Page:Secret History of the French Court under Richelieu and Mazarin.djvu/167

Rh Count de Beaupuis, Alexandre and Henri de Campion, Brillet and Lié, had fled and were in safety. Beaufort and Madame de Chevreuse could not follow their example; to fly for them would have been to denounce themselves. The intrepid duchess did not hesitate, therefore, to appear at court as usual; and at the soirée of the 2d of September, she was found at the side of the queen with another person, a very different enemy of Mazarin, a stranger to these dark intrigues and even incapable in her innocence of giving credence to them, the pious and noble Madame de Hautefort. As for the duke, with his usual unconcern and bravery, he went in the morning to the chase, and in the evening, as was his custom, to pay his homage to the queen. When entering the Louvre, he met his mother and his sister, Madame de Vendôme and the Duchess de Nemours, who had been with the queen the whole day and had perceived her agitation. They did all that they could to prevent him from entering, and begged him to conceal himself, at least for a time. Without discomposure, he replied to them as formerly to the Duke de Guise, "They dare not touch me," and entered the presence of the queen, who received him with the best possible grace, and asked him all sorts of questions concerning the chase, "as if," says Madame de Motteville, "she had nothing else on her mind." On the arrival of the cardinal, she rose and told him to follow her. It seemed as if she wished to hold a private council in her chamber. She proceeded thither, followed only by the cardinal. At the same time, the Duke de Beaufort, on attempting to depart, encountered Guitaut, the captain of the guards, who arrested him, and commanded him to follow him in the name of the king and queen. The prince, without seeming at all astonished, gazed at him fixedly, and said, "Yes, I will do so; but this, I confess, is somewhat curious." Then, turning to Madame de Chevreuse and Madame de Hautefort, who were there