The second case occurred in the following year, 1640, and was a still more flagrant violation of international laws, and more fraught with circumstances of baseness and malignity. Louis XIII. had a sister, Christina, beautiful, accomplished, and of winning manners; in a word, as worthy of being beloved as he was the contrary. This princess was the widow of the duke of Savoy, who left to her the regency of his states, during the minority of Emanuel Philibert, his son. On the decease of her husband, the ambition of his brothers prompted them to grasp at the reins of government, and, to effect their purpose, they called in the aid of Spain. The duchess was sorely pressed by her enemies. In this strait, nature and policy combined to make her apply to Louis for aid. The appeals to him, in her letters, are often affecting. Richelieu was willing enough to send succours, but he was determined that they should be bought at an extravagant rate. His object, in truth, was to place the dominions of the minor, and even the minor himself, at the mercy of France. He not only required that certain fortresses should be delivered up to him, but also that the young duke should be put into the hands of the French king, that is to say, into his own. To bring this about, he descended to the most unworthy intrigues and double dealing; alternately calumniating the duchess to her brothers-in-law, and them to her, in order to render impossible an accommodation between them. Borne down by necessity, the duchess at length consented to admit French garrisons into some of her fortresses, but she resolutely persisted in refusing to surrender her son.