was aware that by pursuing Marie de Gonzaga with his addresses he should
alarm Richelieu as well as annoy the King. An open rupture accordingly
appeared to take place between the mother and son; and while the Duke
continued to visit the young Princess, and to enact the impassioned
lover, Marie de Medicis expressed her indignation in the most unmeasured
terms, and threatened him with her unrelenting anger should he persist
in his suit. So well indeed did she perform her self-imposed part, that
not only Louis himself, but the whole Court were thoroughly deceived by
the stratagem; and meanwhile the unsuspecting Princess became the victim
of the dissembling Queen and her capricious and heartless suitor.[107]

As the Cardinal had laboured to impress upon the King that Marie de
Medicis was anxious to effect the second marriage of her younger son in
order to secure the succession to his children, Louis had arrived in the
capital fully possessed by this idea; and his surprise was consequently
great when he perceived that the Queen-mother resented the projected
alliance as an insult to her own dignity; nor did he hesitate to express
his satisfaction at the misunderstanding which it had caused between
them. His moody brow relaxed; his suspicions were for awhile laid at
rest; and after having devoted some time to the pleasures of the chase,
he once more left the capital and returned to La Rochelle.

On the 16th of October the city, exhausted by famine, and decimated by
the artillery of the royal army, was compelled to capitulate; and on the
30th of the same month it was garrisoned by its conquerors. So soon as a
fitting residence could be prepared for him, Richelieu took up his abode
within its walls; and on the 1st of November the King made a triumphal
entry into the late stronghold of Protestantism in France, whose
subjugation had cost the lives of upwards of forty thousand of his
subjects.[108]

La Rochelle was no sooner in possession of the royal forces than the
Cardinal determined to protect Mantua against the aggression of Austria,
a measure which he proposed in the Council, where it met with
considerable opposition. Richelieu, however, persisted in his purpose,
alleging that he had pledged himself to the Italian states to come to
their support immediately that the campaign against the reformed party
should have been successfully concluded; and he even urged the King to
head the army in person. Louis, who was naturally br