of even this modified exile, and that she might again see him who had suffered so deeply for the queen and for herself. Mazarin perceived that it was necessary to grant this, but he yielded slowly, without seeming of himself to repulse Châteauneuf, yet urging the necessity of managing the Condés, especially Madame the Princess, who, as we have already said, hated him as the judge of Henri de Montmorenci. Châteauneuf was therefore recalled, but with this reserve, professedly accorded to the last wishes of the king, that he should not appear at court, but remain at his estate of Montrouge, near Paris, where his friends could visit him.
The question was how to transfer him thence to the ministry. Châteauneuf was old, it is true, but neither his energy nor his ambition had abandoned him. and Madame de Chevreuse regarded it as a debt of honor which she owed him to replace him in the office of keeper of the seals, which he had formerly filled and had lost for her sake, and which all the former friends of the queen saw with indignation in the hands of one of the most servile of the creatures of Richelieu, Pierre Séguier. Séguier was a very capable man, laborious, well-informed, full of resources, and with no character of his own, whose suppleness, joined with his ability, rendered him a convenient and useful tool for a prime minister. His conduct in the trial of De Thou had made him odious. He had forced Monsieur to submit to an interrogation in this same affair;
years, at an advanced age, and full of maladies which have constantly tormented him." He was not released until the commencement of the regency. Ibid., p. 404: "Angoulesme, May 25, 1643. Sire, I render most humble thanks to your Majesty for the favor which she has been pleased to grant me after so long a detention, in permitting me to retire to one of my estates. The few days which remain to me shall be spent in praying to God for your Majesty that he may be pleased to grant her many years of happiness. These most devout supplications, Sire, are made for your Majesty by your most humble and obedient subject and servant, Châteauneuf."
