The cardinal rose, and advanced in haste to receive thequeen of England. He showed the more respect to this queen,deprived of every mark of pomp and stripped of followers, ashe felt some self-reproach for his own want of heart and hisavarice. But supplicants for favor know how to accommodatethe expression of their features, and the daughter of HenryIV. smiled as she advanced to meet a man she hated anddespised.

"Ah!" said Mazarin to himself, "what a sweet face; does shecome to borrow money of me?"

And he threw an uneasy glance at his strong box; he eventurned inside the bevel of the magnificent diamond ring, thebrilliancy of which drew every eye upon his hand, whichindeed was white and handsome.

"Your eminence," said the august visitor, "it was my firstintention to speak of the matters that have brought me hereto the queen, my sister, but I have reflected that politicalaffairs are more especially the concern of men."

"Madame," said Mazarin, "your majesty overwhelms me withflattering distinction."

"He is very gracious," thought the queen; "can he haveguessed my errand?"

"Give," continued the cardinal, "your commands to the mostrespectful of your servants."

"Alas, sir," replied the queen, "I have lost the habit ofcommanding and have adopted instead that of makingpetitions. I am here to petition you, too happy should myprayer be favorably heard."

"I am listening, madame, with the greatest interest," saidMazarin.

"Your eminence, it concerns the war which the king, myhusband, is now sustaining against his rebellious subjects.You are perhaps ignorant that they are fighting in England,"added she, with a melancholy smile, "and that in a shorttime they will fight in a much more decided fashion thanthey have done hitherto."

"I am completely ignorant of it, madame," said the cardinal,accompanying his words with a slight shrug of the shoulders;"alas, our own wars quite absorb the time and the mind of apoor, incapable, infirm old minister like me."

"Well, then, your eminence," said the queen, "I must informyou that Charles I., my husband, is on the eve of a decisiveengagement. In case of a check" (Mazarin made a slightmovement), "one must foresee everything; in the case of acheck, he desires to retire into France and to live here asa private individual. What do you say to this project?"

The cardinal had listened without permitting a single fibreof his face to betray what he felt, and his smile remainedas it ever was - false and flattering; and when the queenfinished speaking, he said:

"Do you think, madame, that France, agitated and disturbedas it is, would be a safe retreat for a dethroned king? Howwill the crown, which is scarce firmly set on the head ofLouis XIV., support a double weight?"

"The weight was not so heavy when I was in peril,"interrupted the queen, with a sad smile, "and I ask no morefor my husband than has been done for me; you see that weare very humble monarchs, sir."

"Oh, you, madame," the cardinal hastened to say, in order tocut short the explanation he foresaw was coming, "withregard to you, that is another thing. A daughter of HenryIV., of that great, that sublime sovereign - - "

"All which does not prevent you refusing hospitality to hisson-in-law, sir! Nevertheless, you ought to remember thatthat great, that sublime monarch, when proscribed at onetime, as my husband may be, demanded aid from England andEngland accorded it to him; and it is but just to say thatQueen Elizabeth was not his niece."

"Peccato!" said Mazarin, writhing beneath this simpleeloquence, "your majesty does not understand me; you judgemy intentions wrongly, and that is partly because,doubtless, I explain myself in French."

"Speak Italian, sir. Ere the cardinal, your predecessor,sent our mother, Marie de Medicis, to die in exile, shetaught us that language. If anything yet remains of thatgreat, that sublime king, Henry, of whom you have justspoken, he would be much surprised at so little pity for hisfamily being united to such a profound admiration ofhimself."

The perspiration stood in large drops on Mazarin's brow.

"That admiration is, on the contrary, so great, so real,madame," returned Mazarin, without noticing the change oflanguage offered to him by the queen, "that if the king,Charles I. - whom Heaven protect from evil! - came intoFrance, I would offer him my house - my own house; but,alas! it would be but an unsafe retreat. Some day the peoplewill burn that house, as they burned that of the Marechald'Ancre. Poor Concino Concini! And yet he but desired thegood of the people."

"Yes, my lord, like yourself!" said the queen, ironically.

Mazarin pretended not to understand the double meaning ofhis own sentence, but continued to compassionate the fate ofConcino Concini.

"Well then, your eminence," said the queen, becomingimpatient, "what is your answer?"

"Madame," cried Mazarin, more and more moved, "will yourmajesty permit me to give you counsel?"

"Speak, sir," replied the queen; "the counsels of so prudenta man as yourself ought certainly to be available."

"Madame, believe me, the king ought to defend himself to thelast."

"He has done so, sir, and this last battle, which heencounters with resources much inferior to those of theenemy, proves that he will not yield without a struggle; butin case he is beaten?"

"Well, madame, in that case, my advice - I know that I amvery bold to offer advice to your majesty - my advice isthat the king should not leave his kingdom. Absent kings arevery soon forgotten; if he passes over into France his causeis lost."

"But," persisted the queen, "if such be your advice and youhave his interest at heart, send him help of men and money,for I can do nothing for him; I have sold even to my lastdiamond to aid him. If I had had a single ornament left, Ishould have bought wood this winter to make a fire for mydaughter and myself."

"Oh, madame," said Mazarin, "your majesty knows not what youask. On the day when foreign succor follows in the train ofa king to replace him on his throne, it is an avowal that heno longer possesses the help and love of his own subjects."

"To the point, sir," said the queen, "to the point, andanswer me, yes or no; if the king persists in remaining inEngland will you send him succor? If he comes to France willyou accord him hospitality? What do you intend to do?Speak."

"Madame," said the cardinal, affecting an effusive franknessof speech, "I shall convince your majesty, I trust, of mydevotion to you and my desire to terminate an affair whichyou have so much at heart. After which your majesty will, Ithink, no longer doubt my zeal in your behalf."

The queen bit her lips and moved impatiently on her chair.

"Well, what do you propose to do?" she, said at length;"come, speak."

"I will go this instant and consult the queen, and we willrefer the affair at once to parliament."

"With which you are at war - is it not so? You will chargeBroussel to report it. Enough, sir, enough. I understand youor rather, I am wrong. Go to the parliament, for it was fromthis parliament, the enemy of monarchs, that the daughter ofthe great, the sublime Henry IV., whom you so much admire,received the only relief this winter which prevented herfrom dying of hunger and cold!"

And with these words Henrietta rose in majestic indignation,whilst the cardinal, raising his hands clasped toward her,exclaimed, "Ah, madame, madame, how little you know me, monDieu!"

But Queen Henrietta, without even turning toward him whomade these hypocritical pretensions, crossed the cabinet,opened the door for herself and passing through the midst ofthe cardinal's numerous guards, courtiers eager to payhomage, the luxurious show of a competing royalty, she wentand took the hand of De Winter, who stood apart inisolation. Poor queen, already fallen! Though all bowedbefore her, as etiquette required, she had now but a singlearm on which she could lean.

"It signifies little," said Mazarin, when he was alone. "Itgave me pain and it was an ungracious part to play, but Ihave said nothing either to the one or to the other.Bernouin!"

Bernouin entered.

"See if the young man with the black doublet and the shorthair, who was with me just now, is still in the palace."

Bernouin went out and soon returned with Comminges, who wason guard.

"Your eminence," said Comminges, "as I was re-conducting theyoung man for whom you have asked, he approached the glassdoor of the gallery, and gazed intently upon some object,doubtless the picture by Raphael, which is opposite thedoor. He reflected for a second and then descended thestairs. I believe I saw him mount a gray horse and leave thepalace court. But is not your eminence going to the queen?"

"For what purpose?"

"Monsieur de Guitant, my uncle, has just told me that hermajesty had received news of the army."

"It is well; I will go."

Comminges had seen rightly, and Mordaunt had really acted ashe had related. In crossing the gallery parallel to thelarge glass gallery, he perceived De Winter, who was waitinguntil the queen had finished her negotiation.

At this sight the young man stopped short, not in admirationof Raphael's picture, but as if fascinated at the sight ofsome terrible object. His eyes dilated and a shudder ranthrough his body. One would have said that he longed tobreak through the wall of glass which separated him from hisenemy; for if Comminges had seen with what an expression ofhatred the eyes of this young man were fixed upon De Winter,he would not have doubted for an instant that the Englishmanwas his eternal foe.

But he stopped, doubtless to reflect; for instead ofallowing his first impulse, which had been to go straight toLord de Winter, to carry him away, he leisurely descendedthe staircase, left the palace with his head down, mountedhis horse, which he reined in at the corner of the RueRichelieu, and with his eyes fixed on the gate, waited untilthe queen's carriage had left the court.

He had not long to wait, for the queen scarcely remained aquarter of an hour with Mazarin, but this quarter of an hourof expectation appeared a century to him. At last the heavymachine, which was called a chariot in those days, came out,rumbling against the gates, and De Winter, still onhorseback, bent again to the door to converse with hermajesty.

The horses started on a trot and took the road to theLouvre, which they entered. Before leaving the convent ofthe Carmelites, Henrietta had desired her daughter to attendher at the palace, which she had inhabited for a long timeand which she had only left because their poverty seemed tothem more difficult to bear in gilded chambers.

Mordaunt followed the carriage, and when he had watched itdrive beneath the sombre arches he went and stationedhimself under a wall over which the shadow was extended, andremained motionless, amidst the moldings of Jean Goujon,like a bas-relievo, representing an equestrian statue.