having been
construed by the minister into a treasonable correspondence with the
Spanish Cabinet, she was banished to her private apartments; while she
had the annoyance of seeing Mademoiselle de Hautefort exercise the most
unlimited influence over the mind of the King, and perpetually accompany
him on his excursions to St. Germain and Fontainebleau, not only as an
invited but also as an honoured guest. Meanwhile Gaston, who was aware
of the empire which he exercised over his mother, and who sought to
harass the Cardinal, was assiduous in his attentions to the two Queens;
a persistence which so alarmed Richelieu that he did not hesitate to
insinuate to his royal master that the Prince was more devoted to Anne
of Austria than was consistent with their relative positions; and thus
he succeeded in arousing within the breast of Louis a jealousy as
unseemly as it was unprovoked. The continued sterility of the Spanish
Princess and the utter estrangement of the august couple, while it
irritated and mortified the young Queen, served, however, to sustain the
hopes of Marie de Medicis, who looked upon her younger son as the
assured heir to the crown, and supported both him and Anne in their
animosity to Richelieu.

Two powerful factions consequently divided the French Court at the close
of the year 1630; Louis XIII, falsifying the pledge which he had given
to the Queen-mother and Monsieur, had abandoned his sceptre to the grasp
of an ambitious and unscrupulous minister, whose adherents, emulating
the example of their sovereign, made no attempt to limit his power, or
to contend against his will; while, with the sole exception of the King
himself, all the royal family were leagued against an usurpation as
monstrous as it was dishonouring. The sky of the courtly horizon was big
with clouds, and all awaited with anxiety the outburst of the
impending tempest.

At this ungenial period Louis XIII gave a splendid entertainment at the
Louvre, to which he personally bade the Cardinal, who eagerly availed
himself of so favourable an opportunity of mortifying the Queen-mother,
by dividing with his sovereign the homage and adulation of the great
nobles. Already had many of the guests arrived, and amid the flourish of
trumpets, the melody of the royal musicians, the glare of torches, and
the rustling of silks and cloth of gold, the great staircase and the
grand gallery were rapidly becoming crowded; while groups might be seen
scattered thro