It was on a taste so natural to a young prince, for the first time free to do as he pleased, that Superintendent Fouquet counted to increase his influence and probably his power with the king.

"The attorney-general [Fouquet was attorney-general in the Parliament of Paris], though a great thief, will remain master of the others," the queen-mother had said to Madame de Motteville at the time of Mazarin's death.

Fouquet's hopes led him to think of nothing less than to take the minister's place.
[Illustration: Fouquet----404] Fouquet, who was born in 1615, and had been superintendent of finance in conjunction with Servien since 1655, had been in sole possession of that office since the death of his colleague in 1659.

He had faithfully served Cardinal Mazarin through the troubles of the Fronde.

The latter had kept him in power in spite of numerous accusations of malversation and extravagance.