Page:Secret History of the French Court under Richelieu and Mazarin.djvu/59

Rh him unusually courteous, she took the liberty of entreating him to procure her stuffs to clothe herself conformably to her sex and condition. Having at last reached Spain, with her accustomed resolution she threw herself for a second time into the hardships of exile, taking nothing with her but her beauty, her talent, and her courage. She had sent one of her servants to La Rochefoucauld with all her jewels—valued at 200,000 crowns—entreating him to accept them as a legacy if she should die, or else to restore them to her at some future day.

At the news of the flight of Madame de Chevreuse, Richelieu was greatly disturbed, and he used every effort to hinder her departure from France. The strictest orders were instantly issued, not to arrest, but to detain her. M. de Chevreuse sent his steward, M. de Boispille in search of his wife with the assurance that she had nothing to fear. The cardinal also despatched President Vignier, one of his trusty friends, with a full permission to reside in perfect liberty at Tours, together with the hope of a speedy return to Dampièrre. At the same time, Vignier was ordered to question the old archbishop as well as La Rochefoucauld and his people, and to extract from them all the information that could be of use to the minister. But neither Boispille nor Vignier could overtake the beautiful fugitive, and she had just touched the soil of Spain when the president reached the frontier. He wished, however, to execute his commission as fully as he could, and sent a herald on the Spanish territory to convey to Madame de Chevreuse a pardon for the past and an invitation to return to France. She did not learn of all these proceedings until she was already in Madrid.