em. Rec_. vol. vii. pp.
763, 764. Le Vassor, vol. vii. p. 360.

[210] Gaston d'Orleans, _Mem_. pp. 155, 156.

[211] Siri, _Mem. Rec_. vol. vii. p. 756.

[212] Capefigue, vol. v. p. 216. Sismondi, vol. xxiii. p. 241. Le Clerc,
vol. ii. pp. 166, 167. Mezeray, vol. xi. p. 443.

[213] Siri, _Mem. Rec_. vol. viii. pp. 101, 102. Gaston d'Orleans,
_Mem_. p. 169. Le Vassor, vol. viii. p. 307.

[214] Capefigue, vol. v. pp. 228, 229.

CHAPTER XII

1635-38

Richelieu resolves to accomplish the disgrace of Puylaurens--Gaston
proceeds to Paris during the Carnival, and his favourite is arrested in
the Louvre--He is conveyed to Vincennes, where he dies--The Queen-mother
and Madame take up their abode at Antwerp--Marie de Medicis solicits the
protection of the Pope--Her letter is coldly received--She is accused by
Richelieu of favouring the Spanish cause--She endeavours to dissuade
Louis XIII from a war with Spain, and her arguments are haughtily
repulsed--Her envoy is ordered to quit the capital--The Queen-mother
once more appeals to the Sovereign-Pontiff, who declines to excite
against himself the enmity of the Cardinal-Minister--Louis XIII pursues
the war with Spain--Monsieur and the Comte de Soissons enter into a
conspiracy to assassinate Richelieu--The Queen-mother joins the
faction--The plot is betrayed---Gaston returns to his allegiance--Marie
de Medicis induces the Comte de Soissons to enter into a treaty with
Spain--The intrigue is discovered by the Cardinal--The Queen-mother once
more solicits an asylum in England--Charles I accedes to her request,
and endeavours to effect her reconciliation with the French
King--Richelieu determines Louis to reply by a refusal--Monsieur
abandons his wife, who becomes dependent for her support upon the
Spanish Government--Insignificance of Gaston--The Duchess of Savoy
endeavours to effect the recall of her royal mother to France--The three
Churchmen--Pregnancy of Anne of Austria--Renewed hopes of the
Queen-mother--She is again urged to reside in Tuscany--She proceeds to
Holland, and is magnificently received--The Prince of Orange intercedes
in her behalf with the French King--Richelieu reiterates his wish that
she should retire to Florence--The Dutch request her to leave the
country--Marie de Medicis embarks for England--She is received at
Gravesend by Charles I--Takes up her abode in St. James's
Palace--Meeting between the two Queens--Precarious position of the
English King-