Page:Secret History of the French Court under Richelieu and Mazarin.djvu/39

Rh cause. Send me word how I can see you without the knowledge of the cardinal; for I will do any thing you may deem proper for this, wishing ardently to converse with you, and having many things to say to you which cannot well be explained in writing, especially concerning 37 and the cardinal, but the latter more particularly, having seen him this evening, and found him more than ever resolved to persecute Madame de Chevreuse. He parted on good terms with her, but she never found him in such a mood as to-day; so restless and so variable in his manner, now carried away by anger, then pacified in a moment into extreme humility. He cannot endure that Madame de Chevreuse should esteem M. de Châteauneuf, but he cannot prevent her; this I promise you, my faithful servant, whom I so call, because I believe him to be such. Adieu, I must see you at any cost. Send me an answer, and beware of the cardinal, who watches Madame de Chevreuse and M. de Châteauneuf, in whom Madame de Chevreuse confides as in herself.

"I would truly have given my life to have seen you yesterday. I went out in the evening, and was near going for this purpose to your sister's house, (Elisabeth de L'Aubéspine, who had married André de Cochefilet, Count de Vaucellas.) If the cardinal speaks to you of the visit of Madame de Chevreuse, tell him that it was respecting the affair of the Princess de Guymené, (sister-in-law of Madame de Chevreuse;) but I wish you to seem to be displeased with your master, and to despise him. I know that this will be painful to you, nevertheless you must obey me, because it is absolutely necessary. It is for this reason that I recommend it to you. Choose a favorable occasion for this. Do not send to my house. You shall often have news from me, and during my whole life, proofs of my affection. I shall be to-day where you are going.

"Although I am ill, I will not refrain from telling you the