There are everywhere petty motives of animosity which not seldom exercise an influence upon affairs: and here also this appears to have been the case. Bellièvre, a small but well-shaped man, still young, and of lively aspiring spirit, had special reasons for dissatisfaction. He was a member of a French family that belonged to the nobility of the long robe, and it was his ambition never to stand in the position of an inferior. He was annoyed that the honour of the tabouret, i.e. the privilege of being allowed to sit in the presence of the Queen, had not been conferred on his wife, although it had been conceded without hesitation to the Duchess of Chevreuse. The efforts and intrigues of this lady were therefore all the more obnoxious to him. He believed that she brought the King offers from the Spaniards which ran counter to those of the French: he pretended to know that she expressed her undisguised joy at losses which had overtaken the French in the field. On the whole it appeared to him that, under her influence and that of the Queen-mother, Queen Henrietta Maria herself had contracted an inclination for the policy of Spain, from which she had hitherto been free, and which gained ground also among her suite; not perhaps with Lord Holland, who continued true to French interests, but with the rest, from whom for that very reason Lord Holland was beginning to detach himself. Bellièvre expressed his conviction that it would do no good to receive back the Queen-mother into France: he thought that, if she were replaced in exactly the same position which she had enjoyed before, she yet would never part with her advisers. He was of opinion, even with regard to the Queen of England, that it would not be of much use to give ear to her proposals. Certainly if they were declined the [A.D. 1639.] ministers of the Queen-mother would do everything to sever England from France: but even if her proposals were acceded to, the same men would for that very reason be so much the more completely masters of the English court, and would enforce their wishes on the Queen, and even on the King[143]. In consequence of this Jermyn not only found no opening for his proposals, but met with a bad reception generally. Queen Henrietta Maria made a jest of it, but nevertheless she was irritated. Among her friends she let it be known that she was treated in France as a daughter of the house, that is, without any respect, and with the contempt which had always been shown there towards England; but that some day she would be able to take her revenge. Among her friends Montague, who for love of her had become a Catholic, was regarded as the one who principally confirmed her in her views.