ss, yielding to the arguments of
MM. de la Valette and de Chateauneuf, Richelieu readily consoled himself
by recalling the timid and unstable character of Louis, and the
recollection of the eminent services which he had rendered to France.
Siri even asserts that before the Court left Lyons an understanding had
been come to between the King and his minister, and that the exile of
Marie was then and there decided.

Be this as it may, however, it is certain that all parties believed in
the utter overthrow of Richelieu; and while he was yet on his way to
Versailles, the ballad-singers of the Pont Neuf were publicly
distributing the songs and pamphlets which they had hitherto only vended
by stealth; and the dwarf of the Samaritaine was delighting the crowd by
his mimicry of _Maitre Gonin_. At the corners of the different streets
groups of citizens were exchanging congratulations; and within the
palace all the courtiers were commenting upon the approaching triumph of
M. de Marillac, whose attachment to the interests of the Queen-mother
and the Duc d'Orleans had rendered him popular not only with the bulk of
the people, but also with the Parliament. Already were the presidents
and councillors of the law-courts discussing the charges to be brought
against the fallen minister in order to justify his dismissal; while the
foreign ambassadors were equally alert in writing to acquaint their
several courts with the overthrow of Richelieu and the supremacy of the
Queen-mother.

The _salons_ of Marie de Medicis were crowded. All the great nobles who
had hitherto haunted the antechambers of the Cardinal, and awaited his
pleasure as humbly as that of the sovereign himself, now swarmed in the
gilded galleries and stately halls of the Luxembourg; feathers waved and
jewels flashed on every side; the wand of an enchanter had passed over
the Court, and the metamorphosis was complete. In the centre of this
brilliant throng stood Marie de Medicis, radiant with joy, and holding
the young Queen by the hand; while Monsieur took up his station a few
paces from them, laughing and jesting with his favourites.

Heaven only knows what hopes and projects were formed that day--how many
air-built castles were erected which in a few brief hours were fated to
vanish into nothingness. Even Bassompierre, whose courtly tact had never
hitherto deserted him, was blinded like the rest; and he, who had
hitherto so assiduously paid his court to the Cardinal that