iege
of La Rochelle--Venality of the Protestant leaders--Indignation of the
Catholic nobles--Resistance of the citizens of Montpellier--Military
incapacity of Conde--The Duc de Rohan negotiates a peace, and Conde
retires to Rome--Montpellier opens its gates to the King--Bad faith of
Louis XIII--Triumphal entry of the King at Lyons--Marriage of the
Marquis de la Valette and Mademoiselle de Verneuil--Richelieu is created
a cardinal--Exultation of the Queen-mother--Death of the President
Jeannin--Prospects of Richelieu--His duplicity--Misplaced confidence of
Marie de Medicis--Louis XIII returns to Paris--Change in the
Ministry--Anne of Austria and the Prince of Wales--The Queen-mother and
her faction endeavour to accomplish the ruin of the Chancellor, and
succeed--Richelieu is admitted to the Council---Indignation of
Conde--Richelieu becomes all-powerful--His ingratitude to the
Queen-mother--The Queen-mother is anxious to effect a matrimonial
alliance with England--Richelieu seconds her views--The King of Spain
applies for the hand of the Princesse Henriette for Don Carlos--His
demand is negatived by the Cardinal-Minister--La Vieuville is dismissed
from the Ministry--Duplicity of Louis XIII--Arrest of La
Vieuville--Change of ministers--Petticoat intrigues--The Duc d'Anjou
solicits the hand of Mademoiselle de Montpensier--The alliance is
opposed by the Guises and forbidden by the King.

During the absence of the King from Paris, the Marechal d'Estrees, who
was at that period Ambassador at Rome, was engaged in soliciting two
seats in the Conclave, the first for the Archbishop of Toulouse, and the
second for the Bishop of Lucon; while Marie de Medicis lost no
opportunity of entreating Bentivoglio, the Papal Nuncio, to further the
interests of the latter, impressing upon him that no period could be
more favourable than the present, when Louis XIII had enforced upon a
whole refractory province the performance of the rites which it had so
long rejected. To this argument the Cardinal had nothing to object, and
he accordingly listened with complacency to her representations; but
they were rendered abortive by De Luynes, who privately informed him
that neither the sovereign nor himself sincerely desired the promotion
of Richelieu, and that their apparent anxiety for his advancement had
been merely assumed to gratify the Queen-mother; while, far from being
disposed to consider the dissent of the Pontiff to this application as a
s