ting devotion to
her cause, but proud and happy in the conviction that without his aid
she would still have been a captive.

The retinue of the Queen-mother comprised the ladies of honour, the Duc
de Montbazon, the Bishop of Lucon, and several other individuals of
note; and thus attended she reached Poitiers, where the carriages of the
King were awaiting her arrival, and relays of horses were provided to
expedite her journey to Tours. From Poitiers she despatched Richelieu
in advance to announce her approach to Louis; and on his return to
report the completion of his mission, he was eloquent on the subject of
the graciousness of his reception both by the King and the favourite.

As she drew near the city Marie was met by the Cardinal de Retz[38] and
the Pere Arnoux, accompanied by a numerous train of gentlemen, by whom
she was conducted to the Chateau de Montbazon, where she was to pass the
night; and on the following morning the newly-made Duc de Luynes arrived
to pay his respects to the mother of his sovereign. The Queen devoured
her mortification, and received her unwelcome guest with great
affability; but he had not been long in her presence ere he renewed all
her suspicions of his duplicity.

The Prince de Conde, who feared that a reconciliation between Louis and
the Queen-mother would militate against his release, had exerted himself
to the utmost to procure his liberty before they should have time to
meet; and aware that it was only through the influence of De Luynes that
he could accomplish his object, he did not hesitate to bribe the
favourite by an offer of the hand of his sister Eleonore de Bourbon, the
widow of Philip, Prince of Orange, for his brother Cadenet. De Luynes
was dazzled: an alliance with the first Prince of the Blood exceeded all
his hopes; while the liberation of M. de Conde, was, moreover,
essential to his own interests; as should he secure the friendship of so
powerful a noble, he would be better able to oppose not only the Duc
d'Epernon, but also all the leaders of the Queen-mother's faction. It
was, however, no part of his policy to betray his consciousness of this
necessity to the illustrious captive; whose imprisonment he nevertheless
rendered less irksome by according to him sundry relaxations from which
he had hitherto been debarred. A serious indisposition by which M. de
Conde was at this period attacked, moreover, greatly assisted his
projects; and the medical attendants of the Prin