First published in March 2019, His Red Eminence won the Godiva award for the best self-published book of 2019 from the Naked Reviewers in February, 2020. It tells the tale of Cardinal du Plessis, duc de Richelieu, first minister to King Louis XIII of France and better known as “Cardinal Richelieu”. He is the only cardinal that I have seen across history known by his place of birth instead of his family name. Of my biographies, this book is the highest decorated (so far) and the nearest to historical fiction due to the lack of direct, named evidence concerning Anne Rochefeuille. We know she existed. We know the cardinal showed exceptional leniency towards French protestants (called Huguenots) and protected them from religious-based persecution (such as those that drove my family out of France). This book then seeks to piece together the parts of the cardinal’s life that he took great cares to keep out of history.
The following scene comes from chapter nine: La Rochelle. The Siege of La Rochelle (1627) ended the Wars of Religion that forged the Bourbon dynasty from the medieval Valois dynasty (the same Valois that gave us Henry V’s queen consort and James V Stewart’s queen Marie de Guise). It was the first major conflict utilizing the king’s Musketeers (formed in 1622 as the king’s personal guards). Find “His Red Eminence” in your choice of English or German at Amazon (English, German), Barnes/Noble (English, German), or a retailer near you.
A few minutes later, Richelieu returned to his apartment for dinner. Embracing Anne, he kissed her gleefully, “I am so very glad to see you! What a relief to be with you in private again.”
Anne lingered in his arms, enjoying his embrace, “I missed you too. I always miss you. Strange to still feel that way after twenty years, isn’t it?”
“What is twenty years compared to eternity? I am thankful for every moment we’re together.”
“As am I.”
Armand put his hand around her waist, holding her close to him as they walked to the dining table and positioning his chair so that even while seated and eating some part of his body remained in physical contact with her.
“What is it, Armand? You seem desperate to touch me.”
“I’ve ordered the army to besiege La Rochelle. I’m also summoning Father Joseph and nearly half of the king’s musketeers to assist in the fighting.”
“And?”
“I must go as well.”
“For how long?”
“For as long as it takes to take down the rebellion.”
“You will be there as the king’s marshal then, directing others what to do and where to fight.”
“Not entirely.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I will follow in my family’s footsteps and take up arms myself on the king’s behalf. I will fight and I will kill. I will do for my king what my father and grandfather and great grandfather did for the kings they served.”
“And my brother-in-law?”
“I cannot make promises, Anne. War doesn’t allow me to.”
“I’m coming with you. You need me. What if a camp fever breaks out? You know you are vulnerable to such. Princess Catherine de Valois was spared a lifetime of misery in her marriage to King Henry V of England when he fell ill besieging Meaux in 1422. Illness kills on both sides!”
“Illness might kill, but not as certainly as cannon balls and musket fire. I am going to war, Anne, to the front lines if I must to secure King Louis’ throne and end this state-within-a-state status maintained by Huguenot strongholds across France. They were ordered to stand down and renounce their claims of political independence from France. They refused. Now I must fight them until either they accept my compromises or every last one of them are dead.”
“How can you love me and yet hate them?”
“This is not about religion, Anne. I realize that I am essentially alone in that point-of-view, that if you ask anyone else, this is about heresy. But for me, this is about the king’s sovereignty over France. Either he is the king of all of France or everything we hold dear will fall away to the whims of our Hapsburg neighbours. How much religious liberty do you think Felipe IV or Ferdinand II will permit? I interact with their ambassadors on a regular basis. Allow me to assure you that as far as the king of Spain and as far as the Holy Roman Emperor are concerned every single Huguenot deserves to be burned as heretics.
“No, Anne this must stop. I will go and I will stop it. If I must I will fire cannon or musket or pistol, whatever is needed to end these civil wars and bring peace to France.”
“If this is what your heart tells you to do, then you must of course. I fully support you.”
“Anne, you cannot come with me. I forbid it.”
“Please don’t. You need me and I need you.”
“Armand needs you which is why the First Minister of France must forbid you. It would break my spirit to find you dead when it was in my power to prevent it.”
“If you go, I will follow you anyway. I cannot be parted from you.”
“If you try, you will be put under house arrest by order of the First Minister. Do not think I cannot make you stay in Paris. I have the authority to do whatever I like with you.”
“When must you go?”
“Two weeks, maybe a month depending on preparations. I’m assembling a personal guard to protect both of us. Some of these men will come with me to fight at my side. Others will guard our house. A third force will be assigned to protect you at all times while I am away.”
“I don’t want you to go, Armand.”
“Armand does not want to go either—but the cardinal and the first minister of France are both needed on the battlefield.”
“And what of us?”
Armand kissed her, “I am not gone yet. Whatever time exists between now and when I leave, I shall devote to you. I will hold you and kiss you. I will caress you and make love to you, giving all of myself to you for as long as we have left. When I am away at war you will be the first thing I think of when I wake and the last when I lay down to sleep again. This I promise you.” Finishing their meal in silence, Armand carried her to his bed, his heart heavy but his soul determined to demonstrate his love.
Laurel A. Rockefeller 