Page:Secret History of the French Court under Richelieu and Mazarin.djvu/97

Rh after the peace shall be concluded and executed, she shall not return to our kingdom, except by the orders of the said Dame Queen Regent, together with the advice of the said council; with the additional proviso that she shall neither reside nor remain in any place near the court and the same Dame-Queen." These solemn words designated Madame de Chevreuse and Châteauneuf not only as the two most illustrious victims of the closing reign, but also as the chiefs of the new policy which seemed about to replace that of Richelieu. Louis XIII. breathed his last on the 14th of May, 1643. A few days after, the same parliament which had registered his testament amended it; the new regent was freed from all fetters and put in possession of the absolute sovereignty; Châteauneuf left his prison, and Madame de Chevreuse quitted Brussels in triumph to return to the court and to France.