ave, and who,
moreover, prided himself upon his prowess in the field, and loved to
contrast it with the pusillanimity of Philip IV of Spain, whose person
was scarcely known to his troops, listened eagerly to the suggestion;
but it was peculiarly obnoxious to Marie de Medicis, who did not fail to
declare that the sole object of the Cardinal was to separate her from
the King, and thus to weaken her influence. She consequently opposed the
project with all the energy of her naturally impetuous character,
asserting that her tenderness as a mother would not permit of her
consenting thus constantly to see her son exposed to the vicissitudes of
war, or his feeble health overtaxed by exertions and fatigues to which
he was unequal.

The Cardinal listened to her representations with an impassibility as
respectful as it was unbending. He had no faith in the reasons which she
advanced, although he verbally accepted them, for the time had not yet
arrived when he could openly brave her power; but it was at this period
that the moral struggle commenced between them of which the unfortunate
Queen was destined to become the victim.[109]

The exultation of Louis XIII at the fall of La Rochelle was considerably
lessened by a violent attack of gout which immediately succeeded, and by
which he was detained a prisoner within its gates until the 19th of
November, when he departed for Limours, where he was met by the two
Queens and Monsieur. Thence the Court proceeded to St. Germain in order
to enjoy the diversion of hunting, and subsequently to Versailles, to
await the completion of the ceremonial of the solemn and triumphal entry
of the King into his capital, which took place on the 23rd of December
with great pomp and magnificence. All the approaches to the city were
crowded by dense masses of the population of the adjacent country, while
the streets were thronged with the citizens who rent the air with
acclamations. Triumphal arches were erected at intervals along the road
by which the royal procession was to travel; the balconies of the houses
were draped with silks and tapestry; and nearly eight thousand men,
splendidly armed and clothed, awaited the King a league beyond the gates
in order to escort him to his capital. The Parliament, and all the
municipal bodies, harangued him as he reached the walls, and exhausted
themselves in the most fulsome and servile flatteries; and finally, he
received the congratulations of all the foreign amba