Towards the end of that year a dispute of long standing between Diane de France, the widow of the Connétable de Montmorency, and the Duchesse de Chevreuse, was adjudicated upon by Louis XIII. It appears that Madame de Montmorency had accepted the post of _dame d’honneur_ to the Queen on the understanding that no _Surintendante_ of her Majesty’s Household should be appointed over her. This condition, however, had not been observed, and the Duchesse de Chevreuse, or the Duchesse de Luynes, as she was at that time, had been appointed _Surintendante_. The Duc de Montmorency, acting on behalf of his step-mother, requested the King to appoint someone to inquire into this weighty matter and report to the Council, and, as the Duc de Chevreuse, representing his wife, raised no objection, her request was granted. Neither nobleman had, of course, the least intention of compromising the interests of the lady he represented by adopting this course; and their mortification may be imagined when, in November, Louis XIII cut the Gordian knot by depriving both Madame de Montmorency and Madame de Chevreuse of their charges. In a conversation with Bassompierre, Puisieux asked him his opinion of the King’s decision. Bassompierre frankly replied that he considered it the worst he had ever known him give, as he had thereby offended both parties, and that “the judge would be condemned to pay the costs of the action.” Puisieux inquired what he meant, when he said that, in the unsettled condition of the kingdom, and the probability of another war with the Huguenots, who were angrily demanding the destruction of Fort Saint-Louis at La Rochelle,[18] it was most imprudent of the King to displease two such great Houses as those of Montmorency and Lorraine, and that he ought to indemnify forthwith both ladies for the loss of their charges; otherwise, in the event of war, he might not be able to rely on the loyalty of their relatives. Bassompierre spoke to Puisieux as one friend might speak to another, and, of course, believed that the latter would regard it as a private conversation. But the Minister, “to play the good valet,” reported what the marshal had said, very possibly with some little embellishments of his own, to Louis XIII, who, in turn, informed La Vieuville; and La Vieuville, delighted to find an opportunity of injuring Bassompierre, professed the utmost indignation, and “told the King that such words were criminal, and that they deserved the Bastille or worse.” His Majesty did not send Bassompierre to the Bastille, but he frowned angrily whenever he saw him, and for a whole week refused to honour him with so much as a word. At the end of that time, however, he unbosomed himself to the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld and his confessor Père Seguiran, who, fortunately, happened to be on friendly terms with the marshal, and, through their good offices, the latter succeeded in making his peace with the King.