As for how Count D'Artagnan and Monsieur Colbert returned to Paris, and how they received the King's consolation and rewards, let us leave that aside for now. All Paris was discussing only one thing: Christina Alexandra, the former Queen of Sweden, was coming to Paris. As mentioned before, this female sovereign had converted to Catholicism in Rome, and so the French royal family had shown her every possible goodwill.
If there was anything else worth mentioning, it was the Duchess of Montpensier. She had exchanged five hundred thousand livres for the King's forgiveness and the Queen Mother's mercy. The moment she received word of her pardon, she immediately took a carriage to Paris. To others, it was enviable indeed that the Great Mademoiselle could return to court in less than a year. Only the Duchess of Montpensier herself knew that over these past months, she had died once and come back to life once. This time, her manner was extraordinarily deferential. Especially after hearing that Mazarin intended to have Madame Christina pay her respects to the King before her—she produced another one hundred thousand livres to cover the expenses of the coming reception.
Even Queen Mother Anne had nothing to say about this. After all, she knew that Louis had been worrying over the empty treasury. She received the Duchess of Montpensier in Tuileries Palace. The instant the Duchess saw her, she fell to her knees before her, kissed the hem of her skirt, and washed the Queen Mother's feet with her tears. The Queen Mother forgave her and had her sit beside her. Then, before the Duchess, she sent messengers to summon the King and the Duke of Anjou—of course, this too was a gesture, much like when the Duchess had received the King's envoy. She could not possibly