LOUIS XIII. 1601-1643. King of France. - Lot 219

LOUIS XIII. 1601-1643. King of France. L.A.S. for my cousin the Card(inal) de Richelieu. De Nemours, ce 3me novembre 1639. 2 pp. ¼ on bi-feuillet in-4, address on verso, 2 small red wax seals with the arms of France, on blue silk lakes. Beautiful letter from Louis XIII to the Cardinal, mentioning the Queen's arrival in Fontainebleau, Cinq-Mars about to be appointed Grand Ecuyer de France, and the war against the House of Austria. Cinq-Mars was at the beginning of his favor with the King. Richelieu protected him, counting on his influence to keep away Marie de Hautefort, whom he suspected of being devoted to the Queen. A month after this letter, Mademoiselle de Hautefort was exiled to her lands. I am sending this gentleman expressly to find out your news, since all the couriers who have passed have assured me that you are doing very well. I had told you in St Aoust that the Queen would not make a point of coming to Fontenebleau. She has since changed her mind, for in Montargis I found one of her people, whom she had sent to see if I thought it would be a good idea for her to come to Fontenebleau. I told him yes (...). I have been strongly advised that the Queen and her entire retinue [Mlle de Hautefort and Mlle de Chemerault, Dames de la Reine] have great displeasure with the brouiler. St-Mars and I communicated everything to Mr de Noyiers, who showed me the news of Mr le Prince [Henry de Bourbon, father of the Grand Condé; he had just lost Salces to the Spaniards, and his inertia made us fear his failure to take Roussillon] and gave me back the memoir you wrote me. I can tell you that this affair is bothering me and that I'm beginning to have a bad opinion of it (...). He reminds her of the dream he had, a precursor of "bad success", and adds p.s. I look forward to hearing from you. I thank you for the care you have taken of the Cinc-Mars affair by sending St-Aoust to find Mr de Bellegarde. The Dames de St-Germains say out loud that this affair is not likely to be completed soon. [In disgrace for plotting with Gaston d'Orléans, Bellegarde was ordered to hand over his position as Grand-Ecuyer to Cinq-Mars; the Queen's retinue hoped that "this affair" would not come to an end].