ntly and skilfully guided by the Marquis de Laignes, whom Mazarin
with his usual adroitness had known how to win over, she had returned to
the side of her early friend, Anne of Austria, and became resigned to
the power of a man who at any rate knew his own mind, and whose robust
ambition never wavered at the breath of vanity or the gust of momentary
passion. The fame and honour that she might expect from the Fronde had
been offered to her by Mazarin, and in return Madame de Chevreuse had
brought to royalty the declared support of the three illustrious
families, the Rohans, De Luynes, and the Lorraines. It was she who, ever
puissant over the Duke de Lorraine, had negotiated a secret treaty
between him and the Cardinal, and who by turns had made him act in such
contrary directions. Restored entirely to the Queen's favour, Madame de
Chevreuse was at her side in the Louvre, to welcome warmly the return of
the prosperous Cardinal.

After Madame de Chevreuse, Mazarin had had no adversaries more dangerous
than the Vendomes and Bouillons. And yet on that memorable day of
February 3rd, 1653, he could consider the heads of those two powerful
families as the firmest supporters of his greatness.

Caesar, Duke de Vendome, natural son of Henry the Fourth, was much more
formidable by his intelligence, his valour, and his craft than by his
birth. There was nothing--even to the virtues of his wife, a reputed
saint,--which was not put to the profit of his ambition. His daughter,
the beautiful Mademoiselle de Vendome, had married that brilliant Duke
de Nemours, who had come to such a miserable end. His eldest son, the
Duke de Mercoeur, was a sagacious and estimable prince, and the Duke de
Beaufort, his youngest, was the idol of the populace of Paris. It was
Beaufort who, in 1643, urged by the two duchesses De Montbazon and De
Chevreuse, had formed the design of assassinating Mazarin. The Duke de
Vendome had been suspected of being implicated in that affair; he had at
least given shelter in his chateau at Anet to all the accomplices of his
son; and, forced to quit France to avoid the arrest with which he was
threatened, he had wandered for several years through Italy and England,
everywhere stirring up enemies against the Cardinal. The latter saw
clearly that it was better to acquire a son of Henry the Fourth at a
given price, than to prosecute him without the slightest advantage.
After all, what did the Duke desire, and what were his dema