“MY DEAR BROTHER,--I regret much that you must learn by this letter our common loss of our poor mother, although I know that for you it will be the more bearable in that, having yourself renounced the world to gain heaven, her life and her death give you certain assurance of meeting her again there; since in the latter God gave her as much grace, consolation, and sweetness as in the former she had suffered contradiction, affliction and bitterness.... For myself, I pray God that in future her good example and yours may so profit me that I may amend my life.” M. Avenel gives a letter from Henry de Richelieu, the head of the family, to his sister Nicole (afterwards Madame de Maillé-Brézé), begging her to lay their mother’s body, as honourably as possible, in the chapel of the château, there to await himself and the Bishop, “that we may all together bear her to the grave.” It was not till December 8 that “noble dame Suzanne de la Porte” was laid in the family vault under the church of Braye. But it appears that her son Armand was waited for in vain. There was question of a special embassy to Spain on the affairs of the Duke of Savoy; there was the immediate prospect of becoming a Minister of France. Indeed, he was already one of a triumvirate--Barbin, Mangot, Richelieu--on whom, under Concini, depended all affairs of State. Between his mother’s death and her funeral, he was writing letters vowing eternal gratitude both to the Maréchal and to Leonora, through whose favour and consideration alone, he declared, their Majesties had been pleased to appoint him Secretary for Foreign Affairs. CHAPTER VI 1617 A contemporary view of the state of France--Barbin, Mangot, and Richelieu--A new rebellion--Richelieu as Foreign Secretary--The Abbé de Marolles--Concini in danger--The death of Concini--The fall of the Ministry--Horrible scenes in Paris--Richelieu follows the Queen-mother into exile. The Sieur de Pontchartrain, in his _Memoirs_, gives a vivid account of the state of France in the winter of 1616-17. He was not exactly an impartial judge, since he had himself been a Minister of State under the Duc de Villeroy, and he saw things from his patron’s point of view. But he was an honest man.