 Vague rumors of betrayal circulated in the court, notably her supposed involvement, first, with the conspiracies of the Count of Chalais that Marie organized in 1626, and then those of the king's treacherous favorite, Cinq-Mars, who had been introduced to him by Richelieu.In 1626, the Cardinal placed Madeleine du Fargis as "Dame d'atour" in the household of the queen to act as a spy, but she was instead to become a trusted confidant and favorite of the queen.In December 1630, Louis XIII reduced Anne's court and purged a great amount of her favorites as punishment for a plot in which the queen had cooperated with queen dowager Marie de' Medici in an attempt to depose Cardinal Richelieu, and among those fired were Madame de Motteville and Madeleine du Fargis.