Page:Secret History of the French Court under Richelieu and Mazarin.djvu/172

158 quitted the court and Paris trembling, and with grief in her soul, like Hannibal quitting Italy. She felt that the court, Paris, and the heart of the queen, were the true battle-fields, and that to withdraw was to yield the victory to the enemy. Her retreat was a signal of mourning to all the Catholic party, to the friends of peace and of the Spanish alliance, and, on the contrary, of public rejoicing to the friends of the Protestant union. The Count d'Estrade even came to the Louvre in behalf of the Prince of Orange, by whom he was accredited, to thank the regent officially.

Madame de Chevreuse repaired to her estate of Verger, between Tours and Angers. The deep solitude around her rendered the feeling of her defeat still more bitter. She met Montrésor who had also retired to Touraine, and had several interviews with him. She wrote to Paris to the Duke de