Page:Francesca Carrara 2.pdf/59

56 which was in the very act of being filled up. I distinctly heard the falling of the clods.

"Reining up my horse beside the low stone wall—prompted by I know not what curiosity—I asked who it was that had been buried? 'Count Monaldeschi;—executed this evening for treason against his rightful sovereign, Queen Christina,' replied a man in the uniform of one of her guards. I let the bridle fall from my hand. Good God! had he, then, gone forth from my dinner-table to his death! Could my cheerful companion of but a few hours since be lying there, cold as the damp earth they were trampling down upon his body? Were those brilliant spirits but lights of destruction?

"I know not how I regained the town, for the image of Monaldeschi floated before my eyes; now animated with all the warmth and hues of life—now pale, as I could fancy him after the fatal blow; but brought vividly before me, as objects are brought only in periods of strong excitement. I afterwards learnt the following details, partly from a page of his own, partly from le Père Mantuony:—

"On arriving at the palace of Fontainebleau, Monaldeschi was shown at once into the Queen's presence, who, with quick steps, was pacing the apartment, holding in her hand a packet of letters,