ad come to his aid; although the Italian favourite did
not fail to propitiate the haughty Duke by every means in his power, and
so thoroughly succeeded in flattering his vanity, and encouraging his
ambitious aspirations, that, anxious to secure the interest and
assistance of so influential a person as the husband of the Queen's
foster-sister and confidential friend, M. de Bouillon was induced to
sell to him his office of First Lord of the Bedchamber; a circumstance
which at once secured a permanent footing at Court to Concini, and
opened before him a long vista of prosperity.[76]

One of the first decisions arrived at by the Regent was the completion
of all the public edifices commenced by the late King, and the erection
of such as he had resolved upon, but had not lived to commence; an
admirable act of policy by which she at once evinced her respect for the
memory of her husband, and procured employment for hundreds of workmen,
who must otherwise have been severe sufferers from want of occupation.
Those which were originated under her auspices were the castle of
Vincennes and the Royal College, the latter of which she caused to be
built strictly according to the design executed by Henry himself; and
the first stone was laid on the 28th of August by the young King,
assisted by his whole Court. It bore the arms of France and Medicis, and
beneath them was inscribed in deeply-chiselled characters: "In the first
year of the reign of Louis XIII, King of France and Navarre, aged nine
years, and of the regency of the Queen Marie de Medicis his mother,
1610." Four medals, bearing the same inscription, two of gold, and two
of silver gilt, having been placed at the corners of the stone, which
was then lowered, the Due de Sully presented the silver trowel, while
two of the attendant nobles alternately offered the hammer and the
silver trough containing the mortar.

During the following month the Queen herself performed the same ceremony
at Vincennes, respecting the fortress, and the magnificent tower built
by Charles VII, but erecting beneath its shadow a commodious residence
on the space which had heretofore been cumbered with a mass of unsightly
buildings, totally unsuitable for the reception of a Court.[77]

The Due de Mayenne, although suffering from severe indisposition, had
hastened to offer his services to the Regent; who, recognizing his
ability, and grateful for the zeal which he evinced in her interests,
expressed all