldness on the part of
the Regent, which she strove in vain to conceal. She, however, made no
allusion to their interview, confining her complaints to the
extortionate importunities of the great nobles, which she declared her
resolution to resist; and, by referring them to the Council, cause them
to be subjected to so rigorous an examination as must tend to their
diminution. She then placed in the hands of the finance minister a list
of the demands which had been made upon her, entreating him to assist
her in opposing claims that would end, if satisfied, by ruining the
interests alike of the King and of the nation; and she conclude