Page:Secret History of the French Court under Richelieu and Mazarin.djvu/31

Rh and skill of the cardinal, the vanquished coalition was dissolved, and England sued for peace, placing, among its most urgent conditions, the return of the beautiful exile, now become a political power for whom peace or war was made. "She was a princess who was much loved in England, and one for whom the king entertained an especial regard, and he would assuredly have insisted on including her in the treaty of peace if he had not been ashamed of making mention of a woman in it; but he would be greatly obliged if his majesty would not displease him in this. She had a fine mind, a potent beauty which she knew how to use to advantage, was never disheartened by any misfortune, and always retained her evenness of temper;" a less brilliant, but far more just and faithful portrait than that of Retz, and which may have been drawn by Richelieu's own hand, as it is probable that the cardinal, according to his custom, has here recapitulated the propositions of Montagu in his own style, instead of copying them verbatim. Be this as it may, Richelieu, who ardently desired to disengage himself from the Rohans, the Protestants, and England, in order to direct all his forces against Spain, accepted the desired condition, and Madame de Chevreuse returned to Dampierre.

A few years of tranquillity followed this turbulent life. Marie de Rohan reappeared at court in all her beauty. She was not yet thirty years of age, and one could scarcely look at her with impunity. Richelieu himself was not insensible to her charms; he endeavored to please her, but his homage was not accepted. To the all-powerful cardinal, Madame de Chevreuse preferred one of his ministers; and the one upon whom he had the best reason to count; she conquered him with a glance, and won him over to the party of the queen and the malcontents.