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Updated: May 6, 2025
I had filled it with some excellent Havana snuff which M. de Chavigny had given me, and of which Therese was very fond; I was waiting for her to ask me for a pinch before I drew it out of my pocket.
Now Monsieur de Chavigny piqued himself on his infallible penetration; for that which almost proved that he was the son of Richelieu was his everlasting pretension; he examined attentively the countenance of the applicant for place and fancied that the contracted eyebrows, thin lips, hooked nose, and prominent cheek-bones of Grimaud were favorable signs.
At length the Cardinal, on an early day in June, 1642, retired to Tarascon, ostensibly for the sake of his health, but doubtless for safety also, accompanied by his two bosom friends, Mazarin and Chavigny, and the faithful regiments of his guards.
"They are not all so. Read this letter from Monsieur to Chavigny. He asks for pardon. He dared not address me the first day, and his prayers rose no higher than the knees of one of my servants. You know how much I require to be relieved from the danger I am in. You have already twice stood my friend with his Eminence. I swear to you this shall be the last time I give you such an employment.
The Duc d'Angouleme, the Marechals de Schomberg and d'Estrees, Fabert, and other dignitaries were on horseback beside the litter; after them, among the most prominent were the Cardinal de la Vallette and Mazarin, with Chavigny, and the Marechal de Vitry, anxious to avoid the Bastille, with which it was said he was threatened.
The King was gone to Chantilly, and from thence he was to proceed to Compeigne. Chavigny, who was to follow him, but had not yet fixed the time of his departure, told Grotius he would speak to Cardinal Richelieu to know whether the conferences in relation to the truce were to begin before he went to Chantilly, or after his return, and would signify to him the Cardinal's intentions.
Chavigny maintained that the Swedes would have nothing to fear from their enemies whilst the truce lasted, on account of the great number and power of its guarantees: to which Grotius answered, that the countries possessed by the Swedes were so distant from their allies, that if they did not continue in arms to guard against any unlooked-for invasion, those countries would be lost before they could receive assistance.
My father's career was for a long time very successful, but unfortunately he had an enemy who brought it to an end. This enemy was M. de Chavigny: he was secretary of state, and had also the war department. Either from stupidity or malice he had left all the towns in Picardy badly supported; a circumstance the Spaniards knew well how to profit by when they took Corbie in 1636.
"Besides, my lord must remember that Monsieur de Chavigny is governor of Vincennes," continued La Ramee, "and that Monsieur de Chavigny is not friendly to Monsieur de Beaufort." "Yes, but Monsieur de Chavigny is sometimes absent." "When he is absent I am there." "But when you leave him, for instance?"
During this retirement the King frequently wrote to him, in a language they had composed so as to speak before people without being understood; and I possess still many of these letters, with much regret that I am ignorant of their contents. Chavigny served my father another ill turn. At the Cardinal's death my father had returned to the Court and was in greater favour than ever.
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