secretly through De Thou, and asked him whether, if the king should die, he would promise to receive her in Sedan, with her two children, believing that there would be no place of safety for them in all France, so much was she persuaded of the evil intentions of the cardinal and fearful of his power. De Thou said further to the Duke de Bouillon that, since the illness of the king, the queen and Monsieur, the Duke d'Orleans, were closely leagued together, and that it was through Cinq-Mars that this alliance had been made. Two days after, De Thou wished the queen to express to the Duke de Bouillon the satisfaction which she felt at the manner in which he had replied to what had been said to him in her behalf; this she could only do in a few words in passing, when going to the mass, committing the rest to De Thou as having entire confidence in him. Turenne, writing later to his sister, Mademoiselle de Bouillon, says to her: "You can judge how much it must affect my brother to see the queen and Monsieur still in power, while he has lost Sedan for the love of her."[1] Now, where Queen Anne was so deeply engaged, Madame de Chevreuse would scarcely have remained idle.
- ↑ Lettres et Memoires, etc., published by General Grimoard in folio, vol. i., p. 40.
induce the king to grant him the guardianship of his children. He almost succeeded, as we see in this precious document, which we extract from the archives of foreign affairs, France, vol ci., letter of Chavigny to Richelieu of the 28th of July, 1642: "The king told me that several days since, at the time of his dangerous illness at the camp of Perpignan, M. le Grand endeavored in conversation to persuade him to give the guardianship of his children after his death to himself, without however saying it openly. Upon this, I took occasion to exaggerate the effrontery and horrible ambition of this profligate, and to show to his majesty that a person must have all the qualities which he had not in order to be capable of such guardianship, when he said to me, 'If God leaves me reason to direct what shall happen after my death, I can only leave them to Monseigneur the cardinal. To which I only replied by protestations on the part of his Eminence of affection and tenderness for so good a master.'"
