ccording to the
testimony of the Princess Palatine, consort of Philip I, Duc d'Orleans,
and that it was therefore possible for him to marry, and that he did
marry, Anne of Austria in secret.

"Old Madame Beauvais, principal woman of the bed-chamber to the queen
mother, knew of this ridiculous marriage, and as the price of her
secrecy obliged the queen to comply with all her whims. To this
circumstance the principal bed-chamber women owe the extensive
privileges accorded them ever since in this country" (Letter of the
Duchesse d'Orleans, 13th September 1713).

"The queen mother, consort of Louis XIII, had done worse than simply to
fall in love with Mazarin, she had married him, for he had never been
an ordained priest, he had only taken deacon's orders. If he had been a
priest his marriage would have been impossible. He grew terribly tired
of the good queen mother, and did not live happily with her, which
was only what he deserved for making such a marriage" (Letter of the
Duchesse d'Orleans, 2nd November 1717).

"She (the queen mother) was quite easy in her conscience about Cardinal
Mazarin; he was not in priest's orders, and so could marry. The secret
passage by which he reached the queen's rooms every evening still exists
in the Palais Royal" (Letter of the Duchesse d'Orleans, 2nd July 1719)

"The queen's, manner of conducting affairs is influenced by the passion
which dominates her. When she and the cardinal converse together, their
ardent love for each other is betrayed by their looks and gestures; it
is plain to see that when obliged to part for a time they do it with
great reluctance. If what people say is true, that they are properly
married, and that their union has been blessed by Pere Vincent the
missioner, there is no harm in all that goes on between them, either in
public or in private" ('Requete civile contre la Conclusion de la Paix,
1649).

The Man in the Iron Mask told the apothecary in the Bastille that
he thought he was about sixty years of age ('Questions sur
d'Encyclopedie'). Thus he must have been born in 1644, just at the time
when Anne of Austria was invested with the royal power, though it was
really exercised by Mazarin.

Can we find any incident recorded in history which lends support to
the supposition that Anne of Austria had a son whose birth was kept as
secret as her marriage to Mazarin?

"In 1644, Anne of Austria being dissatisfied with her apartments in the
Louvre, moved to the P