The imprisonment outlasted the journal which ends in 1640, and it was not until the death of the Cardinal in 1642 that he at length obtained his release, just eleven years after his first committal to prison. He at once presented himself at Court and was graciously received by the King who asked him his age. "Fifty," replied Bassompierre, "for I cannot count the years passed in the Bastile as they were not spent in your Majesty's service." He did not enjoy his freedom long, for he soon afterwards died from an apoplectic seizure.
Anne of Austria--Her servant Laporte--Clandestine communication in the Bastile--Birth of Dauphin, afterward Louis XIV--Cinq Mars--His conspiracy--Richelieu's death--His character and achievements--Dubois the alchemist--Regency of Anne of Austria--Mazarin's influence--The "Importants"--Imprisonment and escape of Duc de Beaufort--Growth of the Fronde--Attacks on Bastile--De Retz in Vincennes--Made Archbishop of Paris while in prison--Peace restored--Mazarin's later rule benign.
Richelieu throughout his ministry was exposed to the bitter enmity of the Opposition; his enemies, princes and great nobles, were continually plotting to take his life. The King's brother, Gaston, Duc d'Orleans, intrigued incessantly against him, supported by Anne of Austria, queen of Louis XIII, who was ever in treasonable correspondence with the King of Spain. Richelieu, whose power waned for a time, strongly urged the Queen's arrest and trial, but no more was done than to commit her most confidential servant, Laporte, to the Bastile. The Queen herself was terrified into submission and made solemn confession of her misdeeds. She did not tell all, however, and it was hoped more might be extorted from Laporte by the customary pressure. It was essential to warn Laporte, but he was in a dungeon far beneath one of the towers and access to him seemed impossible. The story is preserved,--an almost incredible one, but vouched for in Laporte's "Memoirs,"--that a letter was conveyed to Laporte by the assistance of another prisoner, the Chevalier de Jars. The letter was conveyed to De Jars by one of the Queen's ladies disguised as a servant, and he managed by boring a hole in his floor to pass it to the room below. Here the occupants were friends, and in like manner they dug into the dungeon beneath them, with the result that Laporte was eventually reached in his subterranean cell. Fortified now by the fact of the Queen's avowal, Laporte conducted himself so well that the most searching examination elicited no further proofs. The process followed was in due course detected and Richelieu was heard to lament that he did not possess so faithful a servant as Laporte.