Louis XIII was furiously indignant, as well he might be, and wrote to the two delinquents with his own hand, ordering them to retire from Court. It is probable that the disgrace of _Madame la Connétable_, against whom, as we know, his Majesty already had a grievance, might have lasted some considerable time, had not her marriage with the Duc de Chevreuse, who stood high in the King’s favour, paved the way for her return. CHAPTER XXVII Question of the Huguenot War the principal subject of contention between the two parties--Condé and the Ministers demand its continuance--Marie de’ Medici, prompted by Richelieu, advocates peace--Secret negotiations of Louis XIII with the Huguenot leaders--Soubise’s offensive in the West obliges the King to continue the war--Louis XIII advances against the Huguenot chief, who has established himself in the Île de Rié--Condé accuses Bassompierre of “desiring to prevent him from acquiring glory”--Courage of the King--Passage of the Royal army from the Île du Perrier to the Île de Rié--Total defeat of Soubise--Siege of Royan--The King in the trenches--His remarkable coolness and intrepidity under fire--Capitulation of Royan--The Marquis de la Force created a marshal of France--Conversation between Louis XIII and Bassompierre--Diplomatic speech of the latter. Meantime, the struggle between the two parties, which had begun on the journey from Bordeaux to Paris, continued at the Louvre. Condé and his allies were unable to prevent the Queen-Mother from entering the Council, but they succeeded in excluding the man who possessed her mind. Richelieu spoke through her mouth, however, and those who remembered her regency were astonished at the prudence, address, and firmness which she now displayed. The war against the Huguenots was the principal subject of contention. Marie de’ Medici, under the influence of Richelieu, the old Ministers the Chancellor Sillery and Jeannin, Puisieux, and the generals, wished for peace; Condé and the new Ministers demanded the continuance of the war. Condé saw in the war the means of separating the King from his mother, and commanding the army in the name of Louis XIII. A superstitious hope made him particularly anxious to have large military forces at his disposal. An astrologer had predicted to him that he would become King at the age of thirty-four, and he was now in his thirty-fourth year. He desired, therefore, to prove his devotion to the Catholic religion, and to be in a position to seize the crown at the date when Louis XIII and his younger brother were apparently destined to die.