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little poetess whose charms had only been added to by the tragedy of her illness. Could the cardinal not also see her as an orphan, now that her father had been forced to flee the city? Moreover, the cardinal had made a great enemy out of Anne of Austria, whom he never really trusted, since he reckoned that her loyaltywas more strongly directed toward her brother the king of Spain than it was to her husband, the king of France. Richelieu had a cruel tongue and had made Anne squirm under it more than once, and had done so in public. So how could Cardinal Richelieu allow his enemy the queen to show more compassion for the sweet Pascal girl than he did? And of course there were plenty of courtiers present to remind him of just that. Jacqueline played her part to the hilt; after reading her poems, she sat upon the cardinal’s lap, where he kissed her cheek and praised her over and over, calling her a sweet child and a wonderful poetess. It was just at this moment that Jacqueline leaned against the cardinal’s breast and asked a favor of him. Please bring my father home , she said. He is most terribly repentant. Bring him home and you will see what a good servant you will have in him . The rest of the court smiled on benignly, including some of the king’s and queen’s closest friends. The cardinal was caught like a fish. What else could he do?

[1639–1640]
Conic Sections
    There is no royal road to geometry.
    —E UCLID TO P TOLEMY
    J acqueline’s gambit had worked. According to her sister, Gilberte, “M. the Cardinal said to her: ‘Not only do I grant your request, but I heartily desire its fulfillment. Tell your father to come to see me in all confidence, and when he comes he should bring his whole family with him.’” 16 Jacqueline begged her father to return home and present himself to His Eminence, which, in spite of the cardinal’s kind words, was not a completely safe thing to do. What the cardinal might say to a sweet little child, so lately the favorite of the king and queen, was one thing, and what he might say to the father, so lately the cause of civil unrest, was another. But as it turned out, the word of Richelieu was good, at least this time. Étienne Pascal appeared before him to make his apologies and to beg forgiveness, and nothing particularly dangerous happened to him. Jacqueline must have been quite the hit, even with the inventor of realpolitik, for not only was her father forgiven, but six months later he found himself with an appointment as the king’s commissioner of taxes in the city of Rouen.
    Rouen is a seaport on the river Seine in Normandy, slightly northeast of the American beachheads of World War II, and is mentioned sooner orlater in nearly every movie about D-day. It was built as close to the mouth of the river as possible and still spans the river with bridges. In its youth, Rouen was a trading center for Celtic merchants; later, it became a Roman outpost, and later still a base camp for Vikings. In the nineteenth century, its already famous cathedral was sketched and painted over and over by Monet, to capture the subtle moods of the light. It was a thriving seaport in Pascal’s day as well, and trade brings taxes, which bring tax collectors.
    In spite of all his outward kindness, Cardinal Richelieu never completely forgave the Pascals, or anyone who opposed him. What he had given to Étienne was both a reward and a punishment, for the region was aflame with a vicious tax revolt. Royal commissioners for taxes were roundly hated by the people, and France’s involvement in the Thirty Years’ War had been squeezing them into revolt or starvation. There were taxes for just about everything, and fees on the taxes. As usual, the rich understood the system and used it for their gain. The king’s creditors received the privilege of levying fees upon the people in a particular region, thus repaying the debt without much bother to the king, much as if Chase Manhattan Bank held a promissory