Volume III Part 13 (2/2)
Her lamentations were interrupted by the announcement of the Marechal d'Estrees, who having been admitted, communicated to her the will of the King that she should await his further orders at Compiegne.
”Say rather, M. le Marechal,” she exclaimed with a burst of her habitual impetuosity, ”that I am henceforth a prisoner, and that you have been promoted to the proud office of a woman's gaoler. What are the next commands which I am to be called on to obey? What is to be my ultimate fate? Speak boldly. There is some new misfortune in reserve, but I shall not shrink. 'While others suffer for me, I shall find courage to suffer for myself.” ”His Majesty, Madame, will doubtless inform you--”
commenced the mortified n.o.ble.
”So be it then, M. le Marechal,” said Marie haughtily, as she motioned him to retire; ”I will await the orders of the King.”
Those orders were not long delayed, for on the ensuing morning the Comte de Brienne presented to the imprisoned Princess an autograph letter from Louis XIII, of which the following were the contents:
”I left Compiegne, Madame, without taking leave of you in order to avoid the annoyance of making a personal request which might have caused you some displeasure. I desired to entreat you to retire for a time to the fortress of Moulins, which you had yourself selected as your residence after the death of the late King. Conformably to your marriage contract, you would there, Madame and mother, be at perfect liberty; both yourself and your household. Your absence causes me sincere regret, but the welfare of my kingdom compels me to separate myself from you.
”LOUIS.” [151]
As M. de Brienne had received orders to hold no intercourse with the royal captive save in the presence of the Marechal d'Estrees, it was to the latter n.o.ble that Marie de Medicis addressed herself when she had read the cold and heartless letter of her son.
”So, Sir,” she exclaimed vehemently, ”the King commands me to remove to Moulins! How have I been so unfortunate as to incur his displeasure without having done anything to excite it? Why am I deprived of my physician and the gentlemen of my household? If the King desires to shorten my days he has only to keep me in captivity. It is strange that being the mother of the sovereign I am subjected to the will of his servants; but G.o.d will grant me justice. These are not the wishes of my son, but I am the victim of the hatred and persecution of the Cardinal.
I know,” she pursued, weeping bitterly, ”why I am sent to Moulins; it is because it would be easy from that city to compel my departure for Italy; but rest a.s.sured, Marechal d'Estrees, that _I will sooner be dragged naked from my bed_ than give my consent to such a measure.”
”Madame,” interposed the Comte de Brienne, ”had there been any intention to treat you with disrespect, it could have been done with as much facility at Compiegne as at Moulins. I entreat of your Majesty to reflect before you give us your final answer.”
Marie profited by this advice; and the result of her deliberations was a determination to make a final effort towards a reconciliation with the King. In the letter which she addressed to him she declared that it was her most anxious desire to merit his favour, and to conform to his wishes. She besought him to remember that she was his mother; to recall all the exertions which she had made for the welfare and preservation of his kingdom; and finally she urged him to disregard the counsels of the Cardinal-Minister in so far as they affected herself, since she knew, from personal experience, that where he once hated he never forgave, and that his ambition and his ingrat.i.tude were alike boundless.[152]
The only effect produced by this appeal was an offer to change her place of exile to Angers, should she prefer a residence in that city to Moulins; and in either case to confer upon her the government of whichever of those two provinces she might select. The proposal was indignantly rejected. It was evident that the sole aim of Richelieu was to remove her to a distance from the capital which might impede her communication with the few friends who remained faithful to her; and the anxiety of the Cardinal to effect his object only rendered the Queen-mother the more resolute not to yield.[153]
Meanwhile the position of the Marechal d'Estrees and M. de Brienne was onerous in the extreme. They had received stringent commands to treat their royal captive with every demonstration of respect and deference, while at the same time they were instructed to prevent her correspondence with the Duc d'Orleans, who had already reached Besancon in Franche-Comte on his way to the duchy of Lorraine, pursued by the royal troops, but nevertheless persisting in his purpose. They were, moreover, to use every argument to induce her consent to leave Compiegne for Moulins; a proposition that never failed to excite her anger, which it was frequently difficult to appease; and the unfortunate Marechal soon became so weary of the perpetual mortifications to which he was subjected, that he daily wrote to the Cardinal representing the utter impossibility of success. Richelieu, however, would not be discouraged; and he merely replied by the a.s.surance: ”I know her well; continue to exert yourself, persist without cessation, and you will at last effect your object.” [154]
Meanwhile the King, by the advice of his minister, declared all the n.o.bles by whom Monsieur was accompanied guilty of _lese-majeste_; a sentence which was considered so extreme by the Parliament that when called upon to register it on their minutes they ventured to remonstrate. This act of justice, however, so exasperated the Cardinal that he forthwith induced Louis to proceed to the capital, and to summon the members to his presence, with an express order that they should approach the Louvre _on foot_. This offensive command was no sooner obeyed than the Keeper of the Seals severely reprimanded them for their disloyalty and disobedience; and before time was afforded for a reply, the King demanded that the official register should be delivered up to him, which was no sooner done than he pa.s.sionately tore out the leaf upon which the decree had been inscribed, and subst.i.tuted that of his own Council, by which the Court of Parliament was forbidden all deliberation on declarations of state, at the risk of the suspension of its Councillors, and even of greater penalties, should such be deemed advisable.[155]
This proceeding so much incensed the Duc d'Orleans that he in his turn forwarded a declaration to the Parliament, in which he affirmed that he had quitted the kingdom in consequence of the persecution of the Cardinal de Richelieu, whom he accused of an attempt upon his own life, and upon that of the Queen-mother; which was, as he affirmed, to have been succeeded by a third against the sovereign, in order that the minister might ultimately make himself master of the state; and Monsieur had scarcely taken this step when Marie de Medicis adopted the same policy. The Parliament had in past times warmly seconded her interests; and she still hoped that it would afford her its protection. In the appeal which she made, she dilated in the first place upon her own wrongs; and complained that, without having in anywise intrigued against either the sovereign or the nation, she was kept a close prisoner at Compiegne; while she, moreover, followed up this representation by accusing Richelieu of all the anarchy which existed in the kingdom, and by demanding to be permitted to appear publicly as his accuser.
The appeal was, however, vain. The Parliament, indignant at the insult which had been offered to them, and alarmed at the violence exhibited by Louis in the affair of Monsieur, would not even consent to open her despatch, but sent it with the seal still unbroken to the King;[156]
and thus the unfortunate Princess found herself compelled to abandon a hope by which she had hitherto been sustained. She then sought to interest the people in her favour; and for this purpose she did not scruple to exaggerate the sufferings to which she was subjected by a captivity which she represented as infinitely more rigorous than it was in fact.
Her example was imitated alike by the Duc d'Orleans and the Cardinal-Minister; and ere long the whole nation was deluged with pamphlets, in which each accused the other without measure or decency.
Richelieu was, throughout his whole career, partial to this species of warfare, and had able writers constantly in his employ for the express purpose of writing down his enemies when he could not compa.s.s their ruin by more speedy means; but on this occasion the violence of Monsieur was so great that the Cardinal began to apprehend the issue of the struggle, and deemed it expedient to terminate all further open aggression against Marie de Medicis. In consequence of this conviction, therefore, he forwarded an order to the Marechal d'Estrees to withdraw from Compiegne with the troops under his command, and to leave the Queen-mother at perfect liberty, provided she were willing to pledge herself to remain in that town until she should receive the royal permission to select another residence. It is probable that when the minister exacted this promise he was as little prepared for its observance as was Marie when she conceded it; for she had no sooner become convinced that her star had waned before that of Richelieu, than she determined to effect her escape so soon as she should have secured a place of refuge, whence she could, should she see fit to do so, retire to the Spanish Low Countries, and throw herself upon the protection of the Archd.u.c.h.ess Isabella.
Having once arrived at this decision, the Queen-mother resolved, if possible, to seek an asylum at La Capelle, which, being a frontier town, offered all the necessary facilities for her project; and for this purpose she despatched a trusty messenger to Madame de Vardes, whose husband was governor of the place during the temporary absence of his father, and who was herself a former mistress of Henri IV, and the mother of the Comte de Moret. Flattered by the confidence reposed in her, Madame de Vardes lost no time in exerting her influence over the ambitious spirit of her husband, whom the Duc d'Orleans promised to recompense by the rank of Gentleman of Honour to the Princess to whom he was about to be united; and ere long M. de Vardes, who saw before him a career of greatness and favour should the faction of Monsieur finally triumph, suffered himself to be seduced from his duty to the King, and consented to deliver up the town which had been confided to his keeping to the Queen-mother and her adherents. This important object achieved, Marie, who was aware that should the royal troops march upon La Capelle it would be impossible to withstand their attack, hastened to entreat the help of the Archd.u.c.h.ess in case of need, and also her permission to retire to the Low Countries should the persecution of the Cardinal ultimately compel her to fly from France.
The rapid successes of the King of Sweden in Germany, and the extraordinary strength of the States-General in the United Provinces, had greatly alarmed both the Emperor and the King of Spain; who were consequently well pleased to encourage any internal agitation which might so fully tend to occupy the attention of Louis as to prevent him from rendering effective aid either to Gustavus, the United Provinces, or the Protestant Princes of Germany, nearly the whole of whom were in arms against the Emperor; and thus the request of Marie was eagerly welcomed alike by Ferdinand, Philip, and Isabella, who pledged themselves to a.s.sist her to the full extent of their power. The Court of Brussels especially made her the most unqualified promises; and the Archd.u.c.h.ess, while a.s.suring her that on her arrival she should be received with all the honour due to her distinguished rank, was profuse in her expressions of sympathy.
Thus, as we have shown, when Richelieu demanded and received the promise of Marie de Medicis that she would not seek to leave Compiegne, she was only awaiting a favourable opportunity to effect her escape, and this was afforded by the evacuation of the garrison. Fearful, however, that this new order might only be a snare laid for her by the Cardinal, and aware that although the troops had left the town they were still quartered in the environs, she affected to discredit the a.s.surance of the Marechal that thenceforth he exercised no control over her movements.
”I am not to be thus duped, Monsieur,” was her cold reply. ”Your men are not far off; and I believe myself to be so thoroughly a prisoner that henceforward I shall never leave the castle; even my walks shall be restricted to the terrace.”
When this determination on the part of his mother was communicated to the King, he hastened to inform her that the troops should be withdrawn to a distance from Compiegne; and to entreat that, in consideration for her health, she would occasionally take the exercise by which alone it could be preserved.
To this request she replied that she should obey his pleasure in all things; and having thus, as she believed, removed all suspicion of her purpose, she only awaited the conclusion of the necessary preparations to carry it into execution.
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