16 IN WHICH M. SEGUIER, KEEPER OF THE SEALS, LOOKS MORE THAN ONCE FORTHE BELL
It is impossible to form an idea of the impression these few words madeupon Louis XIII. He grew pale and red alternately; and the cardinal sawat once that he had recovered by a single blow all the ground he hadlost.
"Buckingham in Paris!" cried he, "and why does he come?"
"To conspire, no doubt, with your enemies, the Huguenots and theSpaniards."
"No, PARDIEU, no! To conspire against my honor with Madame de Chevreuse,Madame de Longueville, and the Condes."
"Oh, sire, what an idea! The queen is too virtuous; and besides, lovesyour Majesty too well."
"Woman is weak, Monsieur Cardinal," said the king; "and as to loving memuch, I have my own opinion as to that love."
"I not the less maintain," said the cardinal, "that the Duke ofBuckingham came to Paris for a project wholly political."
"And I am sure that he came for quite another purpose, MonsieurCardinal; but if the queen be guilty, let her tremble!"
"Indeed," said the cardinal, "whatever repugnance I may have todirecting my mind to such a treason, your Majesty compels me to think ofit. Madame de Lannoy, whom, according to your Majesty's command, I havefrequently interrogated, told me this morning that the night before lasther Majesty sat up very late, that this morning she wept much, and thatshe was writing all day."
"That's it!" cried the king; "to him, no doubt. Cardinal, I must havethe queen's papers."
"But how to take them, sire? It seems to me that it is neither yourMajesty nor myself who can charge himself with such a mission."
"How did they act with regard to the Marechale d'Ancre?" cried the king,in the highest state of choler; "first her closets were thoroughlysearched, and then she herself."
"The Marechale d'Ancre was no more than the Marechale d'Ancre. AFlorentine adventurer, sire, and that was all; while the august spouseof your Majesty is Anne of Austria, Queen of France--that is to say, oneof the greatest princesses in the world."
"She is not the less guilty, Monsieur Duke! The more she has forgottenthe high position in which she was placed, the more degrading is herfall. Besides, I long ago determined to put an end to all these pettyintrigues of policy and love. She has near her a certain Laporte."
"Who, I believe, is the mainspring of all this, I confess," said thecardinal.
"You think then, as I do, that she deceives me?" said the king.
"I believe, and I repeat it to your Majesty, that the queen conspiresagainst the power of the king, but I have not said against his honor."
"And I--I tell you against both. I tell you the queen does not love me;I tell you she loves another; I tell you she loves that infamousBuckingham! Why did you not have him arrested while in Paris?"
"Arrest the Duke! Arrest the prime minister of King Charles I! Think ofit, sire! What a scandal! And if the suspicions of your Majesty, which Istill continue to doubt, should prove to have any foundation, what aterrible disclosure, what a fearful scandal!"
"But as he exposed himself like a vagabond or a thief, he should havebeen--"
Louis XIII stopped, terrified at what he was about to say, whileRichelieu, stretching out his neck, waited uselessly for the word whichhad died on the lips of the king.
"He should have been--?"
"Nothing," said the king, "nothing. But all the time he was in Paris,you, of course, did not lose sight of him?"
"No, sire."
"Where did he lodge?"
"Rue de la Harpe. No. 75."
"Where is that?"
"By the side of the Luxembourg."
"And you are certain that the queen and he did not see each other?"
"I believe the queen to have too high a sense of her duty, sire."
"But they have corresponded; it is to him that the queen has beenwriting all the day. Monsieur Duke, I must have those letters!"
"Sire, notwithstanding--"
"Monsieur Duke, at whatever price it may be, I will have them."
"I would, however, beg your Majesty to observe--"
"Do you, then, also join in betraying me, Monsieur Cardinal, by thusalways opposing my will? Are you also in accord with Spain and England,with Madame de Chevreuse and the queen?"
"Sire," replied the cardinal, sighing, "I believed myself secure fromsuch a suspicion."
"Monsieur Cardinal, you have heard me; I will have those letters."
"There is but one way."
"What is that?"
"That would be to charge Monsieur de Seguier, the keeper of the seals,with this mission. The matter enters completely into the duties of thepost."
"Let him be sent for instantly."
"He is most likely at my hotel. I requested him to call, and when I cameto the Louvre I left orders if he came, to desire him to wait."
"Let him be sent for instantly."
"Your Majesty's orders shall be executed; but--"
"But what?"
"But the queen will perhaps refuse to obey."
"My orders?"
"Yes, if she is ignorant that these orders come from the king."
"Well, that she may have no doubt on that head, I will go and inform hermyself."
"Your Majesty will not forget that I have done everything in my power toprevent a rupture."
"Yes, Duke, yes, I know you are very indulgent toward the queen, tooindulgent, perhaps; we shall have occasion, I warn you, at some futureperiod to speak of that."
"Whenever it shall please your Majesty; but I shall be always happy andproud, sire, to sacrifice myself to the harmony which I desire to seereign between you and the Queen of France."
"Very well, Cardinal, very well; but, meantime, send for Monsieur theKeeper of the Seals. I will go to the queen."
And Louis XIII, opening the door of communication, passed into thecorridor which led from his apartments to those of Anne of Austria.
The queen was in the midst of her women--Mme. de Guitaut, Mme. de Sable,Mme. de Montbazon, and Mme. de Guemene. In a corner was the Spanishcompanion, Donna Estafania, who had followed her from Madrid. Mme.Guemene was reading aloud, and everybody was listening to her withattention with the exception of the queen, who had, on the contrary,desired this reading in order that she might be able, while feigning tolisten, to pursue the thread of her own thoughts.
These thoughts, gilded as they were by a last reflection of love, werenot the less sad. Anne of Austria, deprived of the confidence of herhusband, pursued by the hatred of the cardinal, who could not pardon herfor having repulsed a more tender feeling, having before her eyes theexample of the queen-mother whom that hatred had tormented all herlife--though Marie de Medicis, if the memoirs of the time are to bebelieved, had begun by according to the cardinal that sentiment whichAnne of Austria always refused him--Anne of Austria had seen her mostdevoted servants fall around her, her most intimate confidants, herdearest favorites. Like those unfortunate persons endowed with a fatalgift, she brought misfortune upon everything she touched. Her friendshipwas a fatal sign which called down persecution. Mme. de Chevreuse andMme. de Bernet were exiled, and Laporte did not conceal from hismistress that he expected to be arrested every instant.
It was at the moment when she was plunged in the deepest and darkest ofthese reflections that the door of the chamber opened, and the kingentered.
The reader hushed herself instantly. All the ladies rose, and there wasa profound silence. As to the king, he made no demonstration ofpoliteness, only stopping before the queen. "Madame," said he, "you areabout to receive a visit from the chancellor, who will communicatecertain matters to you with which I have charged him."
The unfortunate queen, who was constantly threatened with divorce,exile, and trial even, turned pale under her rouge, and could notrefrain from saying, "But why this visit, sire? What can the chancellorhave to say to me that your Majesty could not say yourself?"
The king turned upon his heel without reply, and almost at the sameinstant the captain of the Guards, M.
de Guitant, announced the visit ofthe chancellor.
When the chancellor appeared, the king had already gone out by anotherdoor.
The chancellor entered, half smiling, half blushing. As we shallprobably meet with him again in the course of our history, it may bewell for our readers to be made at once acquainted with him.
This chancellor was a pleasant man. He was Des Roches le Masle, canon ofNotre Dame, who had formerly been valet of a bishop, who introduced himto his Eminence as a perfectly devout man. The cardinal trusted him, andtherein found his advantage.
There are many stories related of him, and among them this. After a wildyouth, he had retired into a convent, there to expiate, at least forsome time, the follies of adolescence. On entering this holy place, thepoor penitent was unable to shut the door so close as to prevent thepassions he fled from entering with him. He was incessantly attacked bythem, and the superior, to whom he had confided this misfortune, wishingas much as in him lay to free him from them, had advised him, in orderto conjure away the tempting demon, to have recourse to the bell rope,and ring with all his might. At the denunciating sound, the monks wouldbe rendered aware that temptation was besieging a brother, and all thecommunity would go to prayers.
This advice appeared good to the future chancellor. He conjured the evilspirit with abundance of prayers offered up by the monks. But the devildoes not suffer himself to be easily dispossessed from a place in whichhe has fixed his garrison. In proportion as they redoubled the exorcismshe redoubled the temptations; so that day and night the bell was ringingfull swing, announcing the extreme desire for mortification which thepenitent experienced.
The monks had no longer an instant of repose. By day they did nothingbut ascend and descend the steps which led to the chapel; at night, inaddition to complines and matins, they were further obliged to leaptwenty times out of their beds and prostrate themselves on the floor oftheir cells.
It is not known whether it was the devil who gave way, or the monks whogrew tired; but within three months the penitent reappeared in the worldwith the reputation of being the most terrible POSSESSED that everexisted.
On leaving the convent he entered into the magistracy, became presidenton the place of his uncle, embraced the cardinal's party, which did notprove want of sagacity, became chancellor, served his Eminence with zealin his hatred against the queen-mother and his vengeance against Anne ofAustria, stimulated the judges in the affair of Calais, encouraged theattempts of M. de Laffemas, chief gamekeeper of France; then, at length,invested with the entire confidence of the cardinal--a confidence whichhe had so well earned--he received the singular commission for theexecution of which he presented himself in the queen's apartments.
The queen was still standing when he entered; but scarcely had sheperceived him then she reseated herself in her armchair, and made a signto her women to resume their cushions and stools, and with an air ofsupreme hauteur, said, "What do you desire, monsieur, and with whatobject do you present yourself here?"
"To make, madame, in the name of the king, and without prejudice to therespect which I have the honor to owe to your Majesty a closeexamination into all your papers."
"How, monsieur, an investigation of my papers--mine! Truly, this is anindignity!"
"Be kind enough to pardon me, madame; but in this circumstance I am butthe instrument which the king employs. Has not his Majesty just leftyou, and has he not himself asked you to prepare for this visit?"
"Search, then, monsieur! I am a criminal, as it appears. Estafania, giveup the keys of my drawers and my desks."
For form's sake the chancellor paid a visit to the pieces of furniturenamed; but he well knew that it was not in a piece of furniture that thequeen would place the important letter she had written that day.
When the chancellor had opened and shut twenty times the drawers of thesecretaries, it became necessary, whatever hesitation he mightexperience--it became necessary, I say, to come to the conclusion of theaffair; that is to say, to search the queen herself. The chancelloradvanced, therefore, toward Anne of Austria, and said with a veryperplexed and embarrassed air, "And now it remains for me to make theprincipal examination."
"What is that?" asked the queen, who did not understand, or rather wasnot willing to understand.
"His majesty is certain that a letter has been written by you during theday; he knows that it has not yet been sent to its address. This letteris not in your table nor in your secretary; and yet this letter must besomewhere."
"Would you dare to lift your hand to your queen?" said Anne of Austria,drawing herself up to her full height, and fixing her eyes upon thechancellor with an expression almost threatening.
"I am a faithful subject of the king, madame, and all that his Majestycommands I shall do."
"Well, it is true!" said Anne of Austria; "and the spies of the cardinalhave served him faithfully. I have written a letter today; that letteris not yet gone. The letter is here." And the queen laid her beautifulhand on her bosom.
"Then give me that letter, madame," said the chancellor.
"I will give it to none but the king, monsieur," said Anne.
"If the king had desired that the letter should be given to him, madame,he would have demanded it of you himself. But I repeat to you, I amcharged with reclaiming it; and if you do not give it up--"
"Well?"
"He has, then, charged me to take it from you."
"How! What do you say?"
"That my orders go far, madame; and that I am authorized to seek for thesuspected paper, even on the person of your Majesty."
"What horror!" cried the queen.
"Be kind enough, then, madame, to act more compliantly."
"The conduct is infamously violent! Do you know that, monsieur?"
"The king commands it, madame; excuse me."
"I will not suffer it! No, no, I would rather die!" cried the queen, inwhom the imperious blood of Spain and Austria began to rise.
The chancellor made a profound reverence. Then, with the intention quitepatent of not drawing back a foot from the accomplishment of thecommission with which he was charged, and as the attendant of anexecutioner might have done in the chamber of torture, he approachedAnne of Austria, from whose eyes at the same instant sprang tears ofrage.
The queen was, as we have said, of great beauty. The commission mightwell be called delicate; and the king had reached, in his jealousy ofBuckingham, the point of not being jealous of anyone else.
Without doubt the chancellor Seguier looked about at that moment for therope of the famous bell; but not finding it he summoned his resolution,and stretched forth his hands toward the place where the queen hadacknowledged the paper was to be found.
Anne of Austria took one step backward, became so pale that it might besaid she was dying, and leaning with her left hand upon a table behindher to keep herself from falling, she with her right hand drew the paperfrom her bosom and held it out to the keeper of the seals.
"There, monsieur, there is that letter!" cried the queen, with a brokenand trembling voice; "take it, and deliver me from your odiouspresence."
The chancellor, who, on his part, trembled with an emotion easily to beconceived, took the letter, bowed to the ground, and retired. The doorwas scarcely closed upon him, when the queen sank, half fainting, intothe arms of her women.
The chancellor carried the letter to the king without having read asingle word of it. The king took it with a trembling hand, looked forthe address, which was wanting, became very pale, opened it slowly, thenseeing by the first words that it was addressed to the King of Spain, heread it rapidly.
It was nothing but a plan of attack against the cardinal. The queenpressed her brother and the Emperor of Austria to appear to be wounded,as they really were, by the policy of Richelieu--the eternal object ofwhich was the abasement of the house of Austria--to declare war againstFrance, and as a condition of peace, to insist upon the dismissal of thecardinal; but as to love, there was not a single word about it in al
lthe letter.
The king, quite delighted, inquired if the cardinal was still at theLouvre; he was told that his Eminence awaited the orders of his Majestyin the business cabinet.
The king went straight to him.
"There, Duke," said he, "you were right and I was wrong. The wholeintrigue is political, and there is not the least question of love inthis letter; but, on the other hand, there is abundant question of you."
The cardinal took the letter, and read it with the greatest attention;then, when he had arrived at the end of it, he read it a second time."Well, your Majesty," said he, "you see how far my enemies go; theymenace you with two wars if you do not dismiss me. In your place, intruth, sire, I should yield to such powerful instance; and on my part,it would be a real happiness to withdraw from public affairs."
"What say you, Duke?"
"I say, sire, that my health is sinking under these excessive strugglesand these never-ending labors. I say that according to all probability Ishall not be able to undergo the fatigues of the siege of La Rochelle,and that it would be far better that you should appoint there eitherMonsieur de Conde, Monsieur de Bassopierre, or some valiant gentlemanwhose business is war, and not me, who am a churchman, and who amconstantly turned aside for my real vocation to look after matters forwhich I have no aptitude. You would be the happier for it at home, sire,and I do not doubt you would be the greater for it abroad."
"Monsieur Duke," said the king, "I understand you. Be satisfied, all whoare named in that letter shall be punished as they deserve, even thequeen herself."
"What do you say, sire? God forbid that the queen should suffer theleast inconvenience or uneasiness on my account! She has always believedme, sire, to be her enemy; although your Majesty can bear witness that Ihave always taken her part warmly, even against you. Oh, if she betrayedyour Majesty on the side of your honor, it would be quite another thing,and I should be the first to say, 'No grace, sire--no grace for theguilty!' Happily, there is nothing of the kind, and your Majesty hasjust acquired a new proof of it."
"That is true, Monsieur Cardinal," said the king, "and you were right,as you always are; but the queen, not the less, deserves all my anger."
"It is you, sire, who have now incurred hers. And even if she were to beseriously offended, I could well understand it; your Majesty has treatedher with a severity--"
"It is thus I will always treat my enemies and yours, Duke, however highthey may be placed, and whatever peril I may incur in acting severelytoward them."
"The queen is my enemy, but is not yours, sire; on the contrary, she isa devoted, submissive, and irreproachable wife. Allow me, then, sire, tointercede for her with your Majesty."
"Let her humble herself, then, and come to me first."
"On the contrary, sire, set the example. You have committed the firstwrong, since it was you who suspected the queen."
"What! I make the first advances?" said the king. "Never!"
"Sire, I entreat you to do so."
"Besides, in what manner can I make advances first?"
"By doing a thing which you know will be agreeable to her."
"What is that?"
"Give a ball; you know how much the queen loves dancing. I will answerfor it, her resentment will not hold out against such an attention."
"Monsieur Cardinal, you know that I do not like worldly pleasures."
"The queen will only be the more grateful to you, as she knows yourantipathy for that amusement; besides, it will be an opportunity for herto wear those beautiful diamonds which you gave her recently on herbirthday and with which she has since had no occasion to adorn herself."
"We shall see, Monsieur Cardinal, we shall see," said the king, who, inhis joy at finding the queen guilty of a crime which he cared littleabout, and innocent of a fault of which he had great dread, was ready tomake up all differences with her, "we shall see, but upon my honor, youare too indulgent toward her."
"Sire," said the cardinal, "leave severity to your ministers. Clemencyis a royal virtue; employ it, and you will find that you deriveadvantage therein."
Thereupon the cardinal, hearing the clock strike eleven, bowed low,asking permission of the king to retire, and supplicating him to come toa good understanding with the queen.
Anne of Austria, who, in consequence of the seizure of her letter,expected reproaches, was much astonished the next day to see the kingmake some attempts at reconciliation with her. Her first movement wasrepellent. Her womanly pride and her queenly dignity had both been socruelly offended that she could not come round at the first advance;but, overpersuaded by the advice of her women, she at last had theappearance of beginning to forget. The king took advantage of thisfavorable moment to tell her that he had the intention of shortly givinga fete.
A fete was so rare a thing for poor Anne of Austria that at thisannouncement, as the cardinal had predicted, the last trace of herresentment disappeared, if not from her heart, at least from hercountenance. She asked upon what day this fete would take place, but theking replied that he must consult the cardinal upon that head.
Indeed, every day the king asked the cardinal when this fete should takeplace; and every day the cardinal, under some pretext, deferred fixingit. Ten days passed away thus.
On the eighth day after the scene we have described, the cardinalreceived a letter with the London stamp which only contained theselines: "I have them; but I am unable to leave London for want of money.Send me five hundred pistoles, and four or five days after I havereceived them I shall be in Paris."
On the same day the cardinal received this letter the king put hiscustomary question to him.
Richelieu counted on his fingers, and said to himself, "She will arrive,she says, four or five days after having received the money. It willrequire four or five days for the transmission of the money, four orfive days for her to return; that makes ten days. Now, allowing forcontrary winds, accidents, and a woman's weakness, there are twelvedays."
"Well, Monsieur Duke," said the king, "have you made your calculations?"
"Yes, sire. Today is the twentieth of September. The aldermen of thecity give a fete on the third of October. That will fall in wonderfullywell; you will not appear to have gone out of your way to please thequeen."
Then the cardinal added, "A PROPOS, sire, do not forget to tell herMajesty the evening before the fete that you should like to see how herdiamond studs become her."