She had just rendered the queen an important service.

Anne of Austria was secretly corresponding with her two brothers, King Philip IV.

and the Cardinal Infante, a correspondence which might well make the king and his minister uneasy, since it was carried on through Madame de Chevreuse, and there was war at the time with Spain.

The queen employed for this intercourse a valet named Laporte, who was arrested and thrown into prison.

The chancellor removed to Val-de-Grace, whither the queen frequently retired; he questioned the nuns and rummaged Anne of Austria's cell.