When the government devolved on Anne of Austria, the enemies of Richelieu had reason to hope that they would become the dominant party. The haughty bearing which this hope led them to assume, obtained for them the appellation of “The Cabal of the Importants.” They soon, however, contrived to disgust the queen-regent; and before twelve months had elapsed, Montresor, Chateauneuf, the duchess of Chevreuse, and several others of the faction, were ordered to quit the court. Montresor retired for a while to Holland. Late in 1645, he visited Paris, and, soon after, two letters to him, from the exiled duchess de Chevreuse, having been intercepted, Mazarin sent him to the Bastile. The prisoner was removed to Vincennes, where he was rigorously treated for fourteen months. At length, moved by the solicitations of Montresor’s relatives, the cardinal set him at liberty, and even offered him his friendship. Montresor, however, chose rather to league himself with Mazarin’s bitterest foe, the celebrated Coadjutor, afterwards the cardinal de Retz, and he took an active part in the war of the Fronde. In 1653 he was reconciled to the court, and from that time till his decease, which occurred in 1663, he led a peaceable life. Though ambition and a propensity to political intrigue could lead him to dip his hands in blood, Montresor is said to have had many social qualities, to have been generous, sincere, and a firm and ardent friend. His “Memoirs” form a valuable contribution to the history of his times. Among the agents of the duke of Orleans was Louis d’Astarac, marquis of Fontrailles, a descendant from an ancient Armagnac family. When the conspiracy of Cinq Mars was formed, Fontrailles was dispatched to Spain, to negociate with the Spanish cabinet a treaty, for assistance to the conspirators. By this treaty, Spain engaged to furnish the duke of Orleans with 12,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, 400,000 crowns to raise levies in France; and a monthly allowance of 12,000 crowns for his private expenses. But, before any step could be taken to carry the treaty into effect, the conspiracy was rendered abortive. Fontrailles, against whom an order of arrest had been issued, was fortunate enough to escape to England. The death of the cardinal and of his vassal sovereign, which took place soon after, enabled the proscribed fugitive to return to France. He became one of the Cabal of the Importants, and shared in the downfall of that faction. In the summer of 1647, he was sent to the Bastile; for what fault he was imprisoned I know not, or when he was released. Guy Patin intimates that the charge was not of a capital nature. Fontrailles died in 1677.