e broke out against Madame de
Chevreuse with a violence the coarseness of which even was an
involuntary homage rendered to the profound ability of Marie de Rohan.
The Queen showed herself warmly opposed to it, and the ministers were
ordered to thwart in every way the projected alliance. They began,
therefore, to negotiate with Conde. As a result of these negotiations he
obtained in exchange for his government of Burgundy that of Guienne, one
of far greater importance; he was even led to indulge a hope that
Provence would be given to the Prince de Conti instead of Champagne and
La Brie, and the port and fortress of Blaye to La Rochefoucauld in
augmentation of his government of Poitou, although there was not the
slightest intention of fulfilling that hope. So states the Duchess de
Nemours, the enemy of the Fronde and the Condes, and who, having given
herself to the Court party, must have well known its intentions. De Retz
likewise doubts not that the Queen combated an alliance so evidently
opposed to her interests. Madame de Motteville, the Queen's close
friend, avows it. In short, it is certain, and we have hereupon the
irrefragable testimony of Madame de Motteville, that when the Queen had
succeeded in gaining over Conde, she caused Madame de Chevreuse to be
informed "that she desired that such marriage should not take place,
because it had been concerted for objects inimical to the royal
interests. This command was the cause of all these propositions falling
through and that they were no more spoken of."

But how did the Queen gain over Conde, and what part did Madame de
Longueville play in the affair? That is certainly what neither De Retz
could know, who was only aware of what passed in parliament, in the
Palais d'Orleans, and the Hotel de Chevreuse; nor the Duchess de Nemours
and Madame de Motteville, who were not in the confidence of the Hotel de
Conde: they could only repeat hereupon what they had heard said in the
Court circle, and they must be considered solely as the echoes of
reports which it suited the Queen to spread. That is so probable that
the one and the other, differing so widely as they did both in intention
and feeling, tell exactly the same tale. Madame de Motteville states
positively that Madame de Longueville, as soon as she returned from
Stenay, advised Conde to break with the Chevreuses, and that La
Rochefoucauld supported her in such design; and these are the motives
which she attributes to her: