his pardon.

"Had he," said the Cardinal, in his wiry and peculiar tone, which was
broken at intervals by a hoarse and hollow cough--"had he conspired
against the sovereign or against the state, my duty as a minister, and
my devotion as a subject, would have compelled me on this occasion to
remain silent; but it was against my person alone that M. de Vendome
threatened violence, and I can forgive a crime which extended
no further."

Great was the wonder, and still greater the admiration, expressed by the
time-serving sycophants to whom he addressed himself. The several
members of the Council argued and remonstrated, assuring his Eminence
that he owed it to himself to let justice take its course; and
entreating that he would not endeavour to influence the sovereign on so
serious an occasion, where his generous self-abnegation might involve
his future safety; but Richelieu only replied with one of his ambiguous
smiles that he could not, in order to save his own life, consent to
sacrifice that of a Prince of the Blood; while at the same time he
induced the King to exile the Duchesse de Vendome and her two sons, MM.
de Mercoeur and de Besancon, from the capital. The members of the Court
by which the Duke had been tried and condemned were then commanded to
meet at an early hour in the morning on the 22nd of March at St.
Germain-en-Laye, where Louis XIII presided over the assembly in person;
and they had scarcely taken their seats when it was announced to the
King that Le Clerc, the secretary of the Cardinal-Minister, awaited in
the ante-room the royal permission to deliver to the Chancellor a letter
of which he was the bearer. His entrance having been sanctioned by the
sovereign, Le Clerc placed his despatches in the hands of Seguier, who
hastily cut the silk by which they were secured, and he had no sooner
made himself acquainted with their contents than he addressed a few
words in a low voice to the King.

"Gentlemen," said Louis, as the Chancellor fell back into his seat, "his
Eminence the Cardinal de Richelieu is desirous that I should pardon M.
de Vendome; but such is not my own opinion; I owe my protection to those
who, like M. le Cardinal, have served me with affection and fidelity;
and were I not to punish all attempts against his life, I should
experience great difficulty in finding ministers who would transact
public business with the same courage and devotion as my cousin of
Richelieu has done. M. le Cardinal