Page:Secret History of the French Court under Richelieu and Mazarin.djvu/25

Rh, who were nearly of the same age, only occupied themselves at first with frivolous pastimes. Anne, neglected by her husband, consoled herself with the society and the lively and happy humor of Madame de Chevreuse. They passed their time together, making of every thing "food for their wit and pleasantry: a giovine cuor tutto è giuoco." Lord Rich, afterwards the celebrated Count Holland, of the house of Warwick, came to the French court at the close of 1624, or the commencement of 1625, to demand the hand of the beautiful Henriette, sister of Louis XIII., for the Prince of Wales, who soon after became Charles I. During this negotiation, the Count became enamored with Madame de Chevreuse. He was young and singularly handsome; he pleased her, and won her over to the interests of England. This was, I believe, the true debut of Madame de Chevreuse, both in love and in politics. Holland, who was volatile, and a lover of pleasure and intrigue, persuaded her to entangle her royal friend in some love affair like their own. Anne of Austria was vain and coquettish, she loved to please, and with her country's taste for gallantry, aided by the freedom in which she was left by Louis XIII., she did not interdict herself from accepting homage; but here the game was not without danger, and the handsome and elegant Buckingham succeeded in seriously troubling the heart of the queen. It was not the fault of Madame de Chevreuse if Anne of Austria did not wholly yield. Buckingham was rash and the superintendent complaisant; and the queen only escaped at a perilous risk.

Whatever Retz may say of it, we doubt very much whether Buckingham was ever any thing more to Madame de Chevreuse than the intimate friend of her lover, and the chief of the party into which Holland had drawn her. She saw him for the first