he was overshadowed,
occasionally dropping upon his knee in an attitude of profound and
affectionate respect; a voluntary homage to which Marie replied by
conversing with him in the most endearing terms; addressing him more
than once as _mio caro! amico del cuore mio!_ and other soft and
flattering appellations.

To Richelieu it seemed for the time as though the past had come back
upon him, but he deceived himself; the Florentine Princess had but drawn
a glove over a hand of iron, a fact which he ascertained before the
termination of the journey, as well as the whole extent of the intrigue
at Lyons; but this knowledge did not for a moment affect his deportment
towards the Queen-mother, for whom he continued to evince the deepest
veneration, while he carefully noted the bearing of those by whom she
was surrounded, in order that he might one day be enabled to wreak his
vengeance upon such as had participated in the cabal.

The most zealous partisans of Marie de Medicis were at this period the
two Marillacs and the Ducs de Guise and de Bellegarde; while her
confidential friends of her own sex were the Duchesse d'Elboeuf and the
Princesse de Conti. Of these the most obnoxious to Richelieu was the
elder Marillac, the Keeper of the Seals. This minister was indebted to
the Cardinal for the office which he held; and even while Richelieu was
plotting the ruin of his own benefactress, he could not brook that a man
whom he had himself raised to power should dare to oppose his will, or
to succeed him in the good graces of the Queen-mother. He had, moreover,
ascertained that Marillac, who had, in the first instance, attached
himself to Marie de Medicis at the suggestion of his brother the
Marechal, had rendered her such good service that she had pledged
herself to make him Prime Minister on his own dismissal. Nor was this
the only cause of anxiety to which Richelieu was at this moment exposed;
as during the indisposition of the King a strong affection had grown up
between the two Queens, while the Duc d'Orleans no longer made any
effort to conceal his animosity; and thus the Cardinal found himself
placed in opposition to the whole of the royal family with the
exception of the sovereign.

Gaston d'Orleans was no sooner apprised of the approach of Louis to the
capital than he hastened to Montargis to receive him, and the meeting
was one of great cordiality on both sides; but the King had scarcely
urged upon his brother the expedien