After luncheon this morning the King ordered some large scales to be brought into the _salon_, and we were all weighed. Our kilos were written in a book, and each person was asked to write his name under his kilo. This took a long time. The Queen weighs twenty kilos less than Johan. There was a twinkle in the eye of the King when General Pasi got on the scales. General Pasi is enormously tall, and big in proportion, being a good deal more than six feet and very stout. They piled on all the weights they had, but nothing sufficed. Pasi looked aghast (Could the royal board be so fattening?) ... and wondered if it were not time for heroic action. And when it was found that the King had had his foot on the scales all the time every one was convulsed with laughter, especially the King, who enjoyed his little joke. The Queen's drive to-day was to the Marquise Dadda's (one of her ladies in waiting), who has a pretty villa and park near here. We had thought of leaving Monza to-day, but the Queen wished us to stay longer, and of course we did not refuse, though my toilets were at a rather low ebb, having thought to remain only a few days. I sat to the left of the King at dinner. He seemed very melancholy, and told me that never in his life had he had such a painful experience as he had this afternoon. A few days ago a quite young soldier had struck his superior officer and had been sentenced to death. The King said: "He is to be shot to-morrow in the barracks near the park, and this afternoon his poor mother, accompanied by the priest, came to the palace to make a last and supreme effort to obtain pardon. His mother clung to my knees and wept her soul out: 'He is my only child and only nineteen years old--too young to die. Take me instead. _Sono vecchia, egli tanto giovine!_' ['I am old, and he so young!'] The priest added that the boy had always been such a good son--kind and gentle to his mother--and begged that he should be pardoned." The King repeated all this with tears in his good eyes. "I am sure that your Majesty did pardon him. Did you not?" "No," he said, "though it broke my heart to refuse. In military affairs one must not interfere with the discipline." "But this one," I urged, tearfully; "could there not be extenuating circumstances? Do pardon him, your Majesty. Just think what that would mean for the poor mother." But the King, true to his ideas of military discipline, said: "No! He is condemned to die. He must die." The King could not shake off the impression this interview had made on him, and J., who passed the evening in the smoking-room with his Majesty, said that he never saw the King so depressed as he was this evening. The Queen came up to me directly after dinner, saying: "What _were_ you and the King talking about? You both looked so serious and sad." I told her. She said, "The King has such a good heart."