Page:Secret History of the French Court under Richelieu and Mazarin.djvu/124

110 Séguier, the present keeper of the seals."—"Madame de Chevreuse is not discouraged. She says that the affairs of Châteauneuf are not yet desperate, and that she asks but three months to show what she can do. She entreats the Vendômes to have patience, and sustains them by promising them a speedy change of scene."—"Madame de Chevreuse still hopes to cause my dismissal. The reason which she assigns for this is that when the queen refused to place Châteauneuf at the head of the government, she told her that she could not do it at present on my account, whence Madame de Chevreuse has concluded that the queen has much esteem and affection for Châteauneuf, and that when I am no longer there, the place is assured to her friend. From this arise the hopes and illusions which they cherish."—"The art of Madame de Chevreuse and the rest of the Importants consists in hindering the queen from hearing any conversation but that which is favorable to their party and directed against me, and in rendering every one suspicious to her who does not belong to them and who expresses any regard for me."—"Madame de Chevreuse and her friends openly assert that the queen will soon recall Châteauneuf, and by this they deceive everybody and induce those who are thinking of their future to go to him and to seek his friendship. They excuse the queen for the delay which she makes in giving him my place by saying that she still has need of me for some time longer."—"It is told me that Madame de Chevreuse secretly guides Madame de Vendôme, (a devotee who had much influence with the bishops and the convents,) and gives her instructions so that she may act rightly, and that all the machines employed against me may work well towards accomplishing their end."

This last passage proves that Madame de Chevreuse, without being religious herself in the slightest degree, knew well how to avail herself of the party of devotees, which powerfully