Page:Secret History of the French Court under Richelieu and Mazarin.djvu/103

Rh she was a stranger to the plot of Chalais, and that all the accusations which had been heaped upon her were without foundation. All this had but little effect on the mind of the king, who contented himself with saying: "In my present state, it is my duty to forgive her, but I am not obliged to believe her." He had always suspected her of being in correspondence with Spain and under the sway of Madame de Chevreuse, and he wished to exclude her from the regency, as well as his brother, the Duke d'Orleans, whom he neither loved nor respected. Mazarin had great difficulty in making him comprehend that it was impossible to deprive the queen of the title of regent, and that all that could be done was to take from her all power, by the appointment of a carefully arranged council whose advice she would be obliged to follow by acting in conformity with the voice of the majority. Anne submitted to these hard and humiliating conditions without a murmur; she acknowledged the royal declaration of the 21st of April, which restricted her authority within the narrowest limits, and perpetuated the exile of Châteauneuf and of Madame de Chevreuse; and signed it, pledging herself to maintain it. After all, she was in possession of the regency; and as she owed this to the same scheme which limited her power, far from being displeased with its author, she regarded it as a first service which merited some acknowledgment. Observe a fact which most historians have overlooked, but which has not escaped the penetration of La Rochefoucauld, who mingled in all the intrigues of the day: "The Cardinal Mazarin," says he, "justified in some sort this harsh declaration; he represented it as an important service rendered to the queen, it being the only means which could persuade the king to consent to the regency. He showed her that it mattered little to her on what conditions she had received it, provided it was with the consent of the king, and that means would not be