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212 It was said of Anne of Austria, after she had been some time Regent, that her misfortunes had been her only attraction;—to them might be added her appearance; it was the very reverse of her character, in the sensitive and changeable complexion, and its long-retained youthfulness. Yet few had grown more old in worldliness and deception—forgetful in friendship, and vindictive in resentment. She had all the faults peculiar to very weak people—faults which are of the meanest order; violent, for it requires strength of mind to curb emotion; obstinate, for with the obstinate opinion is made up of habit and conceit; and cunning for cunning is the genius of the fool. It is difficult to account for the influence acquired over her by Cardinal Mazarin, unless we adopt the belief of their private marriage; for in their connexion there was something of the authority of the husband, but none of the devotion of the lover. His manner to her was abrupt, often harsh; it implied the necessity for yielding. La haute dévotion, to use an untranslatable phrase of the time, to which she was addicted, belonged less to the mistress, whose chains may be regretted and broken, than to the wife, whose repentance comes un peu tard, and who may as well make her obedience matter of conscience. Her conduct,