CHAPTER XX.

The Regent of Savoy’s Perplexity--She discloses Matthioly’s Conduct to Louis XIV.--Arrival of Catinat at Pignerol--Arrest of the Baron d’Asfeld and his Imprisonment at Milan--The Abbé d’Estrades the first to conceive the Project of Matthioly’s Abduction--Despatches of the Abbé d’Estrades detailing the Abduction and the Incarceration of Matthioly--Means adopted in order to recover the official Documents connected with the Negotiation--Mystery surrounding Matthioly’s Disappearance--His family dispersed, and remaining silent and powerless 267