Page:Secret History of the French Court under Richelieu and Mazarin.djvu/51

Rh every disguise is removed; we read clearly the conduct of Anne of Austria; we see, with all deference to La Rochefoucauld, Madame de Motteville, and La Porte, that she was certainly guilty, and that Madame de Chevreuse was probably her principal accomplice, since she had continued to be as firmly leagued with her during her exile in Touraine as at the time that she was superintendent of her household.

Against Madame de Chevreuse, neither whose person nor papers were seized, there were merely presumptions—but these were very strong presumptions. La Porte, the valet de chambre of the queen, and the avowed bearer of the most of her letters, belonged to Madame de Chevreuse as much as to the queen herself; and even had a room at the Hotel de Chevreuse, which served him as a retreat. The duchess, before her departure to Tours in 1633, went twice, privately, from Dampierre to the Val de Grâce, where she had an interview with Anne of Austria. Lord Montagu, the well-known agent of the Queen of England and the intimate friend of Madame de Chevreuse, had also seen the queen once at the Val de Grâce. The courageous exile had proposed to her royal friend to break her ban and to come in disguise to meet her in Paris. She constantly corresponded with the Duke of Lorraine, and had but lately received an envoy from him. It is difficult to believe that so many intrigues had no other end in view than to learn news of the health of the queen. Upon this point the proofs are direct; we have her own avowals, signed by her own hand. It is very probable that she has not told all, but what she has told proves that she had written several times to Spain and to Flanders, that is to say, to hostile countries, not only to complain of her situation, but also to impart and reveal the most important secrets of the French government. 1st. She had informed the court at Madrid of the journey of a monk who had been sent to Spain on a secret mission. 2d. She had given notice that France was endeavoring to make terms with the Duke of Lorraine, in order that the cabinet at