81. Cardinal Mazarin as King.
The arrest produced no sensation, indeed was almost unknown, andscarcely interrupted the course of events. To the deputation it wasformally announced that the queen would receive it.
Accordingly, it was admitted to the presence of Anne, who, silent andlofty as ever, listened to the speeches and complaints of the deputies;but when they had finished their harangues not one of them could say, socalm remained her face, whether or no she had heard them.
On the other hand, Mazarin, present at that audience, heard very wellwhat those deputies demanded. It was purely and simply his removal, interms clear and precise.
The discourse being finished, the queen remained silent.
"Gentlemen," said Mazarin, "I join with you in supplicating the queen toput an end to the miseries of her subjects. I have done all in my powerto ameliorate them and yet the belief of the public, you say, is thatthey proceed from me, an unhappy foreigner, who has been unable toplease the French. Alas! I have never been understood, and no wonder. Isucceeded a man of the most sublime genius that ever upheld the sceptreof France. The memory of Richelieu annihilates me. In vain--were I anambitious man--should I struggle against such remembrances as he hasleft; but that I am not ambitious I am going to prove to you. I ownmyself conquered. I shall obey the wishes of the people. If Paris hasinjuries to complain of, who has not some wrongs to be redressed? Parishas been sufficiently punished; enough blood has flowed, enough miseryhas humbled a town deprived of its king and of justice. 'Tis not for me,a private individual, to disunite a queen from her kingdom. Since youdemand my resignation, I retire."
"Then," said Aramis, in his neighbor's ear, "the conferences are over.There is nothing to do but to send Monsieur Mazarin to the most distantfrontier and to take care that he does not return even by that, nor anyother entrance into France."
"One instant, sir," said the man in a gown, whom he addressed; "a plagueon't! how fast you go! one may soon see that you're a soldier. There'sthe article of remunerations and indemnifications to be discussed andset to rights."
"Chancellor," said the queen, turning to Seguier, our old acquaintance,"you will open the conferences. They can take place at Rueil. Thecardinal has said several things which have agitated me, therefore Iwill not speak more fully now. As to his going or staying, I feel toomuch gratitude to the cardinal not to leave him free in all his actions;he shall do what he wishes to do."
A transient pallor overspread the speaking countenance of the primeminister; he looked at the queen with anxiety. Her face was sopassionless, that he, as every one else present, was incapable ofreading her thoughts.
"But," added the queen, "in awaiting the cardinal's decision let therebe, if you please, a reference to the king only."
The deputies bowed and left the room.
"What!" exclaimed the queen, when the last of them had quitted theapartment, "you would yield to these limbs of the law--these advocates?"
"To promote your majesty's welfare, madame," replied Mazarin, fixing hispenetrating eyes on the queen, "there is no sacrifice that I would notmake."
Anne dropped her head and fell into one of those reveries so habitualwith her. A recollection of Athos came into her mind. His fearlessdeportment, his words, so firm, yet dignified, the shades which by oneword he had evoked, recalled to her the past in all its intoxication ofpoetry and romance, youth, beauty, the eclat of love at twenty years ofage, the bloody death of Buckingham, the only man whom she had everreally loved, and the heroism of those obscure champions who had savedher from the double hatred of Richelieu and the king.
Mazarin looked at her, and whilst she deemed herself alone and freedfrom the world of enemies who sought to spy into her secret thoughts, heread her thoughts in her countenance, as one sees in a transparent lakeclouds pass--reflections, like thoughts, of the heavens.
"Must we, then," asked Anne of Austria, "yield to the storm, buy peace,and patiently and piously await better times?"
Mazarin smiled sarcastically at this speech, which showed that she hadtaken the minister's proposal seriously.
Anne's head was bent down--she had not seen the Italian's smile; butfinding that her question elicited no reply she looked up.
"Well, you do not answer, cardinal, what do you think about it?"
"I am thinking, madame, of the allusion made by that insolent gentleman,whom you have caused to be arrested, to the Duke of Buckingham--to himwhom you allowed to be assassinated--to the Duchess de Chevreuse, whomyou suffered to be exiled--to the Duc de Beaufort, whom you imprisoned;but if he made allusion to me it was because he is ignorant of therelation in which I stand to you."
Anne drew up, as she always did, when anything touched her pride. Sheblushed, and that she might not answer, clasped her beautiful hands tillher sharp nails almost pierced them.
"That man has sagacity, honor and wit, not to mention likewise that heis a man of undoubted resolution. You know something about him, do younot, madame? I shall tell him, therefore, and in doing so I shall confera personal favor on him, how he is mistaken in regard to me. What isproposed to me would be, in fact, almost an abdication, and anabdication requires reflection."
"An abdication?" repeated Anne; "I thought, sir, that it was kings alonewho abdicated!"
"Well," replied Mazarin, "and am I not almost a king--king, indeed, ofFrance? Thrown over the foot of the royal bed, my simar, madame, looksnot unlike the mantle worn by kings."
This was one of the humiliations which Mazarin made Anne undergo morefrequently than any other, and one that bowed her head with shame. QueenElizabeth and Catherine II. of Russia are the only two monarchs of theirset on record who were at once sovereigns and lovers. Anne of Austrialooked with a sort of terror at the threatening aspect of thecardinal--his physiognomy in such moments was not destitute of a certaingrandeur.
"Sir," she replied, "did I not say, and did you not hear me say to thosepeople, that you should do as you pleased?"
"In that case," said Mazarin, "I think it must please me best to remain;not only on account of my own interest, but for your safety."
"Remain, then, sir; nothing can be more agreeable to me; only do notallow me to be insulted."
"You are referring to the demands of the rebels and to the tone in whichthey stated them? Patience! They have selected a field of battle onwhich I am an abler general than they--that of a conference. No, weshall beat them by merely temporizing. They want food already. They willbe ten times worse off in a week."
"Ah, yes! Good heavens! I know it will end in that way; but it is notthey who taunt me with the most wounding reproaches, but----"
"I understand; you mean to allude to the recollections perpetuallyrevived by these three gentlemen. However, we have them safe in prison,and they are just sufficiently culpable for us to keep them in prison aslong as we find it convenient. One only is still not in our power andbraves us. But, devil take him! we shall soon succeed in sending him tojoin his boon companions. We have accomplished more difficult thingsthan that. In the first place I have as a precaution shut up at Rueil,near me, under my own eyes, within reach of my hand, the two mostintractable ones. To-day the third will be there also."
"As long as they are in prison all will be well," said Anne, "but one ofthese days they will get out."
"Yes, if your majesty releases them."
"Ah!" exclaimed Anne, following the train of her own thoughts on suchoccasions, "one regrets Paris!"
"Why so?"
"On account of the Bastile, sir, which is so strong and so secure."
"Madame, these conferences will bring us peace; when we have peace weshall regain Paris; with Paris, the Bastile, and our four bullies shallrot therein."
Anne frowned slightly when Mazarin, in taking leave, kissed her hand.
Mazarin, after this half humble, half gallant attention, went away. Annefollowed him with her eyes, and as he withdrew, at every step he took, adisdainful smile was seen playing, then gradually burst upon her lips.
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br /> "I once," she said, "despised the love of a cardinal who never said 'Ishall do,' but, 'I have done so and so.' That man knew of retreats moresecure than Rueil, darker and more silent even than the Bastile.Degenerate world!"
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