ow it! I know it well!" he said; "I know all their black villainy,
and I am prepared for it. But what news is there?"

"According to our arrangement, my lord, we have removed Mademoiselle
d'Hautefort, as we removed Mademoiselle de la Fayette before her. So far
it is well; but her place is not filled, and the King--"

"Well!"

"The King has ideas which he never had before."

"Ha! and which come not from me? 'Tis well, truly," said the minister,
with an ironic sneer.

"What, my lord, leave the place of the favorite vacant for six whole
days? It is not prudent; pardon me for saying so."

"He has ideas--ideas!" repeated Richelieu, with a kind of terror; "and
what are they?"

"He talks of recalling the Queen-mother," said the Capuchin, in a low
voice; "of recalling her from Cologne."

"Marie de Medicis!" cried the Cardinal, striking the arms of his chair
with his hands. "No, by Heaven, she shall not again set her foot upon the
soil of France, whence I drove her, step by step! England has not dared
to receive her, exiled by me; Holland fears to be crushed by her; and my
kingdom to receive her! No, no, such an idea could not have originated
with himself! To recall my enemy! to recall his mother! What perfidy! He
would not have dared to think of it."

Then, having mused for a moment, he added, fixing a penetrating look
still full of burning anger upon Father Joseph:

"But in what terms did he express this desire? Tell me his precise
words."

"He said publicly; and in the presence of Monsieur: 'I feel that one of
the first duties of a Christian is to be a good son, and I will resist no
longer the murmurs of my conscience.'"

"Christian! conscience! these are not his expressions. It is Father
Caussin--it is his confessor who is betraying me," cried the Cardinal.
"Perfidious Jesuit! I pardoned thee thy intrigue with La Fayette; but I
will not pass over thy secret counsels. I will have this confessor
dismissed, Joseph; he is an enemy to the State, I see it clearly. But I
myself have acted with negligence for some days past; I have not
sufficiently hastened the arrival of the young d'Effiat, who will
doubtless succeed. He is handsome and intellectual, they say. What a
blunder! I myself merit disgrace. To leave that fox of a Jesuit with the
King, without having given him my secret instructions, without a hostage,
a pledge, or his fidelity to my orders! What neglect! Joseph, take a pen,
and write what I shall dictate fo