held his wife aloof, throwing up
between himself and her a wall of coldness, almost of dislike.
There is a story--and Tallemant des Raux gives credit to it--
that in the early days of her reign as Queen of France, Richelieu
had fallen deeply in love with her, and that she, with the
mischief of an irresponsible young girl, had encouraged him,
merely to betray him to a ridicule which his proud spirit had
never been able to forgive. Be that or another the reason, the
fact that Richelieu hated her, and subjected her to his
vindictive persecution, is beyond dispute. And it was he who by a
hundred suggestions poisoned against her the King's mind, and
thus kept ever open the gulf between the two.
The eyes of that neglected young wife dilated a little, and
admiration kindled in them, when they rested upon the dazzling
figure of my Lord of Buckingham. He must have seemed to her a
figure of romance, a prince out of a fairy-tale.
That betraying glance he caught, and it inflamed at once his
monstrous arrogance. To the scalps already adorning the belt of
his vanity he would add that of the love of a beautiful young
queen. Perhaps he was thrilled in his madness by the thought of
the peril that would spice such an adventure.
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