therefore, is what we must stick to_." That marriage was, in short, of a
supreme importance: it gave the house of Conde to the Fronde for ever,
and the Fronde to the house of Conde; for the Fronde was then Madame de
Chevreuse. She disposed, by her daughter, of the Coadjutor, who in his
turn disposed of the Duke d'Orleans, and by him of the parliament. It
was Madame de Chevreuse who, in 1650, had emboldened Mazarin to lay his
hand upon Conde, in making him see that he might strike that bold stroke
with impunity, since she answered to him for the secret connivance of
the Duke d'Orleans and the parliament, who were alone able to oppose it.
Here, Mazarin had committed an immense blunder: seeing himself delivered
from Conde, by the aid of the Fronde, having nothing more hostile to
cope with than the latter, he had imagined himself able to turn round
upon it, and had treated Madame de Chevreuse very cavalierly, who,
growing cold towards the Cardinal, and no longer finding it to her
account to serve him, had lent an ear to the propositions of Conde's
friends, and had procured his release from prison, reconciling to him
the Duke d'Orleans and the parliament, which at first she had stirred up
against him. She brought, moreover, to the house of Conde the most
politic mind of the Fronde, an audacity towering to the height of his
designs, a consummate experience, with the support of her three powerful
families, the houses of de Rohan, de Luynes, and Lorraine. She rendered
sure the alliance of the Duke d'Orleans and the Prince de Conde, and
completed the ruin of Mazarin by constructing a strong government which
probably might have succeeded ultimately in triumphing over the
affection of the Queen. She held in hand a statesman bred in the school
of Richelieu, and whom she judged capable of replacing Mazarin, the
former Keeper of the Seals--Chateauneuf, already a member of the
Cabinet. She believed herself certain of acquiring De Retz by means of
the Cardinal's hat. She had not the least objection to make to the
elevation of the friends of Conde, and she was ready to favour the
ambition of La Rochefoucauld, for whom formerly, in 1643, she had so
greatly importuned the Queen and Mazarin. Add to all this, that on
quitting the citadel of Havre, the young Prince de Conti had not beheld
the lovely Charlotte de Lorraine without being smitten with her charms,
and he himself strongly desired that marriage. Who, then, prevented it?
Who broke of