friends, by whom she was earnestly
dissuaded from leaving the capital.

"You argue in vain," she said firmly. "If I had only followed the King
to Versailles, the Cardinal would now be out of France, or in a prison.
May it please God that I never again commit the same error!" In
accordance with this decision the Queen-mother accordingly made the
necessary preparations; and on the 17th of February the Court set forth
for Compiegne, to the great satisfaction of the minister; who, well
aware of the impossibility of accomplishing any reconciliation with his
indignant mistress, lost no time in entreating Louis to endeavour once
more to effect this object. Richelieu desired to appear in the _role_ of
a victim, while he was in fact the tyrant of this great domestic drama;
but the weak sovereign was incompetent to unravel the tangled mesh of
his wily policy; and it was therefore with eagerness that he lent
himself to this new subterfuge.

Vautier was, as we have stated, not only the physician but also the
confidential friend of Marie de Medicis; and the King consequently
resolved to avail himself of his influence. He was accordingly summoned
to the royal presence, and there Louis expressed to him his earnest
desire that the past should be forgotten, and that henceforward his
mother and himself might live in peace and amity; to which end he
declared it to be absolutely essential that the Queen should forego her
animosity to the Cardinal.

"I have faith in your fidelity, Sir," he said graciously, "and I request
of you to urge this upon her Majesty, for I am weary of these perpetual
broils. Assure her in my name that if she will consent to my wishes in
this respect, and assist as she formerly did at the Council, she will
secure alike my affection and my respect. She must, moreover, give a
written pledge not to compromise the safety of the state by any
political intrigue, and to abandon to my just resentment all such
persons as may hereafter incur my displeasure, with the exception only
of the members of her immediate household. On these conditions I am
ready to forgive and to forget the events of the last few months."

To this proposition Marie de Medicis replied that her most anxious
desire was to live in good understanding with her son and sovereign, but
that she could not consent to occupy a seat in the Council with
Richelieu, nor to give in writing a pledge for which her royal word
should be a sufficient guarantee, as she