Page:Secret History of the French Court under Richelieu and Mazarin.djvu/183

Rh of Charles IV. She took the principal part in the three great resolutions which express and recapitulate the whole history of the Fronde from the battle of Paris and the peace of Ruel; in 1650, she was of the opinion that they should prefer Mazarin to Condé, and dared to adviee them to lay hands on the victor of Rocroy and of Lens; in 1651, a moment of wavering on the part of Mazarin, who nearly lost sight of her in his own intrigues and in a too complicated policy, together with the pressure of a strong personal interest, the well-founded hope of marrying her daughter Charlotte to the Prince de Conti, brought her back to Condé and procured the deliverance of the princes; and in 1652, the manifold errors of Condé restored her forever to the queen and to Mazarin. She did not participate in the folly of Retz—that of thinking a third party possible in the midst of revolution, and dreaming of a government shared between Mazarin and Condé and supported by a worn-out parliament and the fickle Duke d'Orleans. Her political instinct taught her that, after so much agitation, a firm and steady rule was the greatest need of France. Mazarin, who, like Richelieu, had never combated her but with regret, sought and often gladly followed her counsels. She took her place loftily by the side of royalty; she served it, and it served her in its turn. After Mazarin, she spied out Colbert who was not yet in the ministry, and labored for his elevation and the downfall of Fouquet, and the proud but