Page:Secret History of the French Court under Richelieu and Mazarin.djvu/121

Rh indifferently attached to the queen and to her minister, alarmed the successor of Richelieu, and he persuaded the queen to break them off secretly, finding trouble enough already from the marriage of the beautiful Mademoiselle de Vendôme with the brilliant and restless Duke de Nemours.

When we follow attentively the details of the opposing intrigues of Madame de Chevreuse and of Mazarin, we know not to which to award the prize for skill, for sagacity, and for address. Mazarin knew how to make sacrifices enough to avoid making too many of them, treating everybody with circumspection, suffering no one to despair, promising a great deal, performing as little as possible, and lavishing homage and attentions upon Madame de Chevreuse herself, without ever deceiving himself as to her real sentiments. She, on her part, paid him back in the same coin. La Rochefoucauld says, that at this early period Madame de Chevreuse and Mazarin coquetted with each other. Madame de Chevreuse, who had always mingled coquetry with politics, seems to have essayed the power of her charms on the cardinal. The latter did not fail to lavish gallant words on her, and "even sometimes endeavored to make her believe that she inspired him with love." These are the precise words of La Rochefoucauld. There were some other women, too, who would not have been sorry to have won a little admiration from the prime minister. Among these was the Princess de Guymené, one of the most celebrated beauties of the French court, and not of a savage humor. She and her husband were friendly to Mazarin, despite all the efforts of Madame de Montbazon and Madame de Chevreuse, her mother and sister-in-law. It was evident, indeed, that Mazarin was very attentive to Madame de Guymené, and that he did not scruple to offer her, as well as Madame de Chevreuse, a thousand compliments; but he went no further, and the two beautiful women