ons, could best beguile his weary hours.
He was ready at any moment, without a pang, to lay her aside for
another who could better minister to his pleasure or to the aspirings
of his ambition.

The king, with his court, returned to Paris. The secret communicated
by the mysterious visitor from Spain was still undivulged. The mystery
was so great, and its apparent bearing upon the destiny of Mary so
direct, that she resolved to interrogate one of the most influential
ministers of the court upon the subject. He, thinking in some degree
to evade the question, replied that the courier had come simply to
inform Anne of Austria that the Queen of Spain had given birth to a
son. This revealed the whole to Mary.

In the mean time, arrangements were made for Cardinal Mazarin to meet
the Spanish minister on the frontiers of the two kingdoms to negotiate
for the Spanish marriage. The cardinal, fully convinced that now it
would be impossible to secure the hand of the king for his niece Mary,
and anxious to convince the queen that he was heartily engaged in
promoting the Spanish alliance, ordered Mary immediately to withdraw
from the court, and retire to Brouage. This was a fortified town on
the sea-coast many leagues from Paris. The king heard of the
arrangement, and, forbidding the departure of Mary from the court,
hastened to the cardinal demanding an explanation. Mazarin informed
him that the Infanta of Spain would be very indignant should she learn
that, while he was making application for her hand, he was retaining
near him one whom he had long treated with the most devoted and
affectionate attentions; that her father, Philip IV., would be
disgusted; that there would be a probable rupture of the negotiations;
and that the desolating war between France and Spain would continue.

Louis declared that he should not allow his pleasure to be disturbed
by such considerations. Roused by opposition, he went so far as to say
that he was quite ready to carry on the war with Spain if that power
so wished; that the war would afford him an opportunity to acquire
glory in the eyes of his countrymen, and in that case he would marry
Mary Mancini.

But the cardinal was fully conscious that neither the queen nor France
would now submit to such an arrangement. He had with great skill
retained his attitude of command over the young monarch, holding his
purse and governing the realm, while the boy-king amused himself as a
ballet-dancer and a pla