French collectors of historical anecdotes.
Such further details of the extraordinary
punishment of Monaldeschi's offence as are
now to follow, may be given in the words of
Father Le Bel himself. The reader will
understand that his narrative begins
immediately after Christina's discovery of the
perfidy of her favourite.

The sixth of November, sixteen hundred
and fifty-seven (writes Father Le Bel), at a
quarter past nine in the morning, Queen
Christina of Sweden, being at that time
lodged in the Royal Palace of Fontainebleau,
sent one of her men servants to my convent,
to obtain an interview with me. The
messenger, on being admitted to my presence,
inquired if I was the superior of the convent,
and when I replied in the affirmative,
informed me that I was expected to present
myself immediately before the Queen of
Sweden.

Fearful of keeping her Majesty waiting, I
followed the man at once to the palace,
without waiting to take any of my brethren from
the convent with me. After a little delay in
the antechamber, I was shown into the
Queen's room. She was alone; and I saw,
by the expression of her face, as I respectfully
begged to be favoured with her commands,
that something was wrong. She
hesitated for a moment; then told me,
rather sharply, to follow her to a place
where she might speak with the certainty of
not being overheard.  She led me into the
Galerie des Cerfs, and, turning round on me
suddenly, asked if we had ever met before.
I informed her Majesty that I had once had
the honour of presenting my respects to her;
that she had recieved me graciously, and
that there the interview had ended. She
nodded her head and looked about her a
little; then said, very abruptly, that I wore
a dress (referring to my convent costume)
which encouraged her to put perfect faith in
my honour; and she desired me to promise
beforehand that I would keep the secret with
which she was about to entrust me as strictly
as if I had heard it in the confessional.  I
answered respectfully that it was part of
my sacred profession to be trusted with
secrets; that I had never betrayed the
private affairs of any one, and that I could
answer for myself as worthy to be honoured
by the confidence of a queen.

Upon this, her Majesty handed me a
packet of papers sealed in three places, but
having no superscription of any sort. She
ordered me to keep it under lock and key,
and to be prepared to give it her back again
before any person in whose presence she
might see fit to ask me for it. She further
charged me to remember the day, the hour,
and the place in which she had given me the
packet; and with that last piece of advice
she dismissed me. I left her alone in the
gallery, walking slowly away from me, with
her head drooping on her bosom, and her
mind, as well as I could presume to judge,
perturbed by anxious thoughts.*
* Although Father Le Bel discreetly abstains from
mentioning the fact, it seems clear from the context
that he was permitted to read, and that he did read, the
papers contained in the packet.

On Saturday, the tenth of November, at
one o'clock in the afternoon, I was sent for
from Fontainebleau again. I took the packet
out of my private cabinet, feeling that I
might be asked for it; and then followed the
messenger as before. This time he led me
at once to the Galerie des Cerfs. The
moment I entered it, he shut the door
behind me with such extraordinary haste
and violence, that I felt a little startled.
As soon as I recovered myself, I saw her
Majesty standing in the middle of the
gallery, talking to one of the gentlemen of
her Court, who was generally known by the
name of The Marquis, and whom I soon
ascertained to be the Marquis Monaldeschi,
Grand Equerry of the Queen of Sweden. I
approached her Majesty and made my bow,
then stood before her, waiting until she
should think proper to address me.

With a stern look on her face, and with a
loud, clear, steady voice, she asked me,
before the Marquis and before three other
men who were also in the gallery, for the
packet which she had confided to my care.
As she made that demand, two of the three
men moved back a few paces, while the
third, the captain of her guard, advanced
rather nearer to her. I handed her back
the packet. She looked at it thoughtfully
for a little while; then opened it, and took
out the letters and written papers which it
contained, handed them to the Marquis
Monaldeschi, and insisted on his reading
them. When he had obeyed, she asked him,
with the same stern look and the same
steady voice, whether he had any knowledge
of the documents which he had just been
reading. The Marquis turned deadly pale,
and answered that he had now read the
papers referred to for the first time.

"Do you deny all knowledge of them?"
said the Queen. "Answer me plainly, sir.
Yes or no?"

The Marquis turned paler still. "I deny
all knowledge of them," he said, in faint
tones, with his eyes on the ground.

"Do you deny all knowledge of these
too?" said the Queen, suddenly producing
a second packet of manuscript from under
her dress, and thrusting it in the Marquis's
face.

He started, drew back a little, and
answered not a word. The packet which
the Queen had given to me contained copies
only. The original papers were those which
she had just thrust in the Marquis's face.

"Do you deny your own seal and your
own handwriting?" she asked.

He murmured a few words, acknowledging