e unfortunate girl was removed from Vincennes to the Louvre,
whither the Prince immediately hastened to congratulate her on her
liberation, and to express to the Queen-mother his indignation at what
had occurred.[113]

Before the departure of the King for Italy he had, at the instigation of
Richelieu, declared Marie de Medicis Regent of all the provinces on the
west bank of the Loire; a concession to which, extraordinary as it must
appear, the Cardinal had been compelled, in order to appease the
Queen-mother, whose exasperation at this renewed separation from the
King had exceeded any which she had previously exhibited; and who had
been supported in her complaints and expostulations by Anne of Austria,
with whom she had begun to make common cause. That Richelieu, however,
did so with great and anxious reluctance there can be little doubt, as
he was well aware that he had excited her suspicion and dislike, and
that he should, moreover, leave her surrounded by individuals who would
not fail to embitter her animosity against him.

Moreover, the haughty minister could not disguise from himself that he
was labouring to build up his own fortunes upon the ruin of those of his
benefactress--of the confiding and generous mistress to whom he was
indebted for all the honours which he then enjoyed--nor could he fail to
feel that reprisals on her part would be at once legitimate and
justifiable; and accordingly he caused the commission of her regency to
be prefaced by the most elaborate encomiums. Not content with asserting
that her "able government and her wise measures had proved her to be
alike the mother of the sovereign and of the state." Louis, acting under
the advice of the wily minister, lavished upon her every epithet of
honour and respect; apparently forgetting that he had previously exiled
her from the Court, taken up arms against her, and that he even then
believed her to be in secret correspondence with his enemies; while at
the same period Richelieu records in his Memoirs that the Pope had
declared to his nuncio, during his audience of leavetaking on his
departure for the French Court: "You will see the Queen-mother. She is
favourable to Spain; and her attachment to the King her son does not
extend beyond her own interests. She is, moreover, one of the most
obstinate persons in the world." [114]

And yet, even while dwelling with complacency on the Papal strictures,
the Cardinal did not hesitate to put into the mouth