entiously declined to give her any
such counsel, and the parties separated without coming to an
understanding.

This failure no sooner reached the ears of Arnoux, the King's confessor,
than he volunteered to renew the negotiation, under the impression that
he should be more successful than his colleague; an offer which was
eagerly accepted by De Luynes, who procured for him an autograph letter
from Louis XIII, which he was instructed to deliver personally into the
hands of Marie. In this letter the King stated that having been informed
of the wish of the Queen-mother to make a pilgrimage to some holy
places, he hastened to express his gratification at the intelligence;
and to assure her that he should rejoice to learn that she took more
exercise than she had lately done for the benefit of her health, which
was to him a subject of great interest; adding, moreover, that should
circumstances permit, he would willingly bear her company; but that, in
any case, he would not fail to do so in writing, as he desired that
wherever she went she should be received, respected, and honoured
like himself.

Habituated as she was to these wordy and equivocal communications, the
Queen-mother, aware that her every word and gesture would be closely
scrutinized by the reverend envoy, concealed her indignation, and
affected to experience unalloyed gratification from this display of
affection on the part of her son; a circumstance of which Arnoux availed
himself to impress upon her mind the certainty of an approaching and
complete reconciliation with the King, provided she should express her
willingness to comply with his pleasure in all things, and pledge
herself not to form any cabal against his authority, or to make any
attempt to leave Blois until he should sanction her departure; and it
would, moreover, appear that the Jesuit was eloquent, as he ultimately
succeeded in overcoming the distrust of his listener. If Suffren, who
had become weary of the monotony of Blois, and of the insignificance to
which his royal penitent was reduced by her enforced exile, was desirous
to see her once more resume her position at Court, Arnoux was no less
anxious on his part to secure her continued absence, as he apprehended
that her return to the capital would involve his own dismissal, from the
fact of his having owed his appointment to De Luynes; while whatever may
have been the arguments which he advanced, under cover of a sincere and
earnest wish to