enging
himself upon Conde, and probably judged he might do so without bringing
about the return of Mazarin. He accepted, then, at once the Queen's
invitation, and flung the letter of safe-conduct which she had sent him
into the fire, in order to show his confidence in her promises. The
following night, at twelve o'clock, he was brought into the Queen's
Oratory by a back staircase, and a long conversation ensued between
them. Anne of Austria was very caressing in her manner towards the
Coadjutor, and sought, after winning her way to his confidence, to
embroil him with Chateauneuf, by informing him that it was that friend
of Madame de Chevreuse who was the most opposed to his cardinalate,
because he wanted the hat for himself. It must be remembered that France
at that moment had the appointment of a cardinal at its disposition, and
it had been long promised to the Prince de Conti. Anne of Austria now
offered it to De Retz who, in reply, at the end of a long harangue,
during which the Queen interrupted him impatiently more than once,
assured her that he had not come there to receive favours, but to merit
them.

"What will you do for me, then?" asked the Queen. "What will you do?"

"Madam," replied he, "I will oblige the Prince de Conde to quit Paris
ere eight days are over, and will carry off the Duke d'Orleans from him
before to-morrow night."

The Queen, transported with joy, extended her hand to him saying--"Give
me your hand on that, and the day after to-morrow you are a cardinal,
and moreover the second amongst my friends."

A few days afterwards, De Retz and Madame de Chevreuse had raised the
entire Fronde against the Prince de Conde. The worthy archbishop had
announced his approach to the enemy he was about to attack by a cloud of
the same kind of libels, satires, and epigrams, which he had always
found so efficacious in prejudicing the people of Paris against any one
whom he thought fit to hold forth to popular odium. At the same time a
multitude of criers and hawkers were sent through the town, spreading,
at the very lowest price, all the sarcasms which had been composed at
the archbishopric in the morning, to render the conduct of Conde
ridiculous, contemptible, and hateful in the eyes of the multitude.

At length, when the Coadjutor believed that everything had been
sufficiently prepared, he made the Palatine write to inform the Queen
that he was about to go to the parliament. Mademoiselle de Chevreuse was