You have heard that I am ordered to Roussillon, of which I am glad, for the war languishes here.

The king, I hear, will take up his headquarters at Narbonne, and Richelieu is coming down to look after matters as he did at Rochelle.

So I expect that things will move quickly there.

They say the king is not in good health, and that the cardinal himself is failing.

Should he die it will be a grievous loss for France, for there is no one who could in any way fill his place.