Venice, Dec. 31, 1678.
Sir,
In order to deliver to Don Joseph Varano the letter, which I have received for him from the Count Matthioli, at the same time with that which you did me the favour to write on the 9th of this month, I have made use of the same means which I had the honour to acquaint you with in my last letter, and which we had agreed upon together, for the time during which the Duke of Mantua shouldremain at Venice. He told me, when he received it, that this prince had experienced great pleasure by learning from the first, that the affair was in a good state; and that he was most impatient to hear of the conclusion of it; to which I answered him in two words, that that was a hope which his Highness might, with reason, flatter himself to seerealized. ∗ ∗ ∗
De Pinchesne.235
235From the Archives of the Office for Foreign Affairs, at Paris.