{"product_id":"2940012859938","title":"TWENTY YEARS AFTER","description":"1. The Shade of Cardinal Richelieu.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a splendid chamber of the Palais Royal, formerly styled the Palais\u003cbr\u003eCardinal, a man was sitting in deep reverie, his head supported on\u003cbr\u003ehis hands, leaning over a gilt and inlaid table which was covered with\u003cbr\u003eletters and papers. Behind this figure glowed a vast fireplace alive\u003cbr\u003ewith leaping flames; great logs of oak blazed and crackled on the\u003cbr\u003epolished brass andirons whose flicker shone upon the superb habiliments\u003cbr\u003eof the lonely tenant of the room, which was illumined grandly by twin\u003cbr\u003ecandelabra rich with wax-lights.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAny one who happened at that moment to contemplate that red simar--the\u003cbr\u003egorgeous robe of office--and the rich lace, or who gazed on that\u003cbr\u003epale brow, bent in anxious meditation, might, in the solitude of that\u003cbr\u003eapartment, combined with the silence of the ante-chambers and the\u003cbr\u003emeasured paces of the guards upon the landing-place, have fancied that\u003cbr\u003ethe shade of Cardinal Richelieu lingered still in his accustomed haunt.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was, alas! the ghost of former greatness. France enfeebled, the\u003cbr\u003eauthority of her sovereign contemned, her nobles returning to their\u003cbr\u003eformer turbulence and insolence, her enemies within her frontiers--all\u003cbr\u003eproved the great Richelieu no longer in existence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn truth, that the red simar which occupied the wonted place was his\u003cbr\u003eno longer, was still more strikingly obvious from the isolation which\u003cbr\u003eseemed, as we have observed, more appropriate to a phantom than a living\u003cbr\u003ecreature--from the corridors deserted by courtiers, and courts crowded\u003cbr\u003ewith guards--from that spirit of bitter ridicule, which, arising from\u003cbr\u003ethe streets below, penetrated through the very casements of the room,\u003cbr\u003ewhich resounded with the murmurs of a whole city leagued against the\u003cbr\u003eminister; as well as from the distant and incessant sounds of guns\u003cbr\u003efiring--let off, happily, without other end or aim, except to show to\u003cbr\u003ethe guards, the Swiss troops and the military who surrounded the Palais\u003cbr\u003eRoyal, that the people were possessed of arms.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe shade of Richelieu was Mazarin. Now Mazarin was alone and\u003cbr\u003edefenceless, as he well knew.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Foreigner!\" he ejaculated, \"Italian! that is their mean yet mighty\u003cbr\u003ebyword of reproach--the watchword with which they assassinated, hanged,\u003cbr\u003eand made away with Concini; and if I gave them their way they would\u003cbr\u003eassassinate, hang, and make away with me in the same manner, although\u003cbr\u003ethey have nothing to complain of except a tax or two now and then.\u003cbr\u003eIdiots! ignorant of their real enemies, they do not perceive that it\u003cbr\u003eis not the Italian who speaks French badly, but those who can say fine\u003cbr\u003ethings to them in the purest Parisian accent, who are their real foes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Yes, yes,\" Mazarin continued, whilst his wonted smile, full of\u003cbr\u003esubtlety, lent a strange expression to his pale lips; \"yes, these noises\u003cbr\u003eprove to me, indeed, that the destiny of favorites is precarious; but ye\u003cbr\u003eshall know I am no ordinary favorite. No! The Earl of Essex, 'tis\u003cbr\u003etrue, wore a splendid ring, set with diamonds, given him by his royal\u003cbr\u003emistress, whilst I--I have nothing but a simple circlet of gold, with a\u003cbr\u003ecipher on it and a date; but that ring has been blessed in the chapel of\u003cbr\u003ethe Palais Royal, * so they will never ruin me, as they long to do, and\u003cbr\u003ewhilst they shout, 'Down with Mazarin!' I, unknown, and unperceived by\u003cbr\u003ethem, incite them to cry out, 'Long live the Duke de Beaufort' one day;\u003cbr\u003eanother, 'Long live the Prince de Conde;' and again, 'Long live the\u003cbr\u003eparliament!'\" And at this word the smile on the cardinal's lips assumed\u003cbr\u003ean expression of hatred, of which his mild countenance seemed incapable.\u003cbr\u003e\"The parliament! We shall soon see how to dispose,\" he continued, \"of\u003cbr\u003ethe parliament! Both Orleans and Montargis are ours. It will be a work\u003cbr\u003eof time, but those who have begun by crying out: Down with Mazarin! will\u003cbr\u003efinish by shouting out, Down with all the people I have mentioned, each\u003cbr\u003ein his turn.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     * It is said that Mazarin, who, though a cardinal, had not\u003cbr\u003e     taken such vows as to prevent it, was secretly married to\u003cbr\u003e     Anne of Austria.--La Porte's Memoirs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Richelieu, whom they hated during his lifetime and whom they now praise\u003cbr\u003eafter his death, was even less popular than I am. Often he was driven\u003cbr\u003eaway, oftener still had he a dread of being sent away. The queen will\u003cbr\u003enever banish me, and even were I obliged to yield to the populace she\u003cbr\u003ewould yield with me; if I fly, she will fly; and then we shall see how\u003cbr\u003ethe rebels will get on without either king or queen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Oh, were I not a foreigner! were I but a Frenchman! were I but of\u003cbr\u003egentle birth!\"","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47078964232432,"sku":"2940012859938","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012859938_p0.jpg?v=1763573668","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012859938","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}