Note 48 — Chapter III

Subsequently, she requested the Marquis de Coetquen to hand over her jewels to Montrésor, who transferred them to a messenger of the Duchess. But Mazarin was informed of everything from first to last. He was aware of every tittle of the Duchess’s correspondence, and tried to seize with the strong hand the famous gems which had formerly belonged to Marie de’ Medicis’ favourite foster-sister, Leonora Galligaï, created Marchioness d’Ancre. On the murder of the Marshal d’Ancre, these diamonds and parures, valued at two hundred thousand crowns, with a vast amount of other property confiscated by an edict of Louis XIII., were bestowed by the king on his lucky favourite, De Luynes, the first husband of Marie de Rohan. Failing in his attempt to possess himself of these costly gems, Mazarin arrested Montrésor, and kept him upwards of a year in prison. See “Memoirs of Montrésor.”