Queen-mother once more appeals to the Sovereign-Pontiff, who declines to excite against himself the enmity of the Cardinal-Minister--Louis XIII pursues the war with Spain--Monsieur and the Comte de Soissons enter into a conspiracy to assassinate Richelieu--The Queen-mother joins the faction--The plot is betrayed--Gaston returns to his allegiance--Marie de Medicis induces the Comte de Soissons to enter into a treaty with Spain--The intrigue is discovered by the Cardinal--The Queen-mother once more solicits an asylum in England--Charles I. accedes to her request, and endeavours to effect her reconciliation with the French King--Richelieu determines Louis to reply by a refusal--Monsieur abandons his wife, who becomes dependent for her support upon the Spanish Government--Insignificance of Gaston--The Duchess of Savoy endeavours to effect the recall of her royal mother to France--The three Churchmen--Pregnancy of Anne of Austria--Renewed hopes of the Queen-mother--She is again urged to reside in Tuscany--She proceeds to Holland, and is magnificently received--The Prince of Orange intercedes in her behalf with the French King--Richelieu reiterates his wish that she should retire to Florence--The Dutch request her to leave the country--Marie de Medicis embarks for England--She is received at Gravesend by Charles I.--Takes up her abode in St. James's Palace--Meeting between the two Queens--Precarious position of the English King--The Court of the Queen-mother--The French Ambassador is instructed to abstain from all intercourse with the royal exile--A last appeal---Obduracy of the Cardinal--Richelieu, his sovereign, and his benefactress.

CHAPTER XIII

1639-42

Charles I. despatches an envoy to Louis XIII to negotiate the recall of the Queen-mother--Richelieu aspires to the regency--The embassy fails-Queen Henrietta resolves to proceed in person to Paris--Her visit is declined by the French King--Charles I. recalls his ambassador from the Court of France--The increasing animosity of the English people against the Queen-mother compels her to seek another retreat--She is requested by Parliament to leave the country--Philip of Spain refuses to afford her an asylum--She proceeds to Holland, and thence to Antwerp--The painter-prince--A voluntary envoy--The last letter--Marie de Medicis is commanded to quit the Low Countries--She takes refuge at Cologne-The last home of fallen royalty--Waning health of Richelieu--His intellectual energy--Trial of the Duc de la Valette--Trial of the Duc de Vendôme--Affected magnanimity of the Cardinal--Senatorial sycophancy--Exile of the Duc and Duchesse de Vendôme--Execution of M. de Saint-Preuil--Conspiracy against Richelieu--The stolen meetings--The titled beggar--Secret service--Complicity of Cinq-Mars discovered--Execution of Cinq-Mars and De Thou--Cowardice of the Duc d'Orléans--Lingering hopes of Marie de Medicis--Rubens and Richelieu--The abortive mission--Rubens proceeds to Madrid--The Kings of England and Spain withhold all pecuniary aid from the Queen-mother--Despair of Marie de Medicis--Her utter destitution--Death-bed of a crowned head--Tardy honours--Filial affection and priestly piety--The vaults of St. Denis.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

OF

THE THIRD VOLUME