These same enemies would take advantage of the fact that the Cardinal’s opinion might frequently differ from that of His Majesty’s other Ministers; for, once on the Council, he would go his own way as to what he thought best for the King’s service. He would not be merely an ornamental figure, set up “to please the public imagination and to dazzle the eyes of the world,” but an honest statesman who would advise plainly and act boldly. All this he wished the King to understand, and underlying all this was the question--would Louis, as a loyal master, stand between a faithful servant and those enemies? If, in spite of all considerations, the King remained in the same mind, the Cardinal said that he could only obey. The one condition was that, while working regularly with the rest of the Council, he must ask to be spared “the visits and solicitations of private persons,” which, besides occupying his time uselessly, would complete the ruin of his health. It was a proud, straightforward letter. In it Louis XIII. felt the first strong grasp of the hand which was to hold and lead him almost to his life’s end. Richelieu entered the Council on April 26, 1624. His first act was to demand precedence, as Cardinal, of all the other Ministers, and this was granted after long arguments; but he did not reach supreme power till the following autumn, when La Vieuville’s incapable government ended in sudden disgrace. Those were dishonest times; and it seems most probable that Richelieu, while outwardly friendly to La Vieuville, was not only opposing his uncertain policy but hastening his fall by the underground work of Fancan and other paid pamphleteers. On August 13 the Marquis de la Vieuville carried his forced resignation to the King at Saint-Germain, was arrested by the captain of the guard and driven off to be imprisoned in the castle of Amboise. The government of France was already in the hands of Cardinal de Richelieu, and Louis XIII. had accepted the list of Ministers presented by him. The eighteen years’ career had begun which changed France, making absolutism possible, bringing in the Age of Louis XIV. and as a consequence, the Revolution. Richelieu wrote to Père Joseph, who had lately been made Provincial of the Capuchin Order: “You,” he said, “have been God’s chief agent in bringing me to this place of honour.... I pray you to hasten your journey, and to come to me as soon as possible, to share with me the management of affairs. There are pressing matters that I can confide to no one else, nor decide without your opinion. Come then quickly to receive these proofs of my esteem.” From this time down to Père Joseph’s death, in 1638, the two Eminences, the Red and the Grey, were seldom parted. CHAPTER II 1624-1625 Richelieu’s aims--The English alliance--The affair of the Valtelline--The Huguenot revolt--The marriage of Madame Henriette--The Duke of Buckingham.