have
commenced; but all these artifices failed to shake the resolution of
Marie de Medicis.

This display of firmness augmented the dismay of De Luynes and the
ministers, who then conjointly endeavoured to compel her to ask the
royal permission to retire to Florence; for which purpose they treated
her with greater rigour than before. Several troops of cavalry were
garrisoned in the immediate environs of Blois; she was not permitted to
leave the fortress; and orders were given that she should not, under any
pretext, be allowed to receive visitors without the previous sanction of
the favourite.[20] Still the spirit of Marie remained unbroken; and it
was ascertained that, despite all precautions, she pursued her purpose
with untiring perseverance. It thus became necessary to adopt other
measures. Cadenet, the brother of De Luynes, was accordingly instructed
to proceed to her prison, and to inform her that the King was about to
visit her, in order to make arrangements for her liberation; but the
Queen had been already apprised of his intended arrival, as well as of
the motive of his journey, and the fallacy of the promises which he had
been directed to hold out; and consequently, after coldly expressing her
sense of the intended clemency, and the gratification which she should
derive from the presence of her son, she dismissed the messenger as
calmly and as haughtily as though she had still been Regent of
the kingdom.

De Luynes and his adherents felt that hitherto nothing had been gained;
and they next determined to enlist the services of her confessor, the
Jesuit Suffren, who had, as they were aware, great influence over her
mind. Suffren declared himself ready to do all in his power to meet the
wishes of the King and his ministers, and to induce his royal penitent
to submit patiently to her captivity, should he be convinced that in so
acting he was fulfilling his duty towards both parties; and for the
purpose of a thorough understanding on this point, he suggested that an
accredited person should be named with whom he might enter into a
negotiation. De Luynes immediately appointed for this office another
Jesuit called Seguerand, and the two ecclesiastics accordingly met to
discuss the terms upon which Suffren was to offer the desired advice to
the Queen-mother; but he had no sooner ascertained that an unqualified
concession was demanded on her part without any reciprocal pledge upon
that of her enemies, than he consci