teur_ of
that day--recording the return of Madame de Chevreuse, on the 14th of
June, 1643, remarks[1]:--"During such long exile, this princess has
manifested what an elevated mind like hers can do, in spite of all those
vicissitudes of fortune which her constancy has surmounted. The Duchess
went to pay homage to their Majesties, during which visit she received
so many tokens of affection from the Queen-Regent, and gave her in
return such proofs of her zeal in everything relating to her service,
and so much resignation to her will, that it indeed appears that length
of time, distance, or thorny asperities can only prevail over common
minds. Hence the great train of visitors from this Court to her daily,
and for which her spacious hotel scarcely affords room, does not excite
so much wonder as the fact which has been the subject of remark, that
the fatigue consequent upon long journeys and the rigour of adverse
fortune have worked no change in her magnanimity, nor--which is the more
extraordinary--in her beauty."

[1] No. lxxvii. p. 579.

Making due allowance for the inflated diction of the complaisant Court
newswriter, let us endeavour to approach somewhat nearer to the truth.

Madame de Chevreuse had then entered upon her forty-third year. Though
still surprisingly well-preserved, her beauty, tried by adversity, was
visibly on the decline. The inclination to gallantry still existed, but
subdued, politics having gained the supremacy. She had formed the
acquaintance of, and held political relations with, the most celebrated
statesmen in Europe. She had figured at almost all its Courts, the
strength and weakness of its several Governments were known to her, and
in her wanderings, having seen "men and cities," she had acquired a
large experience. The tried favourite hoped to find Anne of Austria the
same as she had left her--averse to business, and very willing to allow
herself to be led by those for whom she had a particular affection; and
as Madame de Chevreuse had been in her youthful days paramount in the
Queen's affection, she fully expected to exercise over her that twofold
ascendancy which love and capacity would jointly give. More ambitious
for her friends than for herself, she saw them already rewarded for
their long sacrifices, replacing everywhere the creatures of Richelieu,
and at their head, in the highest post, as first minister, him who for
her sake had broken with the triumphant Cardinal, and had endure