age," that before all else she was a mother and a queen, that Madame de Chevreuse, passionate and frivolous as she was, no longer suited her, that she had never brought happiness to any one, and that by loading her with riches and honors, she would sufficiently acquit herself of her debt of gratitude.
To do honor to her old friend, the queen sent La Rochefoucauld to meet her, but charged him to inform her of the new arrangements which she would find on her return. La Rochefoucauld had an earnest conversation with Anne of Austria, in which he did every thing to win her back to Madame de Chevreuse: "I spoke to her," says he, "perhaps, more freely than I ought. I placed before her eyes the fidelity of Madame de Chevreuse, her long services, and the harshness of the
chains which should have bound her more strongly than in the past. But the affairs of this world cannot always remain in the same state, and this change natural to mankind caused Madame de Chevreuse, who was distrusted and vilified by those aspiring to the ministry, to find the queen changed in her absence, while this same change also caused the queen to find the duchess wanting in the charms which had formerly fascinated her. The sovereign had become more thoughtful and religious, while the favorite still retained her former tastes for gallantry and frivolity, which were bad accompaniments of a riper age. Her rivals had assured the queen that she wished to rule her, and the queen was so strongly impressed with this fear that, considering the prohibition of it which the king had made, she had some difficulty in resolving on the speedy return of the duchess; this indeed was laudable in the queen, and should be respected. Madame the Princess, who hated Madame de Chevreuse, and whose tastes were similar to those of the queen, had used every effort in her power to disgust her with her former favorite. Absence had in some measure served to weaken the duchess' hold upon the mind of the queen, while her presence had contributed much to her friendship with, or rather to accustom her to, Madame the Princess. However, when the distinguished exile arrived, the queen seemed rejoiced to see her, and treated her with favor. I had returned to the court a few days before. As soon as I had the honor of approaching the queen, I saw what were her sentiments towards Madame de Chevreuse, and I knew that the new minister had exerted himself as much as possible to show her her faults."
