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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V. (of V.), by
+Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V. (of V.)
+
+Author: Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
+
+Illustrator: Freudenberg and Dunker
+
+Translator: George Saintsbury: From The Authentic Text
+Of M. Le Roux De Lincy With An Essay Upon The Heptameron by the Translator
+
+Release Date: February 7, 2006 [EBook #17705]
+Last Updated: September 9, 2016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALES OF THE HEPTAMERON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+THE TALES OF
+
+THE HEPTAMERON
+
+OF
+
+Margaret, Queen of Navarre
+
+_Newly Translated into English from the Authentic Text_
+
+OF M. LE ROUX DE LINCY WITH
+
+AN ESSAY UPON THE HEPTAMERON
+
+BY
+
+GEORGE SAINTSBURY, M.A.
+
+Also the Original Seventy-three Full Page Engravings
+
+
+
+Designed by S. FREUDENBERG
+
+And One Hundred and Fifty Head and Tail Pieces
+
+By DUNKER
+
+_IN FIVE VOLUMES_
+
+VOLUME THE FIFTH
+
+LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY OF ENGLISH BIBLIOPHILISTS
+
+MDCCCXCIV
+
+
+[Illustration: Frontispiece]
+
+[Margaret, Queen of Navarre, from a crayon drawing by Clouet, preserved
+at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris]
+
+[Illustration: Titlepage]
+
+
+
+CONTENTS OF VOLUME V.
+
+SIXTH DAY.
+
+
+
+Prologue
+
+Tale LI. Cruelty of the Duke of Urbino, who, contrary to the promise
+he had given to the Duchess, hanged a poor lady that had consented to
+convey letters to his son’s sweetheart, the sister of the Abbot of Farse.
+
+Tale LII. Merry trick played by the varlet of an apothecary at Alençon
+on the Lord de la Tirelière and the lawyer Anthony Bacheré, who,
+thinking to breakfast at his expense, find that they have stolen from
+him something very different to a loaf of sugar.
+
+Tale LIII. Story of the Lady of Neufchâtel, a widow at the Court of
+Francis I., who, through not admitting that she has plighted her troth
+to the Lord des Cheriots, plays him an evil trick through the means of
+the Prince of Belhoste.
+
+Tale LIV. Merry adventure of a serving-woman and a gentleman named
+Thogas, whereof his wife has no suspicion.
+
+Tale LV. The widow of a merchant of Saragossa, not wishing to lose the
+value of a horse, the price of which her husband had ordered to be given
+to the poor, devises the plan of selling the horse for one ducat only,
+adding, however, to the bargain a cat at ninety-nine.
+
+Tale LVI. Notable deception practised by an old Grey Friar of Padua,
+who, being charged by a widow to find a husband for her daughter, did,
+for the sake of getting the dowry, cause her to marry a young Grey
+Friar, his comrade, whose condition, however, was before long discovered.
+
+Tale LVII. Singular behaviour of an English lord, who is content merely
+to keep and wear upon his doublet the glove of a lady whom he loves.
+
+Tale LVIII. A lady at the Court of Francis I., wishing to prove that
+she has no commerce with a certain gentleman who loves her, gives him a
+pretended tryst and causes him to pass for a thief.
+
+Tale LIX. Story of the same lady, who, learning that her husband is in
+love with her waiting-woman, contrives to surprise him and impose her
+own terms upon him.
+
+Tale LX. A man of Paris, thinking his wife to be well and duly deceased,
+marries again, but at the end of fifteen years is forced to take his
+first wife back, although she has been living meantime with one of the
+chanters of Louis XII.
+
+
+SEVENTH DAY.
+
+Prologue
+
+Tale LXI. Great kindness of a husband, who consents to take back his
+wife twice over, spite of her wanton love for a Canon of Autun.
+
+Tale LXII. How a lady, while telling a story as of another, let her
+tongue trip in such a way as to show that what she related had happened
+to herself.
+
+Tale LXIII. How the honourable behaviour of a young lord, who feigns
+sickness in order to be faithful to his wife, spoils a party in which he
+was to have made one with the King, and in this way saves the honour of
+three maidens of Paris.
+
+Tale LXIV. Story of a gentleman of Valencia in Spain, whom a lady drove
+to such despair that he became a monk, and whom afterwards she strove in
+vain to win back to herself.
+
+Tale LXV. Merry mistake of a worthy woman, who in the church of St. John
+of Lyons mistakes a sleeping soldier for one of the statues on a tomb,
+and sets a lighted candle on his forehead.
+
+Tale LXVI. How an old serving-woman, thinking to surprise a Prothonotary
+with a lady, finds herself insulting Anthony de Bourbon and his wife
+Jane d’Albret.
+
+Tale LXVII. How the Sire de Robertval, granting a traitor his life at
+the prayers of the man’s wife, set them both down on a desert island,
+and how, after the husband’s death, the wife was rescued and brought
+back to La Rochelle.
+
+Tale LXVIII. The wife of an apothecary at Pau, hearing her husband give
+some powder of cantharides to a woman who was godmother with himself,
+secretly administered to him such a dose of the same drug that he nearly
+died.
+
+Tale LXIX. How the wife of one of the King’s Equerries surprised her
+husband muffled in the hood of their servant-maid, and bolting meal in
+her stead.
+
+Tale LXX. Of the love of a Duchess of Burgundy for a gentleman who
+rejects her advances, for which reason she accuses him to the Duke her
+husband, and the latter does not believe his oaths till assured by
+him that he loves the Lady du Vergier. Then the Duchess, having drawn
+knowledge of this amour from her husband, addresses to the Lady du
+Vergier in public, an allusion that causes the death of both lovers; and
+the Duke, in despair at his own lack of discretion, stabs the Duchess
+himself.
+
+
+EIGHTH DAY.
+
+Prologue
+
+Tale LXXI. The wife of a saddler of Amboise is saved on her deathbed
+through a fit of anger at seeing her husband fondle a servant-maid.
+
+Tale LXXII. Kindness of the Duchess of Alençon to a poor nun whom she
+meets at Lyons, on her way to Rome, there to confess to the Pope how a
+monk had wronged her, and to obtain his Holiness’s pardon.
+
+Appendix (The Narrators of the Heptameron)
+
+Bibliography
+
+
+
+
+PAGE ENGRAVINGS CONTAINED IN VOLUME V.
+
+
+Tale LI. The Duke of Urbino sending the Maiden to Prison for carrying
+Messages between his Son and his Sweetheart.
+
+LII. The Gentleman and his Friend annoyed by The Smell of that which
+they Thought was Sugar.
+
+LIII. The Lord des Cheriots flying from the Prince’s Servant.
+
+LIV. The Lady watching the Shadow Faces Kissing.
+
+LV. The Servant selling the Horse with the Cat.
+
+LVI. The Grey Friar introducing his Comrade to the Lady and her
+Daughter.
+
+LVII. The English Lord seizing the Lady’s Glove.
+
+LVIII. The Gentleman Mocked by the Ladies When Returning From The False
+Tryst.
+
+LIX. The Lady discovering her Husband with the Waiting-woman.
+
+LX. The Chanter of Blois delivering his Mistress from the Grave.
+
+LXI. The Lady returning to her Lover, the Canon of Autun.
+
+LXII. The Gentleman’s Spur catching in the Sheet.
+
+LXIII. The King asking the Young Lord to join his Banquet.
+
+LXIV. The Lady Swooning in the Arms of the Gentleman of Valencia who had
+become a Monk.
+
+LXV. The Old Woman startled by the Waking of the Soldier.
+
+LXVI. The Old Serving-woman explaining her Mistake to the Duke and
+Duchess of Vendôme.
+
+LXVII. The Wife Reading to her Husband on the Desert Island.
+
+LXVIII. The Apothecary’s Wife giving the Dose of Cantharides to her
+Husband.
+
+LXIX. The Wife discovering her Husband in the Hood of their
+Serving-maid.
+
+LXX. The Gentleman Killing Himself on the Death of his Mistress.
+
+LXXI. The Saddler’s Wife Cured by the sight of her Husband Caressing the
+Serving-maid.
+
+LXXII. The Monk Conversing with the Nun while Shrouding a Dead Body.
+
+
+
+
+SIXTH DAY.
+
+_On the Sixth Day are related the deceits practised
+by Man on Woman, Woman on Man, or
+Woman on Woman, through
+greed, revenge, and
+wickedness_.
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE.
+
+In the morning the Lady Oisille went earlier than was her wont to make
+ready for her reading in the hall, but the company being advised of
+this, and eager to hearken to her excellent instruction, used such
+despatch in dressing themselves that she had not long to wait.
+Perceiving their fervour, she set about reading them the Epistle of St.
+John the Evangelist, which is full of naught but love, in the same wise
+as, on the foregoing days, she had expounded to them St. Paul’s Epistle
+to the Romans. The company found this fare so much to their taste, that,
+although they tarried a half-hour longer than on the other days, it
+seemed to them as if they had not remained there a quarter of an hour
+altogether. From thence they proceeded to the contemplation of the mass,
+when one and all commended themselves to the Holy Ghost in order that
+they might that day be enabled to satisfy their merry audience; and,
+after they had broken their fast and taken a little rest, they set out
+to resume their accustomed diversion.
+
+And the Lady Oisille asking who should begin the day, Longarine made
+answer--
+
+“I give my vote to Madame Oisille; she has this day read to us so
+beauteous a lesson, that she can but tell us some story apt to crown the
+glory which she won this morning.”
+
+“I am sorry,” said Oisille, “that I cannot tell you aught so profitable
+this afternoon as I did in the morning. But at least the purport of my
+story shall not depart from the teaching of Holy Scripture, where it is
+written, ‘Trust not in princes, nor in the sons of men, in whom is not
+our salvation.’ (1) And that this truth may not be forgotten by you for
+lack of an example, I will tell you a tale which is quite true, and the
+memory of which is so fresh that the eyes of those that saw the piteous
+sight are scarcely yet dried.”
+
+[Illustration: 005a.jpg The Duke of Urbino sending the Maiden to Prison for carrying
+Messages between his Son and his Sweetheart]
+
+[The Duke of Urbino sending the Maiden to Prison for carrying
+Messages between his Son and his Sweetheart]
+
+[Illustration: 005.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LI_.
+
+     _Because he would not have his son make a poor marriage, the
+     Duke of Urbino, contrary to the promise given to his wife,
+     hanged a young maiden by whom his son was wont to inform his
+     sweetheart of the love he bore her_.
+
+The Duke of Urbino, called the Prefect, (1) the same that married the
+sister of the first Duke of Mantua, had a son of between eighteen and
+twenty years of age, who was in love with a girl of an excellent and
+honourable house, sister to the Abbot of Farse. (2) And since, according
+to the custom of the country, he was not free to converse with her as
+he wished, he obtained the aid of a gentleman in his service, who was in
+love with a very beautiful and virtuous young damsel in the service of
+his mother. By means of this damsel he informed his sweetheart of the
+deep affection that he bore her; and the poor girl, thinking no harm,
+took pleasure in doing him service, believing his purpose to be so good
+and virtuous that she might honourably be the carrier of his intentions.
+But the Duke, who had more regard for the profit of his house than
+for any virtuous affection, was in such great fear lest these dealings
+should lead his son (3) into marriage, that he caused a strict watch
+to be kept; whereupon he was informed that the poor damsel had been
+concerned in carrying some letters from his son to the lady he loved. On
+hearing this he was in great wrath, and resolved to take the matter in
+hand.
+
+     1  This is Francesco Maria I., della Rovere, nephew to Pope
+     Julius II., by whom he was created Prefect of Rome. Brought
+     up at the French Court, he became one of the great captains
+     of the period, especially distinguishing himself in the
+     command of the Venetian forces during the earlier part of
+     his career. He married Leonora Ypolita Gonzaga, daughter of
+     Francesco II., fourth Marquis of Mantua, respecting whom see
+     _ante_, vol. iii., notes to Tale XIX. It was Leonora rather
+     than her husband who imparted lustre to the Court of Urbino
+     at this period by encouraging arts and letters. Among those
+     who flourished there were Raffaelle and Baldassare
+     Castiglione. Francesco Maria, born in March 1491, died in
+     1538 from the effects--so it is asserted by several
+     contemporary writers--of a poisonous lotion which a Mantuan
+     barber had dropped into his ear. His wife, who bore him two
+     sons (see post, note 3), died at the age of 72, in 1570.--L.
+     and Ed.
+
+     2  The French words are _Abbé de Farse_. Farse would appear
+     to be a locality, as abbots were then usually designated by
+     the names of their monasteries; still it may be intended for
+     the Abbot’s surname, and some commentators, adopting this
+     view, have suggested that the proper reading would be
+     Farnese.--Ed.
+
+     3  The Duke’s two sons were Federigo, born in March 1511,
+     and Guidobaldo, born in April 1514. The former according to
+     all authorities died when “young,” and probably long before
+     reaching man’s estate. Dennistoun, in his searching _Memoirs
+     of the Dukes of Urbino_ (London, 1851), clearly shows that
+     for many years prior to Francesco Maria’s death his second
+     son Guidobaldo was the only child remaining to him. Already
+     in 1534, when but twenty years old, Guidobaldo was regarded
+     as his father’s sole heir and successor. In that year
+     Francesco Maria forced the young man to marry Giulia Varana,
+     a child of eleven, in order that he might lay claim to her
+     father’s state of Camerino and annex it to the duchy. There
+     is no record of Guidobaldo having ever engaged in any such
+     intrigue as related by Queen Margaret in the above tale,
+     still it must be to him that she refers, everything pointing
+     to the conclusion that his brother Federigo died in
+     childhood. Guidobaldo became Duke of Urbino on his father’s
+     death.--Ed.
+
+He could not, however, conceal his anger so well that the maiden was
+not advised of it, and knowing his wickedness, which was in her eyes
+as great as his conscience was small, she felt a wondrous dread. Going
+therefore to the Duchess, she craved leave to retire somewhere out of
+the Duke’s sight until his passion should be past; but her mistress
+replied that, before giving her leave to do so, she would try to find
+out her husband’s will in the matter.
+
+Very soon, however, the Duchess heard the Duke’s evil words concerning
+the affair, and, knowing his temper, she not only gave the maiden leave,
+but advised her to retire into a convent until the storm was over. This
+she did as secretly as she could, yet not so stealthily but that the
+Duke was advised of it. Thereupon, with pretended cheerfulness of
+countenance, he asked his wife where the maiden was, and she, believing
+him to be well aware of the truth, confessed it to him. He feigned to
+be vexed thereat, saying that the girl had no need to behave in that
+fashion, and that for his part he desired her no harm. And he requested
+his wife to cause her to come back again, since it was by no means well
+to have such matters noised abroad.
+
+The Duchess replied that, if the poor girl was so unfortunate as to have
+lost his favour, it were better for a time that she should not come
+into his presence; however, he would not hearken to her reasonings, but
+commanded her to bid the maiden return.
+
+The Duchess failed not to make the Duke’s will known to the maiden; but
+the latter, who could not but feel afraid, entreated her mistress that
+she might not be compelled to run this risk, saying that she knew the
+Duke was not so ready to forgive her as he feigned to be. Nevertheless,
+the Duchess assured her that she should take no hurt, and pledged her
+own life and honour for her safety.
+
+The girl, who well knew that her mistress loved her, and would not
+lightly deceive her, trusted in her promise, believing that the Duke
+would never break a pledge when his wife’s honour was its warranty. And
+accordingly she returned to the Duchess.
+
+As soon as the Duke knew this, he failed not to repair to his wife’s
+apartment. There, as soon as he saw the maiden, he said to his wife,
+“So such-a-one has returned,” and turning to his gentlemen, he commanded
+them to arrest her and lead her to prison.
+
+At this the poor Duchess, who by the pledging of her word had drawn the
+maiden from her refuge, was in such despair that, falling upon her knees
+before her husband, she prayed that for love of herself and of his
+house he would not do so foul a deed, seeing that it was in obedience to
+himself that she had drawn the maiden from her place of safety.
+
+But no prayer that she could utter availed to soften his hard heart, or
+to overcome his stern resolve to be avenged. Without making any reply,
+he withdrew as speedily as possible, and, foregoing all manner of trial,
+and forgetting God and the honour of his house, he cruelly caused the
+hapless maiden to be hanged.
+
+I cannot undertake to recount to you the grief of the Duchess; it was
+such as beseemed a lady of honour and a tender heart on beholding one,
+whom she would fain have saved, perish through trust in her own plighted
+faith. Still less is it possible to describe the deep affliction of the
+unhappy gentleman, the maiden’s lover, who failed not to do all that
+in him lay to save his sweetheart’s life, offering to give his own for
+hers; but no feeling of pity moved the heart of this Duke, whose only
+happiness was that of avenging himself on those whom he hated. (4)
+
+     4  That Francesco-Maria was a man of a hasty, violent
+     temperament is certain. Much that Guicciardini relates of
+     him was doubtless penned in a spirit of resentment, for
+     during the time the historian lived at Urbino the Duke
+     repeatedly struck him, and on one occasion felled him to the
+     ground, with the sneering remark, “Your business is to
+     confer with pedants.” On the other hand, however, there is
+     independent documentary evidence in existence--notably
+     among the Urbino MSS. in the Vatican library--which shows
+     that Francesco-Maria in no wise recoiled from shedding
+     blood. He was yet in his teens when it was reported to him
+     that his sister--the widow of Venanzio of Camerino, killed
+     by Caesar Borgia--had secretly married a certain Giovanni
+     Andrea of Verona and borne him a son. Watching his
+     opportunity, Francesco-Maria set upon the unfortunate Andrea
+     one day in the ducal chamber and then and there killed him,
+     though not without resistance, for Andrea only succumbed
+     after receiving _four-and-twenty_ stabs with his murderer’s
+     poignard (Urbino MSS. Vat. No. 904). A few years later, in
+     1511, Francesco-Maria assassinated the Papal Legate
+     Alidosio, Cardinal Archbishop of Pavia, whom he encountered
+     in the environs of Bologna riding his mule and followed by a
+     hundred light horse. Nevertheless Urbino, with only a small
+     retinue, galloped up to him, plunged a dagger into his
+     stomach and fled before the soldiery could intervene. From
+     these examples it will be seen that, although history has
+     preserved no record of the affair related by Queen Margaret,
+     her narrative may well be a true one.--Ed.
+
+Thus, in spite of every law of honour, was the innocent maiden put to
+death by this cruel Duke, to the exceeding sorrow of all that knew her.
+
+“See, ladies, what are the effects of wickedness when this is combined
+with power.”
+
+“I had indeed heard,” said Longarine, “that the Italians were prone to
+three especial vices; but I should not have thought that vengeance and
+cruelty would have gone so far as to deal a cruel death for so slight a
+cause.”
+
+“Longarine,” said Saffredent, laughing, “you have told us one of the
+three vices, but we must also know the other two.”
+
+“If you did not know them,” she replied, “I would inform you, but I am
+sure that you know them all.”
+
+“From your words,” said Saffredent, “it seems that you deem me very
+vicious.”
+
+“Not so,” said Longarine, “but you so well know the ugliness of vice
+that, better than any other, you are able to avoid it.”
+
+“Do not be amazed,” said Simontault, “at this act of cruelty. Those who
+have passed through Italy have seen such incredible instances, that this
+one is in comparison but a trifling peccadillo.”
+
+“Ay, truly,” said Geburon. “When Rivolta was taken by the French, (5)
+there was an Italian captain who was esteemed a knightly comrade, but
+on seeing the dead body of a man who was only his enemy in that being a
+Guelph he was opposed to the Ghibellines, he tore out his heart, broiled
+it on the coals and devoured it. And when some asked him how he liked
+it, he replied that he had never eaten so savoury or dainty a morsel.
+Not content with this fine deed, he killed the dead man’s wife, and
+tearing out the fruit of her womb, dashed it against a wall. Then he
+filled the bodies both of husband and wife with oats and made his horses
+eat from them. Think you that such a man as that would not surely have
+put to death a girl whom he suspected of offending him?”
+
+     5  Rivolta or Rivoli was captured by the French under Louis
+     XII. in 1509. An instance of savagery identical in character
+     with that mentioned by “Geburon” had already occurred at the
+     time of Charles VIII.’s expedition to Naples, when the
+     culprit, a young Italian of good birth, was seized and
+     publicly executed.--Ed.
+
+“It must be acknowledged,” said Ennasuite, “that this Duke of Urbino
+was more afraid that his son might make a poor marriage than desirous of
+giving him a wife to his liking.”
+
+“I think you can have no doubt,” replied Simon-tault, “that it is the
+Italian nature to love unnaturally that which has been created only for
+nature’s service.”
+
+“Worse than that,” said Hircan, “they make a god of things that are
+contrary to nature.”
+
+“And there,” said Longarine, “you have another one of the sins that
+I meant; for we know that to love money, excepting so far as it be
+necessary, is idolatry.”
+
+Parlamente then said that St. Paul had not forgotten the vices of the
+Italians, and of all those who believe that they exceed and surpass
+others in honour, prudence and human reason, and who trust so strongly
+to this last as to withhold from God the glory that is His due.
+Wherefore the Almighty, jealous of His honour, renders’ those who
+believe themselves possessed of more understanding than other men,
+more insensate even than wild the beasts, causing them to show by their
+unnatural deeds that their sense is reprobate.
+
+Longarine here interrupted Parlamente to say that this was indeed the
+third sin to which the Italians were prone.
+
+“By my faith,” said Nomerfide, “this discourse is very pleasing to
+me, for, since those that possess the best trained and acutest
+understandings are punished by being made more witless even than wild
+beasts, it must follow that such as are humble, and low, and of little
+reach, like myself, are filled with the wisdom of angels.”
+
+“I protest to you,” said Oisille, “that I am not far from your opinion,
+for none is more ignorant than he who thinks he knows.”
+
+“I have never seen a mocker,” said Geburon, “that was not mocked, a
+deceiver that was not deceived, or a boaster that was not humbled.”
+
+“You remind me,” said Simontault, “of a deceit which, had it been of a
+seemly sort, I would willingly have related.”
+
+“Well,” said Oisille, “since we are here to utter truth, I give you my
+vote that you may tell it to us whatsoever its nature may be.”
+
+“Since you give place to me,” said Simontault, “I will tell it you.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 014.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 015a.jpg The Gentleman and his Friend annoyed by The Smell of that which they Thought was Sugar]
+
+[The Gentleman and his Friend annoyed by The Smell of that which they Thought was Sugar]
+
+[Illustration: 015.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LII_.
+
+     _An apothecary s man, espying behind him an advocate who was
+     to plague him, and on whom he desired to be revenged,
+     dropped from his sleeve a lump of frozen ordure, wrapped in
+     paper like a sugar-loaf, which a gentleman who was with the
+     advocate picked up and hid in his bosom, and then went to
+     breakfast at a tavern, whence he came forth with all the
+     cost and shame that he had thought to bring upon the poor
+     varlet_.
+
+Near the town of Alençon there lived a gentleman called the Lord of La
+Tireliere, who one morning came from his house to the town afoot, both
+because the distance was not great and because it was freezing hard. (1)
+When he had done his business, he sought out a crony of his, an advocate
+named Anthony Bacheré, and, after speaking with him of his affairs, he
+told him that he should much like to meet with a good breakfast, but at
+somebody else’s expense. While thus discussing, they sat themselves down
+in front of an apothecary’s shop, where there was a varlet who listened
+to them, and who forthwith resolved to give them their breakfast.
+
+     1  The phraseology of this story varies considerably in the
+     different MSS. of the _Heptameron_. In No. 1520, for
+     instance, the tale begins as follows: “In the town of
+     Alençon, in the time of the last Duke Charles, there was an
+     advocate, a merry companion, fond of breakfasting o’
+     mornings. One day, whilst he sat at his door, he saw pass a
+     gentleman called the Lord of La Tilleriere, who, by reason
+     of the extreme cold, had come on foot from his house to the
+     town in order to attend to certain business there, and in
+     doing so had not forgotten to put on his great robe, lined
+     with fox-skin. And when he saw the advocate, who was much
+     such a man as himself, he told him that he had completed his
+     business, and had nothing further to do, except it were to
+     find a good breakfast. The advocate made answer that they
+     could find breakfasts enough and to spare, provided they had
+     some one to defray the cost, and, taking the other under the
+     arm, he said to him, ‘Come, gossip, we may perhaps find some
+     fool who will pay the reckoning for us both.’ Now behind
+     them was an apothecary’s man, an artful and inventive
+     fellow, whom this advocate was always plaguing,” &c.--L.
+
+He went out from his shop into a street whither all repaired on needful
+occasions, (2) and there found a large lump of ordure standing on end,
+and so well frozen that it looked like a small loaf of fine sugar.
+Forthwith he wrapped it in handsome white paper, in the manner he was
+wont to use for the attraction of customers, and hid it in his sleeve.
+
+     2  In olden time, as shown in the _Mémoires de l’Académie de
+     Troyes_, there were in most French towns streets specially
+     set aside for the purpose referred to. At Alençon, in Queen
+     Margaret’s time, there was a street called the Rue des
+     Fumiers, as appears from a report dated March 8, 1564
+     (Archives of the Orne, Series A). Probably it is to this
+     street that she alludes. (Communicated by M. L. Duval,
+     archivist of the department of the Orne).--M.
+
+Afterwards he came and passed in front of the gentleman and the
+advocate, and, letting the sugar-loaf (3) fall near them, as if by
+mischance, went into a house whither he had pretended to be carrying it.
+
+The Lord of La Tirelière (4) hastened back with all speed to pick up
+what he thought to be a sugar-loaf, and just as he had done so the
+apothecary’s man also came back looking and asking for his sugar
+everywhere.
+
+     3  M. Duval, archivist of the Orne, states that La
+     Tirelière, which is situated near St. Germain-du-Corbois,
+     within three miles of Alençon, is an old _gentilhommière_ or
+     manor-house, surrounded by a moat. It was originally a
+     simple _vavassonrie_ held in fief from the Counts and Dukes
+     of Alençon by the Pantolf and Crouches families, and in the
+     seventeenth century was merged into the marquisate of
+     L’Isle.--M.
+
+     4  Sugar was at this period sold by apothecaries, and was a
+     rare and costly luxury. There were loaves of various sizes,
+     but none so large as those of the present time.--M.
+
+The gentleman, thinking that he had cleverly tricked him, then went in
+haste to a tavern with his crony, to whom he said--
+
+“Our breakfast has been paid for at the cost of that varlet.”
+
+When he was come to the tavern he called for good bread, good wine and
+good meat, for he thought that he had wherewith to pay. But whilst he
+was eating, as he began to grow warm, his sugar-loaf in its turn began
+to thaw and melt, and filled the whole room with the smell peculiar
+to it, whereupon he, who carried it in his bosom, grew wroth with the
+waiting-woman, and said to her--
+
+“You are the filthiest folks that ever I knew in this town, for either
+you or your children have strewn all this room with filth.”
+
+“By St. Peter!” replied the woman, “there is no filth here unless you
+have brought it in yourselves.”
+
+Thereupon they rose, by reason of the great stench that they smelt,
+and went up to the fire, where the gentleman drew out of his bosom a
+handkerchief all dyed with the melted sugar, and on opening his robe,
+lined with fox-skin, found it to be quite spoiled.
+
+And all that he was able to say to his crony was this--
+
+“The rogue whom we thought to deceive has deceived us instead.”
+
+Then they paid their reckoning and went away as vexed as they had
+been merry on their arrival, when they fancied they had tricked the
+apothecary’s varlet. (5)
+
+     5  In MS. 1520, this tale ends in the following manner:--
+     “They were no sooner in the street than they perceived the
+     apothecary’s man going about and making inquiry of every one
+     whether they had not seen a loaf of sugar wrapped in paper.
+     They [the advocate and his companion] sought to avoid him,
+     but he called aloud to the advocate, ‘If you have my loaf of
+     sugar, sir, I beg that you will give it back to me, for ‘tis
+     a double sin to rob a poor servant.’ His shouts brought to
+     the spot many people curious to witness the dispute, and the
+     true circumstances of the case were so well proven, that the
+     apothecary’s man was as glad to have been robbed as the
+     others were vexed at having committed such a nasty theft.
+     However, they comforted themselves with the hope that they
+     might some day give him tit for tat.”--Ed.
+
+“Often, ladies, do we see the like befall those who delight in using
+such cunning. If the gentleman had not sought to eat at another’s
+expense, he would not have drunk so vile a beverage at his own. It is
+true, ladies, that my story is not a very clean one, but you gave me
+license to speak the truth, and I have done so in order to show you that
+no one is sorry when a deceiver is deceived.”
+
+“It is commonly said,” replied Hircan, “that words have no stink, yet
+those for whom they are intended do not easily escape smelling them.”
+
+“It is true,” said Oisille, “that such words do not stink, but there are
+others which are spoken of as nasty, and which are of such evil odour
+that they disgust the soul even more than the body is disgusted when it
+smells such a sugar-loaf as you described in the tale.”
+
+“I pray you,” said Hircan, “tell me what words you know of so foul as to
+sicken both the heart and soul of a virtuous woman.”
+
+“It would indeed be seemly,” replied Oisille, “that I should tell you
+words which I counsel no woman to utter.”
+
+“By that,” said Saffredent, “I quite understand what those terms are.
+They are such as women desirous of being held discreet do not commonly
+employ. But I would ask all the ladies present why, when they dare not
+utter them, they are so ready to laugh at them when they are used in
+their presence.”
+
+Then said Parlamente--
+
+“We do not laugh because we hear such pretty expressions, though it
+is indeed true that every one is disposed to laugh on seeing anybody
+stumble or on hearing any one utter an unfitting word, as often happens.
+The tongue will trip and cause one word to be used for another, even
+by the discreetest and most excellent speakers. But when you men talk
+viciously, not from ignorance, but by reason of your own wickedness,
+I know of no virtuous woman who does not feel a loathing for such
+speakers, and who would not merely refuse to hearken to them, but even
+to remain in their company.”
+
+“That is very true,” responded Geburon. “I have frequently seen women
+make the sign of the cross on hearing certain words spoken, and cease
+not in doing so after these words had been uttered a second time.”
+
+“But how many times,” said Simontault, “have they put on their masks (6)
+in order to laugh as freely as they pretended to be angry?”
+
+“Yet it were better to do this,” said Parlamente, “than to let it be
+seen that the talk pleased them.”
+
+“Then,” said Dagoucin, “you praise a lady’s hypocrisy no less than her
+virtue?”
+
+“Virtue would be far better,” said Longarine, “but, when it is lacking,
+recourse must be had to hypocrisy, just as we use our slippers (7) to
+disguise our littleness. And it is no small matter to be able to conceal
+our imperfections.”
+
+     8  _Tourets-de-nez_. _See ante_, vol. iii. p. 27, note 5.--Ed.
+
+     7  High-heeled slippers or _mules_ were then worn.--B. J.
+
+“By my word,” said Hircan, “it were better sometimes to show some slight
+imperfection than to cover it so closely with the cloak of virtue.”
+
+“It is true,” said Ennasuitc, “that a borrowed garment brings the
+borrower as much dishonour when he is constrained to return it as it
+brought him honour whilst it was being worn, and there is a lady now
+living who, by being too eager to conceal a small error, fell into a
+greater.”
+
+“I think,” said Hircan, “that I know whom you mean; in any case,
+however, do not pronounce her name.”
+
+“Ho! ho!” said Geburon [to Ennasuite], “I give you my vote on condition
+that when you have related the story you will tell us the names. We will
+swear never to mention them.”
+
+“I promise it,” said Knnasuite, “for there is nothing that may not be
+told in all honour.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 022.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 023a.jpg The Lord des Cheriots flying from the Prince’s Servant]
+
+[The Lord des Cheriots flying from the Prince’s Servant]
+
+[Illustration: 023.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LIII_.
+
+     _By her dissimulation the Lady of Neufchastel caused the
+     Prince of Belhoste to put her to such proof that it turned
+     to her dishonour_.
+
+King Francis the First was once at a handsome and pleasant castle,
+whither he had gone with a small following, both for the purpose of
+hunting and in order to take some repose. With him in his train was a
+certain Prince of Belhoste, (1) as worshipful, virtuous, discreet and
+handsome a Prince as any at Court. The wife he had married did not
+belong to a family of high rank, yet he loved her as dearly and treated
+her as well as it were possible for a husband to do, and also trusted
+in her. And when he was in love with anybody he never concealed it from
+her, knowing that she had no other will than his own.
+
+     1  The Bibliophile Jacob surmises that this personage may be
+     one of the Italian grandees at that period in the service of
+     France, in which case the allusion may be to John
+     Caraccioli, Prince of Melphes, created a marshal of France
+     in 1544. Queen Margaret, however, makes no mention of her
+     Prince being a foreigner. “Belhoste” is of course a
+     fictitious name invented to replace that which the Prince
+     really bore, and admits of so many interpretations that its
+     meaning in the present instance cannot well be determined.
+     From the circumstance, however, that the Prince’s wife was
+     of inferior birth to himself, it is not impossible that the
+     personage referred to may be either Charles de Bourbon,
+     Prince of La Roche-sur-Yonne and Duke of Beaupréau, or John
+     VIII., Lord of Créqui, Canaples and Pontdormi, and Prince of
+     Poix. The former, who married Philippa de Montespedon, widow
+     of René de Montéjan, and a lady of honour to Catherine de’
+     Medici when Dauphiness, took a prominent part in the last
+     wars of Francis I.’s reign, and survived till 1565. The
+     latter, generally known at Court by the name of Canaples,
+     was a gentleman of the chamber and an especial favourite of
+     Francis I. Brantôme says of him in his _Homines Illustres_
+     that he was “a valiant lord and the strongest man of arms
+     that in those days existed in all Christendom, for he broke
+     a lance, no matter its strength, as easily as though it were
+     a mere switch, and few were able to withstand him.” In 1525
+     the Prince of Poix married a Demoiselle d’Acigné or Assigny,
+     of _petite noblesse_, who in 1532 became a lady of honour to
+     Queen Eleanor. She died in 1558, surviving her husband by
+     three years. See Rouard’s rare _Notice dun Recueil de
+     Crayons à la Bibliothèque Méjanes d’Aix_, Paris, 1863.--Ed.
+
+Now this Prince conceived a deep affection for a widow lady called
+Madame de Neufchastel, (2) who was reputed the most beautiful woman it
+were possible to see; and if the Prince of Bel-hoste loved her well, his
+wife loved her no less, and would often send and bid her to dinner,
+for she deemed her so discreet and honourable, that, instead of being
+grieved by her husband’s love for her, she rejoiced to see him address
+his attentions to one so full of honour and virtue.
+
+     2  M. Lacroix thinks that this lady may be Jane de Hochberg,
+     only daughter of Philip, sovereign Count of Neufchâtel.
+     According to the custom of the time, she was commonly called
+     Madame de Neufchâtel, despite her marriage with Louis
+     d’Orléans, Duke of Longueville. She died in 1543, after a
+     lengthy widowhood. We consider the accuracy of M. Lacroix’s
+     surmise to be extremely doubtful, for the names of both the
+     men figuring in the story are obviously altered so as to
+     conceal their identity, and it is therefore not likely that
+     Queen Margaret would designate the lady by her real name,
+     and thus publish her shame to the world. The Madame de
+     Neufchâtel she speaks of may really have been a Madame de
+     Châteauneuf, Châteauvieux or Maisonneuve; or we may again be
+     in presence of Margaret’s lady of honour, the widowed
+     Blanche de Chastillon, _née_ de Tournon, to whom frequent
+     reference has been made.--Ed.
+
+This affection lasted for a great while, the Prince of Belhoste caring
+for all the lady’s affairs as though they were his own, and his wife
+doing no less. By reason, however, of her beauty many great lords and
+gentlemen earnestly sought the lady’s favour, some only for love’s sake,
+others for sake of the ring, for, besides being beautiful, she was also
+very rich.
+
+Among the rest was a young gentleman, called the Lord des Cheriots, (3)
+who wooed her so ardently that he was never absent from her levee and
+couchée, and was also with her as much as possible during the day. This
+did not please the Prince of Belhoste, who thought that a man of such
+poor estate, and so lacking in grace, did not deserve an honourable
+and gracious reception, and he often made remonstrances about it to the
+lady. She, however, being one of Eve’s daughters, (4) excused herself
+by saying that she spoke with every one in general, and that their own
+affection was the better concealed, since she never spoke more with one
+than with another.
+
+     3  “Des Cheriots” (occasionally Des Cheriotz in the MS.) may
+     be a play upon the name of D’Escars, sometimes written Des
+     Cars. According to La Curne de Ste. Palaye _car_ as well as
+     _char_ signified chariot. The D’Escars dukedom is modern,
+     dating from 1815, and in the time of Francis I. the family
+     was of small estate. Some members of it may well have filled
+     inferior offices about the court, as in 1536 a Demoiselle
+     Suzanne d’Escars married Geoffrey de Pompadour, who was both
+     a prothonotary and cupbearer to Francis I., and lived to
+     become Governor of the Limousin under Charles IX.--M. and
+     Ed.
+
+     4  We take this expression from MS. 1520. Ours says, “a
+     daughter of the Duke,” which is evidently an error.--L.
+
+Albeit, after some time, this Lord des Cheriots so pressed her that,
+more through his importunity than through love, she promised to marry
+him, begging him, however, not to urge her to reveal the marriage until
+her daughters were wedded. After this the gentleman was wont to go with
+untroubled conscience to her chamber at whatsoever hour he chose, and
+none but a waiting-woman and a serving-man had knowledge of the matter.
+
+When the Prince perceived that the gentleman was growing more and more
+familiar in the house of her whom he so dearly loved, he took it in
+ill-part, and could not refrain from saying to the lady--
+
+“I have always prized your honour like that of my own sister, and you
+are aware of the honourable manner in which I have addressed you, and
+the happiness that I have in loving a lady as discreet and virtuous as
+yourself; but did I think that another who deserves it not could win by
+importunity that which I am not willing to crave, contrary to your
+own desire, this would be unendurable to me, and in the like degree
+dishonouring to you. I tell you this because you are beautiful and
+young, and although hitherto of good repute, are now beginning to gain
+a very evil fame. Even though he be not your equal in birth or fortune,
+and have less influence, knowledge and address, yet it were better to
+have married him than to give all men matter for suspicion. I pray you,
+therefore, tell me whether you are resolved to love him, for I will not
+have him as fellow of mine. I would rather leave you altogether to him,
+and put away from me the feelings that I have hitherto borne you.”
+
+The poor lady, fearful of losing his affection, thereupon began to weep,
+and vowed to him that she would rather die than wed the gentleman of
+whom he had spoken, but (she added) he was so importunate that she could
+not help his entering her chamber at a time when every one else did so.
+
+“Of such times as those,” said the Prince, “I do not speak, for I can go
+as well as he, and see all what you are doing. But I have been told that
+he goes after you are in bed, and this I look upon as so extraordinary
+that, if you should continue in this mode of life without declaring him
+to be your husband, you will be disgraced more than any woman that ever
+lived.”
+
+She swore to him with all the oaths she could utter that the other was
+neither her husband nor her lover, but only as importunate a gentleman
+as there well could be.
+
+“Since he is troublesome to you,” said the Prince, “I promise you that I
+will rid you of him.”
+
+“What!” asked the lady. “Would you kill him?”
+
+“No, no,” said the Prince, “but I will give him to understood that it
+is not in such a place as this, not in such a house as the King’s, that
+ladies are to be put to shame. And I swear to you by the faith of the
+lover that I am, that if, after I have spoken with him, he does not
+correct himself, I will correct him in such a manner as to make him a
+warning to others.”
+
+So saying he went away, and on leaving the room failed not to meet the
+Lord des Cheriots on his way in. To him he spoke after the fashion that
+you have heard, assuring him that the first time he was found there
+after an hour at which gentlemen might reasonably visit the ladies, he
+would give him such a fright as he would ever remember. And he added
+that the lady was of too noble a house to be trifled with after such a
+fashion.
+
+The gentleman protested that he had never been in the room except in the
+same manner as the rest, and, if the Prince should find him there, he
+gave him full leave to do his worst.
+
+One day afterwards, when the gentleman believed the Prince’s words
+to have been forgotten, he went to see his lady in the evening, and
+remained sufficiently late.
+
+The Prince [that same evening] told his wife that Madame de Neufchastel
+had a severe cold, upon hearing which the worthy lady begged that he
+would visit her on behalf of them both, and make excuse for herself,
+since she could not go by reason of a certain matter that she must needs
+attend to in her room.
+
+The Prince waited until the King was in bed, and then went to give
+the lady good-evening, but as he was going up a stairway he met a
+serving-man coming down, who, on being asked how his mistress did, swore
+that she was in bed and asleep.
+
+The Prince went down the stairway, but, suspecting that the servant
+had lied, looked behind and saw him going back again with all speed.
+He walked about the courtyard in front of the door to see whether the
+servant would return. A quarter of an hour later he perceived him come
+down again and look all about to see who was in the courtyard.
+
+Forthwith the Prince was convinced that the Lord des Cheriots was in the
+lady’s chamber, but through fear of himself durst not come down, and he
+therefore again walked about for a long-while.
+
+At last, observing that the lady’s room had a casement which was not at
+all high up, and which looked upon a little garden, he remembered the
+proverb which says, “When the door fails the window avails,” and he
+thereupon called a servant of his own, and said to him--
+
+“Go into the garden there behind, and, if you see a gentleman come down
+from the window, draw your sword as soon as he reaches the ground, clash
+it against the wall, and cry out, ‘Slay! slay!’ Be careful, however,
+that you do not touch him.”
+
+The servant went whither his master had sent him, and the Prince walked
+about until three hours after midnight.
+
+When the Lord des Cheriots heard that the Prince was still in the yard,
+he resolved to descend by the window, and, having first thrown clown his
+cloak, he then, by the help of his good friends, leapt into the garden.
+As soon as the servant saw him, he failed not to make a noise with
+his sword, at the same time crying, “Slay! slay!” Upon this the poor
+gentleman, believing it was his [the servant’s] master, was in such
+great fear that, without thinking of his cloak, he fled as quickly as he
+was able.
+
+He met the archers of the watch, who wondered greatly to see him running
+in this fashion, but he durst say nothing to them, except to beg them to
+open him the gate [of the castle], or else to lodge him with themselves
+until morning. And this, as they had not the keys, they did.
+
+Then the Prince went to bed, and, finding his wife asleep, awoke her
+saying--
+
+“Guess, my wife, what hour it is.’’
+
+“I have not heard the clock strike since I went to bed,” she replied.
+
+“It is three hours after midnight,” said he.
+
+“If that be so,” said his wife, “where have you been all this time? I
+greatly fear that your health will be the worse for it.”
+
+“Sweetheart,” said the Prince, “watching will never make me ill when
+I am engaged in preventing those who try to deceive me from going to
+sleep.”
+
+So saying, he began to laugh so heartily that his wife begged him to
+tell her of the matter. This he did at length, showing her the wolf’s
+skin (4) which his servant had brought him. After making merry at
+the expense of the hapless lovers, they went to sleep in gentle
+tranquillity, while the other two passed the night in torment, fearing
+and dreading lest the affair should be revealed.
+
+However, the gentleman, knowing right well that he could not use
+concealment with the Prince, came to him in the morning when he was
+dressing to beg that he would not expose him, and would give orders for
+the return of his cloak.
+
+The Prince pretended that he knew nothing of the matter, and put such a
+face on it that the gentleman was wholly at a loss what to think. But
+in the end he received a rating that he had not expected, for the Prince
+assured him that, if ever he went to the lady’s room again, he would
+tell the King of it, and have him banished the Court.
+
+“I pray you, ladies, judge whether it had not been better for this poor
+lady to have spoken freely to him who did her the honour of loving and
+esteeming her, instead of leading him by her dissimulation to prove her
+in a way that brought her so much shame.”
+
+“She knew,” said Geburon, “that if she confessed the truth she would
+wholly lose his favour, and this she on no account desired to do.”
+
+“It seems to me,” said Longarine, “that when she had chosen a husband
+to her liking, she ought not to have feared the loss of any other man’s
+affection.”
+
+“I am sure,” said Parlamente, “that if she had dared to reveal her
+marriage, she would have been quite content with her husband; but she
+wished to hide it until her daughters were wed, and so she would not
+abandon so good a means of concealment.”
+
+“It was not for that reason,” said Saffredent, “but because the ambition
+of women is so great that they are never satisfied with having only
+one lover. I have heard that the discreetest of them are glad to have
+three--one, namely, for honour, one for profit, and one for delight.
+Each of the three thinks himself loved the best, but the first two are
+as servants to the last.”
+
+“You speak,” said Oisille, “of such women as have neither love nor
+honour.”
+
+“Madam,” said Saffredent, “there are some of the kind that I describe,
+whom you reckon among the most honourable in the land.”
+
+“You may be sure,” said Hircan, “that a crafty woman will be able to
+live where all others die of hunger.”
+
+“And,” said Longarine, “when their craftiness is discerned, ‘tis death.”
+
+“Nay, ‘tis life,” said Simontault, “for they deem it no small glory
+to be reputed more crafty than their fellows. And the reputation of
+‘crafty,’ gained thus at their own expense, brings lovers more readily
+under subjection to them than does their beauty, for one of the greatest
+delights shared by those who are in love is to conduct the affair
+slyly.”
+
+“You speak,” said Ennasuite, “of wanton love, for the honourable has no
+need of concealment.”
+
+“Ah!” said Dagoucin, “I pray you put that thought out of your head.
+The more precious the drug, the less should it be exposed to the air,
+because of the perverseness of those who trust only to outward signs.
+These are not different in the case of honourable and faithful affection
+than in any other case, so they must none the less be hidden when the
+love is virtuous than when it is the opposite, if one would avoid the
+evil opinion of those who cannot believe that a man may love a lady in
+all honour, and who, being themselves slaves to pleasure, think every
+one else the same. If we were all of good faith, look and speech would
+be without concealment, at least toward those who would rather die than
+take them in an evil sense.”
+
+“I protest to you, Dagoucin,” said Hircan, “that your philosophy is too
+deep for any man here to understand or believe. You would have us think
+that men are angels, or stones, or devils.”
+
+“I am well aware,” said Dagoucin, “that men are men and subject to every
+passion, but there are some, nevertheless, who would rather die than
+that their mistresses should, for their delight, do aught against their
+consciences.”
+
+“To die means a great deal,” said Geburon. “I would not believe that of
+them were it uttered by the lips of the austerest monk alive.”
+
+“Nay, I believe,” said Hircan, “that there is none but desires the very
+opposite. But they make pretence of disliking the grapes when these hang
+too high to be gathered.”
+
+“Still,” said Nomcrfide, “I am sure that the Prince’s wife was very glad
+to find that her husband was learning to know women.”
+
+“I assure you it was not so,” said Ennasuite. “She was very sorry on
+account of the love that she bore the lady.”
+
+“I would as soon,” said Saffredent, “have the lady who laughed when her
+husband kissed her maid.”
+
+“In sooth,” said Ennasuite, “you shall tell us the story. I give place
+to you.”
+
+“Although the story is very short,” said Saffredent, “I will still
+relate it, for I would rather make you laugh than speak myself at
+length.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 036.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 037a.jpg The Lady watching the Shadow Faces Kissing]
+
+[The Lady watching the Shadow Faces Kissing]
+
+[Illustration: 037.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LIV_.
+
+     _Thogas’s wife, believing that her husband loved none but
+     herself, was pleased that her serving-woman should amuse
+     him, and laughed when in her presence he kissed the girl
+     before her eyes, and with her knowledge_.
+
+Between the Pyrenees Mountains and the Alps, there dwelt a gentleman
+named Thogas, (1) who had a wife and children, with a very beautiful
+house, and so much wealth and pleasure at his hand, that there was
+reason he should live in contentment, had it not been that he was
+subject to great pain beneath the roots of the hair, in such wise that
+the doctors advised him to sleep no longer with his wife. She, whose
+chief thought was for her husband’s life and health, readily consented,
+and caused her bed to be set in another corner of the room directly
+opposite her husband’s, so that they could neither of them put out their
+heads without seeing each other.
+
+     1  We are unable to trace any family named Thogas, which is
+     probably a fictitious appellation. Read backwards with the
+     letter h omitted it forms Sagot, whilst if the syllables be
+     transposed it suggests Guasto, a well-known Basque or
+     Navarrese name.--Ed.
+
+This lady had two serving-women, and often when the lord and his lady
+were in bed, they would each take some diverting book to read, whilst
+the serving-women held candles, the younger, that is, for the gentleman,
+and the other for his wife.
+
+The gentleman, finding that the maid was younger and handsomer than her
+mistress, took such great pleasure in observing her that he would break
+off his reading in order to converse with her. His wife could hear this
+very plainly, but believing that her husband loved none but herself, she
+was well pleased that her servants should amuse him.
+
+It happened one evening, however, when they had read longer than was
+their wont, that the lady looked towards her husband’s bed where was the
+young serving-maid holding the candle. Of her she could see nothing but
+her back, and of her husband nothing at all excepting on the side of
+the chimney, which jutted out in front of his bed, and the white wall of
+which was bright with the light from the candle. And upon this wall
+she could plainly see the shadows both of her husband and of her maid;
+whether they drew apart, or came near together or laughed, it was all as
+clear to her as though she had veritably beheld them.
+
+The gentleman, using no precaution since he felt sure that his wife
+could not see them, kissed her maid, and on the first occasion his wife
+suffered this to pass without uttering a word. But when she saw that the
+shadows frequently returned to this fellowship, she feared that there
+might be some reality beneath it all, and burst into a loud laugh,
+whereat the shadows were alarmed and separated.
+
+The gentleman then asked his wife why she was laughing so heartily, so
+that he might have a share in her merriment.
+
+“Husband,” she replied, “I am so foolish that I laugh at my own shadow.”
+
+Inquire as he might, she would never acknowledge any other reason, but,
+nevertheless, he thenceforward refrained from kissing such shadow-faces.
+
+“That is the story of which I was reminded when I spoke of the lady who
+loved her husband’s sweetheart.”
+
+“By my faith,” said Ennasuite, “if my maid had treated me in that
+fashion, I should have risen and extinguished the candle upon her nose.”
+
+“You are indeed terrible,” said Hircan, “but it had been well done
+if your husband and the maid had both turned upon you and beaten you
+soundly. There should not be so much ado for a kiss; and ‘twould have
+been better if his wife had said nothing about it, and had suffered him
+to take his pastime, which might perchance have cured his complaint.”
+
+“Nay,” said Parlamente, “she was afraid that the end of the pastime
+would make him worse.”
+
+“She was not one of those,” said Oisille, “against whom our Lord says,
+‘We have mourned to you and ye have not lamented, we have sung to you
+and ye have not danced,’ (2) for when her husband was ill, she wept, and
+when he was merry, she laughed. In the same fashion every virtuous
+woman ought to share the good and evil, the joy and the sadness of her
+husband, and serve and obey him as the Church does Jesus Christ.”
+
+     2  “They are like unto children sitting in the market-place,
+     and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto
+     you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye
+     have not wept.”--_St. Luke_ vii. 32.--M.
+
+“Then, ladies,” said Parlamente, “our husbands should be to us what
+Christ is to the Church.”
+
+“So are we,” said Saffredent, “and, if it were possible, something more;
+for Christ died but once for His Church, whereas we die daily for our
+wives.”
+
+“Die!” said Longarine. “Methinks that you and the others here present
+are now worth more crowns than you were worth pence before you were
+wed.”
+
+“And I know why,” said Saffredent; “it is because our worth is often
+tried. Still our shoulders are sensible of having worn the cuirass so
+long.”
+
+“If,” said Ennasuite, “you had been obliged to wear harness for a month
+and lie on the hard ground, you would greatly long to regain the bed of
+your excellent wife, and wear the cuirass of which you now complain.
+But it is said that everything can be endured except ease, and that
+none know what rest is until they have lost it. This foolish woman, who
+laughed when her husband was merry, was fond of taking her rest under
+any circumstances.”
+
+“I am sure,” said Longarine, “that she loved her rest better than her
+husband, since she took nothing that he did to heart.”
+
+“She did take to heart,” said Parlamente, “those things which might have
+been hurtful to his conscience and his health, but she would not dwell
+upon trifles.”
+
+“When you speak of conscience,” said Simontault “you make me laugh. ‘Tis
+a thing to which I would have no woman give heed.”
+
+“It would be a good thing,” said Nomerfide, “if you had a wife like one
+who, after her husband’s death, proved that she loved her money better
+than her conscience.”
+
+“I pray you,” said Saffredent, “tell us that tale. I give you my vote.”
+
+“I had not intended,” said Nomcrfide, “to relate so short a story, but,
+since it is suited to the occasion, I will do so.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 042.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 043a.jpg The Servant selling the Horse with the Cat]
+
+[The Servant selling the Horse with the Cat]
+
+[Illustration: 043.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LV_.
+
+     _A merchant’s widow, whilst carrying out her husband’s will,
+     interpreted its purport to the advantage of herself and her
+     children_. (1)
+
+In the town of Safagossa there lived a rich merchant, who, finding his
+death draw nigh, and himself no longer able to retain possession of his
+goods---which he had perchance gathered together by evil means--thought
+that if he made a little present to God, he might thus after his death
+make part atonement for his sins, just as though God sold His pardon for
+money. Accordingly, when he had settled matters in respect of his house,
+he declared it to be his desire that a fine Spanish horse which he
+possessed should be sold for as much as it would bring, and the money
+obtained for it be distributed among the poor. And he begged his wife
+that she would in no wise fail to sell the horse as soon as he was dead,
+and distribute the money in the manner he had commanded.
+
+     1  Whether the incidents here related be true or not, it is
+     probable that this was a story told to Queen Margaret at the
+     time of her journey to Spain in 1525. It will have been
+     observed (_ante_, pp. 36 and 42) that both the previous tale
+     and this one are introduced into the _Heptameron_ in a semi-
+     apologetic fashion, as though the Queen had not originally
+     intended that her work should include such short, slight
+     anecdotes. However, already at this stage--the fifty-fifth
+     only of the hundred tales which she proposed writing--she
+     probably found fewer materials at her disposal than she had
+     anticipated, and harked back to incidents of her earlier
+     years, which she had at first thought too trifling to
+     record. Still, slight as this story may be, it is not
+     without point. The example set by the wife of the Saragossa
+     merchant has been followed in modern times in more ways than
+     one.--Ed.
+
+When the burial was over and the first tears were shed, the wife, who
+was no more of a fool than Spanish women are used to be, went to the
+servant who with herself had heard his master declare his desire, and
+said to him--
+
+“Methinks I have lost enough in the person of a husband I loved so
+dearly, without afterwards losing his possessions. Yet would I not
+disobey his word, but rather better his intention; for the poor man, led
+astray by the greed of the priests, thought to make a great sacrifice to
+God in bestowing after his death a sum of money, not a crown of which,
+as you well know, he would have given in his lifetime to relieve even
+the sorest need. I have therefore bethought me that we will do what
+he commanded at his death, and in still better fashion than he himself
+would have done if had he lived a fortnight longer. But no living person
+must know aught of the matter.”
+
+When she had received the servant’s promise to keep it secret, she said
+to him--
+
+“You will go and sell the horse, and when you are asked, ‘How much?’
+you will reply, ‘A ducat.’ I have, however, a very fine cat which I also
+wish to dispose of, and you will sell it with the horse for ninety-nine
+ducats, so that cat and horse together will bring in the hundred ducats
+for which my husband wished to sell the horse alone.”
+
+The servant readily fulfilled his mistress’s command. While he was
+walking the horse about the market-place, and holding the cat in his
+arms, a gentleman, who had seen the horse before, and was desirous of
+possessing it, asked the servant what price he sought.
+
+“A ducat,” replied the man.
+
+“I pray you,” said the gentleman, “do not mock me.”
+
+“I assure you, sir,” said the servant, “that it will cost you only a
+ducat. It is true that the cat must be bought at the same time, and for
+the cat I must have nine and ninety ducats.”
+
+Forthwith, the gentleman, thinking the bargain a reasonable one, paid
+him one ducat for the horse, and the remainder as was desired of him,
+and took his goods away.
+
+The servant, on his part, went off with the money, with which his
+mistress was right well pleased, and she failed not to give the ducat
+that the horse had brought to the poor Mendicants, (2) as her husband
+had commanded, and the remainder she kept for the needs of herself and
+her children. (3)
+
+     2  The allusion is not to the ordinary beggars who then, as
+     now, swarmed in Spain, but to the Mendicant friars.--Ed.
+
+     3  In Boaistuau’s and Gruget’s editions of the _Heptameron_
+     the dialogue following this tale is replaced by matter of
+     their own invention. They did not dare to reproduce Queen
+     Margaret’s bold opinions respecting the clergy, the monastic
+     orders, &c., at a time when scores of people, including even
+     Counsellors of Parliament, were being burnt at the stake for
+     heresy.--L. and Ed.
+
+“What think you? Was she not far more prudent than her husband, and
+did she not think less of her conscience than of the advantage of her
+household?”
+
+“I think,” said Parlamente, “that she did love her husband; but, seeing
+that most men wander in their wits when at the point of death, and
+knowing his intentions, she tried to interpret them to her children’s
+advantage. And therein I hold her to have been very prudent.”
+
+“What!” said Geburon. “Do you not hold it a great wrong not to carry out
+the last wishes of departed friends?”
+
+“Assuredly I do,” said Parlamente; “that is to say if the testator be in
+his right mind, and not raving.”
+
+“Do you call it raving to give one’s goods to the Church and the poor
+Mendicants?”
+
+“I do not call it raving,” said Parlamente, “if a man distribute what
+God has given into his hands among the poor; but to make alms of another
+person’s goods is, in my opinion, no great wisdom. You will commonly see
+the greatest usurers build the handsomest and most magnificent chapels
+imaginable, thinking they may appease God with ten thousand ducats’
+worth of building for a hundred thousand ducats’ worth of robbery, just
+as though God did not know how to count.”
+
+“In sooth,” said Oisille, “I have many a time wondered how they can
+think to appease God for things which He Himself rebuked when He was on
+earth, such as great buildings, gildings, pictures and paint. If they
+really understood the passage in which God says to us that the only
+offering He requires from us is a contrite and humble heart, (4) and
+the other in which St. Paul says we are the temples of God wherein He
+desires to dwell, (5) they would be at pains to adorn their consciences
+while yet alive, and would not wait for the hour when man can do nothing
+more, whether good or evil, nor (what is worse) charge those who remain
+on earth to give their alms to folk upon whom, during their lifetime,
+they did not deign to look. But He who knows the heart cannot be
+deceived, and will judge them not according to their works, but
+according to their faith and charity towards Himself.”
+
+     4  “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and
+     a contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise.”--_Psalm_
+     li. 17.--Ed.
+
+     5  “For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath
+     said, I will dwell in them and walk in them,” &c.--2
+     _Corinthians_ vi. 16.--Ed.
+
+“Why is it, then,” said Geburon, “that these Grey Friars and Mendicants
+talk to us at our death of nothing but bestowing great benefits upon
+their monasteries, assuring us that they will put us into Paradise
+whether we will or not?”
+
+“How now, Geburon?” said Hircan. “Have you forgotten the wickedness you
+related to us of the Grey Friars, that you ask how such folk find it
+possible to lie? I declare to you that I do not think that there can
+be greater lies than theirs. Those, indeed, who speak on behalf of the
+whole community are not to be blamed, but there are some among them who
+forget their vows of poverty in order to satisfy their own greed.”
+
+“Methinks, Hircan,” said Nomerfide, “you must know some such tale, and
+if it be worthy of this company, I pray you tell it us.”
+
+“I will,” said Hircan, “although it irks me to speak of such folk.
+Methinks they are of the number of those of whom Virgil says to Dante,
+‘Pass on and heed them not.’ (6) Still, to show you that they have not
+laid aside their passions with their worldly garments, I will tell you
+of something that once came to pass.”
+
+     6  _Non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa_ (Dante’s
+     _Purgatorio_, iii. 51). The allusion is to the souls of
+     those who led useless and idle lives on earth, supporting
+     neither the Divinity by the observance of virtue, nor the
+     spirit of evil by the practice of vice. They are thus cast
+     out both from heaven and hell.--Ed.
+
+
+[Illustration: 049.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 051a.jpg The Grey Friar introducing his Comrade to the
+Lady and her Daughter]
+
+[The Grey Friar introducing his Comrade to the Lady and her
+Daughter]
+
+[Illustration: 051.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LVI_.
+
+     _A pious lady had recourse to a Grey Friar for his advice in
+     providing her daughter with a good husband, for whom she
+     proposed making it so profitable a match that the worthy
+     father, hoping to get the money she intended for her son-in-
+     law, married her daughter to a young comrade of his own. The
+     latter came every evening to sup and lie with his wife, and
+     in the morning returned in the garb of a scholar to his
+     convent. But one day while he was chanting mass, his wife
+     perceived him and pointed him out to her mother; who,
+     however, could not believe that it was he until she had
+     pulled off his coif while he was in bed, and from his tonsure
+     learned the whole truth, and the deceit used by her father
+     confessor_.
+
+A French lady, whilst sojourning at Padua, was informed that there was
+a Grey Friar in the Bishop’s prison there, and finding that every one
+spoke jestingly about him, she inquired the reason. She was told that
+this Grey Friar, who was an old man, had been confessor to a very
+honourable and pious widow lady, mother of only one daughter, whom she
+loved so dearly as to be at all pains to amass riches for her, and to
+find her a good husband. Now, seeing that her daughter was grown up, she
+was unceasingly anxious to find her a husband who might live with them
+in peace and quiet, a man, that is, of a good conscience, such as she
+deemed herself to possess. And since she had heard some foolish preacher
+say that it were better to do evil by the counsel of theologians than
+to do well through belief in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, she
+had recourse to her father confessor, a man already old, a doctor of
+theology and one who was held to lead a holy life by the whole town,
+for she felt sure that, with his counsel and good prayers, she could not
+fail to find peace both for herself and for her daughter. After she had
+earnestly begged him to choose for her daughter such a husband as he
+knew a woman that loved God and her honour ought to desire, he replied
+that first of all it was needful to implore the grace of the Holy Spirit
+with prayer and fasting, and then, God guiding his judgment, he hoped to
+find what she required.
+
+So the Friar retired to think over the matter; and whereas he had heard
+from the lady that she had got five hundred ducats together to give to
+her daughter’s husband, and that she would take upon herself the charge
+of maintaining both husband and wife with lodgment, furniture and
+clothes, he bethought himself that he had a young comrade of handsome
+figure and pleasing countenance, to whom he might give the fair maiden,
+the house, the furniture, maintenance and food, whilst he himself kept
+the five hundred ducats to gratify his burning greed. And when he spoke
+to his comrade of the matter, he found that they were both of one mind
+upon it.
+
+He therefore returned to the lady and said--“I verily believe that God
+has sent his angel Raphael to me as he did to Tobit, to enable me to
+find a perfect husband for your daughter. I have in my house the most
+honourable gentleman in Italy, who has sometimes seen your daughter and
+is deeply in love with her. And so to-day, whilst I was at prayer,
+God sent him to me, and he told me of his desire for the marriage,
+whereupon, knowing his lineage and kindred and notable descent, I
+promised him to speak to you on the matter. There is, indeed, one defect
+in him, of which I alone have knowledge, and it is this. Wishing to save
+one of his friends whom another man was striving to slay, he drew his
+sword in order to separate them; but it chanced that his friend slew the
+other, and thus, although he himself had not dealt a blow, yet inasmuch
+as he had been present at a murder and had drawn his sword, he became
+a fugitive from his native town. By the advice of his kinsfolk he came
+hither in the garb of a scholar, and he dwells here unknown until his
+kinsfolk shall have ended the matter; and this he hopes will shortly
+be done. For this reason, then, it would be needful that the marriage
+should be performed in secret, and that you should suffer him to go in
+the daytime to the public lectures and return home every evening to sup
+and sleep.”
+
+“Sir,” replied the worthy woman, “I look upon what you tell me as of
+great advantage to myself, for I shall at least have by me what I most
+desire in the world.”
+
+Thereupon the Grey Friar brought his comrade, bravely attired with a
+crimson satin doublet, and the lady was well pleased with him. And as
+soon as he was come the betrothal took place, and, immediately after
+midnight, a mass was said and they were married. Then they went to
+bed together until daybreak, when the bridegroom told his wife that to
+escape discovery he must needs return to the college.
+
+After putting on his crimson satin doublet and his long robe, without
+forgetting his coif of black silk, he bade his wife, who was still in
+bed, good-bye, promising that he would come every evening to sup with
+her, but that at dinner they must not wait for him. So he went away and
+left his wife, who esteemed herself the happiest woman alive to have
+found so excellent a match. And the young wedded Friar returned to the
+old father and brought him the five hundred ducats, as had been agreed
+between them when arranging the marriage.
+
+In the evening he failed not to return and sup with her, who believed
+him to be her husband, and so well did he make himself liked by her and
+by his mother-in-law, that they would not have exchanged him for the
+greatest Prince alive.
+
+This manner of life continued for some time, but God in His kindness
+takes pity upon those that are deceived without fault of their own, and
+so in His mercy and goodness it came to pass that one morning the lady
+and her daughter felt a great desire to go and hear mass at St. Francis,
+(1) and visit their good father confessor through whose means they
+deemed themselves so well provided, the one with a son-in-law and the
+other with a husband.
+
+     1  The church of the Grey Friars’ monastery, St Francis
+     being their patron.--B. J.
+
+It chanced that they did not find the confessor aforesaid nor any other
+that they knew, and, while waiting to see whether the father would
+come, they were pleased to hear high mass, which was just beginning. And
+whilst the young wife was giving close heed to the divine service and
+its mystery, she was stricken with astonishment on seeing the Priest
+turn himself about to pronounce the _Dominus vobiscum_, for it seemed
+to her that it was her husband or else his very fellow. She uttered,
+however, not a word, but waited till he should turn round again, when,
+looking still more carefully at him, she had no doubt that it was indeed
+he. Then she twitched her mother, who was deep in contemplation, and
+said--
+
+“Alas! madam, what is it that I see?”
+
+“What is it?” said her mother.
+
+“That is my husband,” she replied, “who is singing mass, or else ‘tis
+one as like him as can be.”
+
+“I pray you, my daughter,” replied the mother, who had not carefully
+observed him, “do not take such a thought into your head. It is
+impossible that men who are so holy should have practised such deceit.
+You would sin grievously against God if you believed such a thing.”
+
+Nevertheless the mother did not cease looking at him, and when it came
+to the _Ite missa est_ she indeed perceived that no two sons of the same
+mother were ever so much alike. Yet she was so simple that she would
+fain have said, “O God, save me from believing what I see.” Since her
+daughter was concerned in the matter, however, she would not suffer it
+to remain in uncertainty, and resolved to learn the truth.
+
+When evening was come, and the husband (who had perceived nothing of
+them) was about to return, the mother said to her daughter--
+
+“We shall now, if you are willing, find out the truth concerning your
+husband. When he is in bed I will go to him, and then, while he is not
+thinking, you will pluck off his coif from behind, and we shall see
+whether he be tonsured like the Friar who said mass.”
+
+As it was proposed, so was it done. As soon as the wicked husband was in
+bed, the old lady came and took both his hands as though in sport--her
+daughter took off his coif, and there he was with his fine tonsure. At
+this both mother and daughter were as greatly astonished as might be,
+and forthwith they called their servants to seize him and bind him fast
+till the morning, nor did any of his excuses or fine speeches avail him
+aught.
+
+When day was come, the lady sent for her confessor, making as though she
+had some great secret to tell him, whereupon he came with all speed, and
+then, reproaching him for the deceit that he had practised on her, she
+had him seized like the other. Afterwards she sent for the officers of
+justice, in whose hands she placed them both. It is to be supposed that
+if the judges were honest men they did not suffer the offence to go
+unpunished. (2)
+
+     2  There is some little resemblance between this tale and
+     the 36th of Morlini’s _Novello, De monacho qui duxit
+     uxorem_.--M.
+
+“From this story, ladies, you will see that those who have taken vows of
+poverty are not free from the temptation of covetousness, which is the
+cause of so many ills.”
+
+“Nay, of so many blessings,” said Saffredent, “for with the five hundred
+ducats that the old woman would have stored up there was made much good
+cheer, while the poor maiden, who had been longing for a husband, was
+thus enabled to have two, and to speak with more knowledge as to the
+truth of all hierarchies.”
+
+“You always hold the falsest opinions,” said Oisille, “that ever I knew.
+You think that all women are of your own temper.”
+
+“Not so, madam, with your good leave,” said Saffredent. “I would give
+much that they were as easily satisfied as we are.”
+
+“That is a wicked speech,” said Oisille, “and there is not one present
+but knows the contrary, and that what you say is untrue. The story that
+has just been told proves the ignorance of poor women and the wickedness
+of those whom we regard as better than the rest of your sex; for neither
+mother nor daughter would do aught according to their own fancy, but
+subjected desire to good advice.”
+
+“Some women are so difficult,” said Longarine, “that they think they
+ought to have angels instead of men.”
+
+“And for that reason,” said Simontault, “they often meet with devils,
+more especially those who, instead of trusting to God’s grace, think
+by their own good sense, or that of others, that they may in this world
+find some happiness, though this is granted by none save God, from whom
+alone it can come.”
+
+“How now, Simontault!” said Oisille. “I did not think that you knew so
+much good.”
+
+“Madam,” said Simontault, “‘tis a pity that I have not been proved, for
+I see that through lack of knowledge you have already judged ill of me.
+Yet I may well practise a Grey Friar’s trade, since a Grey Friar has
+meddled with mine.”
+
+“So you call it your trade,” said Parlamente, “to deceive women? Thus
+out of your mouth are you judged.”
+
+“Had I deceived a hundred thousand,” said Simontault, “I should yet not
+have avenged the woes that I have endured for the sake of one alone.”
+
+“I know,” said Parlamente, “how often you complain of women; yet,
+for all that, we see you so merry and hearty that it is impossible
+to believe that you have endured all the woes you speak of. But the
+‘Compassionless Fair One’ (3) replies that--
+
+     “‘Tis as well to say as much
+     To draw some comfort thence.’”
+
+     3  _La belle Dame sans mercy_, by Alain Chartier.--Ed.
+
+“You quote a truly notable theologian,” said Simontault, “one who is
+not only froward himself, but makes all the ladies so, who have read and
+followed his teaching.”
+
+“Yet his teaching,” said Parlamente, “is as profitable for youthful
+dames as any that I know.”
+
+“If it were indeed true,” said Simontault, “that the ladies were without
+compassion, we might as well let our horses rest and our armour grow
+rusty until the next war, and think of nothing but household affairs.
+And, I pray you, tell me whether it is an excellence in a lady to have
+the reputation of being without pity, or charity, or love, or mercy.”
+
+“Without charity or love,” said Parlamente, “they should not be, but the
+word ‘mercy’ sounds so ill among women that they cannot use it without
+wounding their honour; for properly speaking ‘mercy’ means to grant a
+favour sought, and we well know what the favour is that men desire.”
+
+“May it please you, madam,” said Simontault, “there are some men who are
+so reasonable that they crave nought but speech.”
+
+“You remind me,” said Parlamente, “of one who was content with a glove.”
+
+“We must know who this easy lover was,” said Hircan, “and so this time I
+give my vote to you.”
+
+“It will give me pleasure to tell the tale,” said Parlamente, “for it is
+full of virtue.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 061.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 063a.jpg The English Lord seizing the Lady’s Glove]
+
+[The English Lord seizing the Lady’s Glove]
+
+[Illustration: 063.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LVII_.
+
+     _An English lord for seven years loved a lady without ever
+     venturing to let her know of it, until one day, when
+     observing her in a meadow, he lost all colour and control of
+     feature through a sudden throbbing of the heart that came
+     upon him. Then she, showing her compassion, at his request
+     placed her gloved hand upon his heart, whereupon he pressed
+     it so closely, whilst declaring to her the love he had so
+     long borne her, that she withdrew it, leaving in its place
+     her glove. And this glove he afterwards enriched with gems
+     and fastened upon his doublet above his heart, and showed
+     himself so graceful and virtuous a lover that he never
+     sought any more intimate favour of her_.
+
+King Louis the Eleventh (1) sent the Lord de Montmorency to England as
+his ambassador, and so welcome was the latter in that country that the
+King and all the Princes greatly esteemed and loved him, and even
+made divers of their private affairs known to him in order to have his
+counsel upon them.
+
+     1  Some of the MS. say Louis XII., but we cannot find that
+     either the eleventh or twelfth Louis sent any Montmorency as
+     ambassador to England. Ripault-Desormeaux states, however,
+     in his history of this famous French family, that William de
+     Montmorency, who, after fighting in Italy under Charles
+     VIII. and Louis XII., became, governor of the Orléanais and
+     _chevalier d’honneur_ to Louise of Savoy was one of the
+     signatories of the treaty concluded with Henry VIII. of
+     England, after the-battle of Pavia in 1525. We know that
+     Louise, as Regent of France, at that time sent John Brinon
+     and John Joachim de Passano as ambassadors to England, and
+     possibly William de Montmorency accompanied them, since
+     Desormeaux expressly states that he guaranteed the loyal
+     observance of the treaty then negotiated. William was the
+     father of Anne, the famous Constable of France, and died May
+     24, 1531. “Geburon,” in the dialogue following the above
+     tale, mentions that he had well known the Montmorency
+     referred to, and speaks of him as of a person dead and gone.
+     It is therefore scarcely likely that Queen Margaret alludes
+     to Francis de Montmorency, Lord of La Rochepot, who was only
+     sent on a mission to England in 1546, and survived her by
+     many years.--L. and Ed.
+
+One day, at a banquet that the King gave to him, he was seated beside a
+lord (2) of high lineage, who had on his doublet a little glove, such
+as women wear, fastened with hooks of gold and so adorned upon the
+finger-seams with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls, that it was
+indeed a glove of great price.
+
+     2  The French word is _Millor (Milord)_ and this is probably
+     one of the earliest instances of its employment to designate
+     a member of the English aristocracy. In such of the _Cent
+     Nouvelles Nouvelles_ in which English nobles figure, the
+     latter are invariably called _seigneurs_ or _chevaliers_,
+     and addressed as _Monseigneur_, Later on, when Brantôme
+     wrote, the term _un milord anglais_ had become quite common,
+     and he frequently makes use of it in his various works.
+     English critics have often sneered at modern French writers
+     for employing the expression, but it will be seen from this
+     that they have simply followed a very old tradition.--Ed.
+
+The Lord de Montmorency looked at it so often that the English lord
+perceived he was minded to inquire why it was so choicely ordered; so,
+deeming its story to be greatly to his own honour, he thus began--
+
+“I can see that you think it strange I should have so magnificently
+arrayed a simple glove, and on my part I am still more ready to tell you
+the reason, for I deem you an honest gentleman and one who knows what
+manner of passion love is, so that if I did well in the matter you will
+praise me for it, and if not, make excuse for me, knowing that every
+honourable heart must obey the behests of love. You must know, then,
+that I have all my life long loved a lady whom I love still, and shall
+love even when I am dead, but, as my heart was bolder to fix itself
+worthily than were my lips to speak, I remained for seven years without
+venturing to make her any sign, through fear that, if she perceived
+the truth, I should lose the opportunities I had of often being in her
+company; and this I dreaded more than death. However, one day, while I
+was observing her in a meadow, a great throbbing of the heart came upon
+me, so that I lost all colour and control of feature. Perceiving
+this, she asked me what the matter was, and I told her that I felt
+an intolerable pain of the heart. She, believing it to be caused by a
+different sickness than love, showed herself pitiful towards me, which
+prompted me to beg her to lay her hand upon my heart and see how it was
+beating. This, more from charity than from any other affection, she did,
+and while I held her gloved hand against my heart, it began to beat and
+strain in such wise, that she felt that I was speaking the truth. Then I
+pressed her hand to my breast, saying--
+
+“‘Alas, madam, receive the heart which would fain break forth from my
+breast to leap into the hand of her from whom I look for indulgence,
+life and pity, and which now constrains me to make known to you the
+love that I have so long concealed, for neither my heart nor I can now
+control this potent God.’
+
+“When she heard those words, she deemed them very strange. She wished
+to withdraw her hand, but I held it fast, and the glove remained in her
+cruel hand’s place; and having neither before nor since had any more
+intimate favour from her, I have fastened this glove upon my heart as
+the best plaster I could give it. And I have adorned it with the
+richest rings I have, though the glove itself is wealth that I would not
+exchange for the kingdom of England, for I deem no happiness on earth so
+great as to feel it on my breast.”
+
+The Lord de Montmorency, who would have rather had a lady’s hand than
+her glove, praised his very honourable behaviour, telling him that
+he was the truest lover he had ever known, and was worthy of better
+treatment, since he set so much value upon so slight a thing; though
+perchance, if he had obtained aught better than the glove, the greatness
+of his love might have made him die of joy. With this the English lord
+agreed, not suspecting that the Lord de Montmorency was mocking him. (3)
+
+     3  Alluding to this story, Brantôme writes as follows in his
+     _Dames Galantes_: “You have that English _Milord_ in the
+     Hundred Tales of the Queen of Navarre, who wore his
+     mistress’s glove at his side, beautifully adorned. I myself
+     have known many gentlemen who, before wearing their silken
+     hose, would beg their ladies and mistresses to try them on
+     and wear them for some eight or ten days, rather more than
+     less, and who would then themselves wear them in extreme
+     veneration and contentment, both of mind and body.”--
+     Lalanne’s _OEuvres de Brantôme_, vol. ix. p. 309.--L.
+
+“If all men were so honourable as this one, the ladies might well trust
+them, since the cost would be merely a glove.”
+
+“I knew the Lord de Montmorency well,” said Geburon, “and I am sure that
+he would not have cared to fare after the English fashion. Had he been
+contented with so little, he would not have been so successful in love
+as he was, for the old song says--
+
+     ‘Of a cowardly lover
+     No good is e’er heard.’”
+
+“You may be sure,” said Saffredent, “that the poor lady withdrew her
+hand with all speed, when she felt the beating of his heart, because she
+thought that he was about to die, and people say that there is nothing
+women loathe more than to touch dead bodies.” (4)
+
+     4  Most of this sentence, deficient in our MS., is taken
+     from MS. No. 1520.--L.
+
+“If you had spent as much time in hospitals as in taverns,” said
+Ennasuite, “you would not speak in that way, for you would have seen
+women shrouding dead bodies, which men, bold as they are, often fear to
+touch.”
+
+“It is true,” said Saffredent, “that there is none upon whom penance has
+been laid but does the opposite of that wherein he formerly had delight,
+like a lady I once saw in a notable house, who, to atone for her delight
+in kissing one she loved, was found at four o’clock in the morning
+kissing the corpse of a gentleman who had been killed the day before,
+and whom she had never liked more than any other. Then every one knew
+that this was a penance for past delights. But as all the good deeds
+done by women are judged ill by men, I am of opinion that, dead or
+alive, there should be no kissing except after the fashion that God
+commands.”
+
+“For my part,” said Hircan, “I care so little about kissing women,
+except my own wife, that I will assent to any law you please, yet I
+pity the young folk whom you deprive of this trifling happiness, thus
+annulling the command of St. Paul, who bids us kiss _in osculo sancto._”
+ (5)
+
+     5  _Romans_ xvi. 16; 1 _Corinthians_ xvi. 20; 2
+     _Corinthians_ xiii. 12; I _Thessalonians_ v. 26. Also 1
+     _Peter_ v. 14.--M.
+
+“If St. Paul had been such a man as you are,” said Nomerfide, “we should
+indeed have required proof of the Spirit of God that spoke in him.”
+
+“In the end,” said Geburon, “you will doubt Holy Scripture rather than
+give up one of your petty affectations.”
+
+“God forbid,” said Oisille, “that we should doubt Holy Scripture, but
+we put small faith in your lies. There is no woman but knows what her
+belief should be, namely, never to doubt the Word of God or believe the
+word of man.”
+
+“Yet,” said Simontauit, “I believe that there are more men deceived by
+women than [women] by men. The slenderness of women’s love towards us
+keeps them from believing our truths, whilst our exceeding love towards
+them makes us trust so completely in their falsehoods, that we are
+deceived before we suspect such a thing to be possible.”
+
+“Methinks,” said Parlamente, “you have been hearing some fool complain
+of being duped by a wanton woman, for your words carry but little
+weight, and need the support of an example. If, therefore, you know of
+one, I give you my place that you may tell it to us. I do not say that
+we are bound to believe you on your mere word, but it will assuredly not
+make our ears tingle to hear you speak ill of us, since we know what is
+the truth.”
+
+“Well, since it is for me to speak,” said Dagoucin, “‘tis I who will
+tell you the tale.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 070.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 071a. The Gentleman Mocked by the Ladies When Returning From The False
+Tryst]
+
+[The Gentleman Mocked by the Ladies When Returning From The False Tryst]
+
+[Illustration: 071.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LVIII._
+
+     _A gentleman, through putting too much trust in the
+     truthfulness of a lady whom he had offended by forsaking her
+     for others just when she was most in love with him, was, by
+     a false tryst, deceived by her, and bemocked by the whole
+     Court_.
+
+At the Court of King Francis the First there was a lady (1) of excellent
+wit, who, by her grace, virtue and pleasantness of speech, had won the
+hearts of several lovers. With these she right well knew how to pass
+the time, but without hurt to her honour, conversing with them in such
+pleasant fashion that they knew not what to think, for those who were
+the most confident were reduced to despair, whilst those that despaired
+the most became hopeful. Nevertheless, while fooling most of them, she
+could not help greatly loving one whom she called her cousin, a name
+which furnished a pretext for closer fellowship.
+
+     1  M. de Lincy surmises that Margaret is referring to
+     herself both here and in the following tale, which concerns
+     the same lady. His only reason for the supposition, however,
+     is that the lady’s views on certain love matters are akin to
+     those which the Queen herself professed.--Ed.
+
+However, as there is nothing in this world of firm continuance, their
+friendship often turned to anger and then was renewed in stronger sort
+than ever, so that the whole Court could not but be aware of it.
+
+One day the lady, both to let it be seen that she was wholly void
+of passion, and to vex him, for love of whom she had endured much
+annoyance, showed him a fairer countenance than ever she had done
+before. Thereupon the gentleman, who lacked boldness neither in love nor
+in war, began hotly to press the suit that he many a time previously had
+addressed to her.
+
+She, pretending to be wholly vanquished by pity, promised to grant his
+request, and told him that she would with this intent go into her room,
+which was on a garret floor, where she knew there was nobody. And as
+soon as he should see that she was gone he was to follow her without
+fail, for he would find her ready to give proof of the good-will that
+she bore him.
+
+The gentleman, believing what she said, was exceedingly well pleased,
+and began to amuse himself with the other ladies until he should see
+her gone, and might quickly follow her. But she, who lacked naught of
+woman’s craftiness, betook herself to my Lady Margaret, daughter of the
+King, and to the Duchess of Montpensier, (2) to whom she said--
+
+“I will if you are willing, show you the fairest diversion you have ever
+seen.”
+
+     2  The former is Margaret of France, Duchess of Savoy and
+     Berry. Born in June 1523, she died in September 1574.--
+     Queen Margaret was her godmother. When only three years old,
+     she was promised in marriage to Louis of Savoy, eldest son
+     of Duke Charles III., and he dying, she espoused his younger
+     brother, Emmanuel Philibert, in July 1549. Graceful and
+     pretty as a child (see _ante_, vol. i. p. xlviii.), she
+     became, thanks to the instruction of the famous Michael de
+     l’ Hôpital, one of the most accomplished women of her time,
+     and Brantôme devotes an article to her in his _Dames
+     Illustres_ (Lalanne, v. viii. pp. 328-37). See also Hilarion
+     de Coste’s _Éloges et Vies des Reines, Princesses, &c_.,
+     Paris, 1647, vol. ii. p. 278.
+
+     The Duchess of Montpensier, also referred to above, is
+     Jacqueline de Longwick (now Longwy), Countess of Bar-sur-
+     Seine, daughter of J. Ch. de Longwick, Lord of Givry, and of
+     Jane, _bâtarde_ of Angoulême. In 1538 Jacqueline was
+     married to Louis II. de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier. She
+     gained great influence at the French Court, both under
+     Francis I. and afterwards, and De Thou says of her that she
+     was possessed of great wit and wisdom, far superior to the
+     century in which she lived. She died in August 1561, and was
+     the mother of Francis I., Duke of Montpensier, sometimes
+     called the Dauphin of Auvergne, who fought at Jarnac,
+     Moncontour, Arques, and Ivry, against Henry of Navarre.--L.,
+     B. J. and Ed.
+
+They, being by no means enamoured of melancholy, begged that she would
+tell them what it was.
+
+“You know such a one,” she replied, “as worthy a gentleman as lives, and
+as bold. You are aware how many ill turns he has done me, and that, just
+when I loved him most, he fell in love with others, and so caused me
+more grief than I have ever suffered to be seen. Well, God has now
+afforded me the means of taking revenge upon him.
+
+“I am forthwith going to my own room, which is overhead, and immediately
+afterwards, if it pleases you to keep watch, you will see him follow me.
+When he has passed the galleries, and is about to go up the stairs, I
+pray you come both to the window and help me to cry ‘Thief!’ You will
+then see his rage, which, I am sure, will not become him badly, and,
+even if he does not revile me aloud, I am sure he will none the less do
+so in his heart.”
+
+This plan was not agreed to without laughter, for there was no gentleman
+that tormented the ladies more than he did, whilst he was so greatly
+liked and esteemed by all, that for nothing in the world would any one
+have run the risk of his raillery.
+
+It seemed, moreover, to the two Princesses that they would themselves
+share in the glory which the other lady looked to win over this
+gentleman.
+
+Accordingly, as soon as they saw the deviser of the plot go out, they
+set themselves to observe the gentleman’s demeanour. But little time
+went by before he shifted his quarters, and, as soon as he had passed
+the door, the ladies went out into the gallery, in order that they might
+not lose sight of him.
+
+Suspecting nothing, he wrapped his cloak about his neck, so as to hide
+his face, and went down the stairway to the court, but, seeing some one
+whom he did not desire to have for witness, he came back by another
+way, and then went down into the court a second time. The ladies saw
+everything without being perceived by him, and when he reached the
+stairway, by which he thought he might safely reach his sweetheart’s
+chamber, they went to the window, whence they immediately perceived
+the other lady, who began crying out ‘Thief!’ at the top of her voice;
+whereupon the two ladies below answered her so loudly that their voices
+were heard all over the castle.
+
+I leave you to imagine with what vexation the gentleman fled to his
+lodgings. He was not so well muffled as not to be known by those who
+were in the mystery, and they often twitted him with it, as did even
+the lady who had done him this ill turn, saying that she had been well
+revenged upon him.
+
+It happened, however, that he was so ready with his replies and evasions
+as to make them believe that he had quite suspected the plan, and had
+only consented to visit the lady in order to furnish them with some
+diversion, for, said he, he would not have taken so much trouble for
+her sake, seeing that his love for her had long since flown. The ladies
+would not admit the truth of this, so that the point is still in doubt;
+nevertheless, it is probable that he believed the lady. And since he
+was so wary and so bold that few men of his age and time could match
+and none could surpass him (as has been proved by his very brave and
+knightly death), (3) you must, it seems to me, confess that men of
+honour love in such wise as to be often duped, by placing too much trust
+in the truthfulness of the ladies.
+
+     3  This naturally brings Bonnivet to mind, though of course
+     the gay, rash admiral was not the only Frenchman of the time
+     who spent his life in making love and waging war.--Ed.
+
+“In good faith,” said Ennasuite, “I commend this lady for the trick she
+played; for when a man is loved by a lady and forsakes her for another,
+her vengeance cannot be too severe.”
+
+“Yes,” said Parlamente, “if she is loved by him; but there are some who
+love men without being certain that they are loved in return, and when
+they find that their sweethearts love elsewhere, they call them fickle.
+It therefore happens that discreet women are never deceived by such
+talk, for they give no heed or belief even to those people who speak
+truly, lest they should prove to be liars, seeing that the true and the
+false speak but one tongue.”
+
+“If all women were of your opinion,” said Simon-tault, “the gentlemen
+might pack up their prayers at once; but, for all that you and those
+like you may say, we shall never believe that women are as unbelieving
+as they are fair. And in this wise we shall live as content as you would
+fain render us uneasy by your maxims.”
+
+“Truly,” said Longarine, “knowing as I well do who the lady is that
+played that fine trick upon the gentleman, it is impossible for me not
+to believe in any craftiness on her part. Since she did not spare her
+husband, ‘twere fitting she should not spare her lover.”
+
+“Her husband, say you?” said Simontault. “You know, then, more than I
+do, and so, since you wish it, I give you my place that you may tell us
+your opinion of the matter.”
+
+“And since you wish it,” said Longarine, “I will do so.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 078.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 079a. The Lady discovering her Husband with the Waiting-woman]
+
+[The Lady discovering her Husband with the Waiting-woman]
+
+[Illustration: 079.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LIX_.
+
+     _This same lady, finding that her husband took it ill that
+     she should have lovers with whom she amused herself without
+     hurt to her honour, kept close watch upon him, and so
+     discovered how pleasantly he addressed himself to one of her
+     waiting-women. This woman she gained upon, made her consent
+     to what her husband solicited, and then surprised him in
+     such error that to atone for it, he was forced to confess
+     that he deserved greater punishment than herself; by which
+     means she was afterwards able to live as her fancy listed_.
+
+The lady of your story was wedded to a rich gentleman of high and
+ancient lineage, and had married him on account of the great affection
+that they bore to one another.
+
+Being a woman most pleasant of speech, she by no means concealed from
+her husband that she had lovers whom she made game of for her pastime,
+and, at first, her husband shared in her pleasure. But at last this
+manner of life became irksome to him, for on the one part he took it ill
+that she should hold so much converse with those that were no kinsfolk
+or friends of his own, and on the other, he was greatly vexed by the
+expense to which he was put in sustaining her magnificence and in
+following the Court.
+
+He therefore withdrew to his own house as often as he was able, but so
+much company came thither to see him that the expenses of his household
+became scarcely any less, for, wherever his wife might be, she always
+found means to pass her time in sports, dances, and all such matters as
+youthful dames may use with honour. And when sometimes her husband told
+her, laughing, that their expenses were too great, she would reply that
+she promised never to make him a “coqu” or cuckold, but only a “coquin,”
+ that is, a beggar; for she was so exceedingly fond of dress, that she
+must needs have the bravest and richest at the Court. (1) Her husband
+took her thither as seldom as possible, but she did all in her power
+to go, and to this end behaved in a most loving fashion towards her
+husband, who would not willingly have refused her a much harder request.
+
+     1  As Queen Margaret was by no means over fond of gorgeous
+     apparel and display, this passage is in contradiction with
+     M. de Lincy’s surmise that the lady of this and the
+     preceding tale may be herself. In any case the narrative
+     could only apply to the period of her first marriage, and
+     this was in no wise a love-match. Yet we are told at the
+     outset of the above story that the lady and gentleman had
+     married on account of the great affection between them. On
+     the other hand, these details may have been introduced the
+     better to conceal the identity of the persons referred to.--
+     Ed.
+
+Now one day, when she had found that all her devices could not induce
+him to make this journey to the Court, she perceived that he was very
+pleasant in manner with a chamber-woman (2) she had, and thereupon
+thought she might turn the matter to her own advantage. Taking the girl
+apart, she questioned her cleverly, using both wiles and threats, in
+such wise that the girl confessed that, ever since she had been in the
+house, not a day had passed on which her master had not sought her love;
+but (she added) she would rather die than do aught against God and her
+honour, more especially after the honour which the lady had done her in
+taking her into her service, for this would make such wickedness twice
+as great.
+
+     2  The French expression here is _femme de chambre à
+     chaperon_. The _chaperon_ in this instance was a cap with a
+     band of velvet worn across it as a sign of gentle and even
+     noble birth. The attendant referred to above would therefore
+     probably be a young woman of good descent, constrained by
+     circumstances to enter domestic service.--B. J. and Ed.
+
+On hearing of her husband’s unfaithfulness, the lady immediately felt
+both grief and joy. Her grief was that her husband, despite all his show
+of loving her, should be secretly striving to put her to so much shame
+in her own household, and this when she believed herself far more
+beautiful and graceful than the woman whom he sought in her stead.
+But she rejoiced to think that she might surprise her husband in such
+manifest error that he would no longer be able to reproach her with her
+lovers, nor with her desire to dwell at Court; and, to bring this about,
+she begged the girl gradually to grant her husband what he sought upon
+certain conditions that she made known to her.
+
+The girl was minded to make some difficulty, but when her mistress
+warranted the safety both of her life and of her honour, she consented
+to do whatever might be her pleasure.
+
+The gentleman, on continuing his pursuit of the girl, found her
+countenance quite changed towards him, and therefore urged his suit more
+eagerly than had been his wont; but she, knowing by heart the part
+she had to play, made objection of her poverty, and said that, if she
+complied with his desire, she would be turned away by her mistress, in
+whose service she looked to gain a good husband.
+
+The gentleman forthwith replied that she need give no thought to any
+such matters, since he would bestow her in marriage more profitably than
+her mistress would be able to do, and further, would contrive the matter
+so secretly that none would know of it.
+
+Upon this they came to an agreement, and, on considering what place
+would be most suited for such a fine business, the girl said that she
+knew of none better or more remote from suspicion than a cottage in the
+park, where there was a chamber and a bed suitable for the occasion.
+
+The gentleman, who would not have thought any place unsuitable, was
+content with the one she named, and was very impatient for the appointed
+day and hour to come.
+
+The girl kept her word to her mistress, and told her in full the whole
+story of the plan, and how it was to be put into execution on the morrow
+after dinner. She would not fail, said she, to give a sign when the time
+came to go to the cottage, and she begged her mistress to be watchful,
+and in no wise fail to be present at the appointed hour, in order to
+save her from the danger into which her obedience was leading her.
+
+This her mistress swore, begging her to be without fear, and promising
+that she would never forsake her, but would protect her from her
+husband’s wrath.
+
+When the morrow was come and dinner was over, the gentleman was more
+pleasant with his wife than ever, and although this was not very
+agreeable to her, she dissembled so well that he did not perceive the
+truth.
+
+After dinner she asked him how he was minded to pass away the time, and
+he answered that he knew of nothing better than to play at “cent.” (3)
+Forthwith everything was made ready for the game, but the lady pretended
+that she did not care to take part in it, and would find diversion
+enough in looking at the players.
+
+     3  This is probably a reference to the card game now called
+     piquet, usually played for a hundred points. It is one of
+     the oldest of its kind. See Rabelais’ _Gargantua_, book i.
+     chap, xxii.--L.
+
+Just before he sat down to play, the gentleman failed not to ask the
+girl to remember her promise to him, and while he was playing she passed
+through the room, making a sign to her mistress which signified that
+she was about to set out on the pilgrimage she had to make. The sign was
+clearly seen by the lady, but her husband perceived nothing of it.
+
+An hour later, however, one of his servants made him a sign from a
+distance, whereupon he told his wife that his head ached somewhat, and
+that he must needs rest and take the air. She, knowing the nature of his
+sickness as well as he did himself, asked him whether she should play
+in his stead, and he consented, saying that he would very soon return.
+However, she assured him that she could take his place for a couple of
+hours without weariness.
+
+So the gentleman withdrew to his room, and thence by an alley into his
+park.
+
+The lady, who knew another and shorter way, waited for a little while,
+and then, suddenly feigning to be seized with colic, gave her hand at
+play to another.
+
+As soon as she was out of the room, she put off her high-heeled shoes
+and ran as quickly as she could to the place, where she had no desire
+that the bargain should be struck without her. And so speedily did she
+arrive, that, when she entered the room by another door, her husband was
+but just come in. Then, hiding herself behind the door, she listened to
+the fair and honest discourse that he held to her maid. But when she
+saw that he was coming near to the criminal point, she seized him from
+behind, saying--
+
+“Nay, I am too near that you should take another.”
+
+It is needless to ask whether the gentleman was in extreme wrath, both
+at being balked of the delight he had looked to obtain, and at having
+his wife, whose affection he now greatly feared to lose for ever, know
+more of him than he desired. He thought, however, that the plot had been
+contrived by the girl, and (without speaking to his wife) he ran after
+her with such fury that, had not his wife rescued her from his hands,
+he would have killed her. He declared that she was the wickedest jade
+he had ever known, and that, if his wife had waited to see the end, she
+would have found that he was only mocking her, for, instead of doing
+what she expected, he would have chastised her with rods.
+
+But his wife, knowing what words of the sort were worth, set no value
+upon them, and addressed such reproaches to him that he was in great
+fear lest she should leave him. He promised her all that she asked,
+and, after her sage reproaches, confessed that it was wrong of him to
+complain that she had lovers; since a fair and honourable woman is none
+the less virtuous for being loved, provided that she do or say nothing
+contrary to her honour; whereas a man deserves heavy punishment when he
+is at pains to pursue a woman that loves him not, to the wronging of
+his wife and his own conscience. He would therefore, said he, never more
+prevent his wife from going to Court, nor take it ill that she should
+have lovers, for he knew that she spoke with them more in jest than in
+affection.
+
+This talk was not displeasing to the lady, for it seemed to her that
+she had gained an important point. Nevertheless she spoke quite to the
+contrary, pretending that she had no delight in going to Court, since
+she no longer possessed his love, without which all assemblies were
+displeasing to her; and saying that a woman who was truly loved by her
+husband, and who loved him in return, as she did, carried with her a
+safe-conduct that permitted her to speak with one and all, and to be
+derided by none.
+
+The poor gentleman was at so much pains to assure her of the love he
+bore her, that at last they left the place good friends. That they might
+not again fall into such trouble, he begged her to turn away the girl
+through whom he had undergone so much distress. This she did, but did it
+by bestowing her well and honourably in marriage, and at her husband’s
+expense.
+
+And, to make the lady altogether forget his folly, the gentleman soon
+took her to Court, in such style and so magnificently arrayed that she
+had good reason to be content.
+
+“This, ladies, was what made me say I did not find the trick she played
+upon one of her lovers a strange one, knowing, as I did, the trick she
+had played upon her husband.”
+
+“You have described to us a very cunning wife and a very stupid
+husband,” said Hircan. “Having advanced so far, he ought not to have
+come to a standstill and stopped on so fair a road.”
+
+“And what should he have done?” said Longarine.
+
+“What he had taken in hand to do,” said Hircan, “for his wife was no
+less wrathful with him for his intention to do evil than she would have
+been had he carried the evil into execution. Perchance, indeed, she
+would have respected him more if she had seen that he was a bolder
+gallant.”
+
+“That is all very well,” said Ennasuite, “but where will you find a man
+to face two women at once? His wife would have defended her rights and
+the girl her virginity.”
+
+“True,” said Hircan, “but a strong bold man does not fear to assail two
+that are weak, nor will he ever fail to vanquish them.”
+
+“I readily understand,” said Ennasuite, “that if he had drawn his sword
+he might have killed them both, but otherwise I cannot see that he had
+any means of escape. I pray you, therefore, tell us what you would have
+done?”
+
+“I should have taken my wife in my arms,” said Hircan, “and have carried
+her out. Then I should have had my own way with her maid by love or by
+force.”
+
+“‘Tis enough, Hircan,” said Parlamente, “that you know how to do evil.”
+
+“I am sure, Parlamente,” he replied, “that I do not scandalise the
+innocence in whose presence I speak, and by what I have said I do not
+mean that I support a wicked deed. But I wonder at the attempt, which
+was in itself worthless, and at the attempter, who, for fear rather than
+for love of his wife, failed to complete it. I praise a man who loves
+his wife as God ordains; but when he does not love her, I think little
+of him for fearing her.”
+
+“Truly,” replied Parlamente, “if love did not render you a good husband,
+I should make small account of what you might do through fear.”
+
+“You are quite safe, Parlamente,” said Hircan, “for the love I bear you
+makes me more obedient than could the fear of either death or hell.”
+
+“You may say what you please,” said Parlamente, “but I have reason to be
+content with what I have seen and known of you. As for what I have not
+seen, I have never wished to make guess or still less inquiry.”
+
+“I think it great folly,” said Nomerfide, “for women to inquire so
+curiously concerning their husbands, or husbands concerning their wives.
+Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, without giving so much heed
+to the morrow.”
+
+“Yet it is sometimes needful,” said Oisille, “to inquire into matters
+that may touch the honour of a house in order to set them right, though
+not to pass evil judgment upon persons, seeing that there is none who
+does not fail.”
+
+“Many,” said Geburon, “have at divers times fallen into trouble for lack
+of well and carefully inquiring into the errors of their wives.”
+
+“I pray you,” said Longarine, “if you know any such instance, do not
+keep it from us.”
+
+“I do indeed know one,” said Geburon, “and since you so desire, I will
+relate it.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 090.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 091a. The Chanter of Blois delivering his Mistress from the Grave]
+
+[The Chanter of Blois delivering his Mistress from the Grave]
+
+[Illustration: 091.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LX_.
+
+     _A man of Paris, through not making good inquiry concerning
+     his wife, whom he believed dead, though she was indeed
+     making good cheer with a chanter to the King, married a
+     second wife, whom, after having several children by her and
+     consorting with her for fourteen or fifteen years, he was
+     constrained to leave, in order to take his first wife back
+     again_.
+
+In the city of Paris there was a man who was so good-natured that he
+would have scrupled to believe a man abed with his wife, even if he had
+seen him with his own eyes. This poor man married a woman whose conduct
+was as bad as could be; nevertheless he perceived nothing of it, and
+treated her as though she were the most virtuous woman alive. One
+day, however, when King Louis XII. came to Paris, his wife surrendered
+herself to one of the choir-men of the aforesaid sovereign, and when she
+found that the King was leaving Paris and that she would no longer
+be able to see the singer, she resolved to follow him and forsake her
+husband. To this the chanter agreed, and brought her to a house that he
+had near Blois, (1) where for a long while they lived together. The poor
+husband, finding that he had lost his wife, sought her everywhere; and
+at last it was told him that she was gone away with the chanter.
+
+Wishing to recover the lost ewe which he had so badly watched, he wrote
+many letters to her begging her to return to him, and saying that he
+would take her back if she were willing to be a virtuous woman. But she
+took such great delight in listening to the songs of the chanter, that
+she had forgotten her husband’s voice, and gave no heed to all his
+excellent words, but mocked at them.
+
+Therefore the husband, in great wrath, gave her to know that, since
+she would return to him in no other way, he would demand her in legal
+fashion of the Church. (2) The wife, dreading that if the law should
+take the matter in hand she and her chanter would fare badly, devised a
+stratagem worthy of such a woman as herself. Feigning sickness, she sent
+for some honourable women of the town to come and see her, and this they
+willingly did, hoping that her illness might be a means of withdrawing
+her from her evil life, with which purpose they addressed the sagest
+admonitions to her. Thereupon she, whilst pretending to be grievously
+sick, made a show of weeping and acknowledging her sinfulness in such
+sort that she gained the pity of the whole company, who quite believed
+that she was speaking from the bottom of her heart. And, finding her
+thus subdued and sorry, they began to comfort her, telling her that God
+was in no wise so terrible as many preachers represented Him, and that
+He would never refuse to show her mercy.
+
+     1  Louis XII.’s favourite place of residence.--Ed.
+
+     2  Implying the Officialité or episcopal court.--B. J.
+
+After this excellent discourse, they sent for a virtuous man to come
+and confess her, and on the morrow the priest of the parish came to
+administer the Holy Sacrament. This she received so piously, that
+all the virtuous women of the town who were present wept to see her
+devoutness, praising God, who of His goodness had in this wise shown
+compassion upon this poor creature.
+
+Afterwards she pretended that she could no longer take food, whereupon
+the extreme unction was brought by the priest and received by her with
+many pious signs; for (as they thought) she was scarcely able to speak.
+She continued thus for a great while, and it seemed as though she were
+gradually losing her sight, hearing and other senses, whereat there came
+from all a cry of “Jesus!” As night was at hand and the ladies were far
+from home, they all withdrew; and just as they were leaving the house it
+was told them that she was dead, whereupon, saying their _De profundis_
+for her, they returned to their houses.
+
+The priest asked the chanter where he would have her buried, and the
+other replied that she had desired to be buried in the cemetery,
+and that it would be well to bring her there at night. So the poor
+unfortunate was shrouded by a serving-woman, who was careful not to hurt
+her, and then by brave torchlight she was carried to the grave that the
+chanter had caused to be made.
+
+When the body passed in front of the houses of those who had been
+present when she received the extreme unction, they all came forth
+and followed her to the tomb; and there she was soon left by women and
+priests alike. The chanter, however, did not go away, but, as soon as he
+saw the company some distance off, he and the serving-woman opened the
+grave wherein was his sweetheart more alive than ever, and he sent her
+secretly to his house, where for a long time he kept her concealed.
+
+The husband, who was in pursuit of her, came as far as Blois to demand
+justice, when he found that she was dead and buried according to the
+testimony of all the ladies of Blois. They told him, too, what a good
+end she had made, and the worthy man was rejoiced to think that his
+wife’s soul was in Paradise, and himself rid of her wicked body.
+
+In this wise well content, he betook himself back to Paris, where he
+married a beautiful and virtuous young woman, and a good housewife, by
+whom he had several children, and with whom he lived for fourteen or
+fifteen years. But at last rumour, which can keep nothing hid, advised
+him that his wife was not dead, but was still dwelling with the wicked
+chanter. The poor man concealed the matter as well as he was able,
+pretending to know nothing about it, and hoping that it was a lie. But
+his wife, who was a discreet woman, was told of it, and such was her
+anguish at the tidings that she was like to die of grief. Had it been
+possible without offence to her conscience, she would gladly have
+concealed her misfortune, but it was not possible. The Church
+immediately took the affair in hand, and first of all separated them
+from each other until the truth of the matter should be known.
+
+Then was this poor man obliged to leave the good and go after the bad,
+and in this wise he came to Blois shortly after Francis the First had
+become king. Here he found Queen Claude and my Lady the Regent, (3) to
+whom he made his complaint, asking for her whom he would gladly not have
+found, but whom, to the great compassion of the whole company, he was
+now obliged to see.
+
+     3  This shows that the incidents of the tale occurred in the
+     summer or autumn of 1515, when Francis I. was absent in
+     Italy conducting the campaign which resulted in the victory
+     of Marignano and the surrender of Milan.--Ed.
+
+When his wife was brought before him, she strove for a long while to
+maintain that he was not her husband, which he would willingly have
+believed had he been able. More disappointed than abashed, she told him
+that she would rather die than go back with him, and at this he was well
+pleased; but the ladies in whose presence she spoke in this unseemly
+fashion condemned her to return, and so rated the chanter with many a
+threat, that he was obliged to tell his ugly sweetheart to go back with
+her husband, and to declare that he himself would never see her more.
+
+Rejected thus on all sides, the poor unfortunate withdrew to a home in
+which she was fated to meet with better treatment from her husband than
+she had deserved.
+
+“You see, ladies, why I say that if the poor husband had been more
+watchful over his wife, he would not thus have lost her. A thing that is
+well guarded is difficult to lose, but heedlessness makes the thief.”
+
+“‘Tis a strange thing,” said Hircan, “how strong love is just where it
+seems most unreasonable.”
+
+“I have heard,” said Simontault, “that it were easier to break two
+marriages than to sunder the love of a priest and his serving-maid.”
+
+“I believe it,” said Ennasuite; “for those who bind others together in
+marriage, are so well able to tie the knot that nought but death can
+destroy it. Theologians, moreover, hold that spiritual language is of
+more effect than any other, and in consequence spiritual love surpasses
+any other kind.”
+
+“It is a thing that I cannot forgive in ladies,” said Dagoucin, “when
+they forsake an honourable husband or a lover for a priest, however
+handsome and worthy the latter may be.”
+
+“I pray you, Dagoucin,” said Hircan, “intermeddle not with our Holy
+Mother Church. Be assured that ‘tis a great delight for timorous and
+secret-loving women to sin with those who can absolve them; for there
+are some who are more ashamed to confess a thing than to do it.”
+
+“You speak,” said Oisille, “of those who have no knowledge of God, and
+who think not that secret matters are one day revealed in presence of
+the Company of Heaven. But I think that it is not for confession’s sake
+that they go after confessors; for the Enemy has so blinded them that
+they are more concerned to attach themselves where they think there is
+most concealment and security, than anxious to obtain absolution for the
+wickedness of which they do not repent.”
+
+“Repent, say you?” said Saffredent. “Nay, they deem themselves holier
+than other women. I am sure that there are some who deem it honourable
+in themselves that they are constant in such love.”
+
+“You speak in such a manner,” said Oisille to Saffredent, “that I think
+you know of some one of that kind. I pray you, therefore, begin the Day
+tomorrow by telling us what you know. But now the last bell for vespers
+is already ringing; for our friends the monks went off as soon as they
+had heard the tenth tale, and left us to finish our discussions among
+ourselves.”
+
+At these words they all rose and came to the church, where they found
+the monks awaiting them. Then, after hearing vespers, they all supped
+together, talking the while of many excellent stories. After supper they
+went, according to their wont, to disport themselves somewhat in the
+meadow, and then retired to rest, in order that their memories might be
+the sounder on the morrow.
+
+
+[Illustration: 099.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+
+
+
+SEVENTH DAY.
+
+_On the Seventh Day relation is made of such as have done quite contrary
+to their duty or desire_.
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE.
+
+In the morning the Lady Oisille failed not to administer to them
+wholesome nutriment, which she did by reading of the acts and virtuous
+deeds of the glorious knights and apostles of Jesus Christ, as related
+by St. Luke, telling them withal that these relations should suffice to
+make them long for the return of such a time, and to make them weep
+for the uncomeliness of this age as compared with that. When she had
+sufficiently read and expounded to them the beginning of this excellent
+book, she begged them to go to the church in such union as that in which
+the Apostles were wont to pray, seeking of God the mercy which is never
+refused to those who ask for it in faith. Her counsel was approved by
+all, and they came to the church just as the Mass of the Holy Spirit
+was beginning; this seemed to them very apt to the occasion, and they
+hearkened to the service in great devotion.
+
+Afterwards they went to dinner, where they called to mind the apostolic
+life, and took such great delight in it that it was as though their
+undertaking had been forgotten. But Nomerfide, who was the youngest,
+noticed this, and said, “The Lady Oisille has made us so devout that we
+are letting slip the hour at which we are wont to withdraw, in order to
+make ready for the relating of our tales.”
+
+Her words caused the whole company to rise, and, after they had been for
+a while in their rooms, they failed not to repair to the meadow as on
+the day before. When they were seated at their ease, the Lady Oisille
+said to Saffredent, “Although I am certain that you will say nothing to
+the advantage of women, yet I must call upon you to tell the tale that
+you had in readiness yester evening.”
+
+“I protest, madam,” replied Saffredent, “against winning the repute of
+a slanderer through telling the truth, or losing the favour of virtuous
+ladies through relating the deeds of the wanton. I have felt what it is
+to lack their presence, and had I equally lacked their fair favours, I
+had not been alive to-day.”
+
+So saying, he turned his eyes away from her who was the cause of his
+happiness and of his woe; and, looking upon Ennasuite, caused her to
+blush as deeply as though his words had been directed to her. Yet was he
+none the less understood by her whom he desired should understand him.
+The Lady Oisille then assured him that he might freely speak the truth
+at the cost of any person concerned; whereupon he thus began:--
+
+
+[Illustration: 105a. The Lady returning to her Lover, the Canon of Autun]
+
+[The Lady returning to her Lover, the Canon of Autun]
+
+[Illustration: 105.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXI_.
+
+     _A husband is reconciled with his wife after she had lived
+     during fourteen or fifteen years with a Canon of Autun_.
+
+Near the town of Autun there lived a very beautiful woman, who was
+tall, fair, and as handsome of feature as any I have ever seen. She was
+married to an honest man who seemed somewhat younger than herself, and
+who loved and treated her well enough to give her reason for content.
+
+A little while after they were married, he took her to the town of
+Autun, where he had business; and while he was engaged with the law, his
+wife would go to the church to pray God for him.
+
+She repaired so often to this holy place that a very rich Canon fell in
+love with her, and wooed her so urgently that the unhappy creature gave
+herself up to him. Her husband had no suspicion of this, however, for he
+gave more thought to the guarding of his property than of his wife.
+
+When the time for departure was come, and they must needs return to
+their home, which was full seven leagues from the town, great was the
+woman’s sorrow. But the Canon promised that he would often go and see
+her, and this he did, pretending to be making some journey which led
+him past the house. The gentleman, however, was not so foolish as not to
+perceive the truth, and he so skilfully contrived matters, that when the
+Canon came thither he no longer met the wife, who was too well hidden
+by her husband to allow of his having any speech with her. The wife,
+knowing her husband’s jealousy, gave no sign that this was displeasing
+to her; nevertheless, she resolved to set things to rights, for she felt
+herself as it were in hell, deprived as she was of the sight of her God.
+
+One day, when her husband was abroad, she found a means to occupy her
+servants, both men and women, after such a fashion that she was left
+alone in the house. Immediately, she took what was needful, and, with no
+company save that of the wanton love she carried with her, she repaired
+on foot to Autun. Here she arrived none too late to be recognised by her
+Canon, who kept her shut up in hiding for more than a year, and this in
+spite of the monitions and excommunications that were procured against
+him by her husband.
+
+The latter, finding that he had no other remedy, at last complained to
+the Bishop, who had an Archdeacon, as worthy a man as any at that time
+in France. This Archdeacon himself searched with great diligence through
+all the Canon’s houses, until he discovered the one in which the woman
+was being kept in concealment, whereupon he cast her into prison, and
+laid heavy penance upon the Canon.
+
+The husband, knowing that his wife had been recovered by the counsels of
+the Archdeacon and divers other excellent persons, was content to take
+her back on her swearing to him that she would live for the future as
+beseemed a virtuous woman.
+
+This the worthy man in his deep love for her readily believed, and,
+bringing her back to his house, he treated her as honourably as before,
+except that he gave her two old serving-women who never left her, one or
+other of them being at all times with her.
+
+But, however kindly her husband might use her, the wicked love she bore
+towards the Canon caused her to regard all rest as torment. And although
+she was a very beautiful woman and her husband a man of excellent
+constitution, vigorous and strong, she never had any children by him,
+her heart being always seven leagues away from her body; this, however,
+she concealed so well that it seemed to her husband that, like himself,
+she had wholly forgotten the past.
+
+But in her great wickedness she was not so minded; for, just when she
+saw her husband most in love with her and having least suspicion, she
+pretended to fall ill, and continued in this pretence until her husband
+was in wondrous distress, and anxious to spare nought that might relieve
+her.
+
+However, she played her part so exceedingly well that he, and all in the
+house, thought that she was sick unto death, and was growing by degrees
+weaker and weaker. Finding that her husband was no less grieved than he
+should have been glad, she begged of him that he would authorise her to
+make her will, and this with tears he did.
+
+Having power of bequest, although she had no children, she gave to her
+husband what she could, craving at the same time his forgiveness for
+her wrong-doing towards him. Then she sent for the priest, confessed
+herself, and received the Holy Sacrament of the Altar with such
+devoutness, that all wept to see so glorious an end.
+
+When the evening was come, she begged her husband to send for the
+extreme unction, saying that, as she was growing very weak, she was in
+fear lest she might not live to receive it. Her husband in all haste
+caused it to be brought by the priest, and she, by receiving it with
+very great humility, prompted every one to praise her.
+
+After she had got through her brave mysteries, she told her husband
+that, having through God’s grace received all that the Church commands,
+she felt great peace of conscience, and would fain take some rest; and
+she begged him to do the like, seeing that he had great need of it after
+all his weeping and watching with her.
+
+When her husband was gone, and all his servants with him, the poor old
+women, who had so long watched her in health and now had no fear of
+losing her except by death, went contentedly and comfortably to bed. As
+soon as she heard them asleep and loudly snoring, she rose in nothing
+but her shift, and went out of the room, listening to hear if any one
+was yet astir in the house. Taking every precaution, she then (as she
+well knew how) let herself out through a little garden-gate that was not
+shut, and, barefooted and in her shift, journeyed all night long towards
+Autun and the saint, who had preserved her from death.
+
+It happened, however, that as the distance was great, she could not
+accomplish the whole of it before daylight overtook her. Looking then
+all along the road, she perceived two horsemen who were galloping at
+full speed, and thinking that it might be her husband in search of her,
+she hid herself entirely in a marsh, with her head among the reeds.
+As her husband (for he it was) passed close beside her, he spoke to a
+servant who was with him, in tones of deep despair, saying--
+
+“Ah, the wicked woman! Who could have thought that so foul and
+abominable a deed could be hidden under cloak of the holy sacraments of
+the Church.”
+
+“If Judas,” replied the servant, “feared not to betray his Master when
+he was receiving the like, a woman’s treachery is but small matter for
+wonder.”
+
+At this point the husband passed on, and his wife remained among the
+rushes, in greater gladness at having deceived and escaped him than she
+had ever felt at home in a good bed but in subjection.
+
+The poor husband sought her through all the town of Autun, but learning
+for certain that she had not entered it, he retraced his steps,
+complaining unceasingly of her and of his loss, and threatening her with
+nothing short of death if he should find her. Of this she had as little
+fear in her mind as she had of cold in her body, although the place and
+season might well have caused her to repent of her evil journey. And any
+one who did not know how the fire of hell inflames those that are filled
+with it, must needs wonder how it was that this unhappy woman could so
+leave a warm bed and continue for a whole day in the piercing cold.
+
+Yet she neither lost courage nor gave up the journey, but, as soon as
+night was come, went forward once more. Just as the gate at Autun was
+being closed, this pilgrim arrived thither and repaired straight to the
+shrine of her saint, who was in great wonder at her coming, and could
+scarcely believe that it was indeed she. But when he had carefully
+looked at her and examined her at all points, he found that, unlike
+a spirit, she was really possessed of bone and flesh, and so became
+convinced that she was no ghost.
+
+And thenceforward they agreed so well together that she dwelt with the
+Canon for fourteen or fifteen years.
+
+Although for a time she lived in concealment, in the end she lost all
+fear, and (what is worse) became so exceedingly proud of her lover that
+at church she would set herself before most of the honourable women of
+the town, wives of officials and others. Moreover, she had children
+by the Canon, and among others a daughter who was married to a rich
+merchant, and who had so magnificent a wedding that all the women of
+the town murmured exceedingly, yet were powerless to set the affair to
+rights.
+
+Now it happened that at this time Queen Claude, wife of King Francis,
+passed through the town of Autun, having with her my Lady the Regent,
+mother of the King aforesaid, and the Duchess of Alençon, her daughter.
+(1) One of the Queen’s waiting-women, named Perrette, came to the
+Duchess and said--
+
+“Madam, I pray you listen to me, and you will do a better deed than if
+you went to hear the whole day’s service at the church.”
+
+     1  This would have occurred in the late autumn of 1515, when
+     the Court journeyed southward to meet Francis I. on his
+     return from the Marignano campaign.--Ed.
+
+The Duchess gave ready heed, knowing that nought but good counsel could
+come from her. Then Perrette forthwith told her how she had taken a
+young girl to help her in washing the Queen’s linen, and how, on asking
+the news of the town, she had heard from her the vexation which all the
+honourable women endured at seeing the Canon’s mistress go before them,
+together with some of the history of the wicked woman’s life.
+
+The Duchess went immediately to the Queen and my Lady the Regent, and
+told them the story; and they, without any form of law, sent for the
+unhappy woman. The latter sought no concealment, for her shame was
+turned to pride at being mistress in the household of so rich a man; and
+hence, with no feeling of confusion or disgrace, she presented herself
+before the ladies aforesaid, who were so abashed by her hardihood that
+at first they knew not what to say. After a time, however, my Lady the
+Regent rebuked her in a fashion which would have made a right-thinking
+woman weep, though this unhappy creature did not do so, but with great
+boldness said--
+
+“I pray you, ladies, let my honour go unscathed, for, God be praised,
+I have lived so well and virtuously with the Canon that no person alive
+can say aught against me. And let it not be thought that I am living in
+opposition to the will of God, since, for three years past, the Canon
+has not come near me, and we live together as chastely and as lovingly
+as two little angels, without any speech or wish between us to the
+contrary. And any one separating us will commit a great sin, for the
+worthy man, who is nigh eighty years old, will not live long without me,
+who am forty-five.”
+
+You may imagine how the ladies then comported themselves, and what
+remonstrance they all made with her; but, in spite of the words that
+were spoken, and her own age, and the honourable indignation of those
+present, her obstinacy was not softened. That she might be the more
+effectually humbled, they sent for the good Archdeacon of Autun, and he
+condemned her to lie in prison for a year, faring on bread and water.
+The ladies further sent for her husband, and he, after hearing their
+excellent exhortations, was content to take her back again after she
+should have performed her penance.
+
+But when she found that she was a prisoner, and that the Canon was
+resolved to have her back no more, she thanked the ladies for having
+taken a devil off her shoulders, and showed such deep and perfect
+contrition that her husband, instead of waiting until the year should
+have expired, came and asked her of the Archdeacon before a fortnight
+was over; and since then they have lived together in all peace and
+affection.
+
+“You see, ladies, how the chains of St. Peter are by wicked ministers
+converted into those of Satan, which it is so hard to break that even
+the sacraments, which cast out devils from the body, are here the means
+of making them abide longer in the conscience; for the best things, when
+abused, bring about most evil.”
+
+“Truly,” said Oisille, “this woman was a very wicked one, but at the
+same time she was well punished by her appearance before such judges as
+the ladies you have named. The mere glance of the Lady Regent had such
+power that never was there a woman, however virtuous, that did not dread
+being found unworthy in her sight. Those who were looked upon kindly by
+her deemed that they had earned a high honour, knowing as they did that
+none but virtuous women were favoured by her.” (2)
+
+     2  We are asked to believe that Oisille is none other than
+     the Lady Regent (Louise of Savoy), but is it likely she
+     would thus speak of herself? We can scarcely conceive Queen
+     Margaret perpetrating such a flagrant anachronism.--Ed.
+
+“It were indeed a fine thing,” said Hircan, “that there should be
+greater dread of a woman’s eyes than of the Holy Sacrament, which, if it
+be not received in faith and charity, brings with it eternal damnation.”
+
+“Those,” said Parlamente, “who are not inspired by God are, I promise
+you, in greater dread of the temporal than of the spiritual powers. And
+I believe that the poor creature was brought to mend her ways rather by
+her imprisonment and the thought of seeing her Canon no more, than by
+any remonstrance that might have been made to her.”
+
+“Nay,” said Simontault, “you have forgotten the chief cause of her
+return to her husband, which was that the Canon was eighty years old,
+whilst her husband was younger than herself; so the worthy lady had the
+best of all her bargains. Had the Canon been young, she would not have
+been willing to forsake him, and the admonitions of the ladies would
+have been as ineffectual as the sacraments.”
+
+“Further,” said Nomerfide, “I think she did well not to confess her sin
+so readily; such an offence ought to be humbly acknowledged to God, but
+stoutly denied before men. Even though it be true, still, by deception
+and swearing, doubt may be cast upon it.”
+
+“Not so,” said Longarine. “A sin can scarcely be so secret that it will
+not become revealed, unless God in His pity conceal it, as in the case
+of those who for love of Himself have truly repented.”
+
+“And what,” said Hircan, “will you say of those women who have no sooner
+done a deed of folly than they tell some one about it?”
+
+“I think that a strange thing,” answered Longarine, “and a sign that sin
+is not displeasing to them. If, as I said, a sin is not covered by
+the mercy of God, it cannot be denied before men; there are many who,
+delighting in such talk, glory to make their vices known, whilst others
+who contradict themselves in this way become their own accusers.”
+
+“If you know any such instance,” said Saffredent, “I give you my place
+and beg you to tell it us.”
+
+“Listen then,” said Longarine.
+
+
+[Illustration: 117.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 119a. The Gentleman’s Spur catching in the Sheet]
+
+[The Gentleman’s Spur catching in the Sheet]
+
+[Illustration: 119.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXII_.
+
+     _A lady’s tongue tripped so awkwardly whilst she was telling
+     a story, as if of another, to a dame of high degree, that
+     her honour thenceforward bore a stain which she could never
+     remove_.
+
+In the time of King Francis the First there lived a lady of the blood
+royal, who was endowed with honour, virtue and beauty, and well knew how
+to tell a story with grace and to laugh at such as might be told to
+her. (1) This lady being at one of her houses, all her subjects and
+neighbours came to see her; for she was as much liked as it were
+possible for woman to be.
+
+     1  M. de Lincy thinks that this lady may be Louise of Savoy,
+     who was very fond of listening to stories of an equivocal
+     character. This, it may be pointed out, is one of the
+     reasons why the commentators of the _Heptameron_ suppose her
+     to be Oisille, though the latter in the conversational
+     passages following the tales displays considerable prudery
+     and devoutness. That Louise was a woman of extremely amorous
+     tendency is well known; we need, indeed, no better proof of
+     it than her unseemly passion for the Constable de Bourbon
+     when she was five-and-forty years of age. If she be the lady
+     of royal blood spoken of above, the incidents of the tale
+     may have occurred in the Bourbonnais, a considerable portion
+     of which passed into her hands after the flight of the
+     Constable from France. It will be noted that allusion is
+     made to the lady’s subjects, showing that she exercised a
+     feudal sway. As one of the commentators of the _Heptameron_
+     has pointed out, Queen Margaret always saw her mother--that
+     “donna terribilissima!” as De Lussy called her--in such an
+     ideal light that M. de Lincy’s surmise may well be a correct
+     one despite the attributes of honour, virtue and beauty
+     bestowed on the lady whom she speaks of.--Ed.
+
+Among others there came a lady who hearkened whilst the rest told every
+story they could think of in order to amuse the Princess. This lady then
+resolved that she would not be behind the others, and accordingly said--
+
+“Madam, I will tell you a fine story, but you must promise me not to
+speak of it.”
+
+Then she forthwith continued--
+
+“The story, madam, is on my conscience a perfectly true one, and
+concerns a married lady who lived in all honour with her husband,
+although he was old and she was young. A gentleman who was her
+neighbour, seeing her married to this old man, fell in love with her,
+and importuned her for several years; but never received of her any
+reply save such as a virtuous woman should make. One day the gentleman
+bethought him that if he could take her at a disadvantage she might
+perchance be less harsh towards him, and, after he had for a long while
+weighed the danger that he might run, his love for the lady wholly
+banished his fears, and he resolved to find a time and place. He kept
+excellent watch, and so one morning, when the lady’s husband was going
+to another of his houses, and leaving at daybreak by reason of the heat,
+the young gallant came to the house, where he found the lady asleep in
+her bed, and perceived that the serving-women were gone out of the room.
+
+“Then, without having sense enough to fasten the door, he got into the
+lady’s bed all booted and spurred as he was, and when she awoke, she was
+as distressed as she could possibly be. But in spite of any remonstrance
+that she could make to him, he took her by force, saying that if she
+should make the matter known he would tell every one that she had sent
+for him; and at this the lady was so greatly afraid that she durst not
+cry out. Afterwards, on some of her women coming in, he rose in haste
+and would have been perceived by none if his spur, which had become
+fastened in the upper sheet, had not drawn it right off, leaving the
+lady quite naked in her bed.”
+
+So far the lady had told the story as if of another, but at the end she
+involuntarily said--
+
+“Never was a woman so confounded as I was, when I found myself lying
+quite naked.”
+
+At these last words the lady, who had hitherto hearkened to the story
+without laughing, could not refrain from doing so, and said--
+
+“By what I can see, you are well qualified to tell the tale.”
+
+The poor lady tried in every possible way to clear her honour, but it
+was already flown so far away that she was never able to recall it.
+
+“I assure you, ladies, that had she felt any deep displeasure in doing
+such a deed, she would have desired to forget it. But, as I have told
+you, sin will of itself be discovered before it could otherwise be
+known, unless it be hidden by the mantle which, as David says, makes man
+blessed.”
+
+“In good sooth,” said Ennasuite, “she was the greatest fool I have ever
+heard of, to make the others laugh at her own expense.”
+
+“I do not deem it strange,” said Parlamente, “that the word should
+follow the deed, for it is easier to say than to do.”
+
+“Why,” said Geburon, “what sin had she committed? She was asleep in her
+bed, he threatened her with shame and death; Lucrèce, who is so highly
+praised, did just the same.”
+
+“That is true,” said Parlamente, “and I confess that there is none too
+righteous to fall. But when one has felt great offence in the deed, the
+same holds good of the recollection; and whereas Lucrèce to efface the
+latter killed herself, this foolish woman tried to make others laugh.”
+
+“Nevertheless,” said Nomerfide, “it seems that she was a virtuous woman,
+seeing that she had been many times entreated but would never consent,
+so that the gentleman must needs resort to treachery and force in order
+to wrong her.”
+
+“What!” said Parlamente. “Do you think that a woman has answered for
+her honour, when she gives herself up after refusing two or three times?
+There would then be many virtuous women among those that are deemed the
+opposite, for many of them have been known to refuse for a long while
+those to whom their hearts had been given, some doing this through fear
+for their honour, and others in order to make themselves still more
+ardently loved and esteemed. No account, therefore, should be made of a
+woman unless she stands firm to the end. But if a man refuse a beautiful
+girl, do you regard that as great virtue?”
+
+“Truly,” said Oisille, “if a young and lusty man so refused, I should
+hold it worthy of high praise, but none the less difficult of belief.”
+
+“Yet,” said Dagoucin, “I know one who refused to partake in amours that
+were sought after by all his comrades.”
+
+“I pray you,” said Longarine, “take my place and tell us the tale, yet
+remember that you must here utter the truth.”
+
+“I promise you,” said Dagoucin, “that I will tell it in all its
+simplicity, without any colouring or disguise.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 124.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 125a. The King asking the Young Lord to join his Banquet]
+
+[The King asking the Young Lord to join his Banquet]
+
+[Illustration: 125.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXIII_.
+
+     _A gentleman’s refusal of an amour that was sought after by
+     all his comrades, was imputed to him as great virtue, and
+     his wife loved him and esteemed him in consequence far more
+     than before_. (1)
+
+In the city of Paris there lived four girls, of whom two were sisters,
+and such was their beauty, youth and freshness, that they were run after
+by all the gallants. A gentleman, however, who at that time held the
+office of Provost of Paris (2) from the King, seeing that his master was
+young, of an age to desire such company, so cleverly contrived matters
+with all four of the damsels that each, thinking herself intended for
+the King, agreed to what the aforesaid Provost desired. This was that
+they should all of them be present at a feast to which he invited his
+master.
+
+     1  This story, omitted by Boaistuau, was included in
+     Gruget’s edition of the _Heptameron_.--L.
+
+     2  This is John de la Barre, already alluded to in Tale I.
+     The _Journal d’un Bourgeois de Paris_ tells us that he was
+     born in Paris of poor parents, and became a favourite of
+     Francis I., who appointed him Bailiff of the capital,
+     without requiring him to pay any of the dues attaching to
+     the office. From the roll of the royal household for 1522,
+     we also find that he was then a gentleman of the bed chamber
+     with 1200 _livres_ salary, master of the wardrobe (a post
+     worth 200 _livres_) and governor of the pages, for the board
+     and clothing of whom he received 5000 _livres_ annually. In
+     1526 he became Provost as well as Bailiff of Paris, the two
+     offices then being amalgamated. He was further created Count
+     of Etampes, and acquired the lordship of Veretz, best
+     remembered by its associations with the murder of Paul Louis
+     Courier. La Barre fought at Pavia, was taken prisoner with
+     the King, and remained his constant companion during his
+     captivity. Several letters of his, dating from this period
+     and of great historical interest, are still extant; some of
+     them have been published by Champollion-Figeac (_Captivité
+     de François Ier_) and Génin (_Lettres de Marguerite, &c_).
+     Under date 1533 (o. s.) the “Bourgeois de Paris” writes in
+     his _Journal_: “At the beginning of March there died in
+     Paris, at the house of Monsieur Poncher, Monsieur le Prévost
+     de Paris, named de La Barre.... The King was then in Paris,
+     at his chateau of the Louvre, and there was great pomp at
+     the obsequies; and he was borne to his lordship of Veretz,
+     near Tours, that he might be buried there.” Numerous
+     particulars concerning La Barre will also be found in M. de
+     Laborde’s _Comptes des Bâtiments du Roi au XVIeme Siècle_.--
+     L. and Ed.
+
+He told the latter his plan, which was approved both by the Prince and
+by two other great personages of the Court, all three agreeing together
+to share in the spoil.
+
+While they were looking for a fourth comrade, there arrived a handsome
+and honourable lord who was ten years younger than the others. He
+was invited to the banquet, but although he accepted with a cheerful
+countenance, in his heart he had no desire for it. For on the one part
+he had a wife who was the mother of handsome children, and with whom he
+lived in great happiness, and in such peacefulness that on no account
+would he have had her suspect evil of him. And on the other hand he was
+the lover of one of the handsomest ladies of her time in France, whom
+he loved and esteemed so greatly that all other women seemed to him ugly
+beside her.
+
+In his early youth, before he was married, he had found it impossible to
+gaze upon and associate with other women, however beautiful they might
+be; for he took more delight in gazing upon his sweetheart, and in
+perfectly loving her, than in having all that another might have given
+him.
+
+This lord, then, went to his wife and told her secretly of the
+enterprise that his master had in hand, saying that he would rather die
+than do what he had promised. For (he told her) just as there was no
+living man whom he would not venture to attack in anger, although he
+would rather die than commit a causeless and wilful murder unless his
+honour compelled him to it; even so, unless driven by extreme love, such
+as may serve to blind virtuous men, he would rather die than break his
+marriage vow to gratify another.
+
+On hearing these words of his, and finding that so much honour dwelt
+in one so young, his wife loved and esteemed him more than she had ever
+done before, and inquired how he thought he might best excuse himself,
+since Princes often frown on those who do not praise what they like.
+
+“I have always heard,” he replied, “that a wise man has a journey or
+a sickness in his sleeve for use in time of need. I have therefore
+resolved that I will feign a grievous sickness four or five days
+beforehand, and in this matter your countenance may render me true
+service.”
+
+“Tis a worthy and holy hypocrisy,” said his wife, “and I will not fail
+to serve you with the saddest face I can command; for he who can avoid
+offending God and angering the Prince is fortunate indeed.”
+
+As it was resolved, so was it done, and the King was very sorry to hear
+from the wife of her husband’s sickness. This, however, lasted no
+long time; for, on account of certain business which arose, the King
+disregarded his pleasure to attend to his duty, and betook himself away
+from Paris.
+
+However, one day, remembering their unfinished undertaking, he said to
+the young lord:--
+
+“We were very foolish to leave so suddenly without seeing the four girls
+who are declared to be the fairest in my kingdom.”
+
+“I am very glad,” replied the young lord, “that you failed in the
+matter, for I was in great fear that, by reason of my sickness, I should
+be the only one to miss so pleasant an adventure.”
+
+By reason of this answer the King never suspected the dissimulation of
+the young lord, who was thenceforward loved by his wife more dearly than
+he had ever been before.
+
+Hereupon Parlamente began to laugh, and could not hold from saying--
+
+“He would have loved his wife better if he had done this for love of her
+alone. But in any case he is worthy of great praise.”
+
+“It seems to me,” said Hircan, “that it is no great merit in a man
+to keep his chastity for love of his wife, inasmuch as there are many
+reasons which in a manner compel him to do so. In the first place, God
+commands it; his marriage vow binds him to it, and, further, surfeited
+nature is not liable to temptation or desire as necessity is. But when
+the unfettered love that a man bears towards a mistress of whom he has
+no delight, and no other happiness save that of seeing her and speaking
+with her, and from whom he often receives harsh replies--when this love
+is so loyal and steadfast that nothing can ever make it change, I say
+that such chastity is not simply praiseworthy but miraculous.”
+
+“‘Tis no miracle in my opinion,” said Oisille, “for when the heart is
+plighted, nothing is impossible to the body.”
+
+“True,” said Hircan; “to bodies which have become those of angels.”
+
+“I do not speak only of those,” said Oisille, “who by the grace of God
+are wholly transformed into Himself, but of the grosser spirits that
+we see here below among men. And, if you give heed, you will find that
+those who have set their hearts and affections upon seeking after the
+perfection of the sciences, have forgotten not only the lust of the
+flesh, but even the most needful matters, such as food and drink; for
+so long as the soul is stirred within the body, so long does the flesh
+continue as though insensible. Thence comes it that those who love
+handsome, honourable and virtuous women have such happiness of spirit in
+seeing them and speaking with them, that the flesh is lulled in all its
+desires. Those who cannot feel this happiness are the carnally-minded,
+who, wrapped in their exceeding fatness, cannot tell whether they have a
+soul or not. But, when the body is in subjection to the spirit, it is
+as though heedless of the failings of the flesh, and the beliefs of such
+persons may render them insensible of the same. I knew a gentleman who,
+to show that he loved his mistress more dearly than did any other man,
+proved it to all his comrades by holding his bare fingers in the
+flame of a candle. And then, with his eyes fixed upon his mistress, he
+remained firm until he had burned himself to the bone, and yet said that
+he had felt no hurt.”
+
+“Methinks,” said Geburon, “that the devil whose martyr he was ought to
+have made a St. Lawrence of him; for there are few whose love-flame is
+hot enough to keep them from fearing that of the smallest taper. But
+if a lady had suffered me to endure so much hurt for her sake, I should
+either have sought a rich reward or else have taken my love away from
+her.”
+
+“So,” said Parlamente, “you would have your hour after the lady had
+had hers? That was what was done by a gentleman of the neighbourhood
+of Valencia in Spain, whose story was told to me by a captain, a right
+worthy man.”
+
+“I pray you, madam,” said Dagoucin, “take my place and tell it us, for I
+am sure that it must be a good one.”
+
+“This story, ladies,” said Parlamente, “will teach you both to think
+twice when you are inclined to give a refusal and to lay aside the
+thought that the present will always continue; and so, knowing that it
+is subject to mutation, you will have a care for the time to come.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 132.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 133a. The Lady Swooning in the Arms of the Gentleman of
+Valencia who had become a Monk]
+
+[The Lady Swooning in the Arms of the Gentleman of Valencia who had
+become a Monk]
+
+[Illustration: 133.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXIV_.
+
+     _After a lady had for the space of five or six years made
+     trial of the love that a certain gentleman bore her, she
+     desired to have a still stronger proof of it, and reduced
+     him to such despair that he turned monk, on which account
+     she was not able to win him back again when she would fain
+     have done so_.
+
+In the city of Valencia there lived a gentleman, who for the space of
+five or six years had loved a lady so perfectly that the honour and
+conscience of neither of them had taken any hurt; for his intent was
+to have her as his wife, and this was reasonable, seeing that he was
+handsome, rich and of good descent. But, before he became her lover, he
+first inquired concerning her own mind, whereupon she declared herself
+willing to marry according to the counsels of her kinsfolk. The
+latter, being come together for the purpose, deemed the marriage a very
+reasonable one provided that the maiden was herself disposed to it; but
+she--whether because she thought to do better or because she wished to
+hide her love for him---made some difficulty, and the company separated,
+not without regret at having failed to conclude a match so well suited
+to both parties.
+
+The most grieved of all was the poor gentleman, who would have borne
+his misfortune with patience had he thought that the fault lay with the
+kinsfolk and not with her; but he knew the truth, and the knowledge was
+to him worse than death. So, without speaking to his sweetheart or to
+any other person, he withdrew to his own house, and, after setting his
+affairs in order, betook himself to a solitary spot, where he strove to
+forget his love and change it wholly to that love of our Lord which were
+truly a higher duty than the other.
+
+During this time he received no tidings of his mistress or her kindred,
+and he therefore resolved that, since he had failed to obtain the
+happiest life he could hope for, he would choose the most austere and
+disagreeable that he could imagine. With this sad intent, which
+might well have been called despair, he went and became a monk in the
+monastery of St. Francis. This monastery was not far from the dwellings
+of divers of his kinsfolk, who, on hearing of his desperate condition,
+did all that in them lay to hinder his purpose; but this was so firmly
+rooted in his heart that it was not possible to turn him from it.
+
+Nevertheless, as the source of his distemper was known to them, they
+determined to seek the cure, and so repaired to her who was the cause
+of his sudden devoutness. She was greatly astonished and grieved by this
+mischance, for, in refusing for a time, she had thought only to test his
+affection, not to lose it for ever. Seeing now the evident risk that she
+ran of doing this last, she sent him a letter, which, ill-translated,
+was as follows:--
+
+     “Since love, if tested not full needfully,
+     Steadfast and faithful is not shown to be,
+     By length of time my heart would that assay
+     Whereon itself was set to love alway--
+     To wit, a husband with that true love filled
+     Such as no lapsing time has ever killed.
+     This, then, was the sole reason that I drew
+     My kin to hinder for a year or two
+     That closest tie which lasts till life is not,
+     And whereby woe is oftentimes begot.
+     Yet sought I not to have you wholly sent
+     Away; such was in no wise my intent,
+     For none save you could I have e’er adored
+     Or looked to as my husband and my lord.
+     But woe is me, what tidings reach mine ear!
+     That you, to lead the cloistered life austere,
+     Are gone with speech to none; whereat the pain
+     That ever holds me, now can brook no rein,
+     But forces me mine own estate to slight
+     For that which yours aforetime was of right;
+     To seek him out who once sought me alone,
+     And win him who myself has sometimes won.
+     Nay then, my love, life of the life in me,
+     For loss of whom I fain would cease to be,
+     Turn hither, graciously, those eyes of pain
+     And trace those wandering footsteps back again.
+     Leave the grey robe and its austerity,
+     Come back and taste of that felicity
+     Which often you desired, and which to-day
+     Time has nor slain, nor swept away.
+     For you alone I’ve kept myself; and I,
+     Lacking your presence, cannot choose but die.
+     Come back then; in your sweetheart have belief,
+     And for past memories find cool relief
+     In holy marriage-ties. Ah! then, my dear,
+     To me, not to your pride give ready ear,
+     And rest of this assured, I had no thought
+     To give, sweetheart, to you offence in aught,
+     But only yearned your faithfulness to prove
+     And then to make you happy with my love.
+     But now that through this trial, free from scathe,
+     Are come your steadfastness and patient faith,
+     And all that loyal love to me is known,
+     Which at the last has made me yours alone,
+     Come, my beloved, take what is your due
+     And wholly yield to me, as I to you!”
+
+This letter, brought by a friend of hers with every remonstrance that it
+was possible to make, was received and read by the gentleman friar with
+such sadness of countenance, such sighs and such tears, that it seemed
+as though he would drown and burn the poor epistle. But he made no
+reply to it, except to tell the messenger that the mortification of his
+exceeding passion had cost him so dear as to have taken from him both
+the wish to live and the fear to die. He therefore requested her who
+had been the cause of this, that since she had not chosen to satisfy
+his passionate longings, she would, now that he was rid of them, abstain
+from tormenting him, and rest content with the evil which was past. For
+that evil he could find no remedy but the choice of an austere life,
+which by continual penance might bring him to forget his grief, and, by
+fasts and disciplines, subdue his body, till the thought of death should
+be to him but a sovereign consolation. Above all, he begged that he
+might never hear of her, since he found the mere remembrance of her name
+a purgatory not to be endured.
+
+The gentleman went back with this mournful reply, and reported it to the
+maiden who did not hear it without intolerable sorrow. But Love, which
+will not suffer the spirit utterly to fail, gave her the thought that,
+if she could see him, her words and presence might be of more effect
+than the writing. She therefore, with her father and the nearest of her
+kin, went to the monastery where he abode. She had left nothing in her
+box that might set off her beauty, for she felt sure that, could he but
+once look at her and hear her, the fire that had so long dwelt in both
+their hearts must of necessity be kindled again in greater strength than
+before.
+
+Coming thus into the monastery towards the end of vespers, she sent for
+him to come to her in a chapel that was in the cloister. He, knowing not
+who it was that sought him, went in all ignorance to the sternest battle
+in which he had ever been. When she saw him so pale and wan that she
+could hardly recognise him, yet filled with grace, in no whit less
+winning than of yore, Love made her stretch out her arms to embrace him,
+whilst her pity at seeing him in such a plight so enfeebled her heart,
+that she sank swooning to the floor.
+
+The poor monk, who was not void of brotherly charity, lifted her up and
+set her upon a seat in the chapel. Although he had no less need of
+aid than she had, he feigned to be unaware of her passion, and so
+strengthened his heart in the love of God against the opportunities now
+present with him, that, judging by his countenance, he seemed not to
+know what was actually before him. Having recovered from her weakness,
+she turned upon him her beautiful, piteous eyes, which were enough to
+soften a rock, and began to utter all such discourse as she believed apt
+to draw him from the place in which he now was. He replied as virtuously
+as he was able; but at last, finding that his heart was being softened
+by his sweetheart’s abundant tears, and perceiving that Love, the cruel
+archer whose pains he long had known, was ready with his golden dart to
+deal him fresh and more deadly wounds, he fled both from Love and from
+his sweetheart, like one whose only resource lay, indeed, in flight.
+
+When he was shut up in his room, not desiring to let her go without some
+settlement of the matter, he wrote her a few words in Spanish, which
+seem to me so excellent in their matter that I would not by translating
+them mar their grace. These were brought to her by a little novice,
+who found her still in the chapel and in such despair that, had it been
+lawful, she too would have remained there and turned friar. But when she
+saw the words, which were these--
+
+     “Volvete don venesti, anima mia,
+     Que en las tristas vidas es la mia,” (1)
+
+she knew that all hope was gone, and she resolved to follow the advice
+of him and her friends, and so returned home, there to lead a life as
+melancholy as that of her lover in his monastery was austere.
+
+     1  “Return whence thou earnest, my soul,
+     for among the sad lives is mine.”’
+
+“You see, ladies, what vengeance the gentleman took upon his harsh
+sweetheart, who, thinking to try him, reduced him to such despair that,
+when she would have regained him, she could not do so.”
+
+“I am sorry,” said Nomerfide, “that he did not lay aside his gown and
+marry her. It would, I think, have been a perfect marriage.”
+
+“In good sooth,” said Simontault, “I think he was very wise. Anyone who
+well considers what marriage is will deem it no less grievous than
+a monkish life. Moreover, being so greatly weakened by fasts and
+abstinence, he feared to take upon him a burden of that kind which lasts
+all through life.”
+
+“Methinks,” said Hircan, “she wronged so feeble a man by tempting him
+to marriage, for ‘tis too much for the strongest man alive; but had she
+spoken to him of love, free from any obligation but that of the will,
+there is no friar’s cord that would not have been untied. However, since
+she sought to draw him out of purgatory by offering him hell, I think
+that he was quite right to refuse her, and to let her feel the pain that
+her own refusal had cost him.”
+
+“By my word,” said Ennasuite, “there are many who, thinking to do better
+than their fellows, do either worse or else the very opposite of what
+they desire.”
+
+“Truly,” said Geburon, “you remind me--though, indeed, the matter is
+not greatly to the point--of a woman who did the opposite of what she
+desired, and so caused a great uproar in the church of St. John of
+Lyons.”
+
+“I pray you,” said Parlamente, “take my place and tell us about it.”
+
+“My story,” said Geburon, “will not be so long or so piteous as the one
+we have heard from Parlamente.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 141.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 143a. The Old Woman startled by the Waking of the Soldier]
+
+[The Old Woman startled by the Waking of the Soldier]
+
+[Illustration: 143.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXV_.
+
+     _Though the priests of St. John of Lyons would fain have
+     concealed it, the falsity of a miracle was brought to light
+     through an old woman’s folly becoming known_. (1)
+
+In the church of St. John of Lyons there is a very dark chapel, and
+inside it a stone tomb with figures of great personages raised life-like
+upon it, whilst several men-at-arms lie all around it.
+
+     1  We believe that the incident here narrated occurred early
+     in 1525, when Margaret is known to have been at Lyons. She
+     and her husband (on his return from Pavia) resided there at
+     the house of the Obédiencier de St. Just, and it was in the
+     church of St. Just that the Duke of Alençon was buried.
+     Doubtless it was during his illness that the _novena_
+     alluded to in the final tale of the _Heptameron_ was
+     performed by Queen Margaret at the church of St. John of
+     Lyons, where the two most important chapels, according to
+     Quincarnon’s _Antiquités et la fondation de la Métropole
+     des Gaules, &c._, Lyons, 1673, were the Most Holy Eucharist,
+     or Bourbon chapel, built in 1449 by Charles de Bourbon,
+     Primate of Gaul, and the Holy Sepulchre, or Good Friday
+     chapel, erected at the beginning of the fifteenth century by
+     Philip de Turey, Archbishop of Lyons. Unfortunately the
+     church of St. John was in 1652 devastated by the Huguenots,
+     who in their insensate fury destroyed almost all the tombs.
+     It is therefore now impossible to identify the chapel and
+     tomb to which the Queen of Navarre refers in the above
+     story, though her allusion to the dimness of the light would
+     incline us to place the incident she recounts in the
+     Chapelle du St. Sépulcre.--L. and Ed.
+
+One day a soldier, walking in the church at the very height of summer,
+felt inclined to sleep, and, looking at this dark, cool chapel, resolved
+to go and guard the tomb in sleep like the rest; (2) and accordingly he
+lay down beside them. Now it chanced that a very pious old woman came
+in while his sleep was the soundest, and having performed her devotions,
+holding a lighted taper in her hand, she sought to fix this taper to the
+tomb. Finding that the sleeping man was nearest to her, she tried to set
+it upon his forehead, thinking that it was of stone; but the wax would
+not stick to such stone as this, whereupon the worthy dame, believing
+that the reason of it was the coldness of the statue, applied the flame
+to the sleeper’s forehead, that she might the better fix the taper on
+it. At this, however, the statue, which was not without feeling, began
+to cry out.
+
+     2  Meaning the recumbent statues of the men-at-arms.--Ed.
+
+The good woman was then in exceeding fear, and set herself to shout, “A
+miracle! a miracle!” until all who were in the church ran, some to ring
+the bells, and the rest to view the miracle. The good woman forthwith
+took them to see the statue that had stirred, whereupon many found food
+for laughter; though the greater number were unable to feel any content,
+inasmuch as they had really determined to make profit out of the tomb,
+and to gain as much money by it as by the crucifix on their pulpit,
+which is said to have spoken. (3) But when the woman’s folly became
+known the farce came to an end. If all knew of their follies, they would
+not be accounted holy nor their miracles true. And I would beg you,
+ladies, to see henceforward to what saints you offer your candles. (4)
+
+     3  The crucifix in the church of St. John was mainly of
+     silver, and, according to Quincarnon, at the time of a
+     Huguenot outbreak at Lyons it was thrown to the ground by a
+     Calvinist minister named Ruffy, who, after reducing it to
+     fragments, carried all the precious metal away with him.--M.
+
+     4  The latter portion of this story and all the dialogue
+     that follows it are omitted by Boaistuau in his edition.
+     Gruget inserted the dialogue, but he did not dare to print
+     the passage respecting the talking crucifix.--L.
+
+“‘Tis notable,” said Hircan, “that, whatever the matter in question may
+be, women always do wrong.”
+
+“Is it wrong,” asked Nomerfide, “to bring candles to a tomb?”
+
+“Yes,” said Hircan, “if the flame be turned against a man’s forehead;
+for nothing good should be called good if it be attended with evil. You
+may be sure that the poor woman thought she had made a fine gift to God
+with her little candle.”
+
+“I look not to the gift,” said Oisille, “but to the heart that offers
+it. Perhaps this worthy woman had more love for God than those who offer
+great torches; for, as the Gospel says, she gave of her need.”
+
+“Still, I no not believe,” said Saffredent, “that God, who is sovereign
+wisdom, can be pleased with the foolishness of women. Although
+simplicity is pleasing to Him, I see from the Scriptures that He
+despises the ignorant; and if He commands us to be as harmless as the
+dove, He none the less commands us to be wise like the serpent.”
+
+“For my part,” said Oisille, “I do not call the woman ignorant who
+brings her candle or burning taper into the presence of God, and makes
+amends for her wrongdoing on bended knees before her sovereign Lord,
+confessing her unworthiness and with steadfast hope seeking pity and
+salvation.”
+
+“Would to God,” said Dagoucin, “that all understood it in the same way
+as you; but I do not believe that these poor fools do it with the intent
+you say.”
+
+“The women,” said Oisille, “who are least able to speak are just those
+who are most sensible of the love and will of God; wherefore ‘tis well
+to judge none but ourselves.”
+
+Ennasuite laughed and said--“‘Tis no wonderful thing to have frightened
+a sleeping varlet, since women of as lowly condition have frightened
+noble Princes, without putting fire to their foreheads.”
+
+“I am sure,” said Geburon, “that you know some such story, which you
+are willing to relate; wherefore, if it please you, you shall take my
+place.”
+
+“The tale will not be a long one,” said Ennasuite, “but, could I recount
+it just as it happened, you would have no desire to weep.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 147.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 149a. The Old Serving-woman explaining her Mistake to
+the Duke and Duchess of Vendôme]
+
+[The Old Serving-woman explaining her Mistake to the Duke and Duchess
+of Vendôme]
+
+[Illustration: 149.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXVI_.
+
+     _The Duke of Vendôme and the Princess of Navarre, whilst
+     resting together one afternoon, were surprised by an old
+     serving-woman, who took them for a prothonotary and a damsel
+     between whom she suspected some affection; and, through this
+     fine justicement, a matter, of which intimates were
+     ignorant, was made known to strangers_.
+
+In the year when the Duke of Vendôme married the Princess of Navarre,
+(1) the King and Queen, their parents, after feasting at Vendôme, went
+with them into Guienne, and, visiting a gentleman’s house where there
+were many honourable and beautiful ladies, the newly married pair
+danced so long in this excellent company that they became weary, and,
+withdrawing to their chamber, lay down in their clothes upon the bed and
+fell asleep, doors and windows being shut and none remaining with them.
+
+     1  It was in October 1548, some eighteen months after Henry
+     II. had succeeded Francis I., that Anthony de Bourbon, Duke
+     of Vendôme, who after the King’s children held the first
+     rank in France, was married at Moulins to Margaret’s
+     daughter Jane of Navarre. The Duke was then thirty and Jane
+     twenty years old. “I never saw so joyous a bride,” wrote
+     Henry II. to Montmorency, “she never does anything but
+     laugh.” She was indeed well pleased with the match, the
+     better so, perhaps, as her husband had settled 100,000
+     livres on her, a gift which was the more acceptable by
+     reason of her extravagant tastes and love of display. Ste.
+     Marthe, in his _Oraison Funèbre_ on Queen Margaret, speaks
+     of her daughter’s marriage as “a most fortunate
+     conjunction,” and refers to her son-in-law as “the most
+     valiant and magnanimous Prince Anthony, Duke of Vendôme,
+     whose admirable virtues have so inclined all France to love
+     and revere him, that princes and nobles, the populace, the
+     great and the humble alike, no sooner hear his name
+     mentioned than they forthwith wish him and beg God to bestow
+     on him all possible health and prosperity.”--Ed
+
+Just, however, when their sleep was at its soundest, they were awakened
+by their door being opened from without, and the Duke drew the curtain
+and looked to see who it might be, suspecting indeed that it was one of
+his friends who was minded to surprise him. But he perceived a tall, old
+bed-chamber woman come in and walk straight up to their bed, where, for
+the darkness of the room, she could not recognise them. Seeing them,
+however, quite close together, she began to cry out--
+
+“Thou vile and naughty wanton! I have long suspected thee to be what
+thou art, yet for lack of proof spoke not of it to my mistress. But now
+thy vileness is so clearly shown that I shall in no sort conceal it; and
+thou, foul renegade, who hast wrought such shame in this house by the
+undoing of this poor wench, if it were not for the fear of God, I would
+e’en cudgel thee where thou liest. Get up, in the devil’s name, get up,
+for methinks even now thou hast no shame.”
+
+The Duke of Vendôme and the Princess hid their faces against each other
+in order to have the talk last longer, and they laughed so heartily that
+they were not able to utter a word. Finding that for all her threats
+they were not willing to rise, the serving-woman came closer in order to
+pull them by the arms. Then she at once perceived both from their faces
+and from their dress that they were not those whom she sought, and,
+recognising them, she flung herself upon her knees, begging them to
+pardon her error in thus robbing them of their rest.
+
+But the Duke of Vendôme was not content to know so little, and rising
+forthwith, he begged the old woman to say for whom she had taken them.
+This at first she was not willing to do; but at last, after he had sworn
+to her never to reveal it, she told him that there was a girl in the
+house with whom a prothonotary (2) was in love, and that she had long
+kept a watch on them, since it pleased her little to see her mistress
+trusting in a man who was working this shame towards her. She then left
+the Prince and Princess shut in as she had found them, and they laughed
+for a long while over their adventure. And, although they afterwards
+told the story they would never name any of the persons concerned.
+
+     2  The office of apostolic prothonotary was instituted by
+     Pope Clement I., there being at first twelve such officers,
+     whose duty was to write the lives of the saints and other
+     apostolic records. Gradually their number so increased, that
+     in the fifteenth century the title of prothonotary had come
+     to be merely an honorary dignity, conferred as a matter of
+     course on doctors of theology of noble family, or otherwise
+     of note. In the role of Francis I.’s household for 1522, we
+     find but one prothonotary mentioned, but in that for 1529
+     there are twelve. More than one of them might have been
+     called _un letrado que no tenia muchas letras_, as Brantôme
+     wrote of Thomas de Lescun, Prothonotary of Foix and
+     afterwards Marshal of France. “In those days,” adds the
+     author of _Les Grands Capitaines Français_, “it was usual
+     for prothonotaries and even for those of good family not to
+     have much learning, but to enjoy themselves, hunt, make love
+     and seduce the wives of the poor gentlemen who were gone to
+     the wars.”--_OEuvres complètes de Brantôme_, 8vo edit., vol.
+     ii. p. 144.--L. and Ed.
+
+“You see, ladies, how the worthy dame, whilst thinking to do a fine deed
+of justice, made known to strange princes a matter of which the servants
+of the house had never heard.”
+
+“I think I know,” said Parlamente, “in whose house it was, and who the
+prothonotary is; for he has governed many a lady’s house, and when he
+cannot win the mistress’s favour he never fails to have that of one of
+the maids. In other matters, however, he is an honourable and worthy
+man.”
+
+“Why do you say ‘in other matters’?” said Hircan. “Tis for that very
+behaviour that I deem him so worthy a man.”
+
+“I can see,” said Parlamente, “that you know the sickness and the
+sufferer, and that, if he needed excuse, you would not fail him as
+advocate. Yet I would not trust myself to a man who could not contrive
+his affairs without having them known to the serving-women.”
+
+“And do you imagine,” said Nomerfide, “that men care whether such a
+matter be known if only they can compass their end? You may be sure
+that, even if none spoke of it but themselves, it would still of
+necessity be known.”
+
+“They have no need,” said Hircan angrily, “to say all that they know.”
+
+“Perhaps,” she replied, blushing, “they would not say it to their own
+advantage.”
+
+“Judging from your words,” said Simontault, “it would seem that men
+delight in hearing evil spoken about women, and I am sure that you
+reckon me among men of that kind. I therefore greatly wish to speak well
+of one of your sex, in order that I may not be held a slanderer by all
+the rest.”
+
+“I give you my place,” said Ennasuite, “praying you withal to control
+your natural disposition, so that you may acquit yourself worthily in
+our honour.”
+
+Forthwith Simontault began--
+
+“Tis no new thing, ladies, to hear of some virtuous act on your part
+which, methinks, should not be hidden but rather written in letters
+of gold, that it may serve women as an example, and give men cause for
+admiration at seeing in the weaker sex that from which weakness is prone
+to shrink. I am prompted, therefore, to relate something that I heard
+from Captain Robertval and divers of his company.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 154.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 155a. The Wife Reading to her Husband on the Desert Island]
+
+[The Wife Reading to her Husband on the Desert Island]
+
+[Illustration: 155.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXVII_.
+
+     _A poor woman risked her own life to save that of her
+     husband, whom she forsook not until death_.
+
+The Captain Robertval aforesaid once made a voyage across the seas
+to the island of Canadas, (1) himself being chief in command by the
+appointment of the King, his master. And there, if the air of the
+country were good, he had resolved to dwell and to build towns and
+castles. With this work he made such a beginning as is known to all;
+and to people the country with Christians he took with him all kinds of
+artificers, among whom was a most wicked man, who betrayed his master
+and put him in danger of being captured by the natives. But God willed
+that his attempt should be discovered before any evil befell the
+Captain, who, seizing the wicked traitor, was minded to punish him as
+he deserved. And this he would have done but for the man’s wife, who had
+followed her husband through the perils of the deep and would not now
+leave him to die, but with many tears so wrought upon the Captain and
+all his company that, for pity of her and for the sake of the services
+she had done them, her request was granted. In consequence, husband and
+wife were left together on a small island in the sea, inhabited only
+by wild beasts, and were suffered to take with them such things as were
+needful.
+
+     1  Canada had been discovered by Cabot in 1497; and in 1535
+     James Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence and, taking
+     possession of the country in the name of Francis I., called
+     it La Nouvelle France. Seven years later a gentleman of
+     Picardy, named John Francis de La Roque, Lord of Robertval,
+     accompanying Cartier, established a colony on the Isle
+     Royale, and subsequently built the fort of Charlebourg. One
+     of his pilots, named Alphonse of Saintonge, meanwhile
+     reconnoitred the coasts both of Canada and Labrador. About
+     this time (1542) the incidents related in the above tale
+     must have occurred.--L.
+
+The poor folk, finding themselves all alone and surrounded by wild and
+cruel beasts, had no recourse but to God, who had ever been this poor
+woman’s steadfast hope; and, since she found all her consolation in Him,
+she carried the New Testament with her for safeguard, nourishment and
+consolation, and in it read unceasingly. Further, she laboured with her
+husband to make them a little dwelling as best they might, and when the
+lions (2) and other animals came near to devour them, the husband with
+his arquebuss and she with stones made so stout a defence that not only
+were the beasts afraid to approach, but often some were slain that were
+very good for food. And on this flesh and the herbs of the land, they
+lived for some time after their bread failed them.
+
+     2  This mention of lions on a small desert island in the
+     Canadian seas would be rather perplexing did we not know how
+     great at that time was the general ignorance on most matters
+     connected with natural history. Possibly the allusion may be
+     to the _lion marin_, as the French call the leonine seal.
+     This, however, is anything but an aggressive animal.
+     Curiously enough, Florimond de Rémond, the sixteenth century
+     writer, speaks of a drawing of a “marine lion” given to him
+     “by that most illustrious lady Margaret Queen of Navarre, to
+     whom it had been presented by a Spanish gentleman, who was
+     taking a second copy of it to the Emperor Charles V., then
+     in Spain.”--Ed.
+
+At last, however, the husband could no longer endure this nutriment,
+and by reason of the waters that they drank became so swollen that in
+a short while he died, and this without any service or consolation save
+from his wife, she being both his doctor and his confessor; and when
+he had joyously passed out of the desert into the heavenly country, the
+poor woman, left now in solitude, buried him in the earth as deeply as
+she was able. Nevertheless the beasts quickly knew of it, and came to
+eat the dead body; but the poor woman, firing with the arquebuss from
+her cabin, saved her husband’s flesh from finding such a grave.
+
+Leading thus in regard to her body the life of a brute, and in regard
+to her soul the life of an angel, she passed her time in reading,
+meditations, prayers and orisons, having a glad and happy mind in a
+wasted and half-dead body. But He who never forsakes His own, and who
+manifests His power when others are in despair, did not suffer the
+virtue that he had put into this woman to be unknown by men, but willed
+that it should be made manifest to His own glory. He therefore brought
+things so to pass, that after some time, when one of the ships of the
+armament was passing by the island, those that were looking that way
+perceived some smoke, which reminded them of the persons who had been
+left there, and they resolved to go and see what God had done with them.
+
+The poor woman, seeing the ship draw nigh, dragged herself to the shore,
+and there they found her on their arrival. After giving praise to God,
+she brought them to her poor cottage and showed them on what she had
+lived during her abode in that place. This would have seemed to them
+impossible of belief, but for their knowledge that God is as powerful to
+feed His servants in a desert as at the greatest banquet in the world.
+As the poor woman could not continue in such a spot, they took her with
+them straight to La Rochelle, where, their voyage ended, they arrived.
+And when they had made known to the inhabitants the faithfulness and
+endurance of this woman, she was very honourably received by all the
+ladies, who gladly sent their daughters to her to learn to read and
+write. In this honest calling she maintained herself for the rest of
+her life, having no other desire save to admonish every one to love and
+trust Our Lord, and setting forth as an example the great compassion
+that He had shown towards her.
+
+“Now, ladies, you cannot say I do not praise the virtues which God
+has given you, and which show the more when possessed by one of lowly
+condition.”
+
+“Why, we are not sorry,” said Oisille, “to hear you praise the mercies
+of Our Lord, for in truth all virtue comes from Him; but we must confess
+that man assists in the work of God as little as women. Neither can by
+heart or will do more than plant. God alone giveth the increase.”
+
+“If you have studied Scripture,” said Saffredent, “you know that St.
+Paul says that Apollos planted and he himself watered; (3) but he does
+not speak of women as having set hand to the work of God.”
+
+     3  The text is just the contrary: “I have planted, Apollos
+     watered; but God gave the increase.”--I _Corinthians_ iii.
+     6.--Ed.
+
+“You would follow,” said Parlamente, “the opinion of those wicked men
+who take a passage of Scripture that is in their favour and leave one
+that is against them. If you had read St. Paul to the end, you would
+have found that he commends himself to the ladies, who greatly laboured
+with him in the work of the Gospel.”
+
+“However that may be,” said Longarine, “the woman in the story is well
+worthy of praise both for the love she bore her husband, on whose behalf
+she risked her own life, and for the faith she had in God, who, as we
+see, did not forsake her.”
+
+“I think,” said Ennasuite, “as far as the first is concerned, that there
+is no woman present but would do as much to save her husband’s life.”
+
+“I think,” said Parlamente, “that some husbands are such brutes that the
+women who live with them should not find it strange to live among their
+fellows.”
+
+Ennasuite, who took these words to herself, could not refrain from
+saying--
+
+“Provided the beasts did not bite me, their company would be more
+pleasant to me than that of men, who are choleric and intolerable. But I
+abide by what I have said, that, if my husband were in a like danger, I
+should not leave him to die.”
+
+“Beware,” said Nomerfide, “of loving too fondly, for excess of love will
+deceive both him and you. There is a medium in all things, and through
+lack of knowledge love often gives birth to hate.”
+
+“Methinks,” said Simontault, “you have not carried your discourse so far
+without having an instance to confirm it. If, then, you know such a one,
+I give you my place that you may tell it to us.”
+
+“Well,” said Nomerfide, “the tale shall, as is my wont, be a short and a
+merry one.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 161.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 163a. The Apothecary’s Wife giving the Dose of Cantharides
+to her Husband]
+
+[The Apothecary’s Wife giving the Dose of Cantharides to her Husband]
+
+[Illustration: 163.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXVIII_.
+
+     _An apothecary’s wife, finding that her husband made no
+     great account of her, and wishing to be better loved by him,
+     followed the advice that he had given to a “commère” (1) of
+     his, whose sickness was of the same kind as her own; but she
+     prospered not so well as the other, and instead of love
+     reaped hate_.
+
+     1  Mr W. Kelly has pointed out (Bohn’s _Heptameron_, p. 395)
+     that in France the godfather and godmother of a child are
+     called in reference to each other compère and commère, terms
+     implying mutual relations of an extremely friendly kind. “The
+     same usage exists in all Catholic countries,” adds Mr Kelly,
+     “and one of the novels of the _Decameron_ is founded on a
+     very general opinion in Italy that an amorous connection
+     between a _compadre_ and his _commadre_ partook almost of
+     the nature of incest.”
+
+In the town of Pau in Beam there was an apothecary whom men called
+Master Stephen. He had married a virtuous wife and a thrifty, with
+beauty enough to content him. But just as he was wont to taste different
+drugs, so did he also with women, that he might be the better able to
+speak of all kinds. His wife was greatly tormented by this, and at
+last lost all patience; for he made no account of her except by way of
+penance during Holy Week.
+
+One day when the apothecary was in his shop, and his wife had hidden
+herself behind him to listen to what he might say, a woman, who was
+“commère” to the apothecary, and was stricken with the same sickness as
+his own wife, came in, and, sighing, said to him--
+
+“Alas, good godfather, I am the most unhappy woman alive. I love my
+husband better than myself, and do nothing but think of how I may serve
+and obey him; but all my labour is wasted, for he prefers the wickedest,
+foulest, vilest woman in the town to me. So, godfather, if you know of
+any drug that will change his humour, prithee give it me, and, if I be
+well treated by him, I promise to reward you by all means in my power.”
+
+The apothecary, to comfort her, said that he knew of a powder which, if
+she gave it to her husband with his broth or roast, after the fashion
+of Duke’s powder, (2) would induce him to entertain her in the best
+possible manner. The poor woman, wishing to behold this miracle, asked
+him what the powder was, and whether she could have some of it. He
+declared that there was nothing like powder of cantharides, of which
+he had a goodly store; and before they parted she made him prepare
+this powder, and took as much of it as was needful for her purpose. And
+afterwards she often thanked the apothecary, for her husband, who was
+strong and lusty, and did not take too much, was none the worse for it.
+
+     2  Boaistuau and Gruget call this preparation _poudre de
+     Dun_, as enigmatical an appellation as _poudre de Duc_. As
+     for the specific supplied by the apothecary, the context
+     shows that this was the same aphrodisiac as the Marquis de
+     Sades put to such a detestable use at Marseilles in 1772,
+     when, after fleeing from justice, he was formally sentenced
+     to death, and broken, in effigy, upon the wheel. See P.
+     Lacroix’s _Curiosités de l’histoire de France, IIème Série_,
+     Paris, 1858.--Ed.
+
+The apothecary’s wife heard all this talk, and thought within herself
+that she had no less need of the recipe than her husband’s “commère.”
+ Observing, therefore, the place where her husband put the remainder of
+the powder, she resolved that she would use some of it when she found
+an opportunity; and this she did within three or four days. Her husband,
+who felt a coldness of the stomach, begged her to make him some good
+soup, but she replied that a roast with Duke’s powder would be better
+for him; whereupon he bade her go quickly and prepare it, and take
+cinnamon and sugar from the shop. This she did, not forgetting also to
+take the remainder of the powder given to the “commère,” without any
+heed to dose, weight or measure.
+
+The husband ate the roast, and thought it very good. Before long,
+however, he felt its effects, and sought to soothe them with his wife,
+but this he found was impossible, for he felt all on fire, in such wise
+that he knew not which way to turn. He then told his wife that she had
+poisoned him, and demanded to know what she had put into the roast. She
+forthwith confessed the truth, telling him that she herself required the
+recipe quite as much as his “commère.” By reason of his evil plight,
+the poor apothecary could belabour her only with hard words; however,
+he drove her from his presence, and sent to beg the Queen of Navarre’s
+apothecary (3) to come and see him. This the Queen’s apothecary did, and
+whilst giving the other all the remedies proper for his cure (which in
+a short time was effected) he rebuked him very sharply for his folly
+in counselling another to use drugs that he was not willing to take
+himself, and declared that his wife had only done her duty, inasmuch as
+she had desired to be loved by her husband.
+
+     3  It was from her apothecary no doubt that Queen Margaret
+     heard this story.--Ed.
+
+Thus the poor man was forced to endure the results of his folly in
+patience, and to own that he had been justly punished in being brought
+into such derision as he had proposed for another.
+
+“Methinks, ladies, this woman’s love was as indiscreet as it was great.”
+
+“Do you call it loving her husband,” said Hircan, “to give him pain for
+the sake of the delight that she herself looked to have?”
+
+“I believe,” said Longarine, “she only desired to win back her husband’s
+love, which she deemed to have gone far astray; and for the sake of such
+happiness there is nothing that a woman will not do.” “Nevertheless,”
+ said Geburon, “a woman ought on no account to make her husband eat or
+drink anything unless, either through her own experience or that
+of learned folk, she be sure that it can do him no harm. Ignorance,
+however, must be excused, and hers was worthy of excuse; for the most
+blinding passion is love, and the most blinded of persons is a woman,
+since she has not strength enough to conduct so weighty a matter
+wisely.”
+
+“Geburon,” said Oisille, “you are departing from your own excellent
+custom so as to make yourself of like mind with your fellows; but there
+are women who have endured love and jealousy in patience.”
+
+“Ay,” said Hircan, “and pleasantly too; for the most sensible are those
+who take as much amusement in laughing at their husbands’ doings, as
+their husbands take in secretly deceiving them. If you will make it
+my turn, so that the Lady Oisille may close the day, I will tell you a
+story about a wife and her husband who are known to all of us here.”
+
+“Begin, then,” said Nomerfide; and Hircan, laughing, began thus:--
+
+
+[Illustration: 168.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 169a. The Wife discovering her Husband in the Hood of
+their Serving-maid]
+
+[The Wife discovering her Husband in the Hood of their Serving-maid]
+
+[Illustration: 169.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXIX_.
+
+     _On finding her husband bolting meal in the garb of her
+     serving-woman, whom he was awaiting in the hope that he
+     would obtain from her what he desired, a certain lady showed
+     such good sense that she was content to laugh and make merry
+     at his folly_.
+
+At the castle of Odoz (1) in Bigorre, there dwelt one Charles, equerry
+to the King and an Italian by birth, who had married a very virtuous
+and honourable woman. After bearing him many children, she was now
+grown old, whilst he also was not young. And he lived with her in all
+peacefulness and affection, for although he would at times speak with
+his serving-women, his excellent wife took no notice of this, but
+quietly dismissed them whenever she found that they were becoming too
+familiar in her house.
+
+     1  The scene of this tale is laid at the castle where
+     Margaret died. Ste. Marthe in his _Oraison funèbre_,
+     pronounced at Alençon fifteen days after the Queen’s death,
+     formally states that she expired at Odos near Tarbes. He is
+     not likely to have been mistaken, so that Brantome’s
+     assertion that the Queen died at Audos in Beam may be
+     accepted as incorrect (_ante_, vol. i. p. lxxxviii.). It is
+     further probable that the above tale was actually written at
+     Odos (_ante_, vol. i. p. lxxxvi.), but the authenticity of
+     the incidents is very doubtful, as there is an extremely
+     similar story in the _Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles_ (No, xvii.
+     _Le Conseiller au bluteau_), in which the hero of the
+     adventure is a “great clerk and knight who presided over the
+     Court of Accounts in Paris.” For subsequent imitations see
+     Malespini’s _Ducento Novelle_ (No. xcvii.) and _Les Joyeuses
+     Adventures et Nouvelles Recreations_ (No. xix.)--L. and Ed.
+
+One day she hired a discreet and worthy girl, telling her of her
+husband’s temper and her own, and how she was wont to turn away such
+girls whom she found to be wantons. This maid, wishing to continue in
+her mistress’s service and esteem, resolved to remain a virtuous woman;
+and although her master often spoke to her, she on her part gave no heed
+to his words save that she repeated them to her mistress, and they thus
+both derived much diversion from his folly.
+
+One day the maid was in a back room bolting meal, and wearing her
+“sarot,” a kind of hood which, after the fashion of that country, not
+only formed a coif but covered the whole of the back and shoulders. Her
+master, finding her in this trim, came and urged her very pressingly,
+and, although she would not have done such a thing even to save her
+life, she pretended to consent, and asked leave to go first and see
+whether her mistress was engaged in some such manner that they might not
+be surprised together. To this he agreed; whereupon she begged him to
+put her hood upon his head and to continue bolting whilst she was away,
+in order that her mistress might still hear the noise of the bolter. And
+this he gladly did, in the hope of obtaining what he sought.
+
+The maid, who was by no means inclined to melancholy, ran off to her
+mistress and said to her--
+
+“Come and see your good husband, whom I have taught to bolt in order to
+be rid of him.”
+
+The wife made all speed to behold this new serving-woman, and when she
+saw her husband with the hood upon his head and the bolter in his hands,
+she began to laugh so exceedingly, clapping her hands the while, that
+she was scarce able to say to him--
+
+“How much dost want a month, wench, for thy labour?”
+
+The husband, on hearing this voice, realised that he had been deceived,
+and, throwing down both what he was holding and wearing, he ran at the
+girl, calling her a thousand bad names. Had his wife not set herself in
+front of the maid, he would have given her wage enough for her quarter;
+but at last all was settled to the content of the parties concerned, and
+thenceforward they lived together without quarrelling. (2)
+
+     2  The Italian Charles, equerry to the King, to whom the
+     leading part is assigned in Queen Margaret’s tale, may have
+     been Charles de San Severino, who figures among the
+     equerries with a salary of 200 _livres_, in the roll of the
+     royal household for 1522. The San Severino family, one of
+     the most prominent of Naples, had attached itself to the
+     French cause at the time of the expedition of Charles VIII.,
+     whom several of its members followed to France. In 1522 we
+     find a “Monsieur de Saint-Severin” holding the office of
+     first _maître d’hôtel_ to Francis I., and over a course of
+     several years his son figures among the _enfants
+     d’honneur_.--B. J. and Ed.
+
+“What say you, ladies, of this wife? Was she not sensible to make sport
+of her husband’s sport?”
+
+“‘Twas no sport,” said Saffredent, “for the husband who failed in his
+purpose.”
+
+“I believe,” said Ennasuite, “that he had more delight in laughing with
+his wife, than at killing himself at his age with his serving-woman.”
+
+“Still, I should be sorely vexed,” said Simontault, “to be discovered so
+bravely coifed.”
+
+“I have heard,” said Parlamente, “that it was not your wife’s fault that
+she did not once discover you in very much the same attire in spite of
+all your craft, and that since then she has known no repose.”
+
+“Rest content with what befalls your own house,” said Simontault,
+“without inquiring into what befalls mine. Nevertheless, my wife has no
+reason to complain of me, and even did I act as you say, she would never
+have occasion to notice it through any lack of what she might need.”
+
+“Virtuous women,” said Longarine, “require nothing but the love of
+their husbands, which alone can satisfy them. Those who seek a brutish
+satisfaction will never find it where honour enjoins.”
+
+“Do you call it brutish,” asked Geburon, “if a wife desires that her
+husband should give her her due?”
+
+“I say,” said Longarine, “that a chaste woman, whose heart is filled
+with true love, is more content to be perfectly loved than to have all
+the delights that the body can desire.”
+
+“I am of your opinion,” said Dagoucin, “but my lords here will neither
+hear it nor confess it. I think if mutual love cannot satisfy a woman,
+her husband alone will not do so; for unless she live in the love
+that is honourable for a woman, she must be tempted by the infernal
+lustfulness of brutes.”
+
+“In truth,” said Oisille, “you remind me of a lady who was both handsome
+and well wedded, but who, through not living in that honourable love,
+became more carnal than swine and more cruel than lions.”
+
+“I ask you, madam,” said Simontault, “to end the day by telling us her
+story.”
+
+“That I cannot do,” said Oisille, “and for two reasons. The first is
+that it is exceedingly long; and the second, that it does not belong to
+our own day. It is written indeed by an author worthy of belief; but we
+are sworn to relate nothing that has been written.”
+
+“That is true,” said Parlamente; “but I believe I know the story you
+mean, and it is written in such old language that methinks no one
+present except ourselves has ever heard of it. It will therefore be
+looked upon as new.”
+
+Upon this the whole company begged her to tell it without fear for its
+length, seeing that a full hour was yet left before vespers. So, at
+their request, the Lady Oisille thus began:--
+
+
+[Illustration: 174.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 175a. The Gentleman Killing Himself on the Death of his Mistress]
+
+[The Gentleman Killing Himself on the Death of his Mistress]
+
+[Illustration: 175.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXX_.
+
+     _The Duchess of Burgundy, not content with the love that her
+     husband bore her, conceived so great an affection for a
+     young gentleman that, when looks and glances were not
+     sufficient to inform him of her passion, she declared it to
+     him in words which led to an evil ending_. (1)
+
+     1  This story is borrowed from an old _fabliau_, known under
+     the title of the _Châtelaine de Vergy_, which will be found
+     in the _Recueil de Barbazan_ (vol iv.) and in Legrand
+     d’Aussy’s _Fabliaux_ (vol iii.). Margaret calls the lady
+     Madame du Vergier (literally the lady of the orchard) in her
+     tale. Bandello imitated the same _fabliau_ in his _Novelle_
+     (1554; part iv. nov. v.), but gave it a different ending.
+     Belleforest subsequently adapted it for his _Histoires
+     Tragiques_. Margaret’s tale may also be compared with No.
+     lxii. of the _Cento Novelle antiche_, p. 84 of the edition
+     of Florence, 1825.--L. and M.
+
+In the Duchy of Burgundy there was a Duke who was a very honourable
+and handsome Prince. He had married a wife whose beauty pleased him so
+greatly that it kept him from knowledge of her character, and he took
+thought only how he might please her, whilst she made excellent show of
+returning his affection. Now the Duke had in his household a gentleman
+filled with all the perfection that could be sought for in a man. He
+was loved by all, more especially by the Duke, who had reared him
+from childhood near his own person; and, finding him possessed of such
+excellent qualities, the Duke loved him exceedingly and trusted him with
+all such matters as one of his years could understand.
+
+The Duchess, who had not the heart of a virtuous woman and Princess,
+and was not content with the love that her husband bore her and the good
+treatment that she had at his hands, often observed this gentleman,
+and so much to her liking did she find him, that she loved him beyond
+measure. This she strove unceasingly to make known to him, as well by
+soft and piteous glances as by sighs and passionate looks.
+
+But the gentleman, whose inclinations had ever been to virtue alone,
+could not perceive wickedness in a lady who had so little excuse for it,
+and so the glances and looks of the poor wanton bore no fruit save her
+own frenzied despair. This at last drove her to extremes, and forgetting
+that she was a woman fit to be entreated and yet to refuse, and a
+Princess made to be worshipped by such lovers and yet to hold them in
+scorn, she acted with the spirit of a man transported by passion, with a
+view to rid herself of the fire which she could no longer endure.
+
+Accordingly, one day when her husband was gone to the council, at which
+the gentleman by reason of his youth was not present, she beckoned him
+to come to her, which he did, thinking that she had some command to
+give him. But leaning on his arm, like a woman wearied with repose, she
+brought him to walk in a gallery, where she said to him--
+
+“I marvel that you who are so handsome and young, and full of excellent
+grace, have lived in this company, where are so many beautiful ladies,
+and yet have been lover or true knight to none.” Then, looking at him as
+graciously as she was able, she waited for his reply.
+
+“Madam,” he said, “if I were worthy that your Highness should stoop to
+think of me, you would have still greater reason to marvel at seeing a
+man so little worthy of love as I am, offer his service where it would
+be rejected or scorned.”
+
+On hearing this discreet reply, the Duchess felt she loved him more
+than before. She vowed to him that there was not a lady at her Court
+who would not be only too happy to have such a knight, and that he might
+well make an adventure of the sort, since there was no danger but he
+would come out of it with honour. The gentleman kept his eyes downcast,
+not daring to meet her looks, which were hot enough to melt ice; but,
+just as he was trying to excuse himself, the Duke sent for the Duchess
+to come to the council on some matter that concerned her, and thither
+with much regret she went. The gentleman never afterwards made the
+slightest sign of having understood a word of what she had said to him,
+at which she was exceedingly distressed and vexed; and she knew not to
+what cause to impute her failure, unless it were to the foolish fear of
+which she deemed the gentleman to be possessed.
+
+A few days afterwards, finding that he gave no sign of understanding
+what she had said, she resolved on her part to set aside all fear or
+shame, and to tell him of her love. She felt sure that beauty such as
+hers could not be otherwise than well received, although she would fain
+have had the honour of being wooed. However, she set her honour on one
+side for her pleasure’s sake, and after she had several times attempted
+the same fashion of discourse as at first, but without receiving any
+reply to her liking, she one day plucked the gentleman by the sleeve,
+and told him that she must speak to him on certain matters of weight.
+The gentleman went with the humility and reverence that were her due to
+a deep window into which she had withdrawn; and, on perceiving that
+no one in the room could see her, she began in a trembling voice,
+that halted between desire and fear, to continue her former discourse,
+rebuking him for not yet having chosen some lady in the company, and
+promising him that, no matter who it might be, she would help him to win
+kindly treatment.
+
+The gentleman, who was no less vexed than astonished by her words,
+replied--
+
+“Madam, my heart is so tender, that, were I once refused, I should never
+again have joy in this world; and I know myself to be of such little
+worth that no lady at this Court would deign to accept my suit.”
+
+The Duchess blushed, and, imagining that at last he was indeed won,
+vowed to him that she knew the most beautiful lady in the company
+would, if he were willing, joyfully receive him, and afford him perfect
+happiness.
+
+“Alas! madam,” he replied, “I do not think that there is any woman in
+this company so unfortunate and so blind as to find me worthy of her
+love.”
+
+The Duchess, finding that he would not understand her, drew the veil
+of her passion somewhat aside, and, by reason of the fears which the
+gentleman’s virtue caused her, spoke to him in the form of a question.
+
+“If fortune,” she said, “had so far favoured you that it was myself who
+bore you this goodwill, what would you say?”
+
+The gentleman, who thought that he was dreaming when he heard her speak
+in this wise, dropped on his knee, and replied--
+
+“Madam, when God by His favour enables me to have both the favour of
+the Duke, my master, and your own, I shall deem myself the happiest man
+alive; for ‘tis the reward I crave for the loyal service of one who,
+more than any other, is bound to give his life in the service of you
+both. And I am sure, madam, that the love you bear my Lord aforesaid is
+attended with such chastity and nobleness that, apart from myself,
+who am but a worm of the earth, not even the greatest Prince and most
+perfect man to be found could break the union that exists between you.
+For my own part, my Lord has brought me up from childhood, and made me
+what I am, and to save my life I could not entertain towards any wife,
+daughter, sister or mother of his any thought contrary to what is due
+from a loyal and faithful servant.”
+
+The Duchess would not allow him to continue, but finding that she was
+in danger of obtaining a dishonourable refusal, she suddenly interrupted
+him, and said--
+
+“Wicked and boastful fool, who seeks any such thing from you? Do you
+think that your good looks win you the love of the very flies in the
+air? Nay, if you were presumptuous enough to address yourself to me, I
+would show you that I love, and seek to love, none but my husband. What
+I have said to you was spoken only for my amusement, to try you and
+laugh at you, as I do at all foolish lovers.”
+
+“Madam,” said the gentleman, “I believed, and do still believe, that it
+is as you say.”
+
+Then, without listening further, she withdrew in haste to her own
+apartment, and, finding that she was followed by her ladies, went into
+her closet, where she sorrowed after a fashion that cannot be described.
+On the one part, the love wherein she had failed caused her mortal
+sadness; on the other, her anger, both against herself for having
+entered upon such foolish talk and against the gentleman for his
+discreet reply, drove her into such fury that at one moment she wished
+to make away with herself, and at another, to live that she might avenge
+herself on one whom she now regarded as her deadly enemy.
+
+When she had wept for a long while, she made pretence of being ill, in
+order that she might not be present at the Duke’s supper, at which the
+gentleman was commonly in waiting. The Duke, who loved his wife better
+than he did himself, came to see her; but the more effectually to work
+her end, she told him that she believed herself to be with child, and
+that her pregnancy had caused a rheum to come upon her eyes, which gave
+her much pain. So passed two or three days, during which the Duchess
+kept her bed in sadness and melancholy, until at last the Duke thought
+that something further must be the matter. He therefore came at night
+to sleep with her; but, finding that for all he could do he could in no
+sort check her sighs, he said to her--
+
+“You know, sweetheart, that I love you as dearly as my life, and that
+if yours were lacking I could not endure my own. If therefore you would
+preserve my health, I pray you tell me what causes you to sigh after
+this manner; for I cannot believe that such unhappiness can come only
+because you are with child.”
+
+The Duchess, finding that her husband was disposed to her just as she
+could have wished him to be, thought that the time was come to seek
+vengeance for her affliction; and embracing the Duke, she began to weep,
+and said--
+
+“Alas, my lord, my greatest unhappiness is to see you deceived by
+those on whom is so deep an obligation to guard your substance and your
+honour.”
+
+The Duke, on hearing this, was very desirous of knowing why she spoke
+in that manner, and earnestly begged her to make the truth known to him
+without fear. After refusing several times, she said--
+
+“I shall never wonder, my lord, that foreigners make war on Princes,
+when those who are in duty most bound to them, wage upon them a war so
+cruel that loss of territory were nothing in comparison. I say this,
+my lord, in reference to a certain gentleman” (naming her enemy) “who,
+though reared by your own hand and treated more like a son than a
+servant, has made a cruel and base attempt to ruin the honour of your
+wife, in which is also bound up the honour of your house and your
+children. Although for a long time he showed me such looks as pointed to
+his wicked purpose, yet my heart, which only cares for you, understood
+nothing of them; and so at last he declared himself in words to which
+I returned a reply such as beseemed my condition and my chastity.
+Nevertheless, I now so hate him that I cannot endure to look at him,
+and for this cause I have continued in my own apartment and lost the
+happiness of fellowship with you. I entreat you, my lord, keep not this
+pestilence near your person; for, after such a crime, he might fear lest
+I should tell you of it, and so attempt worse. This, my lord, is the
+cause of my sorrow, and methinks it were right and fitting that you
+should deal with it forthwith.”
+
+The Duke, who on the one hand loved his wife and felt himself grievously
+affronted, and on the other loved his servant, whose faithfulness he had
+so fully tried that he could scarce believe this falsehood against him,
+was in great distress and filled with anger. Repairing to his own room,
+he sent word to the gentleman to come no more into his presence, but to
+withdraw to his lodging for a time. The gentleman, being ignorant of the
+cause of this, was grieved exceedingly, for he knew that he had deserved
+the opposite of such unworthy treatment. Aware, then, of his own
+innocence in heart and deed, he sent a comrade to speak to the Duke and
+take him a letter, humbly entreating that if any evil report had caused
+his banishment, his master would be pleased to suspend judgment until he
+had heard from himself the truth of the matter, when it would be found
+that he had been guilty of no offence.
+
+When the Duke saw this letter, his anger was somewhat abated. He
+secretly sent for the gentleman to his own room, and with wrathful
+countenance said--
+
+“I could never have thought that the care I took to rear you as my own
+child would be changed into regret at having so highly advanced you;
+but you have attempted what was more hurtful to me than loss of life
+or substance, and have sought to assail the honour of one who is half
+myself, and so bring infamy on my house and name. You may be assured
+that this outrage is so wounding to my heart that, were it not for my
+doubt whether it be true or not, you would have already been at the
+bottom of the water, and so have received in secret due punishment for
+the wrong that in secret you intended against me.”
+
+The gentleman was in no wise dismayed by this discourse, but, ignorant
+as he was of the truth, spoke forth with confidence and entreated the
+Duke to name his accuser, since such a charge should be justified rather
+with the lance than with the tongue.
+
+“Your accuser,” said the Duke, “carries no weapon but chastity. Know,
+then, that none other but my wife has told me this, and she begged me to
+take vengeance upon you.”
+
+The poor gentleman, though he then perceived the lady’s great
+wickedness, would not accuse her.
+
+“My lord,” he replied, “my lady may say what she will. You know her
+better than I do, and you are aware if ever I saw her when out of your
+sight, save only on one occasion, when she spoke but little with me.
+You have, moreover, as sound a judgment as any Prince alive; wherefore I
+pray you, my lord, judge whether you have ever seen aught in me to cause
+any suspicion; and remember love is a fire that cannot be hidden so as
+never to be known of by those who have had a like distemper. So I pray
+you, my lord, to believe two things of me: first, that my loyalty to you
+is such that were my lady, your wife, the fairest being in the world,
+love would never avail to make me stain my honour and fidelity; and
+secondly, that even were she not your wife, I should be least in love
+with her of all the women I have ever known, since there are many others
+to whom I would sooner plight my troth.”
+
+On hearing these words of truth, the Duke began to be softened, and
+said--
+
+“I assure you, on my part, that I did not believe it. Do, therefore,
+according to your wont, in the assurance that, if I find the truth to be
+on your side, I will love you yet better than before. But if it be not
+so, your life is in my hands.”
+
+The gentleman thanked him and offered to submit to any pain or penalty
+if he were found guilty.
+
+The Duchess, on seeing the gentleman again in waiting as had formerly
+been his wont, could not endure it in patience, but said to her
+husband--
+
+“‘Twould be no more than you deserve, my lord, if you were poisoned,
+since you put more trust in your deadly enemies than in your friends.”
+
+“I pray you, sweetheart, do not torment yourself in this matter,” said
+the Duke. “If I find that you have told me true, I promise you he shall
+not live four and twenty hours. But he has sworn to the contrary, and I
+have myself never perceived any such fault, and so I cannot believe it
+without complete proof.”
+
+“In good sooth, my lord,” she replied, “your goodness renders his
+wickedness the greater. What more complete proof would you have than
+this, that no love affair has ever been imputed to him? Believe me, my
+lord, were it not for the lofty purpose that he took into his head of
+being my lover, he would not have continued so long without a mistress;
+for never did a young man live solitary as he does in such good company,
+unless he had fixed his heart so high as to be content merely with his
+own vain hope. Since, then, you think that he is not hiding the truth
+from you, put him, I beg you, on oath as regards his love. If he loves
+another, I am content that you should believe him, and if not, you will
+know that what I say is true.”
+
+The Duke thought his wife’s reasonings very good, and, taking the
+gentleman into the country with him, said--
+
+“My wife continues still of the same mind, and has set before me an
+argument that causes me grave suspicion against you. It is deemed
+strange that you who are so gallant and young have never been known to
+love, and this makes me think that you have such affection for her as
+she says, and that the hope it gives you renders you content to think
+of no other woman. As a friend, therefore, I pray you, and as a master I
+command you to tell me whether you are in love with any lady on earth.”
+
+Although the gentleman would have fain concealed his passion yet as
+he loved his life, he was obliged, on seeing his master’s jealousy, to
+swear to him that he did indeed love one whose beauty was so great, that
+the beauty of the Duchess or of any lady of the Court would be simply
+ugliness beside it. But he entreated that he might never be compelled to
+name her, since the agreement between himself and his sweetheart was of
+such a nature that it could not be broken excepting by whichever of them
+should be the first to make it known.
+
+The Duke promised not to urge him, and being quite satisfied with him,
+treated him with more kindness than ever before. The Duchess perceived
+this, and set herself with her wonted craft to find out the reason.
+The Duke did not hide it from her; whereupon strong jealousy sprang up
+beside her desire for vengeance, and she begged her husband to command
+the gentleman to name his sweetheart. She assured him that the story was
+a lie, and that the course she urged was the best means of testing
+it. If the gentleman, said she, did not name her whom he deemed so
+beautiful, and his master believed him on his mere word, he would indeed
+be the most foolish Prince alive.
+
+The poor Duke, whose wife directed his thoughts at her pleasure, went to
+walk alone with the gentleman, and told him that he was in even greater
+trouble than before; for he was greatly minded to believe that he had
+been given an excuse to keep him from suspecting the truth. This was a
+greater torment to him than ever; and he therefore begged the gentleman,
+as earnestly as he was able, to name her whom he loved so dearly. The
+poor gentleman entreated that he might not be made to commit so great
+an offence against his mistress as to break the promise he had given her
+and had kept so long, and thus lose in a day all that he had preserved
+for seven years. And he added that he would rather suffer death than in
+this wise wrong one who had been true to him.
+
+The Duke, finding that he would not tell him, became deeply jealous, and
+with a wrathful countenance exclaimed--
+
+“Well, choose one of two things: either tell me whom you love more than
+any other, or else go into banishment from the territories over which
+I rule, under pain of a cruel death if you be found within them after a
+week is over.”
+
+If ever heart of loyal servant was torn with anguish, it was so with
+that of this poor gentleman, who might well have said, _Angustiæ sunt
+mihi undique_, for on the one part he saw that by telling the truth
+he would lose his mistress, if she learned that he had failed in his
+promise to her; while, if he did not confess it, he would be banished
+from the land in which she dwelt, and be no more able to see her. Hard
+pressed in this manner on all sides, there came upon him a cold sweat,
+as on one whose sorrow was bringing him near to death. The Duke,
+observing his looks, concluded that he loved no other lady than the
+Duchess, and was enduring this suffering because he was able to name
+none other. He therefore said to him with considerable harshness--
+
+“If what you say were true, you would not have so much trouble in
+telling me; but methinks ‘tis your crime that is tormenting you.”
+
+The gentleman, piqued by these words, and impelled by the love that he
+bore his master, resolved to tell him the truth, believing that he was
+too honourable a man ever, on any account, to reveal it. Accordingly,
+throwing himself upon his knees, and clasping his hands, he said--
+
+“My lord, the duty that I owe to you and the love that I bear you
+constrain me more than the fear of any death. I can see that you imagine
+and judge falsely concerning me, and, to take this trouble from you, I
+am resolved to do that to which no torment had compelled me. But I pray
+you, my lord, swear to me by the honour of God, and promise me by your
+own faith as a Prince and a Christian, that you will never reveal the
+secret which, since it so pleases you, I am obliged to tell.”
+
+Upon this the Duke swore to him with all the oaths he could think of
+that he would never reveal aught of it to any living being, whether by
+speech, or writing, or feature. Then the young man, feeling confidence
+in so virtuous a Prince as he knew his master to be, began the building
+up of his misfortune, and said--
+
+“It is now seven years, my lord, since knowing your niece, the Lady
+du Vergier, to be a widow and without kindred, I set myself to win her
+favour. But, since I was of too lowly a birth to wed her, I contented
+myself with being received by her as her true knight, as indeed I have
+been. And it has pleased God that the affair has hitherto been contrived
+with much discretion, so that neither man nor woman knows of it save
+ourselves alone, and now, my lord, you also. I place my life and honour
+in your hands, entreating you to keep the matter secret and to esteem
+your niece none the less; for I think that under heaven there is no more
+perfect being.”
+
+If ever man was rejoiced it was the Duke, for, knowing as he did the
+exceeding beauty of his niece, he now had no doubt that she was more
+pleasing than his wife. However, being unable to understand how so great
+a mystery could have been contrived, he begged the gentleman to tell
+him how it was that he was able to see her. The gentleman related to him
+then that his lady’s chamber looked upon a garden, and that, on the days
+when he was to visit her, a little gate was left open through which he
+went in on foot until he heard the barking of a little dog which the
+lady used to loose in the garden when all her women were withdrawn. Then
+he went and conversed with her all night long, and, in parting from
+her, would appoint a day on which he would return; and this appointment,
+unless for some weighty reason, he never failed to keep. The Duke, who
+was the most inquisitive man alive, and who had made love in no small
+degree in his day, wished both to satisfy his suspicions and to fully
+understand so strange a business; and he therefore begged the gentleman
+to take him, not as a master but as a companion, the next time he went
+thither. To this the gentleman, having gone so far already, consented,
+saying that he had an appointment for that very day; at which the Duke
+was as glad as if he had gained a kingdom. Making pretence of retiring
+to rest in his closet, he caused two horses to be brought for himself
+and the gentleman, and they travelled all night long from Argilly, where
+the Duke lived, to Le Vergier. (2)
+
+     2  At Argilly the Dukes of Burgundy had a castle, which was
+     destroyed during the religious wars at the close of the
+     sixteenth century. The place is now a small village in the
+     arrondissement of Nuits, Côte d’Or. As the crow flies, it is
+     some ten miles distant from the ruins of the castle of
+     Vergy, which stands on a steep height, at an altitude of
+     over 1600 ft., within five miles from Nuits. The castle,
+     which can only be reached on one side of the hill, by a
+     narrow, winding and precipitous pathway, is known to have
+     been in existence already in the tenth century, when the
+     Lords of Vergy were Counts of Chalons, Beaune, and Nuits.
+     They appear to have engaged in a struggle for supremacy with
+     the princes of the first Ducal house of Burgundy, but in
+     1193 Alix de Vergy espoused Duke Eudes III., to whom she
+     brought, as dower, the greater part of the paternal
+     inheritance. The castle of Vergy was dismantled by Henry
+     IV., and the existing ruins are of small extent. Some
+     antiquaries believe the fortress to have been originally
+     built by the Romans.--B.J. and L.
+
+Then they left their horses without the wall, and the gentleman brought
+the Duke into the garden through the little gate, begging him to remain
+behind a walnut-tree, whence he might see whether he had been told the
+truth or not.
+
+They had been but a short time in the garden when the little dog began
+to bark, and the gentleman walked towards the tower, where his lady
+failed not to come and meet him. She kissed him, saying that it seemed
+a thousand years since she had seen him, and then they went into the
+chamber and shut the door behind them.
+
+Having seen the whole of the mystery, the Duke felt more than satisfied.
+Nor had he a great while to wait, for the gentleman told his mistress
+that he must needs return sooner than was his wont, since the Duke was
+to go hunting at four o’clock, and he durst not fail to attend him.
+
+The lady, who set honour before delight, would not keep him from
+fulfilling his duty; for what she prized most in their honourable
+affection was that it was kept secret from all.
+
+So the gentleman departed an hour after midnight, and his lady in cloak
+and kerchief went with him, yet not so far as she wished, for, fearing
+lest she should meet the Duke, he obliged her to return. Then he
+mounted with the Duke and returned to the castle of Argilly, his master
+unceasingly swearing to him on the way that he would die rather than
+ever reveal his secret. Moreover, he then put so much trust in the
+gentleman, and had so much love for him, that no one in his Court stood
+higher in his favour. The Duchess grew furious at this, but the Duke
+forbade her ever to speak to him about the gentleman again, saying that
+he now knew the truth about him and was well pleased, since the lady
+in question was more worthy of love than herself. These words deeply
+pierced the heart of the Duchess, and she fell into a sickness that was
+worse than fever.
+
+The Duke went to see her in order to comfort her, but there was no
+means of doing this except by telling her the name of this beautiful and
+dearly loved lady. She pressed him urgently to do this, until at last
+the Duke went out of the room, saying--
+
+“If you speak to me again after this fashion, we shall part one from the
+other.”
+
+These words increased the sickness of the Duchess, and she pretended
+that she felt her infant stirring, at which the Duke was so rejoiced
+that he came and lay beside her. But, just when she saw him most loving
+towards her, she turned away, and said--
+
+“I pray you, my lord, since you have no love for either wife or child,
+leave us to die together.”
+
+With these words she gave vent to many tears and lamentations, and the
+Duke was in great fear lest she should lose her child. He therefore took
+her in his arms and begged her to tell him what she would have, since he
+possessed nothing that was not also hers.
+
+“Ah, my lord,” she replied, weeping, “what hope can I have that you
+would do a hard thing for me, when you will not do the easiest and most
+reasonable in the world, which is to name to me the mistress of the
+wickedest servant you ever had? I thought that you and I had but one
+heart, one soul, and one flesh. But now I see that you look upon me as
+a stranger, seeing that your secrets, which should be known to me, are
+hidden from me as though I were a stranger. Alas! my lord, you have told
+me many weighty and secret matters, of which you have never known me to
+speak, you have proved my will to be like to your own, and you cannot
+doubt but that I am less myself than you. And if you have sworn never to
+tell the gentleman’s secret to another, you will not break your oath in
+telling it to me, for I am not and cannot be other than yourself. I have
+you in my heart, I hold you in my arms, I have in my womb a child in
+whom you live, and yet I may not have your heart as you have mine. The
+more faithful and true I am to you, the more cruel and stern are you to
+me, so that a thousand times a day do I long by a sudden death to rid
+my child of such a father and myself of such a husband. And I hope that
+this will be ere long, since you set a faithless servant before a wife
+such as 1 am to you, and before the life of the mother of your child,
+which will perish because I cannot have of you that which I most desire
+to know.”
+
+So saying, she embraced and kissed her husband, and watered his face
+with her tears, uttering the while such lamentations and sighs that the
+good Prince feared to lose wife and child together, and resolved to tell
+her all the truth of the matter. Nevertheless, he first swore to her
+that if ever she revealed it to a living being she should die by his
+own hand; and she agreed to and accepted this punishment. Then the poor,
+deceived husband told her all that he had seen from beginning to end,
+and she made show of being well pleased. In her heart she was minded
+very differently, but through fear of the Duke she concealed her passion
+as well as she was able.
+
+Now on a certain great feast-day the Duke held his Court, to which he
+had bidden all the ladies of that country, and among the rest his
+niece. When the dances began, all did their duty save the Duchess, who,
+tormented by the sight of her niece’s beauty and grace, could neither
+make merry nor prevent her spleen from being perceived. At last she
+called all the ladies, and making them scat themselves around her, began
+to talk of love; and seeing that the Lady du Vergier said nothing, she
+asked her, with a heart which jealousy was rending--
+
+“And you, fair niece, is it possible that your beauty has found no lover
+or true knight?”
+
+“Madam,” replied the Lady du Vergier, “my beauty has not yet made such
+a conquest. Since my husband’s death I have sought to love none but his
+children, with whom I deem myself happy.”
+
+“Fair niece, fair niece,” replied the Duchess, with hateful spleen,
+“there is no love so secret that it is not known, and no little dog so
+well broken in and trained that it cannot be heard to bark.”
+
+I leave you to imagine, ladies, what sorrow the poor Lady du Vergier
+felt in her heart on finding a matter, so long concealed, thus made
+known to her great dishonour. Her honour, which had been so carefully
+guarded and was now wofully lost, tortured her, but still more so her
+suspicion that her lover had failed in his promise to her. This she did
+not think he could have done, unless it were that he loved some lady
+fairer than herself, to whom his love had constrained him to make the
+whole matter known. Yet so great was her discretion that she gave no
+sign, but replied laughing to the Duchess that she did not understand
+the language of animals. However, beneath this prudent concealment her
+heart was filled with sadness, so that she rose up, and, passing out of
+the chamber, entered a closet in sight of the Duke, who was walking up
+and down.
+
+Having thus reached a place where she believed herself to be alone, the
+poor lady let herself fall helplessly upon a bed, whereat a damsel, who
+had sat down beside it to sleep, rose up and drew back the curtains
+to see who this might be. Finding that it was the Lady du Vergier,
+who believed herself to be alone, she durst say nothing to her, but
+listened, making as little noise as she was able. And in a stifled voice
+the poor Lady du Vergier began to lament, saying--
+
+“O unhappy one, what words have I heard? to what decree of death have I
+hearkened? what final sentence have I received? O best beloved of men,
+is this the reward of my chaste, honourable and virtuous love? O my
+heart, hast thou made so parlous an election, and chosen for the
+most loyal the most faithless, for the truest the most false, for the
+discreetest the most slanderous? Alas! can it be that a thing hidden
+from every human eye has been revealed to the Duchess? Alas, my little
+dog, so well taught and the sole instrument of my love and virtuous
+affection, it was not you who betrayed me, it was he whose voice is
+louder than a dog’s bark, and whose heart is more thankless than any
+brute’s. Tis he who, contrary to his oath and promise, has made known
+the happy life which, wronging none, we so long have led together. O my
+beloved, the love of whom alone has entered into my heart, and preserved
+my life, must you now be declared my deadly foe, while mine honour is
+given to the winds, my body to the dust, and my soul to its everlasting
+abode? Is the beauty of the Duchess so exceeding great that, like the
+beauty of Circe, it has bewitched and transformed you? Has she turned
+you from virtue to vice, from goodness to wickedness, from being a man
+to be a beast of prey? O my beloved, though you have failed in your
+promise to me, yet will I keep mine to you, and, now that our love has
+been revealed, will never see you more. Nevertheless, I cannot live
+without your presence, and so I gladly yield to my exceeding sorrow, and
+will seek for it no cure either in reason or in medicine. Death alone
+shall end it, and death will be sweeter to me than life on earth without
+lover, honour or happiness. Neither war nor death has robbed me of my
+lover; no sin or fault of mine has robbed me of my honour; neither error
+nor demerit of mine has made me lose my joy. ‘Tis cruel fate that
+has rendered the most favoured of men thankless, and has caused me to
+receive the contrary of that which I deserved.
+
+“Ah, my Lady Duchess, what delight it was to you to taunt me with my
+little dog! Rejoice, then, in the happiness you owe to me alone; taunt
+her who thought by careful concealment and virtuous love to be free from
+any taunt. Ah! how those words have bruised my heart! how they have made
+me blush for shame and pale for jealousy! Alas, my heart, I feel that
+thou art indeed undone! The wicked love that has discovered me burns
+thee; jealousy of thee and evil intent towards thee are to thee as ice
+and death; while wrath and sorrow do not suffer me to comfort thee.
+Alas, poor soul, that in adoring the creature didst forget the Creator,
+thou must return into the hands of Him from whom vain love tore thee
+away. Have trust, my soul, that thou wilt find in Him a Father kinder
+than was the lover for whose sake thou hast so often forgotten Him. O my
+God, my Creator, Thou who art the true and perfect love, by whose grace
+the love I bore to my beloved has been stained by no blemish save
+that of too great an affection, I implore Thee in mercy to receive the
+soul-and spirit of one who repents that she has broken thy first and
+most just commandment. And, through the merits of Him whose love passeth
+all understanding, forgive the error into which excess of love has led
+me, for in Thee alone do I put my perfect trust. And farewell, O my
+beloved, whose empty name doth break my very heart.”
+
+With these words she fell backward, and her face grew pallid, her lips
+blue, and her extremities cold.
+
+Just at this moment the gentleman she loved came into the hall, and,
+seeing the Duchess dancing with the ladies, looked everywhere for his
+sweetheart. Not finding her, he went into the chamber of the Duchess,
+and there found the Duke, who was walking up and down, and who, guessing
+his purpose, whispered in his ear--
+
+“She went into that closet, and methought she was ill.”
+
+The gentleman asked whether he would be pleased to let him go in, and
+the Duke begged him to do so. When he entered the closet he found the
+Lady du Vergier, come to the last stage of her mortal life; whereat,
+throwing his arms about her, he said--
+
+“What is this, sweetheart? Would you leave me?”
+
+The poor lady, hearing the voice that she knew so well, recovered a
+little strength and opened her eyes to look upon him who was the cause
+of her death; but at this look her love and anguish waxed so great that,
+with a piteous sigh, she yielded up her soul to God.
+
+The gentleman, more dead than the dead woman herself, asked the damsel
+who was there how this sickness had come upon his sweetheart, and she
+told him all the words that she had heard. Then the gentleman knew that
+the Duke had revealed the secret to his wife, and felt such frenzy that,
+whilst embracing his sweetheart’s body, he for a long time watered it
+with his tears, saying--
+
+“O traitorous, wicked and unhappy lover that I am! why has not the
+punishment of my treachery fallen upon me, and not upon her who is
+innocent? Why was I not struck by a bolt from heaven on the day when my
+tongue revealed the secret and virtuous love between us? Why did not
+the earth open to swallow up this traitor to his troth? O tongue, mayest
+thou be punished as was the tongue of the wicked rich man in hell!
+
+“O heart, too fearful of death and banishment, mayest thou be torn
+continually by eagles as was the heart of Ixion! (3)
+
+     3  Queen Margaret’s memory plainly failed her here.--Ed.
+
+“Alas, sweetheart, the greatest of all the greatest woes has fallen upon
+me! I thought to keep you, but I have lost you; I thought to see you for
+a long time and to abide with you in sweet and honourable content, yet
+now I embrace your dead body, and you passed away in sore displeasure
+with me, with my heart and with my tongue. O most loyal and faithful of
+women, I do confess myself the most disloyal, fickle and faithless of
+all men. Gladly would I complain of the Duke in whose promise I trusted,
+hoping thus to continue our happy life; but alas! I should have known
+that none could keep our secret better than I kept it myself. The Duke
+had more reason in telling his secret to his wife than I in telling mine
+to him. I accuse none but myself of the greatest wickedness that was
+ever done between lovers. I ought to have submitted to be cast into the
+moat as he threatened to do with me; at least, sweetheart, you would
+then have lived in widowhood and I have died a glorious death in
+observing the law that true love enjoins. But through breaking it I am
+now in life, and you, through perfectness of love, are dead; for your
+pure, clear heart could not bear to know the wickedness of your lover.
+
+“O my God! why didst Thou endow me with so light a love and so ignorant
+a heart? Why didst thou not create me as the little dog that faithfully
+served his mistress? Alas, my little friend, the joy your bark was wont
+to give me is turned to deadly sorrow, now that another than we twain
+has heard your voice. Yet, sweetheart, neither the love of the Duchess
+nor of any living woman turned me aside, though indeed that wicked one
+did often ask and entreat me. ‘Twas by my ignorance, which thought to
+secure our love for ever, that I was overcome. Yet for that ignorance am
+I none the less guilty; for I revealed my sweetheart’s secret and broke
+my promise to her, and for this cause alone do I see her lying dead
+before my eyes. Alas, sweetheart, death will to me be less cruel than
+to you, whose love has ended your innocent life. Methinks it would not
+deign to touch my faithless and miserable heart; for life with dishonour
+and the memory of that which I have lost through guilt would be harder
+to bear than ten thousand deaths. Alas, sweetheart, had any dared to
+slay you through mischance or malice, I should quickly have clapped hand
+to sword to avenge you; ‘tis therefore right that I should not pardon
+the murderer who has caused your death by a more wicked act than any
+sword-thrust. Did I know a viler executioner than myself, I would
+entreat him to put your traitorous lover to death. O Love! I have
+offended thee from not having known how to love, and therefore thou wilt
+not succour me as thou didst succour her who kept all thy laws. ‘Tis not
+right that I should die after so honourable a manner; but ‘tis well that
+I should die by mine own hand. I have washed your face, sweet, with my
+tears, and with my tongue have craved your forgiveness; and now it only
+remains for my hand to make my body like unto yours, and send my soul
+whither yours will go, in the knowledge that a virtuous and honourable
+love can never end, whether in this world or in the next.”
+
+Rising up from the body he then, like a frenzied man beside himself,
+drew his dagger and with great violence stabbed himself to the heart.
+Then he again took his sweetheart in his arms, kissing her with such
+passion that it seemed as though he were seized rather with love than
+with death.
+
+The damsel, seeing him deal himself the blow, ran to the door and called
+for help. The Duke, on hearing the outcry, suspected misfortune to those
+he loved, and was the first to enter the closet, where he beheld the
+piteous pair. He sought to separate them, and, if it were possible, to
+save the gentleman; but the latter clasped his sweetheart so fast that
+he could not be taken from her until he was dead. Nevertheless he heard
+the Duke speaking to him and saying--“Alas! what is the cause of this?”
+ To which, with a glance of fury, he replied--“My tongue, my lord, and
+yours.” So saying, he died, with his face close pressed to that of his
+mistress.
+
+The Duke, wishing to know more of the matter, made the damsel tell him
+what she had seen and heard; and this she did at full length, sparing
+nothing. Then the Duke, finding that he was himself the cause of all
+this woe, threw himself upon the two dead lovers, and, with great
+lamentation and weeping, kissed both of them several times and asked
+their forgiveness. And after that he rose up in fury, and drew the
+dagger from the gentleman’s body; and, just as a wild boar, wounded with
+a spear, rushes headlong against him that has dealt the blow, so did the
+Duke now seek out her who had wounded him to the bottom of his soul. He
+found her dancing in the hall, and more merry than was her wont at
+the thought of the excellent vengeance she had wreaked on the Lady du
+Vergier.
+
+The Duke came upon her in the midst of the dance, and said--
+
+“You took the secret upon your life, and upon your life shall fall the
+punishment.”
+
+So saying, he seized her by the head-dress and stabbed her with the
+dagger in the breast. All the company were astonished, and it was
+thought that the Duke was out of his mind; but, having thus worked his
+will, he brought all his retainers together in the hall and told them
+the virtuous and pitiful story of his niece, and the evil that his wife
+had wrought her. And those who were present wept whilst they listened.
+
+Then the Duke ordered that his wife should be buried in an abbey which
+he founded partly to atone for the sin that he had committed in killing
+her; and he caused a beautiful tomb to be built, in which the bodies of
+his niece and the gentleman were laid together, with an epitaph setting
+forth their tragic story. And the Duke undertook an expedition against
+the Turks, in which God so favoured him, that he brought back both
+honour and profit. On his return, he found his eldest son now able to
+govern his possessions, and so left all to him, and went and became a
+monk in the abbey where his wife and the two lovers were buried. And
+there did he spend his old age happily with God.
+
+“Such, ladies, is the story which you begged me to relate, and which,
+as I can see from your eyes, you have not heard without compassion. It
+seems to me that you should take example by it, and beware of placing
+your affections upon men; for, however honourable or virtuous these
+affections may be, in the end they have always an aftertaste of evil.
+You see how St. Paul would not that even married people should so
+deeply love each other; (4) for the more our hearts are set upon earthly
+things, the more remote are they from heavenly affection, and the harder
+is the tie to be broken. I therefore pray you, ladies, ask God for His
+Holy Spirit, who will so fire your hearts with the love of God, that
+when death comes, you will not be pained at leaving that which you love
+too well in this world.”
+
+     4  I _Corinthians_ vii. 32-5.--M.
+
+“If their love,” said Geburon, “was as honourable as you describe, why
+was it needful to keep it so secret?”
+
+“Because,” said Parlamente, “the wickedness of men is so great, that
+they can never believe deep love to be allied with honour, but judge
+men and women to be wicked according to their own passions. Hence, if a
+woman has a dear friend other than one of her nearest kinsfolk, she must
+speak with him in secret if she would speak long with him; for a woman’s
+honour is attacked, whether she love virtuously or viciously, since
+people judge only from appearances.”
+
+“But,” said Geburon, “when a secret of that kind is revealed, people
+think far worse of it.”
+
+“I grant you that,” said Longarine; “and so it is best not to love at
+all.”
+
+“We appeal from that sentence,” said Dagoucin, “for, did we believe the
+ladies to be without love, we would fain be ourselves without life. I
+speak of those who live but to win love: and, even if they secure it
+not, yet the hope of it sustains them and prompts them to do a thousand
+honourable deeds, until old age changes their fair sufferings to other
+pains. But, did we think that ladies were without love, it were needful
+we should turn traders instead of soldiers, and instead of winning fame,
+think only of hea’ping up riches.”
+
+“You would say, then,” said Hircan, “that, were there no women, we
+should all be dastards, as though we had no courage save such as they
+put into us. But I am of quite the opposite opinion, and hold that
+nothing weakens a man’s courage so much as to consort with women or love
+them too much. For this reason the Jews would not suffer a man to go to
+the war within a year after his marriage, lest love for his wife should
+draw him back from the dangers that he ought to seek.” (5)
+
+     5  See _Deuteronomy_ xx. 5, 6, 7; and the comments thereon
+     of Rabelais (book iii. ch. vi.).--M.
+
+“I consider that law,” said Saffredent, “to have been without reason,
+for nothing will more readily make a man leave his home than marriage.
+The war without is not harder of endurance than the war within; and I
+think that, to make men desirous of going into foreign lands instead of
+lingering by their hearths, it were only needful to marry them.”
+
+“It is true,” said Ennasuite, “that marriage takes from them the care
+of their houses; for they trust in their wives, and for their own part
+think only of winning fame, feeling certain that their wives will give
+due heed to the profit.”
+
+“However that may be,” replied Saffredent, “I am glad that you are of my
+opinion.”
+
+“But,” said Parlamente, “you are not discussing what is chiefly to be
+considered, and that is why the gentleman, who was the cause of all the
+misfortune, did not as quickly die of grief as she who was innocent.”
+
+Nomerfide replied--
+
+“‘Twas because women love more truly than men.”
+
+“Nay,” said Simontault, “‘twas because the jealousy and spitefulness of
+women make them die without knowing the reason, whereas men are led by
+their prudence to inquire into the truth of the matter. When this has
+been learnt through their sound sense, they display their courage, as
+this gentleman did; for, as soon as he understood the reason of his
+sweetheart’s misfortune, he showed how truly he loved her and did not
+spare his own life.”
+
+“Yet,” said Ennasuite, “she died of true love, for her steadfast and
+loyal heart could not endure to be so deceived.”
+
+“It was her jealousy,” said Simontault, “which would not yield to
+reason, so that she believed evil of her lover of which he was not
+guilty at all. Moreover, her death was matter of necessity, for she
+could not prevent it, whilst her lover’s death was voluntary, after he
+had recognised his own wrongdoing.”
+
+“Still,” said Nomerfide, “the love must needs be great that causes such
+deep sorrow.”
+
+“Have no fear of it,” said Hircan, “for you will never die of that kind
+of fever.”
+
+“Nor,” said Nomerfide, “will you ever kill yourself after recognising
+your error.”
+
+Here Parlamente, who suspected that the dispute was being carried on at
+her own expense, said, laughing--
+
+“‘Tis enough that two persons should have died of love, without two
+others fighting for the same cause. And there is the last bell sounding
+for vespers, which will have us gone whether you be willing or not.”
+
+By her advice the whole company then rose and went to hear vespers, not
+forgetting in their fervent prayers the souls of those true lovers, for
+whom, also, the monks, of their charity, said a _De profundis_. As long
+as supper lasted there was no talk save of the Lady du Vergier, and
+then, when they had spent a little time together, they withdrew to their
+several apartments, and so brought to an end the Seventh Day.
+
+
+[Illustration: 213.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+
+
+
+EIGHTH DAY.
+
+_On the Eighth Day relation is made of the greatest yet truest follies
+that each can remember_.
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE.
+
+When morning was come they inquired whether their bridge (1) were being
+well advanced, and found that it might be finished in two or three days.
+These were not welcome tidings to some among the company, for they
+would gladly have had the work last a longer time, so as to prolong
+the happiness that they enjoyed in this pleasant mode of life. Finding,
+however, that only two or three such days were left, they resolved to
+turn them to account, and begged the Lady Oisille to give them their
+spiritual nourishment as had been her wont. This she forthwith did,
+but she detained them longer than usual, for before setting forth she
+desired to finish reading the canonical writings of St. John; and so
+well did she acquit herself of this, that it seemed as if the Holy
+Spirit in all His love and sweetness spoke by her mouth. Glowing with
+this heavenly flame, they went to hear high mass, and afterwards dined
+together, again speaking of the past day, and doubting whether they
+could make another as fair.
+
+     1  The allusion is to the bridge over the Gave spoken of in
+     the General Prologue (_ante_, vol. i. p. 25-6).--M.
+
+In order to set about it, they retired to their own rooms until it was
+time to repair to their Chamber of Accounts on the Board of Green Grass,
+where they found the monks already arrived and in their places.
+
+When all were seated, the question was put, who should begin; and
+Saffredent said--
+
+“You did me the honour to have me begin on two days. Methinks we should
+act wrongly towards the ladies if one of them did not also begin on
+two.”
+
+“It were then needful,” said the Lady Oisille, “either that we should
+continue here for a great while, or else that a gentleman and a lady of
+the company should forego the beginning of a day.”
+
+“For my part,” said Dagoucin, “had I been chosen, I would have given my
+place to Saffredent.”
+
+“And I,” said Nomerfide, “to Parlamente, for I have been so wont to
+serve that I know not how to command.”
+
+To this all agreed, and Parlamente thus began--
+
+“Ladies, the days that are past have been filled with so many tales of
+wisdom, that I would beg you to fill this one with the greatest (yet
+most real) follies that we can remember. So, to lead the way, I will
+begin.”
+
+
+[Illustration: 219a. The Saddler’s Wife Cured by the sight of her Husband
+Caressing the Serving-maid]
+
+[The Saddler’s Wife Cured by the sight of her Husband Caressing the
+Serving-maid]
+
+[Illustration: 219.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXXI_.
+
+     _A saddler’s wife, who was grievously sick, was made whole
+     and recovered the power of speech, which for the space of
+     two days site had lost, on seeing her husband holding his
+     serving-maid too familiarly on the bed whilst she herself
+     was drawing to her end_.
+
+In the town of Amboise there lived one Brimbaudier, (1) saddler to the
+Queen of Navarre, and a man whose colour of feature showed him to be
+by nature rather a servant of Bacchus than a priest of Diana. He had
+married a virtuous woman who controlled his household very discreetly,
+and with whom he was well content.
+
+     1  Boaistuau gives the name as Bruribandier, and Gruget
+     transforms it into Borribaudier. M, Pifteau, after examining
+     the MSS., is doubtful whether Brimbaudier is the correct
+     reading. Bromardier, which in old French meant a tippler
+     (Ducange, _Briemardum_), would have been an appropriate name
+     for the individual referred to.--Ed.
+
+One day it was told him that his good wife was sick and in great danger,
+at which tidings he was in the greatest trouble imaginable. He went with
+all speed to her aid, and found her so low, poor woman, that she had
+more need of a confessor than a doctor. Thereupon he made the most
+pitiful lamentation that could be, but to represent it well ‘twere
+needful to speak thickly as he did, (2) and better still to paint one’s
+face like his.
+
+     2  Curiously enough, the transcriber of MS. No. 1520
+     attempts to give some idea of the husband’s pronunciation by
+     transforming all his r’s into l’s. Here is an example: “Je
+     pelz ma povle femme, que fesai-ze, moi malhureux?... M’amie
+     je me meuls, je suis pis que tlepassé... je ne sçai que
+     faize,” &c.--L.
+
+When he had done all that he could for her, she asked for the cross, and
+it was brought. On seeing this, the good man flung himself upon a bed in
+despair, crying and saying in his thick speech--
+
+“Ah God! I am losing my poor wife! What shall I do, unhappy man that I
+am?”
+
+After uttering many such complaints, he perceived that there was no one
+in the room but a young servant-maid, passably fair and buxom, and he
+called to her in a whisper.
+
+“Sweetheart,” he said, “I am dying. I am more than dead to see your
+mistress dying in this manner. I know not what to do or say, except
+that I commend myself to you, and beg you to care for my house and my
+children. Take therefore the keys from my side, and order the household,
+for I myself can attend to nothing more.”
+
+The poor girl had pity on him and comforted him, begging him not to
+despair, so that, if she must lose her mistress, she might not also lose
+her good master.
+
+“Sweetheart,” he replied, “‘tis all of no avail, for I am indeed dying.
+See yourself how cold my face is; bring your cheeks close to mine and
+warm them.”
+
+With this he laid his hand upon her breast. She tried to make some
+difficulty, but he begged her to have no fear, since they must indeed
+see each other more closely. And speaking in this wise, he took her in
+his arms and threw her upon the bed.
+
+Then his wife, whose only company was the cross and the holy water,
+and who had not spoken for two days, began to cry out as loudly as her
+feeble voice enabled her--
+
+“Ah! ah! ah! I am not dead yet!” And threatening them with her hand, she
+repeated--“Villain! monster! I am not dead yet!”
+
+On hearing her voice, the husband and maid rose up, but she was in such
+a rage against them that her anger consumed the catarrhal humour that
+had prevented her from speaking, and she poured upon them all the abuse
+that she could think of. And from that hour she began to mend, though
+not without often reproaching her husband for the little love he bore
+her. (3)
+
+     3  This story was imitated by Noël du Fail de La Hérissaye
+     in his _Contes d’Eutrapel_ (ch. v._ De la Goutte_), where
+     the hero of the incident is called Glaume Esnaut de
+     Tremeril. “It is said,” writes Du Fail, “that the wife of
+     that rascal Glaume of Tremeril when at the point of death,
+     on seeing Glaume too familiar with her serving-woman,
+     recovered her senses, saying, ‘Ah! wicked man, I am not yet
+     so low as you thought. By God’s grace, mistress baggage, you
+     shall go forth at once.’” Curiously enough, the 1585 edition
+     of the _Contes d’Eutrapel_ was printed at Rennes for Noël
+     Glame, virtually the same name as Glaume.--M.
+
+“By this you see, ladies, the hypocrisy of men, and how a little
+consolation will make them forget their sorrow for their wives.”
+
+“How do you know,” said Hircan, “that he had not heard that such was the
+best remedy his wife could have? Since his kindly treatment availed
+not to cure her, he wished to try whether the opposite would prove any
+better, and the trial was a very fortunate one. But I marvel that you
+who are a woman should have shown how the constitution of your sex is
+brought to amendment rather by foul means than by fair.”
+
+“Without doubt,” said Longarine, “behaviour of that kind would make me
+rise not merely from my bed, but from a grave such as that yonder.”
+
+“And what wrong did he do her,” asked Saffre-dent, “by comforting
+himself when he thought that she was dead? It is known that the
+marriage-tie lasts only through life, and that when this is ended it is
+loosed.”
+
+“Ay,” said Oisille, “loosed from oath and bond, but a good heart is
+never loosed from love. The husband you have told us of was indeed quick
+to forget his grief, since he could not wait until his wife had breathed
+her last.”
+
+“What I think strangest of all,” said Nomerfide, “is that, when death
+and the cross were before his eyes, he should not have lost all desire
+to offend against God.”
+
+“A brave argument!” said Simontault. “You would therefore not be
+surprised to see a man act wantonly provided he were a good distance
+from the church and cemetery?”
+
+“You may laugh at me as much as you please,” said Nomerfide;
+“nevertheless the contemplation of death must greatly chill a heart,
+however young it may be.”
+
+“I should indeed be of the same opinion as yourself,” said Dagoucin, “if
+I had not heard a Princess say the opposite.”
+
+“In other words.” said Parlamente, “she told some story about it. If it
+be so, I will give you my place that you may relate it to us.”
+
+Then Dagoucin began as follows:--
+
+
+[Illustration: 224.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 225a. The Monk Conversing with the Nun while Shrouding
+a Dead Body]
+
+[The Monk Conversing with the Nun while Shrouding a Dead Body]
+
+[Illustration: 225.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXXII_.
+
+     _Whilst engaged in the last deed of charity, the shrouding
+     of a dead body, a monk did also engage with a nun in the
+     deeds of the flesh, and made her big with child_. (1)
+
+
+
+In one of the finest towns of France after Paris there stood an hospital
+(2) richly endowed--namely, with a Prioress and fifteen or sixteen nuns,
+while in another building there was a Prior and seven or eight monks.
+Every day the monks said mass, but the nuns only their paternosters and
+the Hours of Our Lady, for they were occupied in tending the sick.
+
+     1  Gruget first printed this tale, which was not given by
+     Boaistuau.--L.
+
+     2  It is impossible to say what town and hospital Margaret
+     here refers to. Lyons is the scene of the latter part of the
+     story; and we are inclined to think that the earlier
+     incidents may have occurred at Dijon, where there was a
+     famous hospital under ecclesiastical management, founded by
+     Eudes III., seventh Duke of Burgundy.--L. and Ed.
+
+One day it chanced that a poor man died, and the nuns, being all
+assembled with him, after giving him every remedy for his health, sent
+for one of their monks to confess him. Then, finding that he was growing
+weaker, they gave him the extreme unction, after which he little by
+little lost the power of speech.
+
+But as he was a long time in passing away, and it seemed that he could
+still hear, the nuns continued speaking to him with the most comforting
+words they knew, until at last they grew weary, and, finding that night
+was come and that it was late, retired one after another to rest. Thus,
+to shroud the body, there remained only one of the youngest of the nuns,
+with a monk whom she feared more than the Prior or any other, by reason
+of the severity that he displayed in both speech and life.
+
+When they had duly uttered their Hours in the poor man’s ear, they
+perceived that he was dead, and thereupon laid him out. Whilst
+engaged on this last deed of charity, the monk began to speak of
+the wretchedness of life, and the blessedness of death; and in such
+discourse they continued until after midnight.
+
+The poor girl listened attentively to the monk’s pious utterances,
+looking at him the while with tears in her eyes; and so pleasing were
+these to him that, whilst speaking of the life to come, he began
+to embrace her as though he longed to bear her away in his arms to
+Paradise.
+
+The poor girl, listening to his discourse and deeming him the most pious
+of the community, ventured not to say him nay.
+
+Perceiving this, the wicked monk, whilst still speaking of God,
+accomplished with her the work which the devil suddenly put into their
+hearts--for before there had been no question of such a thing. He
+assured her, however, that secret sin was not imputed to men by God, and
+that two persons who had no ties, could do no wrong in this manner,
+when no scandal came of it; and, to avoid all scandal, he told her to be
+careful to confess to none but himself.
+
+So they parted each from the other, she going first. And as she passed
+through a chapel dedicated to Our Lady, she was minded to make her
+prayer as was her wont. But when she began with the words, “Mary,
+Virgin,” she remembered that she had lost the title of virginity not
+through force or love, but through foolish fear; and she began to weep
+so bitterly that it seemed as if her heart must break.
+
+The monk, hearing the sighing from a distance, suspected her repentance,
+which might make him lose his delight, and to prevent this, he came and,
+finding her prostrate before the image, began to rebuke her harshly,
+telling her that if she had any scruples of conscience she should
+confess herself to him, and that she need not so act again unless she
+desired; for she might behave in either way without sin. The foolish
+nun, thinking to make atonement to God, confessed herself to the monk;
+but in respect of penance he swore to her that she did no sin in loving
+him, and that holy water would suffice to wash away such a peccadillo.
+
+Believing in him more than in God, she again some time afterwards
+yielded to him, and so became big with child. At this she was in deep
+grief, and entreated the Prioress to have the monk turned away from his
+monastery, saying that she knew him to be so crafty that he would not
+fail to seduce her. The Abbess and the Prior, who understood each other,
+laughed at her, saying that she was big enough to defend herself against
+a man, and that the monk she spoke of was too virtuous to do such a
+deed.
+
+At last, urged by the prickings of her conscience, she craved license
+to go to Rome, for she thought that, by confessing her sin at the Pope’s
+feet, she might recover her virginity. This the Prior and Prioress very
+readily granted her, for they were more willing that she should become
+a pilgrim contrary to the rules of her order, than be shut up in the
+convent with her present scruples. They feared also that in her despair
+she might denounce the life that was led among them, and so gave her
+money for her journey.
+
+But God brought it to pass that when she came to Lyons, my lady the
+Duchess of Alençon, afterwards Queen of Navarre, being one evening after
+vespers in the roodloft of the church of St. John, whither she came
+secretly to perform a novena with three or four of her women, (3)
+heard someone mounting the stairway whilst she was kneeling before the
+crucifix. By the light of the lamp she saw it was a nun, and in order
+that she might hear her devotions, the Duchess thereupon withdrew to the
+corner of the altar. The nun, who believed herself to be alone, knelt
+down and, beating her breast, began weeping so sorrowfully that it was
+piteous to hear her; and all the while she cried naught but this--“Alas!
+my God, take pity on this poor sinner.”
+
+     3  See _ante_, Tale LXV., note i.
+
+The Duchess, wishing to learn what it meant, went up to her and said,
+“Dear heart, what ails you, and whence do you come, and what brings you
+to this place?”
+
+The poor nun, who did not know her, replied, “Ah, sweet, my woe is such
+that I have no help but in God; and I pray that He may bring me to speak
+with the Duchess of Alençon. To her alone will I tell the matter, for I
+am sure that, if it be possible, she will set it right.”
+
+“Dear heart,” then said the Duchess, “you may speak to me as you would
+to her, for I am one of her nearest friends.”
+
+“Forgive me,” said the nun; “she alone must know my secret.”
+
+Then the Duchess told her that she might speak freely, since she had
+indeed found her whom she sought. Forthwith the poor woman threw herself
+at her feet, and, after she had wept, related what you have heard
+concerning her hapless fortune. The Duchess consoled her so well, that
+whilst she took not from her everlasting repentance for her sin, she
+put from her mind the journeying to Rome, and then sent her back to her
+priory with letters to the Bishop of the place to have that shameful
+monk turned away.
+
+“I have this story from the Duchess herself, and from it you may see,
+ladies, that Nomerfide’s prescription is not good for all, since these
+persons fell into lewdness even while touching and laying out the dead.”
+
+“‘Twas a device,” said Hircan, “that methinks no man ever used before,
+to talk of death and engage in the deeds of life.”
+
+“‘Tis no deed of life,” said Oisille, “to sin, for it is well known that
+sin begets death.”
+
+“You may be sure,” said Saffredent, “that these poor folk gave no
+thought to any such theology; but just as the daughters of Lot made
+their father drunk so that the human race might be preserved, so these
+persons wished to repair what death had spoiled, and to replace the dead
+body by a new one. I therefore can see no harm in the matter except the
+tears of the poor nun, who was always weeping and always returning to
+the cause of her tears.”
+
+“I have known many of the same kind,” said Hircan, “who wept for their
+sins and laughed at their pleasures both together.”
+
+“I think I know whom you mean,” said Parlamente, “and their laughter has
+lasted so great a while that ‘twere time the tears should begin.”
+
+“Hush!” said Hircan. “The tragedy that has begun with laughter is not
+ended yet.”
+
+“To change the subject,” said Parlamente, “it seems to me that Dagoucin
+departed from our purpose. We were to tell only merry tales, and his was
+very piteous.”
+
+“You said,” replied Dagoucin, “that you would only tell of follies, and
+I think that herein I have not been lacking. But, that we may hear a
+more pleasant story, I give my vote to Nomerfide, in the hope that she
+will make amends for my error.”
+
+“I have indeed,” she answered, “a story ready which is worthy to follow
+yours; for it speaks of monks and death. So I pray you give good heed.”
+
+_Here end the Tales and Novels of the late Queen of Navarre, that is,
+all that can be recovered of them_.
+
+
+[Illustration: 232.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+
+
+
+THE SUPPOSED NARRATORS OF THE _HEPTAMERON_ TALES.
+
+In his introductory essay to this translation of the _Heptameron_, Mr.
+George Saintsbury has called attention to the researches of various
+commentators who have laboured to identify the supposed narrators of
+Queen Margaret’s tales. As it may be fairly assumed that the setting
+of the work is pure invention on the Queen’s part, the researches in
+question can scarcely serve any useful purpose. Still they appear to
+have had considerable attraction for several erudite editors, whose
+opinions, occasionally alluded to in our notes, we will here briefly
+summarise for the information of those whom the matter may interest:--
+
+OISILLE, a widow lady of long experience, is supposed by Messrs. de
+Lincy, Lacroix, Génin, Frank, de Montaiglon and Miss Mary Robinson to be
+Louise of Savoy. In some MSS. the name is written Osyle, the anagram
+of _Loyse_, in which fashion Louise was spelt in old French. It may be
+pointed out, _en passant_, that Brantôme’s grandmother, the Sénéchale
+of Poitou, whose connection with the _Heptameron_ is recorded, was also
+named Louise (see ante, vol. i. p. lxxxii.).
+
+PARLAMENTE, wife of Hircan, is supposed by the same commentators to be
+Queen Margaret herself; this is assumed mainly because the views
+which Parlamente expresses on religion, philosophy, men and women,
+are generally in accord with those which the Queen is known to have
+professed.
+
+HIRCAN, in M. de Lincy’s opinion, might be the Duke of Alençon,
+Margaret’s first husband. Messrs. Frank and Mont-aiglon, following M.
+Lacroix, prefer to identify him as Henry d’Albret, King of Navarre.
+They conjecture the name of Hircan to be derived from Ilanricus, a not
+uncommon fashion of spelling Henricus. It might, however, simply come
+from _hircus_, a he-goat, for Hircan is a man of gross, sensual tastes.
+
+LONGARINE, a young widow, is supposed by M. de Lincy to be Blanche de
+Chastillon, _née_ de Tournon (concerning whom see _ante_, vol. i. p. 84,
+n. 7, and p. 120 _et seq_.; vol. iv. p. 144, n. 2; and vol. v. p. 25, n.
+2). M. Frank, however, thinks she is Aimée Motier de la Fayette, lady of
+_Longray_, widow of Francis de Silly, Bailiff of Caen, and _gouvernante_
+to Queen Margaret’s daughter, Jane of Navarre. Miss Robinson shares this
+opinion, but M. de Montaiglon thinks that _Longarine_ would rather
+be Aimée Motier de la Fayette’s daughter Frances, married to Frederic
+d’Almenesches, of one of the branches of the house of Foix.
+
+SIMONTAULT (occasionally _Symontaut_), a young knight, is thought by M.
+de Lincy to be Henry d’Albret, Margaret’s second husband, who was of an
+extremely amorous disposition, and much younger than herself. Messrs.
+Frank and de Montaiglon, however, fancy _Simontault_ to have been
+Francis, Baron de Bourdeilles, father of Brantôme. It is admitted,
+however, that if this be the case, it is curious that Brantôme should
+not have alluded to it in any of his writings, whereas he does speak
+both of his mother and of his grandmother in connection with the
+_Heptameron_.
+
+ENNASUITE (occasionally _Ennasuitte_ or _Ennasuicte_, and in some MSS.
+_Emarsuite_), is supposed by Messrs. de Lincy, Frank, and de Montaiglon
+to be Anne de Vivonne, wife of Francis de Bourdeilles and mother of
+Brantôme (see ante, vol. iv. p. 144, n. 2). It is pointed out that the
+name may be transformed into the three words _Anne et suite_.
+
+DAGOUCIN, a young gentleman, is thought by M. Frank to be Nicholas Dangu
+(see ante, vol. i. p. 20, n. 4, and p. 40, n. 3), who became Chancellor
+to the King of Navarre. M. Lacroix, however, fancies this personage to
+be a Count d’Agoust.
+
+GEBURON, apparently an elderly man, would in M. Frank’s opinion be the
+Seigneur de Burye, a captain of the Italian wars to whom Brantôme (his
+cousin-german) alludes in his writings. The name of de Burye is also
+found in a list of the personages present at Queen Margaret’s funeral.
+M. de Montaiglon shares M. Frank’s views.
+
+NOMERFIDE, so M. de Lincy suggests, may have been the famous Frances
+de Foix, Countess of Chateaubriand; but M. Frank opines that she is a
+Demoiselle de Fimarcon or Fiédmarcon (Lat. _Feudimarco_), who in
+1525 married John de Montpczat, called “Captain Carbon,” one of the
+exquisites of the famous Field of the cloth of gold. Miss Robinson,
+however, fancies that Nomerfide is Isabel d’Albret, sister of Margaret’s
+second husband, and wife of René de Rohan.
+
+SAFFREDENT, so M. de Lincy thinks, may be Admiral de Bonnivet; M. Frank
+suggests John de Montpezat; and Miss Robinson René de Rohan, who, after
+his father Peter de Rohan-Gié (husband of Rolandine, see _ante_, vol.
+iii., Tale XXI, notes 2 and 15), had been killed at Pavia, was for some
+years entrusted to Queen Margaret’s care. As Miss Robinson points out,
+_Saffredent_ literally means greedy tooth or sweet tooth.
+
+Those who may be desirous of studying and comparing these various
+attempts at identification, will find all the evidence and arguments of
+any value set forth in the writings of M. Frank, M. de Montaiglon and
+Miss Robinson, which are specified in the Bibliography annexed to this
+appendix.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHY.
+
+Fourteen MS. copies of the _Heptameron_ are known to exist. Twelve
+of these are at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, one is at the town
+library of Orleans, and one in the Vatican library. We also have some
+record of four other copies which were in private libraries at the end
+of the last century.
+
+The twelve MSS. at the Bibliothèque Nationale are the following:--
+
+I. (No. 1511 in the catalogue). A folio volume bound in red morocco,
+bearing the Béthune arms. This MS. is on ruled paper, and only one leaf,
+the last, is missing.
+
+II. (No. 1512). A small folio, calf gilt, 350 leaves, from Colbert’s
+library. The handwriting is that of the middle of the sixteeenth
+century, and is the same throughout; the last page bearing the signature
+“Doulcet.” This supplied the text followed in the present translation.
+
+III. (No. 1513). A small folio, half-bound in red morocco, stamped with
+King Louis Philippe’s monogram. It contains only twenty-eight of the
+tales.
+
+IV. (No. 1514). A large quarto, calf, from the De Mesmes library.
+Contains only thirty-four of the tales.
+
+V. (No. 1515). A small folio from Colbert’s library, bound in calf,
+in Groslier’s style. The text is complete, but there are numerous
+interlinear and marginal corrections and additions, in the same
+handwriting as MS. VII.
+
+VI. (Nos. 1516 to 1519). Four quarto vols., red morocco, Béthune arms.
+The first prologue is deficient, as is also the last leaf of tale lxxi.
+
+VII. (No. 1520). A folio vol., calf and red morocco, stamped with
+fleurs-de-lys and the monogram of Louis XVIII. This MS. on stout ruled
+paper, in a beautiful italic handwriting of the end of the sixteenth
+century, is complete. Unfortunately Queen Margaret’s phraseology has
+been considerably modified, though, on the other hand, the copyist has
+inserted a large number of different readings, as marginal notes, which
+render his work of great value. It is frequently quoted in the present
+translation.
+
+VIII. (No. 1523). A folio vol., calf, from the De La Marre library. The
+first two leaves are deficient, and the text ends with the fifth tale of
+Day IV.
+
+IX. (No. 1522). A small folio, bound in parchment, from the De La Marre
+library. Only the tales of the first four days are complete, and on
+folio 259 begins a long poem called Les Prisons, the work probably of
+William Filandrier, whom Queen Margaret protected. On the first folio of
+the volume is the inscription, in sixteenth-century handwriting: _Pour
+ma sour Marie Philander_. The poem _Les Prisons_ is quoted on pp.
+xxxviii.-ix. vol. i. of the present work. It concludes with an epitaph
+on Margaret, dated 1549.
+
+X. (No. 1524). A folio vol. from Colbert’s library, bound in red and
+yellow morocco, on which is painted, on a blue ground, a vine laden with
+grapes twining round the trunk of a tree. On either side and in gold
+letters is the device, _Sin e doppo la morte_ (until and after death).
+Following the title-page, on which the work is called “The Decameron of
+the most high and most illustrious Princess, Madame Margaret of France,”
+ is a curious preface signed “Adrian de Thou,” and dated “Paris, August
+8, 1553.” This Adrian de Thou, Lord of Hierville and canon of Notre Dame
+de Paris, counsellor and clerk of the Paris Parliament, was the fourth
+son of Augustine de Thou and uncle to James Augustus de Thou, the
+historian. He died in October 1570. His MS. of the _Heptameron_, a
+most beautiful specimen of caligraphy, contains a long table of various
+readings and obscure passages; this was consulted in preparing the text
+for the present translation. The titles to the tales have also been
+borrowed from this MS.; they were composed by De Thou himself, and
+figure in no other MS. copy.
+
+XI. (No. 1525). A small folio, calf, from Colbert’s library, very
+incomplete and badly written, but containing the _Miroir de Jésu Crist
+crucifié_, the last poem Queen Margaret composed (see _ante_, vol. i. p.
+lxxxvi.).
+
+XII. (No. 2155). A small quarto, red morocco, from the library of
+Mazarin, whose escutcheon has been cut off. The text, which is
+complete and correct, excepting that a portion of the prologue has been
+accidentally transposed, is followed by an epitaph on the Queen. The
+handwriting throughout is that of the end of the sixteenth century.
+
+
+The other MSS. of the _Heptameron_ are the following:--
+
+XIII. (Orleans town library, No. 352). A folio vol. of 440 pp. It is
+doubtful whether this MS. is of the sixteenth or seventeenth century.
+It bears the title _L’Heptaméron des Nouvelles, &c_. There are numerous
+deficiencies in the text.
+
+XIV. (Vatican library, No. 929; from the library of Queen Christina of
+Sweden). A folio vol., calf, 95 leaves, handwriting of the end of the
+sixteenth century. This only contains fifteen of the stories.
+
+XV. (present possessor unknown). A folio vol., red morocco; text (ending
+with tale lxix. ) in sixteenth-century handwriting, with illuminated
+initial letters to each tale. _Catalogue des livres de feue Mme. la
+Comtesse de Verrue_, Paris, G. Martin, 1737.
+
+XVI. (possessor unknown). MS. supposed to be the original, a large
+folio, handwriting of the period, antique binding, containing the
+seventy-two tales. _Catalogue des livres, &c., du cabinet de M. Filheul,
+&c._, Paris, Chardin, 1779, pp. xxi. and 280.
+
+XVII. (possessor unknown). A folio vol., blue morocco, gilt. No. 1493
+in the catalogue of the _Bibliothèque de Simon Bernard, chez Barrois_,
+Paris, 1734; and No. 213 in a _Catalogue de manuscrits intéressants qui
+seront vendus... en la maison de M. Gueret, notaire_, Paris, Debure fils
+jeune, 1776.
+
+XVIII. (possessor unknown). A folio vol., blue morocco, gilt, stamped
+with the arms of France, from the Randon de Boisset library; the
+seventy-two tales complete, a very fine copy. _Catalogue des livres de
+la bibliothèqzie de l’Abbé Rive_, Marseilles, 1793. (This MS. should not
+be confounded with No. xvii. See L. J. Hubaud’s _Dissertation sur les
+Contes de la Reine de Navarre_, Marseilles, 1850.)
+
+
+The following are the editions of Queen Margaret’s tales issued from the
+press from the sixteenth century to the present time. The list has been
+prepared with great care, and we believe it to be as complete a one as
+can be furnished; it includes several editions not mentioned in Brunet’s
+Manual:--
+
+I. _Histoires des Amans Fortunez dédiées à très illustre princesse, Mme.
+Marguerite de Bourbon, etc., par Pierre Boaistuau, dit Launoy_, Paris,
+1558, 40. The authorisation to print and publish was accorded to Vincent
+Sertenas, and the work was issued by three different booksellers; some
+copies bearing the name of Gilles Robinot, others that of Jean Cavyller,
+and others that of Gilles Gilles.
+
+This, the first edition of the Queen’s work, contains only sixty-seven
+of the tales, which are not divided into days or printed in their proper
+sequence; the prologues, moreover, are deficient, and all the
+bold passages on religious and philosophical questions, &c, in the
+conversational matter following the stories, are suppressed.
+
+II. _L’Heptaméron des Nouvelles de tris illustre et très excellente
+Princesse Marguerite de Valois, Royne de Navarre, &c., dédié à très
+illustre et très vertueuse Princesse Jeanne, Royne de Navarre, par
+Claude Gruget, parisien_, Paris, Vincent Certena, or Jean Caveillier,
+1559.
+
+This contains all the Queen’s tales excepting Nos. xi., xliv., and
+xlvi., which Gruget replaced by others, probably written by himself. The
+other stories are placed in their proper order, but none of the names
+and passages suppressed by Boaistuau are restored. The phraseology of
+the MSS., moreover, is still further modified and polished.
+
+The text adopted by Boaistuau and Gruget was followed, with a few
+additional modifications, in all the editions issued during the later
+years of the sixteenth century. Most of these are badly printed and
+contain numerous typographical errors:--
+
+III. _L’Heptamêron des Nouvelles, &c_. Reprint of Gruget’s edition,
+sold by Vincent Sertenas, Gilles Robinot & Gilles Gille, and printed by
+Benoist Prévost, Paris, 1560.
+
+IV. _L’Heptamêron des Nouvelles, &c_., 1560, 16mo. (No bookseller’s or
+printer’s name appears in this edition. )
+
+V. _L’Heptamêron, &c_. (Gruget). Guill. Rouillé, Lyons, 1561, small
+12mo; Gilles Gilles, Paris, 1561, 16mo.
+
+VI. The same. Norment & Bruneau, and Gilles Gilles, Paris, 1567, 16mo.
+
+VII. The same. Louys Cloquemin, Lyons, 1572, 16mo (reprinted in 1578 and
+1581).
+
+VIII. The same. Michel de Roigny, Paris, 1574, 16mo (round letters).
+
+IX. The same. Gab. Buon, Paris, 1581, 16mo.
+
+X. The same. Abel L’Angelier, Paris, 1581, 18mo.
+
+XI. The same. Jean Osmont, Rouen, 1598, 578 pp., sin. 12mo (good type).
+
+XII. The same. Romain Beauvais, Rouen, 1598, 589 pp. 12mo.
+
+
+In the seventeenth century the _Heptameron_ was frequently reprinted,
+Gruget’s text, with a few changes, being still followed until 1698, when
+it occurred to some obscure literary man to put the tales into so-called
+_beau langage_. At the same time the title of _Heptameron_, devised by
+Gruget, was discarded (see post, No. XVI.).
+
+XIII. _L’Heptaméron_, &c., printed by Ch. Chappellein, Paris, 1607,
+18mo.
+
+XIV. The same. _Sur Pimprimé à Paris_, J. Bessin (Holland), 1615, sm.
+l2mo (reprinted in 1698, 2. vols. 12mo).
+
+XV. The same. David du Petit-Val, Rouen, 1625, 12mo.
+
+XVI. _Contes et Nouvelles de Marguerite de Valois, Reine de Navarre, mis
+en beau langage_. Gallet, Amsterdam, 1698, 2 vols, sm. 8vo. This edition
+is valued not for its _beau langage_, but for the copperplate engravings
+illustrating it. These are coarsely executed, and are attributed to
+Roman de Hooge, but do not bear his name. A reprint of the edition
+appeared at Amsterdam in 1700.
+
+XVII. The same. Gallet, Amsterdam, 1708, 2 vols. sm. 8vo. Virtually a
+reprint, but with several of the Roman de Hooge plates deficient, and
+replaced by others signed Harrewyn.
+
+XVIII. The same. La Haye (Chartres), 1733, 2 vols. sm. 12mo.
+
+XIX. The same. Londres, 1744, 2 vols. 12mo.
+
+XX. Heptaméron Français, ou les Nouvelles de Marguerite, Reine de
+Navarre; chez la Nouvelle Société Typographique, Berne, 1780-1, 3 vols.
+8vo. On some copies the title is simply, Nouvelles de Marguerite,
+etc., Berne, 1781; on others Béat Louis Walthard is designated as the
+publisher.
+
+For this edition were executed the copperplate engravings, designed by
+Freudenberg and Dunker, which illustrate the present translation. It was
+at first intended to issue the work in parts, but after parts i. and ii.
+had been published (at 4 livres each) the project was abandoned. A few
+copies of these two parts are in existence; they bear the date 1778.
+Freudenberg began his designs in the previous year, and finished them in
+1780.
+
+This edition is greatly prized for its illustrations; the text, however,
+largely modified by Jean Rodolphe de Sinner, is without value. The work
+was reissued at Paris in 1784 (8 vols, in 8vo, some copies 18mo), at
+Berne in 1792, and again in Paris in 1807 (8 vols. 18mo).
+
+
+The following new editions of the _Heptameron_ have appeared during the
+present century:--
+
+XXI. _Contes et Nouvelles de Marguerite, &c_. Dauthereau, Paris, 1828, 5
+vols. 32mo. (Collection des romans français et étrangers.)
+
+XXII. _L’Heptamêron, ou Histoire des Amants fortunés, &c, ancien texte
+publié par C. Gruget.., revu, corrigé et publié avec des notes, &c.,
+par le bibliophile Jacob_. Gosselin (Bibliothèque d’Élite), Paris, 1841,
+12mo. In this edition the Bibliophile Jacob (M. P. Lacroix) but
+slightly modified Gruget’s text, and his annotation was comparatively
+insignificant. His work was reproduced in a volume of the _Panthéon
+Littéraire: Les vieux Conteurs français_, Paris, 1841, 1. 8vo. (double
+cols.).
+
+XXIII. _Heptaméron des Nouvelles de... Margtierile d’Angouléme...
+publiée sur les manuscrits par la Société des Bibliophiles Français_ (Le
+Roux de Lincy, editor), Paris, 1853-4, 3 vols. sm. 18mo.
+
+In this edition the real text of the tales was printed for the first
+time, M. de Lincy having carefully examined the best MSS. for this
+purpose. The present English translation is based upon his work. Copies
+of the “Bibliophiles Français” edition, which contains a portrait of the
+Queen, a facsimile of a miniature, and an engraving showing her arms and
+device, cannot be purchased, when in fair condition, for less than £6 in
+Paris.
+
+XXIV. _L’Heptaméron des Nouvelles, etc.... avec des notes et une
+notice par P. L. Jacob, Bibliophile_ (Paul Lacroix). Adolphe Delahays,
+_Bibliothèque Gauloise_, Paris, 1858, 18mo.
+
+In this edition M. Lacroix, following M. de Lincy’s example, went to the
+MSS. for his text, which he annotated with care and erudition. All his
+notes of any importance are reproduced in the present translation. The
+edition of 1858 was reprinted in 1875.
+
+XXV. _L’Heptaméron, &c_. Gamier frères, Paris, n.d., 1 vol. 18mo.
+This was long the “popular” edition in France. The text, which is
+considerably modernised, is of no value.
+
+XXVI. _Les sept Journées de la Reine de Navarre, suivies de la
+huitième_. Paris, Librairie des Bibliophiles (Jouaust), 1872, 4 vols.
+l6mo.
+
+In this edition Gruget’s text is followed; the notes, &c, are by M.
+Lacroix. The work is prized for its illustrations (a portrait and eight
+etchings) by Leopold Flameng. It was originally issued in eight parts.
+The value of the copies varies according to the paper on which they are
+printed. Those on India or Whatman paper, with a duplicate set of the
+engravings, command high prices. The text has been reissued by the same
+firm in two cr. 8vo vols, under the title of _L’Heptaméron des contes,
+etc_.
+
+XXVII. _L’Heptaméron des Nouvelles, &c_, preface, notes, &c, by Benjamin
+Pifteau, in the _Nouvelle Collection Jannet_, Alphonse Lemerre, Paris,
+1875, 2 vols. l6mo.
+
+This, undoubtedly the best of all the cheap editions, has been reprinted
+by Marpon & Flammarion, Paris, n.d. The text is from the MSS.; the
+notes are mainly abbreviated from those of MM. de Lincy and Lacroix. M.
+Pifteau supplies an introduction and glossary.
+
+XXVIII. _L’Heptaméron, &c., publié avec Introduction, Notes et Glossaire
+par Félix Frank_. Liseux, Paris, 1879, 3 vols. 12mo.
+
+This, from the literary point of view, is one of the most important of
+modern editions. The text is not taken from the same MS. as was followed
+by M. de Lincy. The tales are preceded by a lengthy introduction, in
+which the editor discusses Queen Margaret’s work and seeks to identify
+the supposed narrators of her tales. He has frequently been quoted in
+the notes to this translation.
+
+XXIX. _L’Heptaméron, &c, avec notes, variantes et glossaire par F.
+Dillaye et notice par A. France_. A. Lemerre, Paris, 1879.
+
+A handy edition based on the MSS. The notes embody the substance of
+M. de Lincy’s and M. Lacroix’s researches with additional particulars
+supplied by M. Dillaye, who has been quoted in the course of the present
+work.
+
+XXX. _L’Heptaméron, &c., publié stir les manuscrits avec les notes de
+MM. Le Poux de Lincy et Anatole de Montaiglon_. Auguste Eudes, Paris,
+1880, 8 vols. 1. 8vo and 4 vols. cr. 8vo.
+
+The edition in 8 vols, (two copies of which on parchment were issued at
+£44 each; and twelve on Japanese paper at £20 each) is illustrated with
+the Freudenberg plates; that in 4 vols, contains the text only. The text
+is the same as that of No. XXIII.; but with additional notes, prefatory
+matter, &c. The copyright attaching to this edition was acquired for
+the present work, in which all M. de Montaiglon’s important notes are
+reproduced.
+
+
+Among the English translations of the _Heptameron_ are the following:--
+
+_Heptameron_, or the _History of the Fortunate Lovers_, translated by
+R. Codrington, London, 1654, 12mo. (Dedicated to Thomas Stanley, the
+translator of Anacreon and editor of Æschylus, and based on Boaistuau’s
+defective text.)
+
+The _Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre, nota first translated
+from the original text, by Walter K. Kelly_. Bohn (extra volume),
+London, 1855. This has been several times reprinted. The translation
+is a very free rendering of M. de Lincy’s text; many passages are
+deficient.
+
+The _Heptameron, &c., translated from the original French by Arthur
+Machen_. Privately printed (G. Redway), London, 1886, 1 vol. 1. 8vo. A
+scholarly translation, not annotated; illustrated with the etchings by
+Flameng (see _ante_, edition xxv.).
+
+_The Fortunate Lovers, twenty-seven novels of the Queen of Navarre,
+translated by Arthur Machen, edited with notes and introduction by A.
+Mary F. Robinson_. G. Redway, London, 1887, 8vo. Etched frontispiece
+by G. P. Jacomb Hood. This only contains such of the tales as the
+lady-editor considered unobjectionable. In her introduction she sketches
+the life of Queen Margaret and discusses the identity of the supposed
+narrators of the tales. Some of the notes are original, but the majority
+are based upon the researches of French commentators.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V.
+(of V.), by Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALES OF THE HEPTAMERON ***
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V. (of V.), by
+Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V. (of V.)
+
+Author: Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
+
+Illustrator: Freudenberg and Dunker
+
+Translator: George Saintsbury: From The Authentic Text
+Of M. Le Roux De Lincy With An Essay Upon The Heptameron by the Translator
+
+Release Date: February 7, 2006 [EBook #17705]
+Last Updated: September 9, 2016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALES OF THE HEPTAMERON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+THE TALES OF
+
+THE HEPTAMERON
+
+OF
+
+Margaret, Queen of Navarre
+
+_Newly Translated into English from the Authentic Text_
+
+OF M. LE ROUX DE LINCY WITH
+
+AN ESSAY UPON THE HEPTAMERON
+
+BY
+
+GEORGE SAINTSBURY, M.A.
+
+Also the Original Seventy-three Full Page Engravings
+
+
+
+Designed by S. FREUDENBERG
+
+And One Hundred and Fifty Head and Tail Pieces
+
+By DUNKER
+
+_IN FIVE VOLUMES_
+
+VOLUME THE FIFTH
+
+LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY OF ENGLISH BIBLIOPHILISTS
+
+MDCCCXCIV
+
+
+[Illustration: Frontispiece]
+
+[Margaret, Queen of Navarre, from a crayon drawing by Clouet, preserved
+at the Biblioth�que Nationale, Paris]
+
+[Illustration: Titlepage]
+
+
+
+CONTENTS OF VOLUME V.
+
+SIXTH DAY.
+
+
+
+Prologue
+
+Tale LI. Cruelty of the Duke of Urbino, who, contrary to the promise
+he had given to the Duchess, hanged a poor lady that had consented to
+convey letters to his son�s sweetheart, the sister of the Abbot of Farse.
+
+Tale LII. Merry trick played by the varlet of an apothecary at Alen�on
+on the Lord de la Tireli�re and the lawyer Anthony Bacher�, who,
+thinking to breakfast at his expense, find that they have stolen from
+him something very different to a loaf of sugar.
+
+Tale LIII. Story of the Lady of Neufch�tel, a widow at the Court of
+Francis I., who, through not admitting that she has plighted her troth
+to the Lord des Cheriots, plays him an evil trick through the means of
+the Prince of Belhoste.
+
+Tale LIV. Merry adventure of a serving-woman and a gentleman named
+Thogas, whereof his wife has no suspicion.
+
+Tale LV. The widow of a merchant of Saragossa, not wishing to lose the
+value of a horse, the price of which her husband had ordered to be given
+to the poor, devises the plan of selling the horse for one ducat only,
+adding, however, to the bargain a cat at ninety-nine.
+
+Tale LVI. Notable deception practised by an old Grey Friar of Padua,
+who, being charged by a widow to find a husband for her daughter, did,
+for the sake of getting the dowry, cause her to marry a young Grey
+Friar, his comrade, whose condition, however, was before long discovered.
+
+Tale LVII. Singular behaviour of an English lord, who is content merely
+to keep and wear upon his doublet the glove of a lady whom he loves.
+
+Tale LVIII. A lady at the Court of Francis I., wishing to prove that
+she has no commerce with a certain gentleman who loves her, gives him a
+pretended tryst and causes him to pass for a thief.
+
+Tale LIX. Story of the same lady, who, learning that her husband is in
+love with her waiting-woman, contrives to surprise him and impose her
+own terms upon him.
+
+Tale LX. A man of Paris, thinking his wife to be well and duly deceased,
+marries again, but at the end of fifteen years is forced to take his
+first wife back, although she has been living meantime with one of the
+chanters of Louis XII.
+
+
+SEVENTH DAY.
+
+Prologue
+
+Tale LXI. Great kindness of a husband, who consents to take back his
+wife twice over, spite of her wanton love for a Canon of Autun.
+
+Tale LXII. How a lady, while telling a story as of another, let her
+tongue trip in such a way as to show that what she related had happened
+to herself.
+
+Tale LXIII. How the honourable behaviour of a young lord, who feigns
+sickness in order to be faithful to his wife, spoils a party in which he
+was to have made one with the King, and in this way saves the honour of
+three maidens of Paris.
+
+Tale LXIV. Story of a gentleman of Valencia in Spain, whom a lady drove
+to such despair that he became a monk, and whom afterwards she strove in
+vain to win back to herself.
+
+Tale LXV. Merry mistake of a worthy woman, who in the church of St. John
+of Lyons mistakes a sleeping soldier for one of the statues on a tomb,
+and sets a lighted candle on his forehead.
+
+Tale LXVI. How an old serving-woman, thinking to surprise a Prothonotary
+with a lady, finds herself insulting Anthony de Bourbon and his wife
+Jane d�Albret.
+
+Tale LXVII. How the Sire de Robertval, granting a traitor his life at
+the prayers of the man�s wife, set them both down on a desert island,
+and how, after the husband�s death, the wife was rescued and brought
+back to La Rochelle.
+
+Tale LXVIII. The wife of an apothecary at Pau, hearing her husband give
+some powder of cantharides to a woman who was godmother with himself,
+secretly administered to him such a dose of the same drug that he nearly
+died.
+
+Tale LXIX. How the wife of one of the King�s Equerries surprised her
+husband muffled in the hood of their servant-maid, and bolting meal in
+her stead.
+
+Tale LXX. Of the love of a Duchess of Burgundy for a gentleman who
+rejects her advances, for which reason she accuses him to the Duke her
+husband, and the latter does not believe his oaths till assured by
+him that he loves the Lady du Vergier. Then the Duchess, having drawn
+knowledge of this amour from her husband, addresses to the Lady du
+Vergier in public, an allusion that causes the death of both lovers; and
+the Duke, in despair at his own lack of discretion, stabs the Duchess
+himself.
+
+
+EIGHTH DAY.
+
+Prologue
+
+Tale LXXI. The wife of a saddler of Amboise is saved on her deathbed
+through a fit of anger at seeing her husband fondle a servant-maid.
+
+Tale LXXII. Kindness of the Duchess of Alen�on to a poor nun whom she
+meets at Lyons, on her way to Rome, there to confess to the Pope how a
+monk had wronged her, and to obtain his Holiness�s pardon.
+
+Appendix (The Narrators of the Heptameron)
+
+Bibliography
+
+
+
+
+PAGE ENGRAVINGS CONTAINED IN VOLUME V.
+
+
+Tale LI. The Duke of Urbino sending the Maiden to Prison for carrying
+Messages between his Son and his Sweetheart.
+
+LII. The Gentleman and his Friend annoyed by The Smell of that which
+they Thought was Sugar.
+
+LIII. The Lord des Cheriots flying from the Prince�s Servant.
+
+LIV. The Lady watching the Shadow Faces Kissing.
+
+LV. The Servant selling the Horse with the Cat.
+
+LVI. The Grey Friar introducing his Comrade to the Lady and her
+Daughter.
+
+LVII. The English Lord seizing the Lady�s Glove.
+
+LVIII. The Gentleman Mocked by the Ladies When Returning From The False
+Tryst.
+
+LIX. The Lady discovering her Husband with the Waiting-woman.
+
+LX. The Chanter of Blois delivering his Mistress from the Grave.
+
+LXI. The Lady returning to her Lover, the Canon of Autun.
+
+LXII. The Gentleman�s Spur catching in the Sheet.
+
+LXIII. The King asking the Young Lord to join his Banquet.
+
+LXIV. The Lady Swooning in the Arms of the Gentleman of Valencia who had
+become a Monk.
+
+LXV. The Old Woman startled by the Waking of the Soldier.
+
+LXVI. The Old Serving-woman explaining her Mistake to the Duke and
+Duchess of Vend�me.
+
+LXVII. The Wife Reading to her Husband on the Desert Island.
+
+LXVIII. The Apothecary�s Wife giving the Dose of Cantharides to her
+Husband.
+
+LXIX. The Wife discovering her Husband in the Hood of their
+Serving-maid.
+
+LXX. The Gentleman Killing Himself on the Death of his Mistress.
+
+LXXI. The Saddler�s Wife Cured by the sight of her Husband Caressing the
+Serving-maid.
+
+LXXII. The Monk Conversing with the Nun while Shrouding a Dead Body.
+
+
+
+
+SIXTH DAY.
+
+_On the Sixth Day are related the deceits practised
+by Man on Woman, Woman on Man, or
+Woman on Woman, through
+greed, revenge, and
+wickedness_.
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE.
+
+In the morning the Lady Oisille went earlier than was her wont to make
+ready for her reading in the hall, but the company being advised of
+this, and eager to hearken to her excellent instruction, used such
+despatch in dressing themselves that she had not long to wait.
+Perceiving their fervour, she set about reading them the Epistle of St.
+John the Evangelist, which is full of naught but love, in the same wise
+as, on the foregoing days, she had expounded to them St. Paul�s Epistle
+to the Romans. The company found this fare so much to their taste, that,
+although they tarried a half-hour longer than on the other days, it
+seemed to them as if they had not remained there a quarter of an hour
+altogether. From thence they proceeded to the contemplation of the mass,
+when one and all commended themselves to the Holy Ghost in order that
+they might that day be enabled to satisfy their merry audience; and,
+after they had broken their fast and taken a little rest, they set out
+to resume their accustomed diversion.
+
+And the Lady Oisille asking who should begin the day, Longarine made
+answer--
+
+�I give my vote to Madame Oisille; she has this day read to us so
+beauteous a lesson, that she can but tell us some story apt to crown the
+glory which she won this morning.�
+
+�I am sorry,� said Oisille, �that I cannot tell you aught so profitable
+this afternoon as I did in the morning. But at least the purport of my
+story shall not depart from the teaching of Holy Scripture, where it is
+written, �Trust not in princes, nor in the sons of men, in whom is not
+our salvation.� (1) And that this truth may not be forgotten by you for
+lack of an example, I will tell you a tale which is quite true, and the
+memory of which is so fresh that the eyes of those that saw the piteous
+sight are scarcely yet dried.�
+
+[Illustration: 005a.jpg The Duke of Urbino sending the Maiden to Prison for carrying
+Messages between his Son and his Sweetheart]
+
+[The Duke of Urbino sending the Maiden to Prison for carrying
+Messages between his Son and his Sweetheart]
+
+[Illustration: 005.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LI_.
+
+     _Because he would not have his son make a poor marriage, the
+     Duke of Urbino, contrary to the promise given to his wife,
+     hanged a young maiden by whom his son was wont to inform his
+     sweetheart of the love he bore her_.
+
+The Duke of Urbino, called the Prefect, (1) the same that married the
+sister of the first Duke of Mantua, had a son of between eighteen and
+twenty years of age, who was in love with a girl of an excellent and
+honourable house, sister to the Abbot of Farse. (2) And since, according
+to the custom of the country, he was not free to converse with her as
+he wished, he obtained the aid of a gentleman in his service, who was in
+love with a very beautiful and virtuous young damsel in the service of
+his mother. By means of this damsel he informed his sweetheart of the
+deep affection that he bore her; and the poor girl, thinking no harm,
+took pleasure in doing him service, believing his purpose to be so good
+and virtuous that she might honourably be the carrier of his intentions.
+But the Duke, who had more regard for the profit of his house than
+for any virtuous affection, was in such great fear lest these dealings
+should lead his son (3) into marriage, that he caused a strict watch
+to be kept; whereupon he was informed that the poor damsel had been
+concerned in carrying some letters from his son to the lady he loved. On
+hearing this he was in great wrath, and resolved to take the matter in
+hand.
+
+     1  This is Francesco Maria I., della Rovere, nephew to Pope
+     Julius II., by whom he was created Prefect of Rome. Brought
+     up at the French Court, he became one of the great captains
+     of the period, especially distinguishing himself in the
+     command of the Venetian forces during the earlier part of
+     his career. He married Leonora Ypolita Gonzaga, daughter of
+     Francesco II., fourth Marquis of Mantua, respecting whom see
+     _ante_, vol. iii., notes to Tale XIX. It was Leonora rather
+     than her husband who imparted lustre to the Court of Urbino
+     at this period by encouraging arts and letters. Among those
+     who flourished there were Raffaelle and Baldassare
+     Castiglione. Francesco Maria, born in March 1491, died in
+     1538 from the effects--so it is asserted by several
+     contemporary writers--of a poisonous lotion which a Mantuan
+     barber had dropped into his ear. His wife, who bore him two
+     sons (see post, note 3), died at the age of 72, in 1570.--L.
+     and Ed.
+
+     2  The French words are _Abb� de Farse_. Farse would appear
+     to be a locality, as abbots were then usually designated by
+     the names of their monasteries; still it may be intended for
+     the Abbot�s surname, and some commentators, adopting this
+     view, have suggested that the proper reading would be
+     Farnese.--Ed.
+
+     3  The Duke�s two sons were Federigo, born in March 1511,
+     and Guidobaldo, born in April 1514. The former according to
+     all authorities died when �young,� and probably long before
+     reaching man�s estate. Dennistoun, in his searching _Memoirs
+     of the Dukes of Urbino_ (London, 1851), clearly shows that
+     for many years prior to Francesco Maria�s death his second
+     son Guidobaldo was the only child remaining to him. Already
+     in 1534, when but twenty years old, Guidobaldo was regarded
+     as his father�s sole heir and successor. In that year
+     Francesco Maria forced the young man to marry Giulia Varana,
+     a child of eleven, in order that he might lay claim to her
+     father�s state of Camerino and annex it to the duchy. There
+     is no record of Guidobaldo having ever engaged in any such
+     intrigue as related by Queen Margaret in the above tale,
+     still it must be to him that she refers, everything pointing
+     to the conclusion that his brother Federigo died in
+     childhood. Guidobaldo became Duke of Urbino on his father�s
+     death.--Ed.
+
+He could not, however, conceal his anger so well that the maiden was
+not advised of it, and knowing his wickedness, which was in her eyes
+as great as his conscience was small, she felt a wondrous dread. Going
+therefore to the Duchess, she craved leave to retire somewhere out of
+the Duke�s sight until his passion should be past; but her mistress
+replied that, before giving her leave to do so, she would try to find
+out her husband�s will in the matter.
+
+Very soon, however, the Duchess heard the Duke�s evil words concerning
+the affair, and, knowing his temper, she not only gave the maiden leave,
+but advised her to retire into a convent until the storm was over. This
+she did as secretly as she could, yet not so stealthily but that the
+Duke was advised of it. Thereupon, with pretended cheerfulness of
+countenance, he asked his wife where the maiden was, and she, believing
+him to be well aware of the truth, confessed it to him. He feigned to
+be vexed thereat, saying that the girl had no need to behave in that
+fashion, and that for his part he desired her no harm. And he requested
+his wife to cause her to come back again, since it was by no means well
+to have such matters noised abroad.
+
+The Duchess replied that, if the poor girl was so unfortunate as to have
+lost his favour, it were better for a time that she should not come
+into his presence; however, he would not hearken to her reasonings, but
+commanded her to bid the maiden return.
+
+The Duchess failed not to make the Duke�s will known to the maiden; but
+the latter, who could not but feel afraid, entreated her mistress that
+she might not be compelled to run this risk, saying that she knew the
+Duke was not so ready to forgive her as he feigned to be. Nevertheless,
+the Duchess assured her that she should take no hurt, and pledged her
+own life and honour for her safety.
+
+The girl, who well knew that her mistress loved her, and would not
+lightly deceive her, trusted in her promise, believing that the Duke
+would never break a pledge when his wife�s honour was its warranty. And
+accordingly she returned to the Duchess.
+
+As soon as the Duke knew this, he failed not to repair to his wife�s
+apartment. There, as soon as he saw the maiden, he said to his wife,
+�So such-a-one has returned,� and turning to his gentlemen, he commanded
+them to arrest her and lead her to prison.
+
+At this the poor Duchess, who by the pledging of her word had drawn the
+maiden from her refuge, was in such despair that, falling upon her knees
+before her husband, she prayed that for love of herself and of his
+house he would not do so foul a deed, seeing that it was in obedience to
+himself that she had drawn the maiden from her place of safety.
+
+But no prayer that she could utter availed to soften his hard heart, or
+to overcome his stern resolve to be avenged. Without making any reply,
+he withdrew as speedily as possible, and, foregoing all manner of trial,
+and forgetting God and the honour of his house, he cruelly caused the
+hapless maiden to be hanged.
+
+I cannot undertake to recount to you the grief of the Duchess; it was
+such as beseemed a lady of honour and a tender heart on beholding one,
+whom she would fain have saved, perish through trust in her own plighted
+faith. Still less is it possible to describe the deep affliction of the
+unhappy gentleman, the maiden�s lover, who failed not to do all that
+in him lay to save his sweetheart�s life, offering to give his own for
+hers; but no feeling of pity moved the heart of this Duke, whose only
+happiness was that of avenging himself on those whom he hated. (4)
+
+     4  That Francesco-Maria was a man of a hasty, violent
+     temperament is certain. Much that Guicciardini relates of
+     him was doubtless penned in a spirit of resentment, for
+     during the time the historian lived at Urbino the Duke
+     repeatedly struck him, and on one occasion felled him to the
+     ground, with the sneering remark, �Your business is to
+     confer with pedants.� On the other hand, however, there is
+     independent documentary evidence in existence--notably
+     among the Urbino MSS. in the Vatican library--which shows
+     that Francesco-Maria in no wise recoiled from shedding
+     blood. He was yet in his teens when it was reported to him
+     that his sister--the widow of Venanzio of Camerino, killed
+     by Caesar Borgia--had secretly married a certain Giovanni
+     Andrea of Verona and borne him a son. Watching his
+     opportunity, Francesco-Maria set upon the unfortunate Andrea
+     one day in the ducal chamber and then and there killed him,
+     though not without resistance, for Andrea only succumbed
+     after receiving _four-and-twenty_ stabs with his murderer�s
+     poignard (Urbino MSS. Vat. No. 904). A few years later, in
+     1511, Francesco-Maria assassinated the Papal Legate
+     Alidosio, Cardinal Archbishop of Pavia, whom he encountered
+     in the environs of Bologna riding his mule and followed by a
+     hundred light horse. Nevertheless Urbino, with only a small
+     retinue, galloped up to him, plunged a dagger into his
+     stomach and fled before the soldiery could intervene. From
+     these examples it will be seen that, although history has
+     preserved no record of the affair related by Queen Margaret,
+     her narrative may well be a true one.--Ed.
+
+Thus, in spite of every law of honour, was the innocent maiden put to
+death by this cruel Duke, to the exceeding sorrow of all that knew her.
+
+�See, ladies, what are the effects of wickedness when this is combined
+with power.�
+
+�I had indeed heard,� said Longarine, �that the Italians were prone to
+three especial vices; but I should not have thought that vengeance and
+cruelty would have gone so far as to deal a cruel death for so slight a
+cause.�
+
+�Longarine,� said Saffredent, laughing, �you have told us one of the
+three vices, but we must also know the other two.�
+
+�If you did not know them,� she replied, �I would inform you, but I am
+sure that you know them all.�
+
+�From your words,� said Saffredent, �it seems that you deem me very
+vicious.�
+
+�Not so,� said Longarine, �but you so well know the ugliness of vice
+that, better than any other, you are able to avoid it.�
+
+�Do not be amazed,� said Simontault, �at this act of cruelty. Those who
+have passed through Italy have seen such incredible instances, that this
+one is in comparison but a trifling peccadillo.�
+
+�Ay, truly,� said Geburon. �When Rivolta was taken by the French, (5)
+there was an Italian captain who was esteemed a knightly comrade, but
+on seeing the dead body of a man who was only his enemy in that being a
+Guelph he was opposed to the Ghibellines, he tore out his heart, broiled
+it on the coals and devoured it. And when some asked him how he liked
+it, he replied that he had never eaten so savoury or dainty a morsel.
+Not content with this fine deed, he killed the dead man�s wife, and
+tearing out the fruit of her womb, dashed it against a wall. Then he
+filled the bodies both of husband and wife with oats and made his horses
+eat from them. Think you that such a man as that would not surely have
+put to death a girl whom he suspected of offending him?�
+
+     5  Rivolta or Rivoli was captured by the French under Louis
+     XII. in 1509. An instance of savagery identical in character
+     with that mentioned by �Geburon� had already occurred at the
+     time of Charles VIII.�s expedition to Naples, when the
+     culprit, a young Italian of good birth, was seized and
+     publicly executed.--Ed.
+
+�It must be acknowledged,� said Ennasuite, �that this Duke of Urbino
+was more afraid that his son might make a poor marriage than desirous of
+giving him a wife to his liking.�
+
+�I think you can have no doubt,� replied Simon-tault, �that it is the
+Italian nature to love unnaturally that which has been created only for
+nature�s service.�
+
+�Worse than that,� said Hircan, �they make a god of things that are
+contrary to nature.�
+
+�And there,� said Longarine, �you have another one of the sins that
+I meant; for we know that to love money, excepting so far as it be
+necessary, is idolatry.�
+
+Parlamente then said that St. Paul had not forgotten the vices of the
+Italians, and of all those who believe that they exceed and surpass
+others in honour, prudence and human reason, and who trust so strongly
+to this last as to withhold from God the glory that is His due.
+Wherefore the Almighty, jealous of His honour, renders� those who
+believe themselves possessed of more understanding than other men,
+more insensate even than wild the beasts, causing them to show by their
+unnatural deeds that their sense is reprobate.
+
+Longarine here interrupted Parlamente to say that this was indeed the
+third sin to which the Italians were prone.
+
+�By my faith,� said Nomerfide, �this discourse is very pleasing to
+me, for, since those that possess the best trained and acutest
+understandings are punished by being made more witless even than wild
+beasts, it must follow that such as are humble, and low, and of little
+reach, like myself, are filled with the wisdom of angels.�
+
+�I protest to you,� said Oisille, �that I am not far from your opinion,
+for none is more ignorant than he who thinks he knows.�
+
+�I have never seen a mocker,� said Geburon, �that was not mocked, a
+deceiver that was not deceived, or a boaster that was not humbled.�
+
+�You remind me,� said Simontault, �of a deceit which, had it been of a
+seemly sort, I would willingly have related.�
+
+�Well,� said Oisille, �since we are here to utter truth, I give you my
+vote that you may tell it to us whatsoever its nature may be.�
+
+�Since you give place to me,� said Simontault, �I will tell it you.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 014.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 015a.jpg The Gentleman and his Friend annoyed by The Smell of that which they Thought was Sugar]
+
+[The Gentleman and his Friend annoyed by The Smell of that which they Thought was Sugar]
+
+[Illustration: 015.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LII_.
+
+     _An apothecary s man, espying behind him an advocate who was
+     to plague him, and on whom he desired to be revenged,
+     dropped from his sleeve a lump of frozen ordure, wrapped in
+     paper like a sugar-loaf, which a gentleman who was with the
+     advocate picked up and hid in his bosom, and then went to
+     breakfast at a tavern, whence he came forth with all the
+     cost and shame that he had thought to bring upon the poor
+     varlet_.
+
+Near the town of Alen�on there lived a gentleman called the Lord of La
+Tireliere, who one morning came from his house to the town afoot, both
+because the distance was not great and because it was freezing hard. (1)
+When he had done his business, he sought out a crony of his, an advocate
+named Anthony Bacher�, and, after speaking with him of his affairs, he
+told him that he should much like to meet with a good breakfast, but at
+somebody else�s expense. While thus discussing, they sat themselves down
+in front of an apothecary�s shop, where there was a varlet who listened
+to them, and who forthwith resolved to give them their breakfast.
+
+     1  The phraseology of this story varies considerably in the
+     different MSS. of the _Heptameron_. In No. 1520, for
+     instance, the tale begins as follows: �In the town of
+     Alen�on, in the time of the last Duke Charles, there was an
+     advocate, a merry companion, fond of breakfasting o�
+     mornings. One day, whilst he sat at his door, he saw pass a
+     gentleman called the Lord of La Tilleriere, who, by reason
+     of the extreme cold, had come on foot from his house to the
+     town in order to attend to certain business there, and in
+     doing so had not forgotten to put on his great robe, lined
+     with fox-skin. And when he saw the advocate, who was much
+     such a man as himself, he told him that he had completed his
+     business, and had nothing further to do, except it were to
+     find a good breakfast. The advocate made answer that they
+     could find breakfasts enough and to spare, provided they had
+     some one to defray the cost, and, taking the other under the
+     arm, he said to him, �Come, gossip, we may perhaps find some
+     fool who will pay the reckoning for us both.� Now behind
+     them was an apothecary�s man, an artful and inventive
+     fellow, whom this advocate was always plaguing,� &c.--L.
+
+He went out from his shop into a street whither all repaired on needful
+occasions, (2) and there found a large lump of ordure standing on end,
+and so well frozen that it looked like a small loaf of fine sugar.
+Forthwith he wrapped it in handsome white paper, in the manner he was
+wont to use for the attraction of customers, and hid it in his sleeve.
+
+     2  In olden time, as shown in the _M�moires de l�Acad�mie de
+     Troyes_, there were in most French towns streets specially
+     set aside for the purpose referred to. At Alen�on, in Queen
+     Margaret�s time, there was a street called the Rue des
+     Fumiers, as appears from a report dated March 8, 1564
+     (Archives of the Orne, Series A). Probably it is to this
+     street that she alludes. (Communicated by M. L. Duval,
+     archivist of the department of the Orne).--M.
+
+Afterwards he came and passed in front of the gentleman and the
+advocate, and, letting the sugar-loaf (3) fall near them, as if by
+mischance, went into a house whither he had pretended to be carrying it.
+
+The Lord of La Tireli�re (4) hastened back with all speed to pick up
+what he thought to be a sugar-loaf, and just as he had done so the
+apothecary�s man also came back looking and asking for his sugar
+everywhere.
+
+     3  M. Duval, archivist of the Orne, states that La
+     Tireli�re, which is situated near St. Germain-du-Corbois,
+     within three miles of Alen�on, is an old _gentilhommi�re_ or
+     manor-house, surrounded by a moat. It was originally a
+     simple _vavassonrie_ held in fief from the Counts and Dukes
+     of Alen�on by the Pantolf and Crouches families, and in the
+     seventeenth century was merged into the marquisate of
+     L�Isle.--M.
+
+     4  Sugar was at this period sold by apothecaries, and was a
+     rare and costly luxury. There were loaves of various sizes,
+     but none so large as those of the present time.--M.
+
+The gentleman, thinking that he had cleverly tricked him, then went in
+haste to a tavern with his crony, to whom he said--
+
+�Our breakfast has been paid for at the cost of that varlet.�
+
+When he was come to the tavern he called for good bread, good wine and
+good meat, for he thought that he had wherewith to pay. But whilst he
+was eating, as he began to grow warm, his sugar-loaf in its turn began
+to thaw and melt, and filled the whole room with the smell peculiar
+to it, whereupon he, who carried it in his bosom, grew wroth with the
+waiting-woman, and said to her--
+
+�You are the filthiest folks that ever I knew in this town, for either
+you or your children have strewn all this room with filth.�
+
+�By St. Peter!� replied the woman, �there is no filth here unless you
+have brought it in yourselves.�
+
+Thereupon they rose, by reason of the great stench that they smelt,
+and went up to the fire, where the gentleman drew out of his bosom a
+handkerchief all dyed with the melted sugar, and on opening his robe,
+lined with fox-skin, found it to be quite spoiled.
+
+And all that he was able to say to his crony was this--
+
+�The rogue whom we thought to deceive has deceived us instead.�
+
+Then they paid their reckoning and went away as vexed as they had
+been merry on their arrival, when they fancied they had tricked the
+apothecary�s varlet. (5)
+
+     5  In MS. 1520, this tale ends in the following manner:--
+     �They were no sooner in the street than they perceived the
+     apothecary�s man going about and making inquiry of every one
+     whether they had not seen a loaf of sugar wrapped in paper.
+     They [the advocate and his companion] sought to avoid him,
+     but he called aloud to the advocate, �If you have my loaf of
+     sugar, sir, I beg that you will give it back to me, for �tis
+     a double sin to rob a poor servant.� His shouts brought to
+     the spot many people curious to witness the dispute, and the
+     true circumstances of the case were so well proven, that the
+     apothecary�s man was as glad to have been robbed as the
+     others were vexed at having committed such a nasty theft.
+     However, they comforted themselves with the hope that they
+     might some day give him tit for tat.�--Ed.
+
+�Often, ladies, do we see the like befall those who delight in using
+such cunning. If the gentleman had not sought to eat at another�s
+expense, he would not have drunk so vile a beverage at his own. It is
+true, ladies, that my story is not a very clean one, but you gave me
+license to speak the truth, and I have done so in order to show you that
+no one is sorry when a deceiver is deceived.�
+
+�It is commonly said,� replied Hircan, �that words have no stink, yet
+those for whom they are intended do not easily escape smelling them.�
+
+�It is true,� said Oisille, �that such words do not stink, but there are
+others which are spoken of as nasty, and which are of such evil odour
+that they disgust the soul even more than the body is disgusted when it
+smells such a sugar-loaf as you described in the tale.�
+
+�I pray you,� said Hircan, �tell me what words you know of so foul as to
+sicken both the heart and soul of a virtuous woman.�
+
+�It would indeed be seemly,� replied Oisille, �that I should tell you
+words which I counsel no woman to utter.�
+
+�By that,� said Saffredent, �I quite understand what those terms are.
+They are such as women desirous of being held discreet do not commonly
+employ. But I would ask all the ladies present why, when they dare not
+utter them, they are so ready to laugh at them when they are used in
+their presence.�
+
+Then said Parlamente--
+
+�We do not laugh because we hear such pretty expressions, though it
+is indeed true that every one is disposed to laugh on seeing anybody
+stumble or on hearing any one utter an unfitting word, as often happens.
+The tongue will trip and cause one word to be used for another, even
+by the discreetest and most excellent speakers. But when you men talk
+viciously, not from ignorance, but by reason of your own wickedness,
+I know of no virtuous woman who does not feel a loathing for such
+speakers, and who would not merely refuse to hearken to them, but even
+to remain in their company.�
+
+�That is very true,� responded Geburon. �I have frequently seen women
+make the sign of the cross on hearing certain words spoken, and cease
+not in doing so after these words had been uttered a second time.�
+
+�But how many times,� said Simontault, �have they put on their masks (6)
+in order to laugh as freely as they pretended to be angry?�
+
+�Yet it were better to do this,� said Parlamente, �than to let it be
+seen that the talk pleased them.�
+
+�Then,� said Dagoucin, �you praise a lady�s hypocrisy no less than her
+virtue?�
+
+�Virtue would be far better,� said Longarine, �but, when it is lacking,
+recourse must be had to hypocrisy, just as we use our slippers (7) to
+disguise our littleness. And it is no small matter to be able to conceal
+our imperfections.�
+
+     8  _Tourets-de-nez_. _See ante_, vol. iii. p. 27, note 5.--Ed.
+
+     7  High-heeled slippers or _mules_ were then worn.--B. J.
+
+�By my word,� said Hircan, �it were better sometimes to show some slight
+imperfection than to cover it so closely with the cloak of virtue.�
+
+�It is true,� said Ennasuitc, �that a borrowed garment brings the
+borrower as much dishonour when he is constrained to return it as it
+brought him honour whilst it was being worn, and there is a lady now
+living who, by being too eager to conceal a small error, fell into a
+greater.�
+
+�I think,� said Hircan, �that I know whom you mean; in any case,
+however, do not pronounce her name.�
+
+�Ho! ho!� said Geburon [to Ennasuite], �I give you my vote on condition
+that when you have related the story you will tell us the names. We will
+swear never to mention them.�
+
+�I promise it,� said Knnasuite, �for there is nothing that may not be
+told in all honour.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 022.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 023a.jpg The Lord des Cheriots flying from the Prince�s Servant]
+
+[The Lord des Cheriots flying from the Prince�s Servant]
+
+[Illustration: 023.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LIII_.
+
+     _By her dissimulation the Lady of Neufchastel caused the
+     Prince of Belhoste to put her to such proof that it turned
+     to her dishonour_.
+
+King Francis the First was once at a handsome and pleasant castle,
+whither he had gone with a small following, both for the purpose of
+hunting and in order to take some repose. With him in his train was a
+certain Prince of Belhoste, (1) as worshipful, virtuous, discreet and
+handsome a Prince as any at Court. The wife he had married did not
+belong to a family of high rank, yet he loved her as dearly and treated
+her as well as it were possible for a husband to do, and also trusted
+in her. And when he was in love with anybody he never concealed it from
+her, knowing that she had no other will than his own.
+
+     1  The Bibliophile Jacob surmises that this personage may be
+     one of the Italian grandees at that period in the service of
+     France, in which case the allusion may be to John
+     Caraccioli, Prince of Melphes, created a marshal of France
+     in 1544. Queen Margaret, however, makes no mention of her
+     Prince being a foreigner. �Belhoste� is of course a
+     fictitious name invented to replace that which the Prince
+     really bore, and admits of so many interpretations that its
+     meaning in the present instance cannot well be determined.
+     From the circumstance, however, that the Prince�s wife was
+     of inferior birth to himself, it is not impossible that the
+     personage referred to may be either Charles de Bourbon,
+     Prince of La Roche-sur-Yonne and Duke of Beaupr�au, or John
+     VIII., Lord of Cr�qui, Canaples and Pontdormi, and Prince of
+     Poix. The former, who married Philippa de Montespedon, widow
+     of Ren� de Mont�jan, and a lady of honour to Catherine de�
+     Medici when Dauphiness, took a prominent part in the last
+     wars of Francis I.�s reign, and survived till 1565. The
+     latter, generally known at Court by the name of Canaples,
+     was a gentleman of the chamber and an especial favourite of
+     Francis I. Brant�me says of him in his _Homines Illustres_
+     that he was �a valiant lord and the strongest man of arms
+     that in those days existed in all Christendom, for he broke
+     a lance, no matter its strength, as easily as though it were
+     a mere switch, and few were able to withstand him.� In 1525
+     the Prince of Poix married a Demoiselle d�Acign� or Assigny,
+     of _petite noblesse_, who in 1532 became a lady of honour to
+     Queen Eleanor. She died in 1558, surviving her husband by
+     three years. See Rouard�s rare _Notice dun Recueil de
+     Crayons � la Biblioth�que M�janes d�Aix_, Paris, 1863.--Ed.
+
+Now this Prince conceived a deep affection for a widow lady called
+Madame de Neufchastel, (2) who was reputed the most beautiful woman it
+were possible to see; and if the Prince of Bel-hoste loved her well, his
+wife loved her no less, and would often send and bid her to dinner,
+for she deemed her so discreet and honourable, that, instead of being
+grieved by her husband�s love for her, she rejoiced to see him address
+his attentions to one so full of honour and virtue.
+
+     2  M. Lacroix thinks that this lady may be Jane de Hochberg,
+     only daughter of Philip, sovereign Count of Neufch�tel.
+     According to the custom of the time, she was commonly called
+     Madame de Neufch�tel, despite her marriage with Louis
+     d�Orl�ans, Duke of Longueville. She died in 1543, after a
+     lengthy widowhood. We consider the accuracy of M. Lacroix�s
+     surmise to be extremely doubtful, for the names of both the
+     men figuring in the story are obviously altered so as to
+     conceal their identity, and it is therefore not likely that
+     Queen Margaret would designate the lady by her real name,
+     and thus publish her shame to the world. The Madame de
+     Neufch�tel she speaks of may really have been a Madame de
+     Ch�teauneuf, Ch�teauvieux or Maisonneuve; or we may again be
+     in presence of Margaret�s lady of honour, the widowed
+     Blanche de Chastillon, _n�e_ de Tournon, to whom frequent
+     reference has been made.--Ed.
+
+This affection lasted for a great while, the Prince of Belhoste caring
+for all the lady�s affairs as though they were his own, and his wife
+doing no less. By reason, however, of her beauty many great lords and
+gentlemen earnestly sought the lady�s favour, some only for love�s sake,
+others for sake of the ring, for, besides being beautiful, she was also
+very rich.
+
+Among the rest was a young gentleman, called the Lord des Cheriots, (3)
+who wooed her so ardently that he was never absent from her levee and
+couch�e, and was also with her as much as possible during the day. This
+did not please the Prince of Belhoste, who thought that a man of such
+poor estate, and so lacking in grace, did not deserve an honourable
+and gracious reception, and he often made remonstrances about it to the
+lady. She, however, being one of Eve�s daughters, (4) excused herself
+by saying that she spoke with every one in general, and that their own
+affection was the better concealed, since she never spoke more with one
+than with another.
+
+     3  �Des Cheriots� (occasionally Des Cheriotz in the MS.) may
+     be a play upon the name of D�Escars, sometimes written Des
+     Cars. According to La Curne de Ste. Palaye _car_ as well as
+     _char_ signified chariot. The D�Escars dukedom is modern,
+     dating from 1815, and in the time of Francis I. the family
+     was of small estate. Some members of it may well have filled
+     inferior offices about the court, as in 1536 a Demoiselle
+     Suzanne d�Escars married Geoffrey de Pompadour, who was both
+     a prothonotary and cupbearer to Francis I., and lived to
+     become Governor of the Limousin under Charles IX.--M. and
+     Ed.
+
+     4  We take this expression from MS. 1520. Ours says, �a
+     daughter of the Duke,� which is evidently an error.--L.
+
+Albeit, after some time, this Lord des Cheriots so pressed her that,
+more through his importunity than through love, she promised to marry
+him, begging him, however, not to urge her to reveal the marriage until
+her daughters were wedded. After this the gentleman was wont to go with
+untroubled conscience to her chamber at whatsoever hour he chose, and
+none but a waiting-woman and a serving-man had knowledge of the matter.
+
+When the Prince perceived that the gentleman was growing more and more
+familiar in the house of her whom he so dearly loved, he took it in
+ill-part, and could not refrain from saying to the lady--
+
+�I have always prized your honour like that of my own sister, and you
+are aware of the honourable manner in which I have addressed you, and
+the happiness that I have in loving a lady as discreet and virtuous as
+yourself; but did I think that another who deserves it not could win by
+importunity that which I am not willing to crave, contrary to your
+own desire, this would be unendurable to me, and in the like degree
+dishonouring to you. I tell you this because you are beautiful and
+young, and although hitherto of good repute, are now beginning to gain
+a very evil fame. Even though he be not your equal in birth or fortune,
+and have less influence, knowledge and address, yet it were better to
+have married him than to give all men matter for suspicion. I pray you,
+therefore, tell me whether you are resolved to love him, for I will not
+have him as fellow of mine. I would rather leave you altogether to him,
+and put away from me the feelings that I have hitherto borne you.�
+
+The poor lady, fearful of losing his affection, thereupon began to weep,
+and vowed to him that she would rather die than wed the gentleman of
+whom he had spoken, but (she added) he was so importunate that she could
+not help his entering her chamber at a time when every one else did so.
+
+�Of such times as those,� said the Prince, �I do not speak, for I can go
+as well as he, and see all what you are doing. But I have been told that
+he goes after you are in bed, and this I look upon as so extraordinary
+that, if you should continue in this mode of life without declaring him
+to be your husband, you will be disgraced more than any woman that ever
+lived.�
+
+She swore to him with all the oaths she could utter that the other was
+neither her husband nor her lover, but only as importunate a gentleman
+as there well could be.
+
+�Since he is troublesome to you,� said the Prince, �I promise you that I
+will rid you of him.�
+
+�What!� asked the lady. �Would you kill him?�
+
+�No, no,� said the Prince, �but I will give him to understood that it
+is not in such a place as this, not in such a house as the King�s, that
+ladies are to be put to shame. And I swear to you by the faith of the
+lover that I am, that if, after I have spoken with him, he does not
+correct himself, I will correct him in such a manner as to make him a
+warning to others.�
+
+So saying he went away, and on leaving the room failed not to meet the
+Lord des Cheriots on his way in. To him he spoke after the fashion that
+you have heard, assuring him that the first time he was found there
+after an hour at which gentlemen might reasonably visit the ladies, he
+would give him such a fright as he would ever remember. And he added
+that the lady was of too noble a house to be trifled with after such a
+fashion.
+
+The gentleman protested that he had never been in the room except in the
+same manner as the rest, and, if the Prince should find him there, he
+gave him full leave to do his worst.
+
+One day afterwards, when the gentleman believed the Prince�s words
+to have been forgotten, he went to see his lady in the evening, and
+remained sufficiently late.
+
+The Prince [that same evening] told his wife that Madame de Neufchastel
+had a severe cold, upon hearing which the worthy lady begged that he
+would visit her on behalf of them both, and make excuse for herself,
+since she could not go by reason of a certain matter that she must needs
+attend to in her room.
+
+The Prince waited until the King was in bed, and then went to give
+the lady good-evening, but as he was going up a stairway he met a
+serving-man coming down, who, on being asked how his mistress did, swore
+that she was in bed and asleep.
+
+The Prince went down the stairway, but, suspecting that the servant
+had lied, looked behind and saw him going back again with all speed.
+He walked about the courtyard in front of the door to see whether the
+servant would return. A quarter of an hour later he perceived him come
+down again and look all about to see who was in the courtyard.
+
+Forthwith the Prince was convinced that the Lord des Cheriots was in the
+lady�s chamber, but through fear of himself durst not come down, and he
+therefore again walked about for a long-while.
+
+At last, observing that the lady�s room had a casement which was not at
+all high up, and which looked upon a little garden, he remembered the
+proverb which says, �When the door fails the window avails,� and he
+thereupon called a servant of his own, and said to him--
+
+�Go into the garden there behind, and, if you see a gentleman come down
+from the window, draw your sword as soon as he reaches the ground, clash
+it against the wall, and cry out, �Slay! slay!� Be careful, however,
+that you do not touch him.�
+
+The servant went whither his master had sent him, and the Prince walked
+about until three hours after midnight.
+
+When the Lord des Cheriots heard that the Prince was still in the yard,
+he resolved to descend by the window, and, having first thrown clown his
+cloak, he then, by the help of his good friends, leapt into the garden.
+As soon as the servant saw him, he failed not to make a noise with
+his sword, at the same time crying, �Slay! slay!� Upon this the poor
+gentleman, believing it was his [the servant�s] master, was in such
+great fear that, without thinking of his cloak, he fled as quickly as he
+was able.
+
+He met the archers of the watch, who wondered greatly to see him running
+in this fashion, but he durst say nothing to them, except to beg them to
+open him the gate [of the castle], or else to lodge him with themselves
+until morning. And this, as they had not the keys, they did.
+
+Then the Prince went to bed, and, finding his wife asleep, awoke her
+saying--
+
+�Guess, my wife, what hour it is.��
+
+�I have not heard the clock strike since I went to bed,� she replied.
+
+�It is three hours after midnight,� said he.
+
+�If that be so,� said his wife, �where have you been all this time? I
+greatly fear that your health will be the worse for it.�
+
+�Sweetheart,� said the Prince, �watching will never make me ill when
+I am engaged in preventing those who try to deceive me from going to
+sleep.�
+
+So saying, he began to laugh so heartily that his wife begged him to
+tell her of the matter. This he did at length, showing her the wolf�s
+skin (4) which his servant had brought him. After making merry at
+the expense of the hapless lovers, they went to sleep in gentle
+tranquillity, while the other two passed the night in torment, fearing
+and dreading lest the affair should be revealed.
+
+However, the gentleman, knowing right well that he could not use
+concealment with the Prince, came to him in the morning when he was
+dressing to beg that he would not expose him, and would give orders for
+the return of his cloak.
+
+The Prince pretended that he knew nothing of the matter, and put such a
+face on it that the gentleman was wholly at a loss what to think. But
+in the end he received a rating that he had not expected, for the Prince
+assured him that, if ever he went to the lady�s room again, he would
+tell the King of it, and have him banished the Court.
+
+�I pray you, ladies, judge whether it had not been better for this poor
+lady to have spoken freely to him who did her the honour of loving and
+esteeming her, instead of leading him by her dissimulation to prove her
+in a way that brought her so much shame.�
+
+�She knew,� said Geburon, �that if she confessed the truth she would
+wholly lose his favour, and this she on no account desired to do.�
+
+�It seems to me,� said Longarine, �that when she had chosen a husband
+to her liking, she ought not to have feared the loss of any other man�s
+affection.�
+
+�I am sure,� said Parlamente, �that if she had dared to reveal her
+marriage, she would have been quite content with her husband; but she
+wished to hide it until her daughters were wed, and so she would not
+abandon so good a means of concealment.�
+
+�It was not for that reason,� said Saffredent, �but because the ambition
+of women is so great that they are never satisfied with having only
+one lover. I have heard that the discreetest of them are glad to have
+three--one, namely, for honour, one for profit, and one for delight.
+Each of the three thinks himself loved the best, but the first two are
+as servants to the last.�
+
+�You speak,� said Oisille, �of such women as have neither love nor
+honour.�
+
+�Madam,� said Saffredent, �there are some of the kind that I describe,
+whom you reckon among the most honourable in the land.�
+
+�You may be sure,� said Hircan, �that a crafty woman will be able to
+live where all others die of hunger.�
+
+�And,� said Longarine, �when their craftiness is discerned, �tis death.�
+
+�Nay, �tis life,� said Simontault, �for they deem it no small glory
+to be reputed more crafty than their fellows. And the reputation of
+�crafty,� gained thus at their own expense, brings lovers more readily
+under subjection to them than does their beauty, for one of the greatest
+delights shared by those who are in love is to conduct the affair
+slyly.�
+
+�You speak,� said Ennasuite, �of wanton love, for the honourable has no
+need of concealment.�
+
+�Ah!� said Dagoucin, �I pray you put that thought out of your head.
+The more precious the drug, the less should it be exposed to the air,
+because of the perverseness of those who trust only to outward signs.
+These are not different in the case of honourable and faithful affection
+than in any other case, so they must none the less be hidden when the
+love is virtuous than when it is the opposite, if one would avoid the
+evil opinion of those who cannot believe that a man may love a lady in
+all honour, and who, being themselves slaves to pleasure, think every
+one else the same. If we were all of good faith, look and speech would
+be without concealment, at least toward those who would rather die than
+take them in an evil sense.�
+
+�I protest to you, Dagoucin,� said Hircan, �that your philosophy is too
+deep for any man here to understand or believe. You would have us think
+that men are angels, or stones, or devils.�
+
+�I am well aware,� said Dagoucin, �that men are men and subject to every
+passion, but there are some, nevertheless, who would rather die than
+that their mistresses should, for their delight, do aught against their
+consciences.�
+
+�To die means a great deal,� said Geburon. �I would not believe that of
+them were it uttered by the lips of the austerest monk alive.�
+
+�Nay, I believe,� said Hircan, �that there is none but desires the very
+opposite. But they make pretence of disliking the grapes when these hang
+too high to be gathered.�
+
+�Still,� said Nomcrfide, �I am sure that the Prince�s wife was very glad
+to find that her husband was learning to know women.�
+
+�I assure you it was not so,� said Ennasuite. �She was very sorry on
+account of the love that she bore the lady.�
+
+�I would as soon,� said Saffredent, �have the lady who laughed when her
+husband kissed her maid.�
+
+�In sooth,� said Ennasuite, �you shall tell us the story. I give place
+to you.�
+
+�Although the story is very short,� said Saffredent, �I will still
+relate it, for I would rather make you laugh than speak myself at
+length.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 036.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 037a.jpg The Lady watching the Shadow Faces Kissing]
+
+[The Lady watching the Shadow Faces Kissing]
+
+[Illustration: 037.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LIV_.
+
+     _Thogas�s wife, believing that her husband loved none but
+     herself, was pleased that her serving-woman should amuse
+     him, and laughed when in her presence he kissed the girl
+     before her eyes, and with her knowledge_.
+
+Between the Pyrenees Mountains and the Alps, there dwelt a gentleman
+named Thogas, (1) who had a wife and children, with a very beautiful
+house, and so much wealth and pleasure at his hand, that there was
+reason he should live in contentment, had it not been that he was
+subject to great pain beneath the roots of the hair, in such wise that
+the doctors advised him to sleep no longer with his wife. She, whose
+chief thought was for her husband�s life and health, readily consented,
+and caused her bed to be set in another corner of the room directly
+opposite her husband�s, so that they could neither of them put out their
+heads without seeing each other.
+
+     1  We are unable to trace any family named Thogas, which is
+     probably a fictitious appellation. Read backwards with the
+     letter h omitted it forms Sagot, whilst if the syllables be
+     transposed it suggests Guasto, a well-known Basque or
+     Navarrese name.--Ed.
+
+This lady had two serving-women, and often when the lord and his lady
+were in bed, they would each take some diverting book to read, whilst
+the serving-women held candles, the younger, that is, for the gentleman,
+and the other for his wife.
+
+The gentleman, finding that the maid was younger and handsomer than her
+mistress, took such great pleasure in observing her that he would break
+off his reading in order to converse with her. His wife could hear this
+very plainly, but believing that her husband loved none but herself, she
+was well pleased that her servants should amuse him.
+
+It happened one evening, however, when they had read longer than was
+their wont, that the lady looked towards her husband�s bed where was the
+young serving-maid holding the candle. Of her she could see nothing but
+her back, and of her husband nothing at all excepting on the side of
+the chimney, which jutted out in front of his bed, and the white wall of
+which was bright with the light from the candle. And upon this wall
+she could plainly see the shadows both of her husband and of her maid;
+whether they drew apart, or came near together or laughed, it was all as
+clear to her as though she had veritably beheld them.
+
+The gentleman, using no precaution since he felt sure that his wife
+could not see them, kissed her maid, and on the first occasion his wife
+suffered this to pass without uttering a word. But when she saw that the
+shadows frequently returned to this fellowship, she feared that there
+might be some reality beneath it all, and burst into a loud laugh,
+whereat the shadows were alarmed and separated.
+
+The gentleman then asked his wife why she was laughing so heartily, so
+that he might have a share in her merriment.
+
+�Husband,� she replied, �I am so foolish that I laugh at my own shadow.�
+
+Inquire as he might, she would never acknowledge any other reason, but,
+nevertheless, he thenceforward refrained from kissing such shadow-faces.
+
+�That is the story of which I was reminded when I spoke of the lady who
+loved her husband�s sweetheart.�
+
+�By my faith,� said Ennasuite, �if my maid had treated me in that
+fashion, I should have risen and extinguished the candle upon her nose.�
+
+�You are indeed terrible,� said Hircan, �but it had been well done
+if your husband and the maid had both turned upon you and beaten you
+soundly. There should not be so much ado for a kiss; and �twould have
+been better if his wife had said nothing about it, and had suffered him
+to take his pastime, which might perchance have cured his complaint.�
+
+�Nay,� said Parlamente, �she was afraid that the end of the pastime
+would make him worse.�
+
+�She was not one of those,� said Oisille, �against whom our Lord says,
+�We have mourned to you and ye have not lamented, we have sung to you
+and ye have not danced,� (2) for when her husband was ill, she wept, and
+when he was merry, she laughed. In the same fashion every virtuous
+woman ought to share the good and evil, the joy and the sadness of her
+husband, and serve and obey him as the Church does Jesus Christ.�
+
+     2  �They are like unto children sitting in the market-place,
+     and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto
+     you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye
+     have not wept.�--_St. Luke_ vii. 32.--M.
+
+�Then, ladies,� said Parlamente, �our husbands should be to us what
+Christ is to the Church.�
+
+�So are we,� said Saffredent, �and, if it were possible, something more;
+for Christ died but once for His Church, whereas we die daily for our
+wives.�
+
+�Die!� said Longarine. �Methinks that you and the others here present
+are now worth more crowns than you were worth pence before you were
+wed.�
+
+�And I know why,� said Saffredent; �it is because our worth is often
+tried. Still our shoulders are sensible of having worn the cuirass so
+long.�
+
+�If,� said Ennasuite, �you had been obliged to wear harness for a month
+and lie on the hard ground, you would greatly long to regain the bed of
+your excellent wife, and wear the cuirass of which you now complain.
+But it is said that everything can be endured except ease, and that
+none know what rest is until they have lost it. This foolish woman, who
+laughed when her husband was merry, was fond of taking her rest under
+any circumstances.�
+
+�I am sure,� said Longarine, �that she loved her rest better than her
+husband, since she took nothing that he did to heart.�
+
+�She did take to heart,� said Parlamente, �those things which might have
+been hurtful to his conscience and his health, but she would not dwell
+upon trifles.�
+
+�When you speak of conscience,� said Simontault �you make me laugh. �Tis
+a thing to which I would have no woman give heed.�
+
+�It would be a good thing,� said Nomerfide, �if you had a wife like one
+who, after her husband�s death, proved that she loved her money better
+than her conscience.�
+
+�I pray you,� said Saffredent, �tell us that tale. I give you my vote.�
+
+�I had not intended,� said Nomcrfide, �to relate so short a story, but,
+since it is suited to the occasion, I will do so.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 042.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 043a.jpg The Servant selling the Horse with the Cat]
+
+[The Servant selling the Horse with the Cat]
+
+[Illustration: 043.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LV_.
+
+     _A merchant�s widow, whilst carrying out her husband�s will,
+     interpreted its purport to the advantage of herself and her
+     children_. (1)
+
+In the town of Safagossa there lived a rich merchant, who, finding his
+death draw nigh, and himself no longer able to retain possession of his
+goods---which he had perchance gathered together by evil means--thought
+that if he made a little present to God, he might thus after his death
+make part atonement for his sins, just as though God sold His pardon for
+money. Accordingly, when he had settled matters in respect of his house,
+he declared it to be his desire that a fine Spanish horse which he
+possessed should be sold for as much as it would bring, and the money
+obtained for it be distributed among the poor. And he begged his wife
+that she would in no wise fail to sell the horse as soon as he was dead,
+and distribute the money in the manner he had commanded.
+
+     1  Whether the incidents here related be true or not, it is
+     probable that this was a story told to Queen Margaret at the
+     time of her journey to Spain in 1525. It will have been
+     observed (_ante_, pp. 36 and 42) that both the previous tale
+     and this one are introduced into the _Heptameron_ in a semi-
+     apologetic fashion, as though the Queen had not originally
+     intended that her work should include such short, slight
+     anecdotes. However, already at this stage--the fifty-fifth
+     only of the hundred tales which she proposed writing--she
+     probably found fewer materials at her disposal than she had
+     anticipated, and harked back to incidents of her earlier
+     years, which she had at first thought too trifling to
+     record. Still, slight as this story may be, it is not
+     without point. The example set by the wife of the Saragossa
+     merchant has been followed in modern times in more ways than
+     one.--Ed.
+
+When the burial was over and the first tears were shed, the wife, who
+was no more of a fool than Spanish women are used to be, went to the
+servant who with herself had heard his master declare his desire, and
+said to him--
+
+�Methinks I have lost enough in the person of a husband I loved so
+dearly, without afterwards losing his possessions. Yet would I not
+disobey his word, but rather better his intention; for the poor man, led
+astray by the greed of the priests, thought to make a great sacrifice to
+God in bestowing after his death a sum of money, not a crown of which,
+as you well know, he would have given in his lifetime to relieve even
+the sorest need. I have therefore bethought me that we will do what
+he commanded at his death, and in still better fashion than he himself
+would have done if had he lived a fortnight longer. But no living person
+must know aught of the matter.�
+
+When she had received the servant�s promise to keep it secret, she said
+to him--
+
+�You will go and sell the horse, and when you are asked, �How much?�
+you will reply, �A ducat.� I have, however, a very fine cat which I also
+wish to dispose of, and you will sell it with the horse for ninety-nine
+ducats, so that cat and horse together will bring in the hundred ducats
+for which my husband wished to sell the horse alone.�
+
+The servant readily fulfilled his mistress�s command. While he was
+walking the horse about the market-place, and holding the cat in his
+arms, a gentleman, who had seen the horse before, and was desirous of
+possessing it, asked the servant what price he sought.
+
+�A ducat,� replied the man.
+
+�I pray you,� said the gentleman, �do not mock me.�
+
+�I assure you, sir,� said the servant, �that it will cost you only a
+ducat. It is true that the cat must be bought at the same time, and for
+the cat I must have nine and ninety ducats.�
+
+Forthwith, the gentleman, thinking the bargain a reasonable one, paid
+him one ducat for the horse, and the remainder as was desired of him,
+and took his goods away.
+
+The servant, on his part, went off with the money, with which his
+mistress was right well pleased, and she failed not to give the ducat
+that the horse had brought to the poor Mendicants, (2) as her husband
+had commanded, and the remainder she kept for the needs of herself and
+her children. (3)
+
+     2  The allusion is not to the ordinary beggars who then, as
+     now, swarmed in Spain, but to the Mendicant friars.--Ed.
+
+     3  In Boaistuau�s and Gruget�s editions of the _Heptameron_
+     the dialogue following this tale is replaced by matter of
+     their own invention. They did not dare to reproduce Queen
+     Margaret�s bold opinions respecting the clergy, the monastic
+     orders, &c., at a time when scores of people, including even
+     Counsellors of Parliament, were being burnt at the stake for
+     heresy.--L. and Ed.
+
+�What think you? Was she not far more prudent than her husband, and
+did she not think less of her conscience than of the advantage of her
+household?�
+
+�I think,� said Parlamente, �that she did love her husband; but, seeing
+that most men wander in their wits when at the point of death, and
+knowing his intentions, she tried to interpret them to her children�s
+advantage. And therein I hold her to have been very prudent.�
+
+�What!� said Geburon. �Do you not hold it a great wrong not to carry out
+the last wishes of departed friends?�
+
+�Assuredly I do,� said Parlamente; �that is to say if the testator be in
+his right mind, and not raving.�
+
+�Do you call it raving to give one�s goods to the Church and the poor
+Mendicants?�
+
+�I do not call it raving,� said Parlamente, �if a man distribute what
+God has given into his hands among the poor; but to make alms of another
+person�s goods is, in my opinion, no great wisdom. You will commonly see
+the greatest usurers build the handsomest and most magnificent chapels
+imaginable, thinking they may appease God with ten thousand ducats�
+worth of building for a hundred thousand ducats� worth of robbery, just
+as though God did not know how to count.�
+
+�In sooth,� said Oisille, �I have many a time wondered how they can
+think to appease God for things which He Himself rebuked when He was on
+earth, such as great buildings, gildings, pictures and paint. If they
+really understood the passage in which God says to us that the only
+offering He requires from us is a contrite and humble heart, (4) and
+the other in which St. Paul says we are the temples of God wherein He
+desires to dwell, (5) they would be at pains to adorn their consciences
+while yet alive, and would not wait for the hour when man can do nothing
+more, whether good or evil, nor (what is worse) charge those who remain
+on earth to give their alms to folk upon whom, during their lifetime,
+they did not deign to look. But He who knows the heart cannot be
+deceived, and will judge them not according to their works, but
+according to their faith and charity towards Himself.�
+
+     4  �The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and
+     a contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise.�--_Psalm_
+     li. 17.--Ed.
+
+     5  �For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath
+     said, I will dwell in them and walk in them,� &c.--2
+     _Corinthians_ vi. 16.--Ed.
+
+�Why is it, then,� said Geburon, �that these Grey Friars and Mendicants
+talk to us at our death of nothing but bestowing great benefits upon
+their monasteries, assuring us that they will put us into Paradise
+whether we will or not?�
+
+�How now, Geburon?� said Hircan. �Have you forgotten the wickedness you
+related to us of the Grey Friars, that you ask how such folk find it
+possible to lie? I declare to you that I do not think that there can
+be greater lies than theirs. Those, indeed, who speak on behalf of the
+whole community are not to be blamed, but there are some among them who
+forget their vows of poverty in order to satisfy their own greed.�
+
+�Methinks, Hircan,� said Nomerfide, �you must know some such tale, and
+if it be worthy of this company, I pray you tell it us.�
+
+�I will,� said Hircan, �although it irks me to speak of such folk.
+Methinks they are of the number of those of whom Virgil says to Dante,
+�Pass on and heed them not.� (6) Still, to show you that they have not
+laid aside their passions with their worldly garments, I will tell you
+of something that once came to pass.�
+
+     6  _Non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa_ (Dante�s
+     _Purgatorio_, iii. 51). The allusion is to the souls of
+     those who led useless and idle lives on earth, supporting
+     neither the Divinity by the observance of virtue, nor the
+     spirit of evil by the practice of vice. They are thus cast
+     out both from heaven and hell.--Ed.
+
+
+[Illustration: 049.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 051a.jpg The Grey Friar introducing his Comrade to the
+Lady and her Daughter]
+
+[The Grey Friar introducing his Comrade to the Lady and her
+Daughter]
+
+[Illustration: 051.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LVI_.
+
+     _A pious lady had recourse to a Grey Friar for his advice in
+     providing her daughter with a good husband, for whom she
+     proposed making it so profitable a match that the worthy
+     father, hoping to get the money she intended for her son-in-
+     law, married her daughter to a young comrade of his own. The
+     latter came every evening to sup and lie with his wife, and
+     in the morning returned in the garb of a scholar to his
+     convent. But one day while he was chanting mass, his wife
+     perceived him and pointed him out to her mother; who,
+     however, could not believe that it was he until she had
+     pulled off his coif while he was in bed, and from his tonsure
+     learned the whole truth, and the deceit used by her father
+     confessor_.
+
+A French lady, whilst sojourning at Padua, was informed that there was
+a Grey Friar in the Bishop�s prison there, and finding that every one
+spoke jestingly about him, she inquired the reason. She was told that
+this Grey Friar, who was an old man, had been confessor to a very
+honourable and pious widow lady, mother of only one daughter, whom she
+loved so dearly as to be at all pains to amass riches for her, and to
+find her a good husband. Now, seeing that her daughter was grown up, she
+was unceasingly anxious to find her a husband who might live with them
+in peace and quiet, a man, that is, of a good conscience, such as she
+deemed herself to possess. And since she had heard some foolish preacher
+say that it were better to do evil by the counsel of theologians than
+to do well through belief in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, she
+had recourse to her father confessor, a man already old, a doctor of
+theology and one who was held to lead a holy life by the whole town,
+for she felt sure that, with his counsel and good prayers, she could not
+fail to find peace both for herself and for her daughter. After she had
+earnestly begged him to choose for her daughter such a husband as he
+knew a woman that loved God and her honour ought to desire, he replied
+that first of all it was needful to implore the grace of the Holy Spirit
+with prayer and fasting, and then, God guiding his judgment, he hoped to
+find what she required.
+
+So the Friar retired to think over the matter; and whereas he had heard
+from the lady that she had got five hundred ducats together to give to
+her daughter�s husband, and that she would take upon herself the charge
+of maintaining both husband and wife with lodgment, furniture and
+clothes, he bethought himself that he had a young comrade of handsome
+figure and pleasing countenance, to whom he might give the fair maiden,
+the house, the furniture, maintenance and food, whilst he himself kept
+the five hundred ducats to gratify his burning greed. And when he spoke
+to his comrade of the matter, he found that they were both of one mind
+upon it.
+
+He therefore returned to the lady and said--�I verily believe that God
+has sent his angel Raphael to me as he did to Tobit, to enable me to
+find a perfect husband for your daughter. I have in my house the most
+honourable gentleman in Italy, who has sometimes seen your daughter and
+is deeply in love with her. And so to-day, whilst I was at prayer,
+God sent him to me, and he told me of his desire for the marriage,
+whereupon, knowing his lineage and kindred and notable descent, I
+promised him to speak to you on the matter. There is, indeed, one defect
+in him, of which I alone have knowledge, and it is this. Wishing to save
+one of his friends whom another man was striving to slay, he drew his
+sword in order to separate them; but it chanced that his friend slew the
+other, and thus, although he himself had not dealt a blow, yet inasmuch
+as he had been present at a murder and had drawn his sword, he became
+a fugitive from his native town. By the advice of his kinsfolk he came
+hither in the garb of a scholar, and he dwells here unknown until his
+kinsfolk shall have ended the matter; and this he hopes will shortly
+be done. For this reason, then, it would be needful that the marriage
+should be performed in secret, and that you should suffer him to go in
+the daytime to the public lectures and return home every evening to sup
+and sleep.�
+
+�Sir,� replied the worthy woman, �I look upon what you tell me as of
+great advantage to myself, for I shall at least have by me what I most
+desire in the world.�
+
+Thereupon the Grey Friar brought his comrade, bravely attired with a
+crimson satin doublet, and the lady was well pleased with him. And as
+soon as he was come the betrothal took place, and, immediately after
+midnight, a mass was said and they were married. Then they went to
+bed together until daybreak, when the bridegroom told his wife that to
+escape discovery he must needs return to the college.
+
+After putting on his crimson satin doublet and his long robe, without
+forgetting his coif of black silk, he bade his wife, who was still in
+bed, good-bye, promising that he would come every evening to sup with
+her, but that at dinner they must not wait for him. So he went away and
+left his wife, who esteemed herself the happiest woman alive to have
+found so excellent a match. And the young wedded Friar returned to the
+old father and brought him the five hundred ducats, as had been agreed
+between them when arranging the marriage.
+
+In the evening he failed not to return and sup with her, who believed
+him to be her husband, and so well did he make himself liked by her and
+by his mother-in-law, that they would not have exchanged him for the
+greatest Prince alive.
+
+This manner of life continued for some time, but God in His kindness
+takes pity upon those that are deceived without fault of their own, and
+so in His mercy and goodness it came to pass that one morning the lady
+and her daughter felt a great desire to go and hear mass at St. Francis,
+(1) and visit their good father confessor through whose means they
+deemed themselves so well provided, the one with a son-in-law and the
+other with a husband.
+
+     1  The church of the Grey Friars� monastery, St Francis
+     being their patron.--B. J.
+
+It chanced that they did not find the confessor aforesaid nor any other
+that they knew, and, while waiting to see whether the father would
+come, they were pleased to hear high mass, which was just beginning. And
+whilst the young wife was giving close heed to the divine service and
+its mystery, she was stricken with astonishment on seeing the Priest
+turn himself about to pronounce the _Dominus vobiscum_, for it seemed
+to her that it was her husband or else his very fellow. She uttered,
+however, not a word, but waited till he should turn round again, when,
+looking still more carefully at him, she had no doubt that it was indeed
+he. Then she twitched her mother, who was deep in contemplation, and
+said--
+
+�Alas! madam, what is it that I see?�
+
+�What is it?� said her mother.
+
+�That is my husband,� she replied, �who is singing mass, or else �tis
+one as like him as can be.�
+
+�I pray you, my daughter,� replied the mother, who had not carefully
+observed him, �do not take such a thought into your head. It is
+impossible that men who are so holy should have practised such deceit.
+You would sin grievously against God if you believed such a thing.�
+
+Nevertheless the mother did not cease looking at him, and when it came
+to the _Ite missa est_ she indeed perceived that no two sons of the same
+mother were ever so much alike. Yet she was so simple that she would
+fain have said, �O God, save me from believing what I see.� Since her
+daughter was concerned in the matter, however, she would not suffer it
+to remain in uncertainty, and resolved to learn the truth.
+
+When evening was come, and the husband (who had perceived nothing of
+them) was about to return, the mother said to her daughter--
+
+�We shall now, if you are willing, find out the truth concerning your
+husband. When he is in bed I will go to him, and then, while he is not
+thinking, you will pluck off his coif from behind, and we shall see
+whether he be tonsured like the Friar who said mass.�
+
+As it was proposed, so was it done. As soon as the wicked husband was in
+bed, the old lady came and took both his hands as though in sport--her
+daughter took off his coif, and there he was with his fine tonsure. At
+this both mother and daughter were as greatly astonished as might be,
+and forthwith they called their servants to seize him and bind him fast
+till the morning, nor did any of his excuses or fine speeches avail him
+aught.
+
+When day was come, the lady sent for her confessor, making as though she
+had some great secret to tell him, whereupon he came with all speed, and
+then, reproaching him for the deceit that he had practised on her, she
+had him seized like the other. Afterwards she sent for the officers of
+justice, in whose hands she placed them both. It is to be supposed that
+if the judges were honest men they did not suffer the offence to go
+unpunished. (2)
+
+     2  There is some little resemblance between this tale and
+     the 36th of Morlini�s _Novello, De monacho qui duxit
+     uxorem_.--M.
+
+�From this story, ladies, you will see that those who have taken vows of
+poverty are not free from the temptation of covetousness, which is the
+cause of so many ills.�
+
+�Nay, of so many blessings,� said Saffredent, �for with the five hundred
+ducats that the old woman would have stored up there was made much good
+cheer, while the poor maiden, who had been longing for a husband, was
+thus enabled to have two, and to speak with more knowledge as to the
+truth of all hierarchies.�
+
+�You always hold the falsest opinions,� said Oisille, �that ever I knew.
+You think that all women are of your own temper.�
+
+�Not so, madam, with your good leave,� said Saffredent. �I would give
+much that they were as easily satisfied as we are.�
+
+�That is a wicked speech,� said Oisille, �and there is not one present
+but knows the contrary, and that what you say is untrue. The story that
+has just been told proves the ignorance of poor women and the wickedness
+of those whom we regard as better than the rest of your sex; for neither
+mother nor daughter would do aught according to their own fancy, but
+subjected desire to good advice.�
+
+�Some women are so difficult,� said Longarine, �that they think they
+ought to have angels instead of men.�
+
+�And for that reason,� said Simontault, �they often meet with devils,
+more especially those who, instead of trusting to God�s grace, think
+by their own good sense, or that of others, that they may in this world
+find some happiness, though this is granted by none save God, from whom
+alone it can come.�
+
+�How now, Simontault!� said Oisille. �I did not think that you knew so
+much good.�
+
+�Madam,� said Simontault, ��tis a pity that I have not been proved, for
+I see that through lack of knowledge you have already judged ill of me.
+Yet I may well practise a Grey Friar�s trade, since a Grey Friar has
+meddled with mine.�
+
+�So you call it your trade,� said Parlamente, �to deceive women? Thus
+out of your mouth are you judged.�
+
+�Had I deceived a hundred thousand,� said Simontault, �I should yet not
+have avenged the woes that I have endured for the sake of one alone.�
+
+�I know,� said Parlamente, �how often you complain of women; yet,
+for all that, we see you so merry and hearty that it is impossible
+to believe that you have endured all the woes you speak of. But the
+�Compassionless Fair One� (3) replies that--
+
+     ��Tis as well to say as much
+     To draw some comfort thence.��
+
+     3  _La belle Dame sans mercy_, by Alain Chartier.--Ed.
+
+�You quote a truly notable theologian,� said Simontault, �one who is
+not only froward himself, but makes all the ladies so, who have read and
+followed his teaching.�
+
+�Yet his teaching,� said Parlamente, �is as profitable for youthful
+dames as any that I know.�
+
+�If it were indeed true,� said Simontault, �that the ladies were without
+compassion, we might as well let our horses rest and our armour grow
+rusty until the next war, and think of nothing but household affairs.
+And, I pray you, tell me whether it is an excellence in a lady to have
+the reputation of being without pity, or charity, or love, or mercy.�
+
+�Without charity or love,� said Parlamente, �they should not be, but the
+word �mercy� sounds so ill among women that they cannot use it without
+wounding their honour; for properly speaking �mercy� means to grant a
+favour sought, and we well know what the favour is that men desire.�
+
+�May it please you, madam,� said Simontault, �there are some men who are
+so reasonable that they crave nought but speech.�
+
+�You remind me,� said Parlamente, �of one who was content with a glove.�
+
+�We must know who this easy lover was,� said Hircan, �and so this time I
+give my vote to you.�
+
+�It will give me pleasure to tell the tale,� said Parlamente, �for it is
+full of virtue.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 061.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 063a.jpg The English Lord seizing the Lady�s Glove]
+
+[The English Lord seizing the Lady�s Glove]
+
+[Illustration: 063.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LVII_.
+
+     _An English lord for seven years loved a lady without ever
+     venturing to let her know of it, until one day, when
+     observing her in a meadow, he lost all colour and control of
+     feature through a sudden throbbing of the heart that came
+     upon him. Then she, showing her compassion, at his request
+     placed her gloved hand upon his heart, whereupon he pressed
+     it so closely, whilst declaring to her the love he had so
+     long borne her, that she withdrew it, leaving in its place
+     her glove. And this glove he afterwards enriched with gems
+     and fastened upon his doublet above his heart, and showed
+     himself so graceful and virtuous a lover that he never
+     sought any more intimate favour of her_.
+
+King Louis the Eleventh (1) sent the Lord de Montmorency to England as
+his ambassador, and so welcome was the latter in that country that the
+King and all the Princes greatly esteemed and loved him, and even
+made divers of their private affairs known to him in order to have his
+counsel upon them.
+
+     1  Some of the MS. say Louis XII., but we cannot find that
+     either the eleventh or twelfth Louis sent any Montmorency as
+     ambassador to England. Ripault-Desormeaux states, however,
+     in his history of this famous French family, that William de
+     Montmorency, who, after fighting in Italy under Charles
+     VIII. and Louis XII., became, governor of the Orl�anais and
+     _chevalier d�honneur_ to Louise of Savoy was one of the
+     signatories of the treaty concluded with Henry VIII. of
+     England, after the-battle of Pavia in 1525. We know that
+     Louise, as Regent of France, at that time sent John Brinon
+     and John Joachim de Passano as ambassadors to England, and
+     possibly William de Montmorency accompanied them, since
+     Desormeaux expressly states that he guaranteed the loyal
+     observance of the treaty then negotiated. William was the
+     father of Anne, the famous Constable of France, and died May
+     24, 1531. �Geburon,� in the dialogue following the above
+     tale, mentions that he had well known the Montmorency
+     referred to, and speaks of him as of a person dead and gone.
+     It is therefore scarcely likely that Queen Margaret alludes
+     to Francis de Montmorency, Lord of La Rochepot, who was only
+     sent on a mission to England in 1546, and survived her by
+     many years.--L. and Ed.
+
+One day, at a banquet that the King gave to him, he was seated beside a
+lord (2) of high lineage, who had on his doublet a little glove, such
+as women wear, fastened with hooks of gold and so adorned upon the
+finger-seams with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls, that it was
+indeed a glove of great price.
+
+     2  The French word is _Millor (Milord)_ and this is probably
+     one of the earliest instances of its employment to designate
+     a member of the English aristocracy. In such of the _Cent
+     Nouvelles Nouvelles_ in which English nobles figure, the
+     latter are invariably called _seigneurs_ or _chevaliers_,
+     and addressed as _Monseigneur_, Later on, when Brant�me
+     wrote, the term _un milord anglais_ had become quite common,
+     and he frequently makes use of it in his various works.
+     English critics have often sneered at modern French writers
+     for employing the expression, but it will be seen from this
+     that they have simply followed a very old tradition.--Ed.
+
+The Lord de Montmorency looked at it so often that the English lord
+perceived he was minded to inquire why it was so choicely ordered; so,
+deeming its story to be greatly to his own honour, he thus began--
+
+�I can see that you think it strange I should have so magnificently
+arrayed a simple glove, and on my part I am still more ready to tell you
+the reason, for I deem you an honest gentleman and one who knows what
+manner of passion love is, so that if I did well in the matter you will
+praise me for it, and if not, make excuse for me, knowing that every
+honourable heart must obey the behests of love. You must know, then,
+that I have all my life long loved a lady whom I love still, and shall
+love even when I am dead, but, as my heart was bolder to fix itself
+worthily than were my lips to speak, I remained for seven years without
+venturing to make her any sign, through fear that, if she perceived
+the truth, I should lose the opportunities I had of often being in her
+company; and this I dreaded more than death. However, one day, while I
+was observing her in a meadow, a great throbbing of the heart came upon
+me, so that I lost all colour and control of feature. Perceiving
+this, she asked me what the matter was, and I told her that I felt
+an intolerable pain of the heart. She, believing it to be caused by a
+different sickness than love, showed herself pitiful towards me, which
+prompted me to beg her to lay her hand upon my heart and see how it was
+beating. This, more from charity than from any other affection, she did,
+and while I held her gloved hand against my heart, it began to beat and
+strain in such wise, that she felt that I was speaking the truth. Then I
+pressed her hand to my breast, saying--
+
+��Alas, madam, receive the heart which would fain break forth from my
+breast to leap into the hand of her from whom I look for indulgence,
+life and pity, and which now constrains me to make known to you the
+love that I have so long concealed, for neither my heart nor I can now
+control this potent God.�
+
+�When she heard those words, she deemed them very strange. She wished
+to withdraw her hand, but I held it fast, and the glove remained in her
+cruel hand�s place; and having neither before nor since had any more
+intimate favour from her, I have fastened this glove upon my heart as
+the best plaster I could give it. And I have adorned it with the
+richest rings I have, though the glove itself is wealth that I would not
+exchange for the kingdom of England, for I deem no happiness on earth so
+great as to feel it on my breast.�
+
+The Lord de Montmorency, who would have rather had a lady�s hand than
+her glove, praised his very honourable behaviour, telling him that
+he was the truest lover he had ever known, and was worthy of better
+treatment, since he set so much value upon so slight a thing; though
+perchance, if he had obtained aught better than the glove, the greatness
+of his love might have made him die of joy. With this the English lord
+agreed, not suspecting that the Lord de Montmorency was mocking him. (3)
+
+     3  Alluding to this story, Brant�me writes as follows in his
+     _Dames Galantes_: �You have that English _Milord_ in the
+     Hundred Tales of the Queen of Navarre, who wore his
+     mistress�s glove at his side, beautifully adorned. I myself
+     have known many gentlemen who, before wearing their silken
+     hose, would beg their ladies and mistresses to try them on
+     and wear them for some eight or ten days, rather more than
+     less, and who would then themselves wear them in extreme
+     veneration and contentment, both of mind and body.�--
+     Lalanne�s _OEuvres de Brant�me_, vol. ix. p. 309.--L.
+
+�If all men were so honourable as this one, the ladies might well trust
+them, since the cost would be merely a glove.�
+
+�I knew the Lord de Montmorency well,� said Geburon, �and I am sure that
+he would not have cared to fare after the English fashion. Had he been
+contented with so little, he would not have been so successful in love
+as he was, for the old song says--
+
+     �Of a cowardly lover
+     No good is e�er heard.��
+
+�You may be sure,� said Saffredent, �that the poor lady withdrew her
+hand with all speed, when she felt the beating of his heart, because she
+thought that he was about to die, and people say that there is nothing
+women loathe more than to touch dead bodies.� (4)
+
+     4  Most of this sentence, deficient in our MS., is taken
+     from MS. No. 1520.--L.
+
+�If you had spent as much time in hospitals as in taverns,� said
+Ennasuite, �you would not speak in that way, for you would have seen
+women shrouding dead bodies, which men, bold as they are, often fear to
+touch.�
+
+�It is true,� said Saffredent, �that there is none upon whom penance has
+been laid but does the opposite of that wherein he formerly had delight,
+like a lady I once saw in a notable house, who, to atone for her delight
+in kissing one she loved, was found at four o�clock in the morning
+kissing the corpse of a gentleman who had been killed the day before,
+and whom she had never liked more than any other. Then every one knew
+that this was a penance for past delights. But as all the good deeds
+done by women are judged ill by men, I am of opinion that, dead or
+alive, there should be no kissing except after the fashion that God
+commands.�
+
+�For my part,� said Hircan, �I care so little about kissing women,
+except my own wife, that I will assent to any law you please, yet I
+pity the young folk whom you deprive of this trifling happiness, thus
+annulling the command of St. Paul, who bids us kiss _in osculo sancto._�
+ (5)
+
+     5  _Romans_ xvi. 16; 1 _Corinthians_ xvi. 20; 2
+     _Corinthians_ xiii. 12; I _Thessalonians_ v. 26. Also 1
+     _Peter_ v. 14.--M.
+
+�If St. Paul had been such a man as you are,� said Nomerfide, �we should
+indeed have required proof of the Spirit of God that spoke in him.�
+
+�In the end,� said Geburon, �you will doubt Holy Scripture rather than
+give up one of your petty affectations.�
+
+�God forbid,� said Oisille, �that we should doubt Holy Scripture, but
+we put small faith in your lies. There is no woman but knows what her
+belief should be, namely, never to doubt the Word of God or believe the
+word of man.�
+
+�Yet,� said Simontauit, �I believe that there are more men deceived by
+women than [women] by men. The slenderness of women�s love towards us
+keeps them from believing our truths, whilst our exceeding love towards
+them makes us trust so completely in their falsehoods, that we are
+deceived before we suspect such a thing to be possible.�
+
+�Methinks,� said Parlamente, �you have been hearing some fool complain
+of being duped by a wanton woman, for your words carry but little
+weight, and need the support of an example. If, therefore, you know of
+one, I give you my place that you may tell it to us. I do not say that
+we are bound to believe you on your mere word, but it will assuredly not
+make our ears tingle to hear you speak ill of us, since we know what is
+the truth.�
+
+�Well, since it is for me to speak,� said Dagoucin, ��tis I who will
+tell you the tale.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 070.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 071a. The Gentleman Mocked by the Ladies When Returning From The False
+Tryst]
+
+[The Gentleman Mocked by the Ladies When Returning From The False Tryst]
+
+[Illustration: 071.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LVIII._
+
+     _A gentleman, through putting too much trust in the
+     truthfulness of a lady whom he had offended by forsaking her
+     for others just when she was most in love with him, was, by
+     a false tryst, deceived by her, and bemocked by the whole
+     Court_.
+
+At the Court of King Francis the First there was a lady (1) of excellent
+wit, who, by her grace, virtue and pleasantness of speech, had won the
+hearts of several lovers. With these she right well knew how to pass
+the time, but without hurt to her honour, conversing with them in such
+pleasant fashion that they knew not what to think, for those who were
+the most confident were reduced to despair, whilst those that despaired
+the most became hopeful. Nevertheless, while fooling most of them, she
+could not help greatly loving one whom she called her cousin, a name
+which furnished a pretext for closer fellowship.
+
+     1  M. de Lincy surmises that Margaret is referring to
+     herself both here and in the following tale, which concerns
+     the same lady. His only reason for the supposition, however,
+     is that the lady�s views on certain love matters are akin to
+     those which the Queen herself professed.--Ed.
+
+However, as there is nothing in this world of firm continuance, their
+friendship often turned to anger and then was renewed in stronger sort
+than ever, so that the whole Court could not but be aware of it.
+
+One day the lady, both to let it be seen that she was wholly void
+of passion, and to vex him, for love of whom she had endured much
+annoyance, showed him a fairer countenance than ever she had done
+before. Thereupon the gentleman, who lacked boldness neither in love nor
+in war, began hotly to press the suit that he many a time previously had
+addressed to her.
+
+She, pretending to be wholly vanquished by pity, promised to grant his
+request, and told him that she would with this intent go into her room,
+which was on a garret floor, where she knew there was nobody. And as
+soon as he should see that she was gone he was to follow her without
+fail, for he would find her ready to give proof of the good-will that
+she bore him.
+
+The gentleman, believing what she said, was exceedingly well pleased,
+and began to amuse himself with the other ladies until he should see
+her gone, and might quickly follow her. But she, who lacked naught of
+woman�s craftiness, betook herself to my Lady Margaret, daughter of the
+King, and to the Duchess of Montpensier, (2) to whom she said--
+
+�I will if you are willing, show you the fairest diversion you have ever
+seen.�
+
+     2  The former is Margaret of France, Duchess of Savoy and
+     Berry. Born in June 1523, she died in September 1574.--
+     Queen Margaret was her godmother. When only three years old,
+     she was promised in marriage to Louis of Savoy, eldest son
+     of Duke Charles III., and he dying, she espoused his younger
+     brother, Emmanuel Philibert, in July 1549. Graceful and
+     pretty as a child (see _ante_, vol. i. p. xlviii.), she
+     became, thanks to the instruction of the famous Michael de
+     l� H�pital, one of the most accomplished women of her time,
+     and Brant�me devotes an article to her in his _Dames
+     Illustres_ (Lalanne, v. viii. pp. 328-37). See also Hilarion
+     de Coste�s _�loges et Vies des Reines, Princesses, &c_.,
+     Paris, 1647, vol. ii. p. 278.
+
+     The Duchess of Montpensier, also referred to above, is
+     Jacqueline de Longwick (now Longwy), Countess of Bar-sur-
+     Seine, daughter of J. Ch. de Longwick, Lord of Givry, and of
+     Jane, _b�tarde_ of Angoul�me. In 1538 Jacqueline was
+     married to Louis II. de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier. She
+     gained great influence at the French Court, both under
+     Francis I. and afterwards, and De Thou says of her that she
+     was possessed of great wit and wisdom, far superior to the
+     century in which she lived. She died in August 1561, and was
+     the mother of Francis I., Duke of Montpensier, sometimes
+     called the Dauphin of Auvergne, who fought at Jarnac,
+     Moncontour, Arques, and Ivry, against Henry of Navarre.--L.,
+     B. J. and Ed.
+
+They, being by no means enamoured of melancholy, begged that she would
+tell them what it was.
+
+�You know such a one,� she replied, �as worthy a gentleman as lives, and
+as bold. You are aware how many ill turns he has done me, and that, just
+when I loved him most, he fell in love with others, and so caused me
+more grief than I have ever suffered to be seen. Well, God has now
+afforded me the means of taking revenge upon him.
+
+�I am forthwith going to my own room, which is overhead, and immediately
+afterwards, if it pleases you to keep watch, you will see him follow me.
+When he has passed the galleries, and is about to go up the stairs, I
+pray you come both to the window and help me to cry �Thief!� You will
+then see his rage, which, I am sure, will not become him badly, and,
+even if he does not revile me aloud, I am sure he will none the less do
+so in his heart.�
+
+This plan was not agreed to without laughter, for there was no gentleman
+that tormented the ladies more than he did, whilst he was so greatly
+liked and esteemed by all, that for nothing in the world would any one
+have run the risk of his raillery.
+
+It seemed, moreover, to the two Princesses that they would themselves
+share in the glory which the other lady looked to win over this
+gentleman.
+
+Accordingly, as soon as they saw the deviser of the plot go out, they
+set themselves to observe the gentleman�s demeanour. But little time
+went by before he shifted his quarters, and, as soon as he had passed
+the door, the ladies went out into the gallery, in order that they might
+not lose sight of him.
+
+Suspecting nothing, he wrapped his cloak about his neck, so as to hide
+his face, and went down the stairway to the court, but, seeing some one
+whom he did not desire to have for witness, he came back by another
+way, and then went down into the court a second time. The ladies saw
+everything without being perceived by him, and when he reached the
+stairway, by which he thought he might safely reach his sweetheart�s
+chamber, they went to the window, whence they immediately perceived
+the other lady, who began crying out �Thief!� at the top of her voice;
+whereupon the two ladies below answered her so loudly that their voices
+were heard all over the castle.
+
+I leave you to imagine with what vexation the gentleman fled to his
+lodgings. He was not so well muffled as not to be known by those who
+were in the mystery, and they often twitted him with it, as did even
+the lady who had done him this ill turn, saying that she had been well
+revenged upon him.
+
+It happened, however, that he was so ready with his replies and evasions
+as to make them believe that he had quite suspected the plan, and had
+only consented to visit the lady in order to furnish them with some
+diversion, for, said he, he would not have taken so much trouble for
+her sake, seeing that his love for her had long since flown. The ladies
+would not admit the truth of this, so that the point is still in doubt;
+nevertheless, it is probable that he believed the lady. And since he
+was so wary and so bold that few men of his age and time could match
+and none could surpass him (as has been proved by his very brave and
+knightly death), (3) you must, it seems to me, confess that men of
+honour love in such wise as to be often duped, by placing too much trust
+in the truthfulness of the ladies.
+
+     3  This naturally brings Bonnivet to mind, though of course
+     the gay, rash admiral was not the only Frenchman of the time
+     who spent his life in making love and waging war.--Ed.
+
+�In good faith,� said Ennasuite, �I commend this lady for the trick she
+played; for when a man is loved by a lady and forsakes her for another,
+her vengeance cannot be too severe.�
+
+�Yes,� said Parlamente, �if she is loved by him; but there are some who
+love men without being certain that they are loved in return, and when
+they find that their sweethearts love elsewhere, they call them fickle.
+It therefore happens that discreet women are never deceived by such
+talk, for they give no heed or belief even to those people who speak
+truly, lest they should prove to be liars, seeing that the true and the
+false speak but one tongue.�
+
+�If all women were of your opinion,� said Simon-tault, �the gentlemen
+might pack up their prayers at once; but, for all that you and those
+like you may say, we shall never believe that women are as unbelieving
+as they are fair. And in this wise we shall live as content as you would
+fain render us uneasy by your maxims.�
+
+�Truly,� said Longarine, �knowing as I well do who the lady is that
+played that fine trick upon the gentleman, it is impossible for me not
+to believe in any craftiness on her part. Since she did not spare her
+husband, �twere fitting she should not spare her lover.�
+
+�Her husband, say you?� said Simontault. �You know, then, more than I
+do, and so, since you wish it, I give you my place that you may tell us
+your opinion of the matter.�
+
+�And since you wish it,� said Longarine, �I will do so.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 078.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 079a. The Lady discovering her Husband with the Waiting-woman]
+
+[The Lady discovering her Husband with the Waiting-woman]
+
+[Illustration: 079.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LIX_.
+
+     _This same lady, finding that her husband took it ill that
+     she should have lovers with whom she amused herself without
+     hurt to her honour, kept close watch upon him, and so
+     discovered how pleasantly he addressed himself to one of her
+     waiting-women. This woman she gained upon, made her consent
+     to what her husband solicited, and then surprised him in
+     such error that to atone for it, he was forced to confess
+     that he deserved greater punishment than herself; by which
+     means she was afterwards able to live as her fancy listed_.
+
+The lady of your story was wedded to a rich gentleman of high and
+ancient lineage, and had married him on account of the great affection
+that they bore to one another.
+
+Being a woman most pleasant of speech, she by no means concealed from
+her husband that she had lovers whom she made game of for her pastime,
+and, at first, her husband shared in her pleasure. But at last this
+manner of life became irksome to him, for on the one part he took it ill
+that she should hold so much converse with those that were no kinsfolk
+or friends of his own, and on the other, he was greatly vexed by the
+expense to which he was put in sustaining her magnificence and in
+following the Court.
+
+He therefore withdrew to his own house as often as he was able, but so
+much company came thither to see him that the expenses of his household
+became scarcely any less, for, wherever his wife might be, she always
+found means to pass her time in sports, dances, and all such matters as
+youthful dames may use with honour. And when sometimes her husband told
+her, laughing, that their expenses were too great, she would reply that
+she promised never to make him a �coqu� or cuckold, but only a �coquin,�
+ that is, a beggar; for she was so exceedingly fond of dress, that she
+must needs have the bravest and richest at the Court. (1) Her husband
+took her thither as seldom as possible, but she did all in her power
+to go, and to this end behaved in a most loving fashion towards her
+husband, who would not willingly have refused her a much harder request.
+
+     1  As Queen Margaret was by no means over fond of gorgeous
+     apparel and display, this passage is in contradiction with
+     M. de Lincy�s surmise that the lady of this and the
+     preceding tale may be herself. In any case the narrative
+     could only apply to the period of her first marriage, and
+     this was in no wise a love-match. Yet we are told at the
+     outset of the above story that the lady and gentleman had
+     married on account of the great affection between them. On
+     the other hand, these details may have been introduced the
+     better to conceal the identity of the persons referred to.--
+     Ed.
+
+Now one day, when she had found that all her devices could not induce
+him to make this journey to the Court, she perceived that he was very
+pleasant in manner with a chamber-woman (2) she had, and thereupon
+thought she might turn the matter to her own advantage. Taking the girl
+apart, she questioned her cleverly, using both wiles and threats, in
+such wise that the girl confessed that, ever since she had been in the
+house, not a day had passed on which her master had not sought her love;
+but (she added) she would rather die than do aught against God and her
+honour, more especially after the honour which the lady had done her in
+taking her into her service, for this would make such wickedness twice
+as great.
+
+     2  The French expression here is _femme de chambre �
+     chaperon_. The _chaperon_ in this instance was a cap with a
+     band of velvet worn across it as a sign of gentle and even
+     noble birth. The attendant referred to above would therefore
+     probably be a young woman of good descent, constrained by
+     circumstances to enter domestic service.--B. J. and Ed.
+
+On hearing of her husband�s unfaithfulness, the lady immediately felt
+both grief and joy. Her grief was that her husband, despite all his show
+of loving her, should be secretly striving to put her to so much shame
+in her own household, and this when she believed herself far more
+beautiful and graceful than the woman whom he sought in her stead.
+But she rejoiced to think that she might surprise her husband in such
+manifest error that he would no longer be able to reproach her with her
+lovers, nor with her desire to dwell at Court; and, to bring this about,
+she begged the girl gradually to grant her husband what he sought upon
+certain conditions that she made known to her.
+
+The girl was minded to make some difficulty, but when her mistress
+warranted the safety both of her life and of her honour, she consented
+to do whatever might be her pleasure.
+
+The gentleman, on continuing his pursuit of the girl, found her
+countenance quite changed towards him, and therefore urged his suit more
+eagerly than had been his wont; but she, knowing by heart the part
+she had to play, made objection of her poverty, and said that, if she
+complied with his desire, she would be turned away by her mistress, in
+whose service she looked to gain a good husband.
+
+The gentleman forthwith replied that she need give no thought to any
+such matters, since he would bestow her in marriage more profitably than
+her mistress would be able to do, and further, would contrive the matter
+so secretly that none would know of it.
+
+Upon this they came to an agreement, and, on considering what place
+would be most suited for such a fine business, the girl said that she
+knew of none better or more remote from suspicion than a cottage in the
+park, where there was a chamber and a bed suitable for the occasion.
+
+The gentleman, who would not have thought any place unsuitable, was
+content with the one she named, and was very impatient for the appointed
+day and hour to come.
+
+The girl kept her word to her mistress, and told her in full the whole
+story of the plan, and how it was to be put into execution on the morrow
+after dinner. She would not fail, said she, to give a sign when the time
+came to go to the cottage, and she begged her mistress to be watchful,
+and in no wise fail to be present at the appointed hour, in order to
+save her from the danger into which her obedience was leading her.
+
+This her mistress swore, begging her to be without fear, and promising
+that she would never forsake her, but would protect her from her
+husband�s wrath.
+
+When the morrow was come and dinner was over, the gentleman was more
+pleasant with his wife than ever, and although this was not very
+agreeable to her, she dissembled so well that he did not perceive the
+truth.
+
+After dinner she asked him how he was minded to pass away the time, and
+he answered that he knew of nothing better than to play at �cent.� (3)
+Forthwith everything was made ready for the game, but the lady pretended
+that she did not care to take part in it, and would find diversion
+enough in looking at the players.
+
+     3  This is probably a reference to the card game now called
+     piquet, usually played for a hundred points. It is one of
+     the oldest of its kind. See Rabelais� _Gargantua_, book i.
+     chap, xxii.--L.
+
+Just before he sat down to play, the gentleman failed not to ask the
+girl to remember her promise to him, and while he was playing she passed
+through the room, making a sign to her mistress which signified that
+she was about to set out on the pilgrimage she had to make. The sign was
+clearly seen by the lady, but her husband perceived nothing of it.
+
+An hour later, however, one of his servants made him a sign from a
+distance, whereupon he told his wife that his head ached somewhat, and
+that he must needs rest and take the air. She, knowing the nature of his
+sickness as well as he did himself, asked him whether she should play
+in his stead, and he consented, saying that he would very soon return.
+However, she assured him that she could take his place for a couple of
+hours without weariness.
+
+So the gentleman withdrew to his room, and thence by an alley into his
+park.
+
+The lady, who knew another and shorter way, waited for a little while,
+and then, suddenly feigning to be seized with colic, gave her hand at
+play to another.
+
+As soon as she was out of the room, she put off her high-heeled shoes
+and ran as quickly as she could to the place, where she had no desire
+that the bargain should be struck without her. And so speedily did she
+arrive, that, when she entered the room by another door, her husband was
+but just come in. Then, hiding herself behind the door, she listened to
+the fair and honest discourse that he held to her maid. But when she
+saw that he was coming near to the criminal point, she seized him from
+behind, saying--
+
+�Nay, I am too near that you should take another.�
+
+It is needless to ask whether the gentleman was in extreme wrath, both
+at being balked of the delight he had looked to obtain, and at having
+his wife, whose affection he now greatly feared to lose for ever, know
+more of him than he desired. He thought, however, that the plot had been
+contrived by the girl, and (without speaking to his wife) he ran after
+her with such fury that, had not his wife rescued her from his hands,
+he would have killed her. He declared that she was the wickedest jade
+he had ever known, and that, if his wife had waited to see the end, she
+would have found that he was only mocking her, for, instead of doing
+what she expected, he would have chastised her with rods.
+
+But his wife, knowing what words of the sort were worth, set no value
+upon them, and addressed such reproaches to him that he was in great
+fear lest she should leave him. He promised her all that she asked,
+and, after her sage reproaches, confessed that it was wrong of him to
+complain that she had lovers; since a fair and honourable woman is none
+the less virtuous for being loved, provided that she do or say nothing
+contrary to her honour; whereas a man deserves heavy punishment when he
+is at pains to pursue a woman that loves him not, to the wronging of
+his wife and his own conscience. He would therefore, said he, never more
+prevent his wife from going to Court, nor take it ill that she should
+have lovers, for he knew that she spoke with them more in jest than in
+affection.
+
+This talk was not displeasing to the lady, for it seemed to her that
+she had gained an important point. Nevertheless she spoke quite to the
+contrary, pretending that she had no delight in going to Court, since
+she no longer possessed his love, without which all assemblies were
+displeasing to her; and saying that a woman who was truly loved by her
+husband, and who loved him in return, as she did, carried with her a
+safe-conduct that permitted her to speak with one and all, and to be
+derided by none.
+
+The poor gentleman was at so much pains to assure her of the love he
+bore her, that at last they left the place good friends. That they might
+not again fall into such trouble, he begged her to turn away the girl
+through whom he had undergone so much distress. This she did, but did it
+by bestowing her well and honourably in marriage, and at her husband�s
+expense.
+
+And, to make the lady altogether forget his folly, the gentleman soon
+took her to Court, in such style and so magnificently arrayed that she
+had good reason to be content.
+
+�This, ladies, was what made me say I did not find the trick she played
+upon one of her lovers a strange one, knowing, as I did, the trick she
+had played upon her husband.�
+
+�You have described to us a very cunning wife and a very stupid
+husband,� said Hircan. �Having advanced so far, he ought not to have
+come to a standstill and stopped on so fair a road.�
+
+�And what should he have done?� said Longarine.
+
+�What he had taken in hand to do,� said Hircan, �for his wife was no
+less wrathful with him for his intention to do evil than she would have
+been had he carried the evil into execution. Perchance, indeed, she
+would have respected him more if she had seen that he was a bolder
+gallant.�
+
+�That is all very well,� said Ennasuite, �but where will you find a man
+to face two women at once? His wife would have defended her rights and
+the girl her virginity.�
+
+�True,� said Hircan, �but a strong bold man does not fear to assail two
+that are weak, nor will he ever fail to vanquish them.�
+
+�I readily understand,� said Ennasuite, �that if he had drawn his sword
+he might have killed them both, but otherwise I cannot see that he had
+any means of escape. I pray you, therefore, tell us what you would have
+done?�
+
+�I should have taken my wife in my arms,� said Hircan, �and have carried
+her out. Then I should have had my own way with her maid by love or by
+force.�
+
+��Tis enough, Hircan,� said Parlamente, �that you know how to do evil.�
+
+�I am sure, Parlamente,� he replied, �that I do not scandalise the
+innocence in whose presence I speak, and by what I have said I do not
+mean that I support a wicked deed. But I wonder at the attempt, which
+was in itself worthless, and at the attempter, who, for fear rather than
+for love of his wife, failed to complete it. I praise a man who loves
+his wife as God ordains; but when he does not love her, I think little
+of him for fearing her.�
+
+�Truly,� replied Parlamente, �if love did not render you a good husband,
+I should make small account of what you might do through fear.�
+
+�You are quite safe, Parlamente,� said Hircan, �for the love I bear you
+makes me more obedient than could the fear of either death or hell.�
+
+�You may say what you please,� said Parlamente, �but I have reason to be
+content with what I have seen and known of you. As for what I have not
+seen, I have never wished to make guess or still less inquiry.�
+
+�I think it great folly,� said Nomerfide, �for women to inquire so
+curiously concerning their husbands, or husbands concerning their wives.
+Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, without giving so much heed
+to the morrow.�
+
+�Yet it is sometimes needful,� said Oisille, �to inquire into matters
+that may touch the honour of a house in order to set them right, though
+not to pass evil judgment upon persons, seeing that there is none who
+does not fail.�
+
+�Many,� said Geburon, �have at divers times fallen into trouble for lack
+of well and carefully inquiring into the errors of their wives.�
+
+�I pray you,� said Longarine, �if you know any such instance, do not
+keep it from us.�
+
+�I do indeed know one,� said Geburon, �and since you so desire, I will
+relate it.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 090.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 091a. The Chanter of Blois delivering his Mistress from the Grave]
+
+[The Chanter of Blois delivering his Mistress from the Grave]
+
+[Illustration: 091.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LX_.
+
+     _A man of Paris, through not making good inquiry concerning
+     his wife, whom he believed dead, though she was indeed
+     making good cheer with a chanter to the King, married a
+     second wife, whom, after having several children by her and
+     consorting with her for fourteen or fifteen years, he was
+     constrained to leave, in order to take his first wife back
+     again_.
+
+In the city of Paris there was a man who was so good-natured that he
+would have scrupled to believe a man abed with his wife, even if he had
+seen him with his own eyes. This poor man married a woman whose conduct
+was as bad as could be; nevertheless he perceived nothing of it, and
+treated her as though she were the most virtuous woman alive. One
+day, however, when King Louis XII. came to Paris, his wife surrendered
+herself to one of the choir-men of the aforesaid sovereign, and when she
+found that the King was leaving Paris and that she would no longer
+be able to see the singer, she resolved to follow him and forsake her
+husband. To this the chanter agreed, and brought her to a house that he
+had near Blois, (1) where for a long while they lived together. The poor
+husband, finding that he had lost his wife, sought her everywhere; and
+at last it was told him that she was gone away with the chanter.
+
+Wishing to recover the lost ewe which he had so badly watched, he wrote
+many letters to her begging her to return to him, and saying that he
+would take her back if she were willing to be a virtuous woman. But she
+took such great delight in listening to the songs of the chanter, that
+she had forgotten her husband�s voice, and gave no heed to all his
+excellent words, but mocked at them.
+
+Therefore the husband, in great wrath, gave her to know that, since
+she would return to him in no other way, he would demand her in legal
+fashion of the Church. (2) The wife, dreading that if the law should
+take the matter in hand she and her chanter would fare badly, devised a
+stratagem worthy of such a woman as herself. Feigning sickness, she sent
+for some honourable women of the town to come and see her, and this they
+willingly did, hoping that her illness might be a means of withdrawing
+her from her evil life, with which purpose they addressed the sagest
+admonitions to her. Thereupon she, whilst pretending to be grievously
+sick, made a show of weeping and acknowledging her sinfulness in such
+sort that she gained the pity of the whole company, who quite believed
+that she was speaking from the bottom of her heart. And, finding her
+thus subdued and sorry, they began to comfort her, telling her that God
+was in no wise so terrible as many preachers represented Him, and that
+He would never refuse to show her mercy.
+
+     1  Louis XII.�s favourite place of residence.--Ed.
+
+     2  Implying the Officialit� or episcopal court.--B. J.
+
+After this excellent discourse, they sent for a virtuous man to come
+and confess her, and on the morrow the priest of the parish came to
+administer the Holy Sacrament. This she received so piously, that
+all the virtuous women of the town who were present wept to see her
+devoutness, praising God, who of His goodness had in this wise shown
+compassion upon this poor creature.
+
+Afterwards she pretended that she could no longer take food, whereupon
+the extreme unction was brought by the priest and received by her with
+many pious signs; for (as they thought) she was scarcely able to speak.
+She continued thus for a great while, and it seemed as though she were
+gradually losing her sight, hearing and other senses, whereat there came
+from all a cry of �Jesus!� As night was at hand and the ladies were far
+from home, they all withdrew; and just as they were leaving the house it
+was told them that she was dead, whereupon, saying their _De profundis_
+for her, they returned to their houses.
+
+The priest asked the chanter where he would have her buried, and the
+other replied that she had desired to be buried in the cemetery,
+and that it would be well to bring her there at night. So the poor
+unfortunate was shrouded by a serving-woman, who was careful not to hurt
+her, and then by brave torchlight she was carried to the grave that the
+chanter had caused to be made.
+
+When the body passed in front of the houses of those who had been
+present when she received the extreme unction, they all came forth
+and followed her to the tomb; and there she was soon left by women and
+priests alike. The chanter, however, did not go away, but, as soon as he
+saw the company some distance off, he and the serving-woman opened the
+grave wherein was his sweetheart more alive than ever, and he sent her
+secretly to his house, where for a long time he kept her concealed.
+
+The husband, who was in pursuit of her, came as far as Blois to demand
+justice, when he found that she was dead and buried according to the
+testimony of all the ladies of Blois. They told him, too, what a good
+end she had made, and the worthy man was rejoiced to think that his
+wife�s soul was in Paradise, and himself rid of her wicked body.
+
+In this wise well content, he betook himself back to Paris, where he
+married a beautiful and virtuous young woman, and a good housewife, by
+whom he had several children, and with whom he lived for fourteen or
+fifteen years. But at last rumour, which can keep nothing hid, advised
+him that his wife was not dead, but was still dwelling with the wicked
+chanter. The poor man concealed the matter as well as he was able,
+pretending to know nothing about it, and hoping that it was a lie. But
+his wife, who was a discreet woman, was told of it, and such was her
+anguish at the tidings that she was like to die of grief. Had it been
+possible without offence to her conscience, she would gladly have
+concealed her misfortune, but it was not possible. The Church
+immediately took the affair in hand, and first of all separated them
+from each other until the truth of the matter should be known.
+
+Then was this poor man obliged to leave the good and go after the bad,
+and in this wise he came to Blois shortly after Francis the First had
+become king. Here he found Queen Claude and my Lady the Regent, (3) to
+whom he made his complaint, asking for her whom he would gladly not have
+found, but whom, to the great compassion of the whole company, he was
+now obliged to see.
+
+     3  This shows that the incidents of the tale occurred in the
+     summer or autumn of 1515, when Francis I. was absent in
+     Italy conducting the campaign which resulted in the victory
+     of Marignano and the surrender of Milan.--Ed.
+
+When his wife was brought before him, she strove for a long while to
+maintain that he was not her husband, which he would willingly have
+believed had he been able. More disappointed than abashed, she told him
+that she would rather die than go back with him, and at this he was well
+pleased; but the ladies in whose presence she spoke in this unseemly
+fashion condemned her to return, and so rated the chanter with many a
+threat, that he was obliged to tell his ugly sweetheart to go back with
+her husband, and to declare that he himself would never see her more.
+
+Rejected thus on all sides, the poor unfortunate withdrew to a home in
+which she was fated to meet with better treatment from her husband than
+she had deserved.
+
+�You see, ladies, why I say that if the poor husband had been more
+watchful over his wife, he would not thus have lost her. A thing that is
+well guarded is difficult to lose, but heedlessness makes the thief.�
+
+��Tis a strange thing,� said Hircan, �how strong love is just where it
+seems most unreasonable.�
+
+�I have heard,� said Simontault, �that it were easier to break two
+marriages than to sunder the love of a priest and his serving-maid.�
+
+�I believe it,� said Ennasuite; �for those who bind others together in
+marriage, are so well able to tie the knot that nought but death can
+destroy it. Theologians, moreover, hold that spiritual language is of
+more effect than any other, and in consequence spiritual love surpasses
+any other kind.�
+
+�It is a thing that I cannot forgive in ladies,� said Dagoucin, �when
+they forsake an honourable husband or a lover for a priest, however
+handsome and worthy the latter may be.�
+
+�I pray you, Dagoucin,� said Hircan, �intermeddle not with our Holy
+Mother Church. Be assured that �tis a great delight for timorous and
+secret-loving women to sin with those who can absolve them; for there
+are some who are more ashamed to confess a thing than to do it.�
+
+�You speak,� said Oisille, �of those who have no knowledge of God, and
+who think not that secret matters are one day revealed in presence of
+the Company of Heaven. But I think that it is not for confession�s sake
+that they go after confessors; for the Enemy has so blinded them that
+they are more concerned to attach themselves where they think there is
+most concealment and security, than anxious to obtain absolution for the
+wickedness of which they do not repent.�
+
+�Repent, say you?� said Saffredent. �Nay, they deem themselves holier
+than other women. I am sure that there are some who deem it honourable
+in themselves that they are constant in such love.�
+
+�You speak in such a manner,� said Oisille to Saffredent, �that I think
+you know of some one of that kind. I pray you, therefore, begin the Day
+tomorrow by telling us what you know. But now the last bell for vespers
+is already ringing; for our friends the monks went off as soon as they
+had heard the tenth tale, and left us to finish our discussions among
+ourselves.�
+
+At these words they all rose and came to the church, where they found
+the monks awaiting them. Then, after hearing vespers, they all supped
+together, talking the while of many excellent stories. After supper they
+went, according to their wont, to disport themselves somewhat in the
+meadow, and then retired to rest, in order that their memories might be
+the sounder on the morrow.
+
+
+[Illustration: 099.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+
+
+
+SEVENTH DAY.
+
+_On the Seventh Day relation is made of such as have done quite contrary
+to their duty or desire_.
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE.
+
+In the morning the Lady Oisille failed not to administer to them
+wholesome nutriment, which she did by reading of the acts and virtuous
+deeds of the glorious knights and apostles of Jesus Christ, as related
+by St. Luke, telling them withal that these relations should suffice to
+make them long for the return of such a time, and to make them weep
+for the uncomeliness of this age as compared with that. When she had
+sufficiently read and expounded to them the beginning of this excellent
+book, she begged them to go to the church in such union as that in which
+the Apostles were wont to pray, seeking of God the mercy which is never
+refused to those who ask for it in faith. Her counsel was approved by
+all, and they came to the church just as the Mass of the Holy Spirit
+was beginning; this seemed to them very apt to the occasion, and they
+hearkened to the service in great devotion.
+
+Afterwards they went to dinner, where they called to mind the apostolic
+life, and took such great delight in it that it was as though their
+undertaking had been forgotten. But Nomerfide, who was the youngest,
+noticed this, and said, �The Lady Oisille has made us so devout that we
+are letting slip the hour at which we are wont to withdraw, in order to
+make ready for the relating of our tales.�
+
+Her words caused the whole company to rise, and, after they had been for
+a while in their rooms, they failed not to repair to the meadow as on
+the day before. When they were seated at their ease, the Lady Oisille
+said to Saffredent, �Although I am certain that you will say nothing to
+the advantage of women, yet I must call upon you to tell the tale that
+you had in readiness yester evening.�
+
+�I protest, madam,� replied Saffredent, �against winning the repute of
+a slanderer through telling the truth, or losing the favour of virtuous
+ladies through relating the deeds of the wanton. I have felt what it is
+to lack their presence, and had I equally lacked their fair favours, I
+had not been alive to-day.�
+
+So saying, he turned his eyes away from her who was the cause of his
+happiness and of his woe; and, looking upon Ennasuite, caused her to
+blush as deeply as though his words had been directed to her. Yet was he
+none the less understood by her whom he desired should understand him.
+The Lady Oisille then assured him that he might freely speak the truth
+at the cost of any person concerned; whereupon he thus began:--
+
+
+[Illustration: 105a. The Lady returning to her Lover, the Canon of Autun]
+
+[The Lady returning to her Lover, the Canon of Autun]
+
+[Illustration: 105.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXI_.
+
+     _A husband is reconciled with his wife after she had lived
+     during fourteen or fifteen years with a Canon of Autun_.
+
+Near the town of Autun there lived a very beautiful woman, who was
+tall, fair, and as handsome of feature as any I have ever seen. She was
+married to an honest man who seemed somewhat younger than herself, and
+who loved and treated her well enough to give her reason for content.
+
+A little while after they were married, he took her to the town of
+Autun, where he had business; and while he was engaged with the law, his
+wife would go to the church to pray God for him.
+
+She repaired so often to this holy place that a very rich Canon fell in
+love with her, and wooed her so urgently that the unhappy creature gave
+herself up to him. Her husband had no suspicion of this, however, for he
+gave more thought to the guarding of his property than of his wife.
+
+When the time for departure was come, and they must needs return to
+their home, which was full seven leagues from the town, great was the
+woman�s sorrow. But the Canon promised that he would often go and see
+her, and this he did, pretending to be making some journey which led
+him past the house. The gentleman, however, was not so foolish as not to
+perceive the truth, and he so skilfully contrived matters, that when the
+Canon came thither he no longer met the wife, who was too well hidden
+by her husband to allow of his having any speech with her. The wife,
+knowing her husband�s jealousy, gave no sign that this was displeasing
+to her; nevertheless, she resolved to set things to rights, for she felt
+herself as it were in hell, deprived as she was of the sight of her God.
+
+One day, when her husband was abroad, she found a means to occupy her
+servants, both men and women, after such a fashion that she was left
+alone in the house. Immediately, she took what was needful, and, with no
+company save that of the wanton love she carried with her, she repaired
+on foot to Autun. Here she arrived none too late to be recognised by her
+Canon, who kept her shut up in hiding for more than a year, and this in
+spite of the monitions and excommunications that were procured against
+him by her husband.
+
+The latter, finding that he had no other remedy, at last complained to
+the Bishop, who had an Archdeacon, as worthy a man as any at that time
+in France. This Archdeacon himself searched with great diligence through
+all the Canon�s houses, until he discovered the one in which the woman
+was being kept in concealment, whereupon he cast her into prison, and
+laid heavy penance upon the Canon.
+
+The husband, knowing that his wife had been recovered by the counsels of
+the Archdeacon and divers other excellent persons, was content to take
+her back on her swearing to him that she would live for the future as
+beseemed a virtuous woman.
+
+This the worthy man in his deep love for her readily believed, and,
+bringing her back to his house, he treated her as honourably as before,
+except that he gave her two old serving-women who never left her, one or
+other of them being at all times with her.
+
+But, however kindly her husband might use her, the wicked love she bore
+towards the Canon caused her to regard all rest as torment. And although
+she was a very beautiful woman and her husband a man of excellent
+constitution, vigorous and strong, she never had any children by him,
+her heart being always seven leagues away from her body; this, however,
+she concealed so well that it seemed to her husband that, like himself,
+she had wholly forgotten the past.
+
+But in her great wickedness she was not so minded; for, just when she
+saw her husband most in love with her and having least suspicion, she
+pretended to fall ill, and continued in this pretence until her husband
+was in wondrous distress, and anxious to spare nought that might relieve
+her.
+
+However, she played her part so exceedingly well that he, and all in the
+house, thought that she was sick unto death, and was growing by degrees
+weaker and weaker. Finding that her husband was no less grieved than he
+should have been glad, she begged of him that he would authorise her to
+make her will, and this with tears he did.
+
+Having power of bequest, although she had no children, she gave to her
+husband what she could, craving at the same time his forgiveness for
+her wrong-doing towards him. Then she sent for the priest, confessed
+herself, and received the Holy Sacrament of the Altar with such
+devoutness, that all wept to see so glorious an end.
+
+When the evening was come, she begged her husband to send for the
+extreme unction, saying that, as she was growing very weak, she was in
+fear lest she might not live to receive it. Her husband in all haste
+caused it to be brought by the priest, and she, by receiving it with
+very great humility, prompted every one to praise her.
+
+After she had got through her brave mysteries, she told her husband
+that, having through God�s grace received all that the Church commands,
+she felt great peace of conscience, and would fain take some rest; and
+she begged him to do the like, seeing that he had great need of it after
+all his weeping and watching with her.
+
+When her husband was gone, and all his servants with him, the poor old
+women, who had so long watched her in health and now had no fear of
+losing her except by death, went contentedly and comfortably to bed. As
+soon as she heard them asleep and loudly snoring, she rose in nothing
+but her shift, and went out of the room, listening to hear if any one
+was yet astir in the house. Taking every precaution, she then (as she
+well knew how) let herself out through a little garden-gate that was not
+shut, and, barefooted and in her shift, journeyed all night long towards
+Autun and the saint, who had preserved her from death.
+
+It happened, however, that as the distance was great, she could not
+accomplish the whole of it before daylight overtook her. Looking then
+all along the road, she perceived two horsemen who were galloping at
+full speed, and thinking that it might be her husband in search of her,
+she hid herself entirely in a marsh, with her head among the reeds.
+As her husband (for he it was) passed close beside her, he spoke to a
+servant who was with him, in tones of deep despair, saying--
+
+�Ah, the wicked woman! Who could have thought that so foul and
+abominable a deed could be hidden under cloak of the holy sacraments of
+the Church.�
+
+�If Judas,� replied the servant, �feared not to betray his Master when
+he was receiving the like, a woman�s treachery is but small matter for
+wonder.�
+
+At this point the husband passed on, and his wife remained among the
+rushes, in greater gladness at having deceived and escaped him than she
+had ever felt at home in a good bed but in subjection.
+
+The poor husband sought her through all the town of Autun, but learning
+for certain that she had not entered it, he retraced his steps,
+complaining unceasingly of her and of his loss, and threatening her with
+nothing short of death if he should find her. Of this she had as little
+fear in her mind as she had of cold in her body, although the place and
+season might well have caused her to repent of her evil journey. And any
+one who did not know how the fire of hell inflames those that are filled
+with it, must needs wonder how it was that this unhappy woman could so
+leave a warm bed and continue for a whole day in the piercing cold.
+
+Yet she neither lost courage nor gave up the journey, but, as soon as
+night was come, went forward once more. Just as the gate at Autun was
+being closed, this pilgrim arrived thither and repaired straight to the
+shrine of her saint, who was in great wonder at her coming, and could
+scarcely believe that it was indeed she. But when he had carefully
+looked at her and examined her at all points, he found that, unlike
+a spirit, she was really possessed of bone and flesh, and so became
+convinced that she was no ghost.
+
+And thenceforward they agreed so well together that she dwelt with the
+Canon for fourteen or fifteen years.
+
+Although for a time she lived in concealment, in the end she lost all
+fear, and (what is worse) became so exceedingly proud of her lover that
+at church she would set herself before most of the honourable women of
+the town, wives of officials and others. Moreover, she had children
+by the Canon, and among others a daughter who was married to a rich
+merchant, and who had so magnificent a wedding that all the women of
+the town murmured exceedingly, yet were powerless to set the affair to
+rights.
+
+Now it happened that at this time Queen Claude, wife of King Francis,
+passed through the town of Autun, having with her my Lady the Regent,
+mother of the King aforesaid, and the Duchess of Alen�on, her daughter.
+(1) One of the Queen�s waiting-women, named Perrette, came to the
+Duchess and said--
+
+�Madam, I pray you listen to me, and you will do a better deed than if
+you went to hear the whole day�s service at the church.�
+
+     1  This would have occurred in the late autumn of 1515, when
+     the Court journeyed southward to meet Francis I. on his
+     return from the Marignano campaign.--Ed.
+
+The Duchess gave ready heed, knowing that nought but good counsel could
+come from her. Then Perrette forthwith told her how she had taken a
+young girl to help her in washing the Queen�s linen, and how, on asking
+the news of the town, she had heard from her the vexation which all the
+honourable women endured at seeing the Canon�s mistress go before them,
+together with some of the history of the wicked woman�s life.
+
+The Duchess went immediately to the Queen and my Lady the Regent, and
+told them the story; and they, without any form of law, sent for the
+unhappy woman. The latter sought no concealment, for her shame was
+turned to pride at being mistress in the household of so rich a man; and
+hence, with no feeling of confusion or disgrace, she presented herself
+before the ladies aforesaid, who were so abashed by her hardihood that
+at first they knew not what to say. After a time, however, my Lady the
+Regent rebuked her in a fashion which would have made a right-thinking
+woman weep, though this unhappy creature did not do so, but with great
+boldness said--
+
+�I pray you, ladies, let my honour go unscathed, for, God be praised,
+I have lived so well and virtuously with the Canon that no person alive
+can say aught against me. And let it not be thought that I am living in
+opposition to the will of God, since, for three years past, the Canon
+has not come near me, and we live together as chastely and as lovingly
+as two little angels, without any speech or wish between us to the
+contrary. And any one separating us will commit a great sin, for the
+worthy man, who is nigh eighty years old, will not live long without me,
+who am forty-five.�
+
+You may imagine how the ladies then comported themselves, and what
+remonstrance they all made with her; but, in spite of the words that
+were spoken, and her own age, and the honourable indignation of those
+present, her obstinacy was not softened. That she might be the more
+effectually humbled, they sent for the good Archdeacon of Autun, and he
+condemned her to lie in prison for a year, faring on bread and water.
+The ladies further sent for her husband, and he, after hearing their
+excellent exhortations, was content to take her back again after she
+should have performed her penance.
+
+But when she found that she was a prisoner, and that the Canon was
+resolved to have her back no more, she thanked the ladies for having
+taken a devil off her shoulders, and showed such deep and perfect
+contrition that her husband, instead of waiting until the year should
+have expired, came and asked her of the Archdeacon before a fortnight
+was over; and since then they have lived together in all peace and
+affection.
+
+�You see, ladies, how the chains of St. Peter are by wicked ministers
+converted into those of Satan, which it is so hard to break that even
+the sacraments, which cast out devils from the body, are here the means
+of making them abide longer in the conscience; for the best things, when
+abused, bring about most evil.�
+
+�Truly,� said Oisille, �this woman was a very wicked one, but at the
+same time she was well punished by her appearance before such judges as
+the ladies you have named. The mere glance of the Lady Regent had such
+power that never was there a woman, however virtuous, that did not dread
+being found unworthy in her sight. Those who were looked upon kindly by
+her deemed that they had earned a high honour, knowing as they did that
+none but virtuous women were favoured by her.� (2)
+
+     2  We are asked to believe that Oisille is none other than
+     the Lady Regent (Louise of Savoy), but is it likely she
+     would thus speak of herself? We can scarcely conceive Queen
+     Margaret perpetrating such a flagrant anachronism.--Ed.
+
+�It were indeed a fine thing,� said Hircan, �that there should be
+greater dread of a woman�s eyes than of the Holy Sacrament, which, if it
+be not received in faith and charity, brings with it eternal damnation.�
+
+�Those,� said Parlamente, �who are not inspired by God are, I promise
+you, in greater dread of the temporal than of the spiritual powers. And
+I believe that the poor creature was brought to mend her ways rather by
+her imprisonment and the thought of seeing her Canon no more, than by
+any remonstrance that might have been made to her.�
+
+�Nay,� said Simontault, �you have forgotten the chief cause of her
+return to her husband, which was that the Canon was eighty years old,
+whilst her husband was younger than herself; so the worthy lady had the
+best of all her bargains. Had the Canon been young, she would not have
+been willing to forsake him, and the admonitions of the ladies would
+have been as ineffectual as the sacraments.�
+
+�Further,� said Nomerfide, �I think she did well not to confess her sin
+so readily; such an offence ought to be humbly acknowledged to God, but
+stoutly denied before men. Even though it be true, still, by deception
+and swearing, doubt may be cast upon it.�
+
+�Not so,� said Longarine. �A sin can scarcely be so secret that it will
+not become revealed, unless God in His pity conceal it, as in the case
+of those who for love of Himself have truly repented.�
+
+�And what,� said Hircan, �will you say of those women who have no sooner
+done a deed of folly than they tell some one about it?�
+
+�I think that a strange thing,� answered Longarine, �and a sign that sin
+is not displeasing to them. If, as I said, a sin is not covered by
+the mercy of God, it cannot be denied before men; there are many who,
+delighting in such talk, glory to make their vices known, whilst others
+who contradict themselves in this way become their own accusers.�
+
+�If you know any such instance,� said Saffredent, �I give you my place
+and beg you to tell it us.�
+
+�Listen then,� said Longarine.
+
+
+[Illustration: 117.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 119a. The Gentleman�s Spur catching in the Sheet]
+
+[The Gentleman�s Spur catching in the Sheet]
+
+[Illustration: 119.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXII_.
+
+     _A lady�s tongue tripped so awkwardly whilst she was telling
+     a story, as if of another, to a dame of high degree, that
+     her honour thenceforward bore a stain which she could never
+     remove_.
+
+In the time of King Francis the First there lived a lady of the blood
+royal, who was endowed with honour, virtue and beauty, and well knew how
+to tell a story with grace and to laugh at such as might be told to
+her. (1) This lady being at one of her houses, all her subjects and
+neighbours came to see her; for she was as much liked as it were
+possible for woman to be.
+
+     1  M. de Lincy thinks that this lady may be Louise of Savoy,
+     who was very fond of listening to stories of an equivocal
+     character. This, it may be pointed out, is one of the
+     reasons why the commentators of the _Heptameron_ suppose her
+     to be Oisille, though the latter in the conversational
+     passages following the tales displays considerable prudery
+     and devoutness. That Louise was a woman of extremely amorous
+     tendency is well known; we need, indeed, no better proof of
+     it than her unseemly passion for the Constable de Bourbon
+     when she was five-and-forty years of age. If she be the lady
+     of royal blood spoken of above, the incidents of the tale
+     may have occurred in the Bourbonnais, a considerable portion
+     of which passed into her hands after the flight of the
+     Constable from France. It will be noted that allusion is
+     made to the lady�s subjects, showing that she exercised a
+     feudal sway. As one of the commentators of the _Heptameron_
+     has pointed out, Queen Margaret always saw her mother--that
+     �donna terribilissima!� as De Lussy called her--in such an
+     ideal light that M. de Lincy�s surmise may well be a correct
+     one despite the attributes of honour, virtue and beauty
+     bestowed on the lady whom she speaks of.--Ed.
+
+Among others there came a lady who hearkened whilst the rest told every
+story they could think of in order to amuse the Princess. This lady then
+resolved that she would not be behind the others, and accordingly said--
+
+�Madam, I will tell you a fine story, but you must promise me not to
+speak of it.�
+
+Then she forthwith continued--
+
+�The story, madam, is on my conscience a perfectly true one, and
+concerns a married lady who lived in all honour with her husband,
+although he was old and she was young. A gentleman who was her
+neighbour, seeing her married to this old man, fell in love with her,
+and importuned her for several years; but never received of her any
+reply save such as a virtuous woman should make. One day the gentleman
+bethought him that if he could take her at a disadvantage she might
+perchance be less harsh towards him, and, after he had for a long while
+weighed the danger that he might run, his love for the lady wholly
+banished his fears, and he resolved to find a time and place. He kept
+excellent watch, and so one morning, when the lady�s husband was going
+to another of his houses, and leaving at daybreak by reason of the heat,
+the young gallant came to the house, where he found the lady asleep in
+her bed, and perceived that the serving-women were gone out of the room.
+
+�Then, without having sense enough to fasten the door, he got into the
+lady�s bed all booted and spurred as he was, and when she awoke, she was
+as distressed as she could possibly be. But in spite of any remonstrance
+that she could make to him, he took her by force, saying that if she
+should make the matter known he would tell every one that she had sent
+for him; and at this the lady was so greatly afraid that she durst not
+cry out. Afterwards, on some of her women coming in, he rose in haste
+and would have been perceived by none if his spur, which had become
+fastened in the upper sheet, had not drawn it right off, leaving the
+lady quite naked in her bed.�
+
+So far the lady had told the story as if of another, but at the end she
+involuntarily said--
+
+�Never was a woman so confounded as I was, when I found myself lying
+quite naked.�
+
+At these last words the lady, who had hitherto hearkened to the story
+without laughing, could not refrain from doing so, and said--
+
+�By what I can see, you are well qualified to tell the tale.�
+
+The poor lady tried in every possible way to clear her honour, but it
+was already flown so far away that she was never able to recall it.
+
+�I assure you, ladies, that had she felt any deep displeasure in doing
+such a deed, she would have desired to forget it. But, as I have told
+you, sin will of itself be discovered before it could otherwise be
+known, unless it be hidden by the mantle which, as David says, makes man
+blessed.�
+
+�In good sooth,� said Ennasuite, �she was the greatest fool I have ever
+heard of, to make the others laugh at her own expense.�
+
+�I do not deem it strange,� said Parlamente, �that the word should
+follow the deed, for it is easier to say than to do.�
+
+�Why,� said Geburon, �what sin had she committed? She was asleep in her
+bed, he threatened her with shame and death; Lucr�ce, who is so highly
+praised, did just the same.�
+
+�That is true,� said Parlamente, �and I confess that there is none too
+righteous to fall. But when one has felt great offence in the deed, the
+same holds good of the recollection; and whereas Lucr�ce to efface the
+latter killed herself, this foolish woman tried to make others laugh.�
+
+�Nevertheless,� said Nomerfide, �it seems that she was a virtuous woman,
+seeing that she had been many times entreated but would never consent,
+so that the gentleman must needs resort to treachery and force in order
+to wrong her.�
+
+�What!� said Parlamente. �Do you think that a woman has answered for
+her honour, when she gives herself up after refusing two or three times?
+There would then be many virtuous women among those that are deemed the
+opposite, for many of them have been known to refuse for a long while
+those to whom their hearts had been given, some doing this through fear
+for their honour, and others in order to make themselves still more
+ardently loved and esteemed. No account, therefore, should be made of a
+woman unless she stands firm to the end. But if a man refuse a beautiful
+girl, do you regard that as great virtue?�
+
+�Truly,� said Oisille, �if a young and lusty man so refused, I should
+hold it worthy of high praise, but none the less difficult of belief.�
+
+�Yet,� said Dagoucin, �I know one who refused to partake in amours that
+were sought after by all his comrades.�
+
+�I pray you,� said Longarine, �take my place and tell us the tale, yet
+remember that you must here utter the truth.�
+
+�I promise you,� said Dagoucin, �that I will tell it in all its
+simplicity, without any colouring or disguise.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 124.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 125a. The King asking the Young Lord to join his Banquet]
+
+[The King asking the Young Lord to join his Banquet]
+
+[Illustration: 125.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXIII_.
+
+     _A gentleman�s refusal of an amour that was sought after by
+     all his comrades, was imputed to him as great virtue, and
+     his wife loved him and esteemed him in consequence far more
+     than before_. (1)
+
+In the city of Paris there lived four girls, of whom two were sisters,
+and such was their beauty, youth and freshness, that they were run after
+by all the gallants. A gentleman, however, who at that time held the
+office of Provost of Paris (2) from the King, seeing that his master was
+young, of an age to desire such company, so cleverly contrived matters
+with all four of the damsels that each, thinking herself intended for
+the King, agreed to what the aforesaid Provost desired. This was that
+they should all of them be present at a feast to which he invited his
+master.
+
+     1  This story, omitted by Boaistuau, was included in
+     Gruget�s edition of the _Heptameron_.--L.
+
+     2  This is John de la Barre, already alluded to in Tale I.
+     The _Journal d�un Bourgeois de Paris_ tells us that he was
+     born in Paris of poor parents, and became a favourite of
+     Francis I., who appointed him Bailiff of the capital,
+     without requiring him to pay any of the dues attaching to
+     the office. From the roll of the royal household for 1522,
+     we also find that he was then a gentleman of the bed chamber
+     with 1200 _livres_ salary, master of the wardrobe (a post
+     worth 200 _livres_) and governor of the pages, for the board
+     and clothing of whom he received 5000 _livres_ annually. In
+     1526 he became Provost as well as Bailiff of Paris, the two
+     offices then being amalgamated. He was further created Count
+     of Etampes, and acquired the lordship of Veretz, best
+     remembered by its associations with the murder of Paul Louis
+     Courier. La Barre fought at Pavia, was taken prisoner with
+     the King, and remained his constant companion during his
+     captivity. Several letters of his, dating from this period
+     and of great historical interest, are still extant; some of
+     them have been published by Champollion-Figeac (_Captivit�
+     de Fran�ois Ier_) and G�nin (_Lettres de Marguerite, &c_).
+     Under date 1533 (o. s.) the �Bourgeois de Paris� writes in
+     his _Journal_: �At the beginning of March there died in
+     Paris, at the house of Monsieur Poncher, Monsieur le Pr�vost
+     de Paris, named de La Barre.... The King was then in Paris,
+     at his chateau of the Louvre, and there was great pomp at
+     the obsequies; and he was borne to his lordship of Veretz,
+     near Tours, that he might be buried there.� Numerous
+     particulars concerning La Barre will also be found in M. de
+     Laborde�s _Comptes des B�timents du Roi au XVIeme Si�cle_.--
+     L. and Ed.
+
+He told the latter his plan, which was approved both by the Prince and
+by two other great personages of the Court, all three agreeing together
+to share in the spoil.
+
+While they were looking for a fourth comrade, there arrived a handsome
+and honourable lord who was ten years younger than the others. He
+was invited to the banquet, but although he accepted with a cheerful
+countenance, in his heart he had no desire for it. For on the one part
+he had a wife who was the mother of handsome children, and with whom he
+lived in great happiness, and in such peacefulness that on no account
+would he have had her suspect evil of him. And on the other hand he was
+the lover of one of the handsomest ladies of her time in France, whom
+he loved and esteemed so greatly that all other women seemed to him ugly
+beside her.
+
+In his early youth, before he was married, he had found it impossible to
+gaze upon and associate with other women, however beautiful they might
+be; for he took more delight in gazing upon his sweetheart, and in
+perfectly loving her, than in having all that another might have given
+him.
+
+This lord, then, went to his wife and told her secretly of the
+enterprise that his master had in hand, saying that he would rather die
+than do what he had promised. For (he told her) just as there was no
+living man whom he would not venture to attack in anger, although he
+would rather die than commit a causeless and wilful murder unless his
+honour compelled him to it; even so, unless driven by extreme love, such
+as may serve to blind virtuous men, he would rather die than break his
+marriage vow to gratify another.
+
+On hearing these words of his, and finding that so much honour dwelt
+in one so young, his wife loved and esteemed him more than she had ever
+done before, and inquired how he thought he might best excuse himself,
+since Princes often frown on those who do not praise what they like.
+
+�I have always heard,� he replied, �that a wise man has a journey or
+a sickness in his sleeve for use in time of need. I have therefore
+resolved that I will feign a grievous sickness four or five days
+beforehand, and in this matter your countenance may render me true
+service.�
+
+�Tis a worthy and holy hypocrisy,� said his wife, �and I will not fail
+to serve you with the saddest face I can command; for he who can avoid
+offending God and angering the Prince is fortunate indeed.�
+
+As it was resolved, so was it done, and the King was very sorry to hear
+from the wife of her husband�s sickness. This, however, lasted no
+long time; for, on account of certain business which arose, the King
+disregarded his pleasure to attend to his duty, and betook himself away
+from Paris.
+
+However, one day, remembering their unfinished undertaking, he said to
+the young lord:--
+
+�We were very foolish to leave so suddenly without seeing the four girls
+who are declared to be the fairest in my kingdom.�
+
+�I am very glad,� replied the young lord, �that you failed in the
+matter, for I was in great fear that, by reason of my sickness, I should
+be the only one to miss so pleasant an adventure.�
+
+By reason of this answer the King never suspected the dissimulation of
+the young lord, who was thenceforward loved by his wife more dearly than
+he had ever been before.
+
+Hereupon Parlamente began to laugh, and could not hold from saying--
+
+�He would have loved his wife better if he had done this for love of her
+alone. But in any case he is worthy of great praise.�
+
+�It seems to me,� said Hircan, �that it is no great merit in a man
+to keep his chastity for love of his wife, inasmuch as there are many
+reasons which in a manner compel him to do so. In the first place, God
+commands it; his marriage vow binds him to it, and, further, surfeited
+nature is not liable to temptation or desire as necessity is. But when
+the unfettered love that a man bears towards a mistress of whom he has
+no delight, and no other happiness save that of seeing her and speaking
+with her, and from whom he often receives harsh replies--when this love
+is so loyal and steadfast that nothing can ever make it change, I say
+that such chastity is not simply praiseworthy but miraculous.�
+
+��Tis no miracle in my opinion,� said Oisille, �for when the heart is
+plighted, nothing is impossible to the body.�
+
+�True,� said Hircan; �to bodies which have become those of angels.�
+
+�I do not speak only of those,� said Oisille, �who by the grace of God
+are wholly transformed into Himself, but of the grosser spirits that
+we see here below among men. And, if you give heed, you will find that
+those who have set their hearts and affections upon seeking after the
+perfection of the sciences, have forgotten not only the lust of the
+flesh, but even the most needful matters, such as food and drink; for
+so long as the soul is stirred within the body, so long does the flesh
+continue as though insensible. Thence comes it that those who love
+handsome, honourable and virtuous women have such happiness of spirit in
+seeing them and speaking with them, that the flesh is lulled in all its
+desires. Those who cannot feel this happiness are the carnally-minded,
+who, wrapped in their exceeding fatness, cannot tell whether they have a
+soul or not. But, when the body is in subjection to the spirit, it is
+as though heedless of the failings of the flesh, and the beliefs of such
+persons may render them insensible of the same. I knew a gentleman who,
+to show that he loved his mistress more dearly than did any other man,
+proved it to all his comrades by holding his bare fingers in the
+flame of a candle. And then, with his eyes fixed upon his mistress, he
+remained firm until he had burned himself to the bone, and yet said that
+he had felt no hurt.�
+
+�Methinks,� said Geburon, �that the devil whose martyr he was ought to
+have made a St. Lawrence of him; for there are few whose love-flame is
+hot enough to keep them from fearing that of the smallest taper. But
+if a lady had suffered me to endure so much hurt for her sake, I should
+either have sought a rich reward or else have taken my love away from
+her.�
+
+�So,� said Parlamente, �you would have your hour after the lady had
+had hers? That was what was done by a gentleman of the neighbourhood
+of Valencia in Spain, whose story was told to me by a captain, a right
+worthy man.�
+
+�I pray you, madam,� said Dagoucin, �take my place and tell it us, for I
+am sure that it must be a good one.�
+
+�This story, ladies,� said Parlamente, �will teach you both to think
+twice when you are inclined to give a refusal and to lay aside the
+thought that the present will always continue; and so, knowing that it
+is subject to mutation, you will have a care for the time to come.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 132.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 133a. The Lady Swooning in the Arms of the Gentleman of
+Valencia who had become a Monk]
+
+[The Lady Swooning in the Arms of the Gentleman of Valencia who had
+become a Monk]
+
+[Illustration: 133.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXIV_.
+
+     _After a lady had for the space of five or six years made
+     trial of the love that a certain gentleman bore her, she
+     desired to have a still stronger proof of it, and reduced
+     him to such despair that he turned monk, on which account
+     she was not able to win him back again when she would fain
+     have done so_.
+
+In the city of Valencia there lived a gentleman, who for the space of
+five or six years had loved a lady so perfectly that the honour and
+conscience of neither of them had taken any hurt; for his intent was
+to have her as his wife, and this was reasonable, seeing that he was
+handsome, rich and of good descent. But, before he became her lover, he
+first inquired concerning her own mind, whereupon she declared herself
+willing to marry according to the counsels of her kinsfolk. The
+latter, being come together for the purpose, deemed the marriage a very
+reasonable one provided that the maiden was herself disposed to it; but
+she--whether because she thought to do better or because she wished to
+hide her love for him---made some difficulty, and the company separated,
+not without regret at having failed to conclude a match so well suited
+to both parties.
+
+The most grieved of all was the poor gentleman, who would have borne
+his misfortune with patience had he thought that the fault lay with the
+kinsfolk and not with her; but he knew the truth, and the knowledge was
+to him worse than death. So, without speaking to his sweetheart or to
+any other person, he withdrew to his own house, and, after setting his
+affairs in order, betook himself to a solitary spot, where he strove to
+forget his love and change it wholly to that love of our Lord which were
+truly a higher duty than the other.
+
+During this time he received no tidings of his mistress or her kindred,
+and he therefore resolved that, since he had failed to obtain the
+happiest life he could hope for, he would choose the most austere and
+disagreeable that he could imagine. With this sad intent, which
+might well have been called despair, he went and became a monk in the
+monastery of St. Francis. This monastery was not far from the dwellings
+of divers of his kinsfolk, who, on hearing of his desperate condition,
+did all that in them lay to hinder his purpose; but this was so firmly
+rooted in his heart that it was not possible to turn him from it.
+
+Nevertheless, as the source of his distemper was known to them, they
+determined to seek the cure, and so repaired to her who was the cause
+of his sudden devoutness. She was greatly astonished and grieved by this
+mischance, for, in refusing for a time, she had thought only to test his
+affection, not to lose it for ever. Seeing now the evident risk that she
+ran of doing this last, she sent him a letter, which, ill-translated,
+was as follows:--
+
+     �Since love, if tested not full needfully,
+     Steadfast and faithful is not shown to be,
+     By length of time my heart would that assay
+     Whereon itself was set to love alway--
+     To wit, a husband with that true love filled
+     Such as no lapsing time has ever killed.
+     This, then, was the sole reason that I drew
+     My kin to hinder for a year or two
+     That closest tie which lasts till life is not,
+     And whereby woe is oftentimes begot.
+     Yet sought I not to have you wholly sent
+     Away; such was in no wise my intent,
+     For none save you could I have e�er adored
+     Or looked to as my husband and my lord.
+     But woe is me, what tidings reach mine ear!
+     That you, to lead the cloistered life austere,
+     Are gone with speech to none; whereat the pain
+     That ever holds me, now can brook no rein,
+     But forces me mine own estate to slight
+     For that which yours aforetime was of right;
+     To seek him out who once sought me alone,
+     And win him who myself has sometimes won.
+     Nay then, my love, life of the life in me,
+     For loss of whom I fain would cease to be,
+     Turn hither, graciously, those eyes of pain
+     And trace those wandering footsteps back again.
+     Leave the grey robe and its austerity,
+     Come back and taste of that felicity
+     Which often you desired, and which to-day
+     Time has nor slain, nor swept away.
+     For you alone I�ve kept myself; and I,
+     Lacking your presence, cannot choose but die.
+     Come back then; in your sweetheart have belief,
+     And for past memories find cool relief
+     In holy marriage-ties. Ah! then, my dear,
+     To me, not to your pride give ready ear,
+     And rest of this assured, I had no thought
+     To give, sweetheart, to you offence in aught,
+     But only yearned your faithfulness to prove
+     And then to make you happy with my love.
+     But now that through this trial, free from scathe,
+     Are come your steadfastness and patient faith,
+     And all that loyal love to me is known,
+     Which at the last has made me yours alone,
+     Come, my beloved, take what is your due
+     And wholly yield to me, as I to you!�
+
+This letter, brought by a friend of hers with every remonstrance that it
+was possible to make, was received and read by the gentleman friar with
+such sadness of countenance, such sighs and such tears, that it seemed
+as though he would drown and burn the poor epistle. But he made no
+reply to it, except to tell the messenger that the mortification of his
+exceeding passion had cost him so dear as to have taken from him both
+the wish to live and the fear to die. He therefore requested her who
+had been the cause of this, that since she had not chosen to satisfy
+his passionate longings, she would, now that he was rid of them, abstain
+from tormenting him, and rest content with the evil which was past. For
+that evil he could find no remedy but the choice of an austere life,
+which by continual penance might bring him to forget his grief, and, by
+fasts and disciplines, subdue his body, till the thought of death should
+be to him but a sovereign consolation. Above all, he begged that he
+might never hear of her, since he found the mere remembrance of her name
+a purgatory not to be endured.
+
+The gentleman went back with this mournful reply, and reported it to the
+maiden who did not hear it without intolerable sorrow. But Love, which
+will not suffer the spirit utterly to fail, gave her the thought that,
+if she could see him, her words and presence might be of more effect
+than the writing. She therefore, with her father and the nearest of her
+kin, went to the monastery where he abode. She had left nothing in her
+box that might set off her beauty, for she felt sure that, could he but
+once look at her and hear her, the fire that had so long dwelt in both
+their hearts must of necessity be kindled again in greater strength than
+before.
+
+Coming thus into the monastery towards the end of vespers, she sent for
+him to come to her in a chapel that was in the cloister. He, knowing not
+who it was that sought him, went in all ignorance to the sternest battle
+in which he had ever been. When she saw him so pale and wan that she
+could hardly recognise him, yet filled with grace, in no whit less
+winning than of yore, Love made her stretch out her arms to embrace him,
+whilst her pity at seeing him in such a plight so enfeebled her heart,
+that she sank swooning to the floor.
+
+The poor monk, who was not void of brotherly charity, lifted her up and
+set her upon a seat in the chapel. Although he had no less need of
+aid than she had, he feigned to be unaware of her passion, and so
+strengthened his heart in the love of God against the opportunities now
+present with him, that, judging by his countenance, he seemed not to
+know what was actually before him. Having recovered from her weakness,
+she turned upon him her beautiful, piteous eyes, which were enough to
+soften a rock, and began to utter all such discourse as she believed apt
+to draw him from the place in which he now was. He replied as virtuously
+as he was able; but at last, finding that his heart was being softened
+by his sweetheart�s abundant tears, and perceiving that Love, the cruel
+archer whose pains he long had known, was ready with his golden dart to
+deal him fresh and more deadly wounds, he fled both from Love and from
+his sweetheart, like one whose only resource lay, indeed, in flight.
+
+When he was shut up in his room, not desiring to let her go without some
+settlement of the matter, he wrote her a few words in Spanish, which
+seem to me so excellent in their matter that I would not by translating
+them mar their grace. These were brought to her by a little novice,
+who found her still in the chapel and in such despair that, had it been
+lawful, she too would have remained there and turned friar. But when she
+saw the words, which were these--
+
+     �Volvete don venesti, anima mia,
+     Que en las tristas vidas es la mia,� (1)
+
+she knew that all hope was gone, and she resolved to follow the advice
+of him and her friends, and so returned home, there to lead a life as
+melancholy as that of her lover in his monastery was austere.
+
+     1  �Return whence thou earnest, my soul,
+     for among the sad lives is mine.��
+
+�You see, ladies, what vengeance the gentleman took upon his harsh
+sweetheart, who, thinking to try him, reduced him to such despair that,
+when she would have regained him, she could not do so.�
+
+�I am sorry,� said Nomerfide, �that he did not lay aside his gown and
+marry her. It would, I think, have been a perfect marriage.�
+
+�In good sooth,� said Simontault, �I think he was very wise. Anyone who
+well considers what marriage is will deem it no less grievous than
+a monkish life. Moreover, being so greatly weakened by fasts and
+abstinence, he feared to take upon him a burden of that kind which lasts
+all through life.�
+
+�Methinks,� said Hircan, �she wronged so feeble a man by tempting him
+to marriage, for �tis too much for the strongest man alive; but had she
+spoken to him of love, free from any obligation but that of the will,
+there is no friar�s cord that would not have been untied. However, since
+she sought to draw him out of purgatory by offering him hell, I think
+that he was quite right to refuse her, and to let her feel the pain that
+her own refusal had cost him.�
+
+�By my word,� said Ennasuite, �there are many who, thinking to do better
+than their fellows, do either worse or else the very opposite of what
+they desire.�
+
+�Truly,� said Geburon, �you remind me--though, indeed, the matter is
+not greatly to the point--of a woman who did the opposite of what she
+desired, and so caused a great uproar in the church of St. John of
+Lyons.�
+
+�I pray you,� said Parlamente, �take my place and tell us about it.�
+
+�My story,� said Geburon, �will not be so long or so piteous as the one
+we have heard from Parlamente.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 141.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 143a. The Old Woman startled by the Waking of the Soldier]
+
+[The Old Woman startled by the Waking of the Soldier]
+
+[Illustration: 143.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXV_.
+
+     _Though the priests of St. John of Lyons would fain have
+     concealed it, the falsity of a miracle was brought to light
+     through an old woman�s folly becoming known_. (1)
+
+In the church of St. John of Lyons there is a very dark chapel, and
+inside it a stone tomb with figures of great personages raised life-like
+upon it, whilst several men-at-arms lie all around it.
+
+     1  We believe that the incident here narrated occurred early
+     in 1525, when Margaret is known to have been at Lyons. She
+     and her husband (on his return from Pavia) resided there at
+     the house of the Ob�diencier de St. Just, and it was in the
+     church of St. Just that the Duke of Alen�on was buried.
+     Doubtless it was during his illness that the _novena_
+     alluded to in the final tale of the _Heptameron_ was
+     performed by Queen Margaret at the church of St. John of
+     Lyons, where the two most important chapels, according to
+     Quincarnon�s _Antiquit�s et la fondation de la M�tropole
+     des Gaules, &c._, Lyons, 1673, were the Most Holy Eucharist,
+     or Bourbon chapel, built in 1449 by Charles de Bourbon,
+     Primate of Gaul, and the Holy Sepulchre, or Good Friday
+     chapel, erected at the beginning of the fifteenth century by
+     Philip de Turey, Archbishop of Lyons. Unfortunately the
+     church of St. John was in 1652 devastated by the Huguenots,
+     who in their insensate fury destroyed almost all the tombs.
+     It is therefore now impossible to identify the chapel and
+     tomb to which the Queen of Navarre refers in the above
+     story, though her allusion to the dimness of the light would
+     incline us to place the incident she recounts in the
+     Chapelle du St. S�pulcre.--L. and Ed.
+
+One day a soldier, walking in the church at the very height of summer,
+felt inclined to sleep, and, looking at this dark, cool chapel, resolved
+to go and guard the tomb in sleep like the rest; (2) and accordingly he
+lay down beside them. Now it chanced that a very pious old woman came
+in while his sleep was the soundest, and having performed her devotions,
+holding a lighted taper in her hand, she sought to fix this taper to the
+tomb. Finding that the sleeping man was nearest to her, she tried to set
+it upon his forehead, thinking that it was of stone; but the wax would
+not stick to such stone as this, whereupon the worthy dame, believing
+that the reason of it was the coldness of the statue, applied the flame
+to the sleeper�s forehead, that she might the better fix the taper on
+it. At this, however, the statue, which was not without feeling, began
+to cry out.
+
+     2  Meaning the recumbent statues of the men-at-arms.--Ed.
+
+The good woman was then in exceeding fear, and set herself to shout, �A
+miracle! a miracle!� until all who were in the church ran, some to ring
+the bells, and the rest to view the miracle. The good woman forthwith
+took them to see the statue that had stirred, whereupon many found food
+for laughter; though the greater number were unable to feel any content,
+inasmuch as they had really determined to make profit out of the tomb,
+and to gain as much money by it as by the crucifix on their pulpit,
+which is said to have spoken. (3) But when the woman�s folly became
+known the farce came to an end. If all knew of their follies, they would
+not be accounted holy nor their miracles true. And I would beg you,
+ladies, to see henceforward to what saints you offer your candles. (4)
+
+     3  The crucifix in the church of St. John was mainly of
+     silver, and, according to Quincarnon, at the time of a
+     Huguenot outbreak at Lyons it was thrown to the ground by a
+     Calvinist minister named Ruffy, who, after reducing it to
+     fragments, carried all the precious metal away with him.--M.
+
+     4  The latter portion of this story and all the dialogue
+     that follows it are omitted by Boaistuau in his edition.
+     Gruget inserted the dialogue, but he did not dare to print
+     the passage respecting the talking crucifix.--L.
+
+��Tis notable,� said Hircan, �that, whatever the matter in question may
+be, women always do wrong.�
+
+�Is it wrong,� asked Nomerfide, �to bring candles to a tomb?�
+
+�Yes,� said Hircan, �if the flame be turned against a man�s forehead;
+for nothing good should be called good if it be attended with evil. You
+may be sure that the poor woman thought she had made a fine gift to God
+with her little candle.�
+
+�I look not to the gift,� said Oisille, �but to the heart that offers
+it. Perhaps this worthy woman had more love for God than those who offer
+great torches; for, as the Gospel says, she gave of her need.�
+
+�Still, I no not believe,� said Saffredent, �that God, who is sovereign
+wisdom, can be pleased with the foolishness of women. Although
+simplicity is pleasing to Him, I see from the Scriptures that He
+despises the ignorant; and if He commands us to be as harmless as the
+dove, He none the less commands us to be wise like the serpent.�
+
+�For my part,� said Oisille, �I do not call the woman ignorant who
+brings her candle or burning taper into the presence of God, and makes
+amends for her wrongdoing on bended knees before her sovereign Lord,
+confessing her unworthiness and with steadfast hope seeking pity and
+salvation.�
+
+�Would to God,� said Dagoucin, �that all understood it in the same way
+as you; but I do not believe that these poor fools do it with the intent
+you say.�
+
+�The women,� said Oisille, �who are least able to speak are just those
+who are most sensible of the love and will of God; wherefore �tis well
+to judge none but ourselves.�
+
+Ennasuite laughed and said--��Tis no wonderful thing to have frightened
+a sleeping varlet, since women of as lowly condition have frightened
+noble Princes, without putting fire to their foreheads.�
+
+�I am sure,� said Geburon, �that you know some such story, which you
+are willing to relate; wherefore, if it please you, you shall take my
+place.�
+
+�The tale will not be a long one,� said Ennasuite, �but, could I recount
+it just as it happened, you would have no desire to weep.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 147.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 149a. The Old Serving-woman explaining her Mistake to
+the Duke and Duchess of Vend�me]
+
+[The Old Serving-woman explaining her Mistake to the Duke and Duchess
+of Vend�me]
+
+[Illustration: 149.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXVI_.
+
+     _The Duke of Vend�me and the Princess of Navarre, whilst
+     resting together one afternoon, were surprised by an old
+     serving-woman, who took them for a prothonotary and a damsel
+     between whom she suspected some affection; and, through this
+     fine justicement, a matter, of which intimates were
+     ignorant, was made known to strangers_.
+
+In the year when the Duke of Vend�me married the Princess of Navarre,
+(1) the King and Queen, their parents, after feasting at Vend�me, went
+with them into Guienne, and, visiting a gentleman�s house where there
+were many honourable and beautiful ladies, the newly married pair
+danced so long in this excellent company that they became weary, and,
+withdrawing to their chamber, lay down in their clothes upon the bed and
+fell asleep, doors and windows being shut and none remaining with them.
+
+     1  It was in October 1548, some eighteen months after Henry
+     II. had succeeded Francis I., that Anthony de Bourbon, Duke
+     of Vend�me, who after the King�s children held the first
+     rank in France, was married at Moulins to Margaret�s
+     daughter Jane of Navarre. The Duke was then thirty and Jane
+     twenty years old. �I never saw so joyous a bride,� wrote
+     Henry II. to Montmorency, �she never does anything but
+     laugh.� She was indeed well pleased with the match, the
+     better so, perhaps, as her husband had settled 100,000
+     livres on her, a gift which was the more acceptable by
+     reason of her extravagant tastes and love of display. Ste.
+     Marthe, in his _Oraison Fun�bre_ on Queen Margaret, speaks
+     of her daughter�s marriage as �a most fortunate
+     conjunction,� and refers to her son-in-law as �the most
+     valiant and magnanimous Prince Anthony, Duke of Vend�me,
+     whose admirable virtues have so inclined all France to love
+     and revere him, that princes and nobles, the populace, the
+     great and the humble alike, no sooner hear his name
+     mentioned than they forthwith wish him and beg God to bestow
+     on him all possible health and prosperity.�--Ed
+
+Just, however, when their sleep was at its soundest, they were awakened
+by their door being opened from without, and the Duke drew the curtain
+and looked to see who it might be, suspecting indeed that it was one of
+his friends who was minded to surprise him. But he perceived a tall, old
+bed-chamber woman come in and walk straight up to their bed, where, for
+the darkness of the room, she could not recognise them. Seeing them,
+however, quite close together, she began to cry out--
+
+�Thou vile and naughty wanton! I have long suspected thee to be what
+thou art, yet for lack of proof spoke not of it to my mistress. But now
+thy vileness is so clearly shown that I shall in no sort conceal it; and
+thou, foul renegade, who hast wrought such shame in this house by the
+undoing of this poor wench, if it were not for the fear of God, I would
+e�en cudgel thee where thou liest. Get up, in the devil�s name, get up,
+for methinks even now thou hast no shame.�
+
+The Duke of Vend�me and the Princess hid their faces against each other
+in order to have the talk last longer, and they laughed so heartily that
+they were not able to utter a word. Finding that for all her threats
+they were not willing to rise, the serving-woman came closer in order to
+pull them by the arms. Then she at once perceived both from their faces
+and from their dress that they were not those whom she sought, and,
+recognising them, she flung herself upon her knees, begging them to
+pardon her error in thus robbing them of their rest.
+
+But the Duke of Vend�me was not content to know so little, and rising
+forthwith, he begged the old woman to say for whom she had taken them.
+This at first she was not willing to do; but at last, after he had sworn
+to her never to reveal it, she told him that there was a girl in the
+house with whom a prothonotary (2) was in love, and that she had long
+kept a watch on them, since it pleased her little to see her mistress
+trusting in a man who was working this shame towards her. She then left
+the Prince and Princess shut in as she had found them, and they laughed
+for a long while over their adventure. And, although they afterwards
+told the story they would never name any of the persons concerned.
+
+     2  The office of apostolic prothonotary was instituted by
+     Pope Clement I., there being at first twelve such officers,
+     whose duty was to write the lives of the saints and other
+     apostolic records. Gradually their number so increased, that
+     in the fifteenth century the title of prothonotary had come
+     to be merely an honorary dignity, conferred as a matter of
+     course on doctors of theology of noble family, or otherwise
+     of note. In the role of Francis I.�s household for 1522, we
+     find but one prothonotary mentioned, but in that for 1529
+     there are twelve. More than one of them might have been
+     called _un letrado que no tenia muchas letras_, as Brant�me
+     wrote of Thomas de Lescun, Prothonotary of Foix and
+     afterwards Marshal of France. �In those days,� adds the
+     author of _Les Grands Capitaines Fran�ais_, �it was usual
+     for prothonotaries and even for those of good family not to
+     have much learning, but to enjoy themselves, hunt, make love
+     and seduce the wives of the poor gentlemen who were gone to
+     the wars.�--_OEuvres compl�tes de Brant�me_, 8vo edit., vol.
+     ii. p. 144.--L. and Ed.
+
+�You see, ladies, how the worthy dame, whilst thinking to do a fine deed
+of justice, made known to strange princes a matter of which the servants
+of the house had never heard.�
+
+�I think I know,� said Parlamente, �in whose house it was, and who the
+prothonotary is; for he has governed many a lady�s house, and when he
+cannot win the mistress�s favour he never fails to have that of one of
+the maids. In other matters, however, he is an honourable and worthy
+man.�
+
+�Why do you say �in other matters�?� said Hircan. �Tis for that very
+behaviour that I deem him so worthy a man.�
+
+�I can see,� said Parlamente, �that you know the sickness and the
+sufferer, and that, if he needed excuse, you would not fail him as
+advocate. Yet I would not trust myself to a man who could not contrive
+his affairs without having them known to the serving-women.�
+
+�And do you imagine,� said Nomerfide, �that men care whether such a
+matter be known if only they can compass their end? You may be sure
+that, even if none spoke of it but themselves, it would still of
+necessity be known.�
+
+�They have no need,� said Hircan angrily, �to say all that they know.�
+
+�Perhaps,� she replied, blushing, �they would not say it to their own
+advantage.�
+
+�Judging from your words,� said Simontault, �it would seem that men
+delight in hearing evil spoken about women, and I am sure that you
+reckon me among men of that kind. I therefore greatly wish to speak well
+of one of your sex, in order that I may not be held a slanderer by all
+the rest.�
+
+�I give you my place,� said Ennasuite, �praying you withal to control
+your natural disposition, so that you may acquit yourself worthily in
+our honour.�
+
+Forthwith Simontault began--
+
+�Tis no new thing, ladies, to hear of some virtuous act on your part
+which, methinks, should not be hidden but rather written in letters
+of gold, that it may serve women as an example, and give men cause for
+admiration at seeing in the weaker sex that from which weakness is prone
+to shrink. I am prompted, therefore, to relate something that I heard
+from Captain Robertval and divers of his company.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 154.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 155a. The Wife Reading to her Husband on the Desert Island]
+
+[The Wife Reading to her Husband on the Desert Island]
+
+[Illustration: 155.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXVII_.
+
+     _A poor woman risked her own life to save that of her
+     husband, whom she forsook not until death_.
+
+The Captain Robertval aforesaid once made a voyage across the seas
+to the island of Canadas, (1) himself being chief in command by the
+appointment of the King, his master. And there, if the air of the
+country were good, he had resolved to dwell and to build towns and
+castles. With this work he made such a beginning as is known to all;
+and to people the country with Christians he took with him all kinds of
+artificers, among whom was a most wicked man, who betrayed his master
+and put him in danger of being captured by the natives. But God willed
+that his attempt should be discovered before any evil befell the
+Captain, who, seizing the wicked traitor, was minded to punish him as
+he deserved. And this he would have done but for the man�s wife, who had
+followed her husband through the perils of the deep and would not now
+leave him to die, but with many tears so wrought upon the Captain and
+all his company that, for pity of her and for the sake of the services
+she had done them, her request was granted. In consequence, husband and
+wife were left together on a small island in the sea, inhabited only
+by wild beasts, and were suffered to take with them such things as were
+needful.
+
+     1  Canada had been discovered by Cabot in 1497; and in 1535
+     James Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence and, taking
+     possession of the country in the name of Francis I., called
+     it La Nouvelle France. Seven years later a gentleman of
+     Picardy, named John Francis de La Roque, Lord of Robertval,
+     accompanying Cartier, established a colony on the Isle
+     Royale, and subsequently built the fort of Charlebourg. One
+     of his pilots, named Alphonse of Saintonge, meanwhile
+     reconnoitred the coasts both of Canada and Labrador. About
+     this time (1542) the incidents related in the above tale
+     must have occurred.--L.
+
+The poor folk, finding themselves all alone and surrounded by wild and
+cruel beasts, had no recourse but to God, who had ever been this poor
+woman�s steadfast hope; and, since she found all her consolation in Him,
+she carried the New Testament with her for safeguard, nourishment and
+consolation, and in it read unceasingly. Further, she laboured with her
+husband to make them a little dwelling as best they might, and when the
+lions (2) and other animals came near to devour them, the husband with
+his arquebuss and she with stones made so stout a defence that not only
+were the beasts afraid to approach, but often some were slain that were
+very good for food. And on this flesh and the herbs of the land, they
+lived for some time after their bread failed them.
+
+     2  This mention of lions on a small desert island in the
+     Canadian seas would be rather perplexing did we not know how
+     great at that time was the general ignorance on most matters
+     connected with natural history. Possibly the allusion may be
+     to the _lion marin_, as the French call the leonine seal.
+     This, however, is anything but an aggressive animal.
+     Curiously enough, Florimond de R�mond, the sixteenth century
+     writer, speaks of a drawing of a �marine lion� given to him
+     �by that most illustrious lady Margaret Queen of Navarre, to
+     whom it had been presented by a Spanish gentleman, who was
+     taking a second copy of it to the Emperor Charles V., then
+     in Spain.�--Ed.
+
+At last, however, the husband could no longer endure this nutriment,
+and by reason of the waters that they drank became so swollen that in
+a short while he died, and this without any service or consolation save
+from his wife, she being both his doctor and his confessor; and when
+he had joyously passed out of the desert into the heavenly country, the
+poor woman, left now in solitude, buried him in the earth as deeply as
+she was able. Nevertheless the beasts quickly knew of it, and came to
+eat the dead body; but the poor woman, firing with the arquebuss from
+her cabin, saved her husband�s flesh from finding such a grave.
+
+Leading thus in regard to her body the life of a brute, and in regard
+to her soul the life of an angel, she passed her time in reading,
+meditations, prayers and orisons, having a glad and happy mind in a
+wasted and half-dead body. But He who never forsakes His own, and who
+manifests His power when others are in despair, did not suffer the
+virtue that he had put into this woman to be unknown by men, but willed
+that it should be made manifest to His own glory. He therefore brought
+things so to pass, that after some time, when one of the ships of the
+armament was passing by the island, those that were looking that way
+perceived some smoke, which reminded them of the persons who had been
+left there, and they resolved to go and see what God had done with them.
+
+The poor woman, seeing the ship draw nigh, dragged herself to the shore,
+and there they found her on their arrival. After giving praise to God,
+she brought them to her poor cottage and showed them on what she had
+lived during her abode in that place. This would have seemed to them
+impossible of belief, but for their knowledge that God is as powerful to
+feed His servants in a desert as at the greatest banquet in the world.
+As the poor woman could not continue in such a spot, they took her with
+them straight to La Rochelle, where, their voyage ended, they arrived.
+And when they had made known to the inhabitants the faithfulness and
+endurance of this woman, she was very honourably received by all the
+ladies, who gladly sent their daughters to her to learn to read and
+write. In this honest calling she maintained herself for the rest of
+her life, having no other desire save to admonish every one to love and
+trust Our Lord, and setting forth as an example the great compassion
+that He had shown towards her.
+
+�Now, ladies, you cannot say I do not praise the virtues which God
+has given you, and which show the more when possessed by one of lowly
+condition.�
+
+�Why, we are not sorry,� said Oisille, �to hear you praise the mercies
+of Our Lord, for in truth all virtue comes from Him; but we must confess
+that man assists in the work of God as little as women. Neither can by
+heart or will do more than plant. God alone giveth the increase.�
+
+�If you have studied Scripture,� said Saffredent, �you know that St.
+Paul says that Apollos planted and he himself watered; (3) but he does
+not speak of women as having set hand to the work of God.�
+
+     3  The text is just the contrary: �I have planted, Apollos
+     watered; but God gave the increase.�--I _Corinthians_ iii.
+     6.--Ed.
+
+�You would follow,� said Parlamente, �the opinion of those wicked men
+who take a passage of Scripture that is in their favour and leave one
+that is against them. If you had read St. Paul to the end, you would
+have found that he commends himself to the ladies, who greatly laboured
+with him in the work of the Gospel.�
+
+�However that may be,� said Longarine, �the woman in the story is well
+worthy of praise both for the love she bore her husband, on whose behalf
+she risked her own life, and for the faith she had in God, who, as we
+see, did not forsake her.�
+
+�I think,� said Ennasuite, �as far as the first is concerned, that there
+is no woman present but would do as much to save her husband�s life.�
+
+�I think,� said Parlamente, �that some husbands are such brutes that the
+women who live with them should not find it strange to live among their
+fellows.�
+
+Ennasuite, who took these words to herself, could not refrain from
+saying--
+
+�Provided the beasts did not bite me, their company would be more
+pleasant to me than that of men, who are choleric and intolerable. But I
+abide by what I have said, that, if my husband were in a like danger, I
+should not leave him to die.�
+
+�Beware,� said Nomerfide, �of loving too fondly, for excess of love will
+deceive both him and you. There is a medium in all things, and through
+lack of knowledge love often gives birth to hate.�
+
+�Methinks,� said Simontault, �you have not carried your discourse so far
+without having an instance to confirm it. If, then, you know such a one,
+I give you my place that you may tell it to us.�
+
+�Well,� said Nomerfide, �the tale shall, as is my wont, be a short and a
+merry one.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 161.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 163a. The Apothecary�s Wife giving the Dose of Cantharides
+to her Husband]
+
+[The Apothecary�s Wife giving the Dose of Cantharides to her Husband]
+
+[Illustration: 163.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXVIII_.
+
+     _An apothecary�s wife, finding that her husband made no
+     great account of her, and wishing to be better loved by him,
+     followed the advice that he had given to a �comm�re� (1) of
+     his, whose sickness was of the same kind as her own; but she
+     prospered not so well as the other, and instead of love
+     reaped hate_.
+
+     1  Mr W. Kelly has pointed out (Bohn�s _Heptameron_, p. 395)
+     that in France the godfather and godmother of a child are
+     called in reference to each other comp�re and comm�re, terms
+     implying mutual relations of an extremely friendly kind. �The
+     same usage exists in all Catholic countries,� adds Mr Kelly,
+     �and one of the novels of the _Decameron_ is founded on a
+     very general opinion in Italy that an amorous connection
+     between a _compadre_ and his _commadre_ partook almost of
+     the nature of incest.�
+
+In the town of Pau in Beam there was an apothecary whom men called
+Master Stephen. He had married a virtuous wife and a thrifty, with
+beauty enough to content him. But just as he was wont to taste different
+drugs, so did he also with women, that he might be the better able to
+speak of all kinds. His wife was greatly tormented by this, and at
+last lost all patience; for he made no account of her except by way of
+penance during Holy Week.
+
+One day when the apothecary was in his shop, and his wife had hidden
+herself behind him to listen to what he might say, a woman, who was
+�comm�re� to the apothecary, and was stricken with the same sickness as
+his own wife, came in, and, sighing, said to him--
+
+�Alas, good godfather, I am the most unhappy woman alive. I love my
+husband better than myself, and do nothing but think of how I may serve
+and obey him; but all my labour is wasted, for he prefers the wickedest,
+foulest, vilest woman in the town to me. So, godfather, if you know of
+any drug that will change his humour, prithee give it me, and, if I be
+well treated by him, I promise to reward you by all means in my power.�
+
+The apothecary, to comfort her, said that he knew of a powder which, if
+she gave it to her husband with his broth or roast, after the fashion
+of Duke�s powder, (2) would induce him to entertain her in the best
+possible manner. The poor woman, wishing to behold this miracle, asked
+him what the powder was, and whether she could have some of it. He
+declared that there was nothing like powder of cantharides, of which
+he had a goodly store; and before they parted she made him prepare
+this powder, and took as much of it as was needful for her purpose. And
+afterwards she often thanked the apothecary, for her husband, who was
+strong and lusty, and did not take too much, was none the worse for it.
+
+     2  Boaistuau and Gruget call this preparation _poudre de
+     Dun_, as enigmatical an appellation as _poudre de Duc_. As
+     for the specific supplied by the apothecary, the context
+     shows that this was the same aphrodisiac as the Marquis de
+     Sades put to such a detestable use at Marseilles in 1772,
+     when, after fleeing from justice, he was formally sentenced
+     to death, and broken, in effigy, upon the wheel. See P.
+     Lacroix�s _Curiosit�s de l�histoire de France, II�me S�rie_,
+     Paris, 1858.--Ed.
+
+The apothecary�s wife heard all this talk, and thought within herself
+that she had no less need of the recipe than her husband�s �comm�re.�
+ Observing, therefore, the place where her husband put the remainder of
+the powder, she resolved that she would use some of it when she found
+an opportunity; and this she did within three or four days. Her husband,
+who felt a coldness of the stomach, begged her to make him some good
+soup, but she replied that a roast with Duke�s powder would be better
+for him; whereupon he bade her go quickly and prepare it, and take
+cinnamon and sugar from the shop. This she did, not forgetting also to
+take the remainder of the powder given to the �comm�re,� without any
+heed to dose, weight or measure.
+
+The husband ate the roast, and thought it very good. Before long,
+however, he felt its effects, and sought to soothe them with his wife,
+but this he found was impossible, for he felt all on fire, in such wise
+that he knew not which way to turn. He then told his wife that she had
+poisoned him, and demanded to know what she had put into the roast. She
+forthwith confessed the truth, telling him that she herself required the
+recipe quite as much as his �comm�re.� By reason of his evil plight,
+the poor apothecary could belabour her only with hard words; however,
+he drove her from his presence, and sent to beg the Queen of Navarre�s
+apothecary (3) to come and see him. This the Queen�s apothecary did, and
+whilst giving the other all the remedies proper for his cure (which in
+a short time was effected) he rebuked him very sharply for his folly
+in counselling another to use drugs that he was not willing to take
+himself, and declared that his wife had only done her duty, inasmuch as
+she had desired to be loved by her husband.
+
+     3  It was from her apothecary no doubt that Queen Margaret
+     heard this story.--Ed.
+
+Thus the poor man was forced to endure the results of his folly in
+patience, and to own that he had been justly punished in being brought
+into such derision as he had proposed for another.
+
+�Methinks, ladies, this woman�s love was as indiscreet as it was great.�
+
+�Do you call it loving her husband,� said Hircan, �to give him pain for
+the sake of the delight that she herself looked to have?�
+
+�I believe,� said Longarine, �she only desired to win back her husband�s
+love, which she deemed to have gone far astray; and for the sake of such
+happiness there is nothing that a woman will not do.� �Nevertheless,�
+ said Geburon, �a woman ought on no account to make her husband eat or
+drink anything unless, either through her own experience or that
+of learned folk, she be sure that it can do him no harm. Ignorance,
+however, must be excused, and hers was worthy of excuse; for the most
+blinding passion is love, and the most blinded of persons is a woman,
+since she has not strength enough to conduct so weighty a matter
+wisely.�
+
+�Geburon,� said Oisille, �you are departing from your own excellent
+custom so as to make yourself of like mind with your fellows; but there
+are women who have endured love and jealousy in patience.�
+
+�Ay,� said Hircan, �and pleasantly too; for the most sensible are those
+who take as much amusement in laughing at their husbands� doings, as
+their husbands take in secretly deceiving them. If you will make it
+my turn, so that the Lady Oisille may close the day, I will tell you a
+story about a wife and her husband who are known to all of us here.�
+
+�Begin, then,� said Nomerfide; and Hircan, laughing, began thus:--
+
+
+[Illustration: 168.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 169a. The Wife discovering her Husband in the Hood of
+their Serving-maid]
+
+[The Wife discovering her Husband in the Hood of their Serving-maid]
+
+[Illustration: 169.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXIX_.
+
+     _On finding her husband bolting meal in the garb of her
+     serving-woman, whom he was awaiting in the hope that he
+     would obtain from her what he desired, a certain lady showed
+     such good sense that she was content to laugh and make merry
+     at his folly_.
+
+At the castle of Odoz (1) in Bigorre, there dwelt one Charles, equerry
+to the King and an Italian by birth, who had married a very virtuous
+and honourable woman. After bearing him many children, she was now
+grown old, whilst he also was not young. And he lived with her in all
+peacefulness and affection, for although he would at times speak with
+his serving-women, his excellent wife took no notice of this, but
+quietly dismissed them whenever she found that they were becoming too
+familiar in her house.
+
+     1  The scene of this tale is laid at the castle where
+     Margaret died. Ste. Marthe in his _Oraison fun�bre_,
+     pronounced at Alen�on fifteen days after the Queen�s death,
+     formally states that she expired at Odos near Tarbes. He is
+     not likely to have been mistaken, so that Brantome�s
+     assertion that the Queen died at Audos in Beam may be
+     accepted as incorrect (_ante_, vol. i. p. lxxxviii.). It is
+     further probable that the above tale was actually written at
+     Odos (_ante_, vol. i. p. lxxxvi.), but the authenticity of
+     the incidents is very doubtful, as there is an extremely
+     similar story in the _Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles_ (No, xvii.
+     _Le Conseiller au bluteau_), in which the hero of the
+     adventure is a �great clerk and knight who presided over the
+     Court of Accounts in Paris.� For subsequent imitations see
+     Malespini�s _Ducento Novelle_ (No. xcvii.) and _Les Joyeuses
+     Adventures et Nouvelles Recreations_ (No. xix.)--L. and Ed.
+
+One day she hired a discreet and worthy girl, telling her of her
+husband�s temper and her own, and how she was wont to turn away such
+girls whom she found to be wantons. This maid, wishing to continue in
+her mistress�s service and esteem, resolved to remain a virtuous woman;
+and although her master often spoke to her, she on her part gave no heed
+to his words save that she repeated them to her mistress, and they thus
+both derived much diversion from his folly.
+
+One day the maid was in a back room bolting meal, and wearing her
+�sarot,� a kind of hood which, after the fashion of that country, not
+only formed a coif but covered the whole of the back and shoulders. Her
+master, finding her in this trim, came and urged her very pressingly,
+and, although she would not have done such a thing even to save her
+life, she pretended to consent, and asked leave to go first and see
+whether her mistress was engaged in some such manner that they might not
+be surprised together. To this he agreed; whereupon she begged him to
+put her hood upon his head and to continue bolting whilst she was away,
+in order that her mistress might still hear the noise of the bolter. And
+this he gladly did, in the hope of obtaining what he sought.
+
+The maid, who was by no means inclined to melancholy, ran off to her
+mistress and said to her--
+
+�Come and see your good husband, whom I have taught to bolt in order to
+be rid of him.�
+
+The wife made all speed to behold this new serving-woman, and when she
+saw her husband with the hood upon his head and the bolter in his hands,
+she began to laugh so exceedingly, clapping her hands the while, that
+she was scarce able to say to him--
+
+�How much dost want a month, wench, for thy labour?�
+
+The husband, on hearing this voice, realised that he had been deceived,
+and, throwing down both what he was holding and wearing, he ran at the
+girl, calling her a thousand bad names. Had his wife not set herself in
+front of the maid, he would have given her wage enough for her quarter;
+but at last all was settled to the content of the parties concerned, and
+thenceforward they lived together without quarrelling. (2)
+
+     2  The Italian Charles, equerry to the King, to whom the
+     leading part is assigned in Queen Margaret�s tale, may have
+     been Charles de San Severino, who figures among the
+     equerries with a salary of 200 _livres_, in the roll of the
+     royal household for 1522. The San Severino family, one of
+     the most prominent of Naples, had attached itself to the
+     French cause at the time of the expedition of Charles VIII.,
+     whom several of its members followed to France. In 1522 we
+     find a �Monsieur de Saint-Severin� holding the office of
+     first _ma�tre d�h�tel_ to Francis I., and over a course of
+     several years his son figures among the _enfants
+     d�honneur_.--B. J. and Ed.
+
+�What say you, ladies, of this wife? Was she not sensible to make sport
+of her husband�s sport?�
+
+��Twas no sport,� said Saffredent, �for the husband who failed in his
+purpose.�
+
+�I believe,� said Ennasuite, �that he had more delight in laughing with
+his wife, than at killing himself at his age with his serving-woman.�
+
+�Still, I should be sorely vexed,� said Simontault, �to be discovered so
+bravely coifed.�
+
+�I have heard,� said Parlamente, �that it was not your wife�s fault that
+she did not once discover you in very much the same attire in spite of
+all your craft, and that since then she has known no repose.�
+
+�Rest content with what befalls your own house,� said Simontault,
+�without inquiring into what befalls mine. Nevertheless, my wife has no
+reason to complain of me, and even did I act as you say, she would never
+have occasion to notice it through any lack of what she might need.�
+
+�Virtuous women,� said Longarine, �require nothing but the love of
+their husbands, which alone can satisfy them. Those who seek a brutish
+satisfaction will never find it where honour enjoins.�
+
+�Do you call it brutish,� asked Geburon, �if a wife desires that her
+husband should give her her due?�
+
+�I say,� said Longarine, �that a chaste woman, whose heart is filled
+with true love, is more content to be perfectly loved than to have all
+the delights that the body can desire.�
+
+�I am of your opinion,� said Dagoucin, �but my lords here will neither
+hear it nor confess it. I think if mutual love cannot satisfy a woman,
+her husband alone will not do so; for unless she live in the love
+that is honourable for a woman, she must be tempted by the infernal
+lustfulness of brutes.�
+
+�In truth,� said Oisille, �you remind me of a lady who was both handsome
+and well wedded, but who, through not living in that honourable love,
+became more carnal than swine and more cruel than lions.�
+
+�I ask you, madam,� said Simontault, �to end the day by telling us her
+story.�
+
+�That I cannot do,� said Oisille, �and for two reasons. The first is
+that it is exceedingly long; and the second, that it does not belong to
+our own day. It is written indeed by an author worthy of belief; but we
+are sworn to relate nothing that has been written.�
+
+�That is true,� said Parlamente; �but I believe I know the story you
+mean, and it is written in such old language that methinks no one
+present except ourselves has ever heard of it. It will therefore be
+looked upon as new.�
+
+Upon this the whole company begged her to tell it without fear for its
+length, seeing that a full hour was yet left before vespers. So, at
+their request, the Lady Oisille thus began:--
+
+
+[Illustration: 174.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 175a. The Gentleman Killing Himself on the Death of his Mistress]
+
+[The Gentleman Killing Himself on the Death of his Mistress]
+
+[Illustration: 175.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXX_.
+
+     _The Duchess of Burgundy, not content with the love that her
+     husband bore her, conceived so great an affection for a
+     young gentleman that, when looks and glances were not
+     sufficient to inform him of her passion, she declared it to
+     him in words which led to an evil ending_. (1)
+
+     1  This story is borrowed from an old _fabliau_, known under
+     the title of the _Ch�telaine de Vergy_, which will be found
+     in the _Recueil de Barbazan_ (vol iv.) and in Legrand
+     d�Aussy�s _Fabliaux_ (vol iii.). Margaret calls the lady
+     Madame du Vergier (literally the lady of the orchard) in her
+     tale. Bandello imitated the same _fabliau_ in his _Novelle_
+     (1554; part iv. nov. v.), but gave it a different ending.
+     Belleforest subsequently adapted it for his _Histoires
+     Tragiques_. Margaret�s tale may also be compared with No.
+     lxii. of the _Cento Novelle antiche_, p. 84 of the edition
+     of Florence, 1825.--L. and M.
+
+In the Duchy of Burgundy there was a Duke who was a very honourable
+and handsome Prince. He had married a wife whose beauty pleased him so
+greatly that it kept him from knowledge of her character, and he took
+thought only how he might please her, whilst she made excellent show of
+returning his affection. Now the Duke had in his household a gentleman
+filled with all the perfection that could be sought for in a man. He
+was loved by all, more especially by the Duke, who had reared him
+from childhood near his own person; and, finding him possessed of such
+excellent qualities, the Duke loved him exceedingly and trusted him with
+all such matters as one of his years could understand.
+
+The Duchess, who had not the heart of a virtuous woman and Princess,
+and was not content with the love that her husband bore her and the good
+treatment that she had at his hands, often observed this gentleman,
+and so much to her liking did she find him, that she loved him beyond
+measure. This she strove unceasingly to make known to him, as well by
+soft and piteous glances as by sighs and passionate looks.
+
+But the gentleman, whose inclinations had ever been to virtue alone,
+could not perceive wickedness in a lady who had so little excuse for it,
+and so the glances and looks of the poor wanton bore no fruit save her
+own frenzied despair. This at last drove her to extremes, and forgetting
+that she was a woman fit to be entreated and yet to refuse, and a
+Princess made to be worshipped by such lovers and yet to hold them in
+scorn, she acted with the spirit of a man transported by passion, with a
+view to rid herself of the fire which she could no longer endure.
+
+Accordingly, one day when her husband was gone to the council, at which
+the gentleman by reason of his youth was not present, she beckoned him
+to come to her, which he did, thinking that she had some command to
+give him. But leaning on his arm, like a woman wearied with repose, she
+brought him to walk in a gallery, where she said to him--
+
+�I marvel that you who are so handsome and young, and full of excellent
+grace, have lived in this company, where are so many beautiful ladies,
+and yet have been lover or true knight to none.� Then, looking at him as
+graciously as she was able, she waited for his reply.
+
+�Madam,� he said, �if I were worthy that your Highness should stoop to
+think of me, you would have still greater reason to marvel at seeing a
+man so little worthy of love as I am, offer his service where it would
+be rejected or scorned.�
+
+On hearing this discreet reply, the Duchess felt she loved him more
+than before. She vowed to him that there was not a lady at her Court
+who would not be only too happy to have such a knight, and that he might
+well make an adventure of the sort, since there was no danger but he
+would come out of it with honour. The gentleman kept his eyes downcast,
+not daring to meet her looks, which were hot enough to melt ice; but,
+just as he was trying to excuse himself, the Duke sent for the Duchess
+to come to the council on some matter that concerned her, and thither
+with much regret she went. The gentleman never afterwards made the
+slightest sign of having understood a word of what she had said to him,
+at which she was exceedingly distressed and vexed; and she knew not to
+what cause to impute her failure, unless it were to the foolish fear of
+which she deemed the gentleman to be possessed.
+
+A few days afterwards, finding that he gave no sign of understanding
+what she had said, she resolved on her part to set aside all fear or
+shame, and to tell him of her love. She felt sure that beauty such as
+hers could not be otherwise than well received, although she would fain
+have had the honour of being wooed. However, she set her honour on one
+side for her pleasure�s sake, and after she had several times attempted
+the same fashion of discourse as at first, but without receiving any
+reply to her liking, she one day plucked the gentleman by the sleeve,
+and told him that she must speak to him on certain matters of weight.
+The gentleman went with the humility and reverence that were her due to
+a deep window into which she had withdrawn; and, on perceiving that
+no one in the room could see her, she began in a trembling voice,
+that halted between desire and fear, to continue her former discourse,
+rebuking him for not yet having chosen some lady in the company, and
+promising him that, no matter who it might be, she would help him to win
+kindly treatment.
+
+The gentleman, who was no less vexed than astonished by her words,
+replied--
+
+�Madam, my heart is so tender, that, were I once refused, I should never
+again have joy in this world; and I know myself to be of such little
+worth that no lady at this Court would deign to accept my suit.�
+
+The Duchess blushed, and, imagining that at last he was indeed won,
+vowed to him that she knew the most beautiful lady in the company
+would, if he were willing, joyfully receive him, and afford him perfect
+happiness.
+
+�Alas! madam,� he replied, �I do not think that there is any woman in
+this company so unfortunate and so blind as to find me worthy of her
+love.�
+
+The Duchess, finding that he would not understand her, drew the veil
+of her passion somewhat aside, and, by reason of the fears which the
+gentleman�s virtue caused her, spoke to him in the form of a question.
+
+�If fortune,� she said, �had so far favoured you that it was myself who
+bore you this goodwill, what would you say?�
+
+The gentleman, who thought that he was dreaming when he heard her speak
+in this wise, dropped on his knee, and replied--
+
+�Madam, when God by His favour enables me to have both the favour of
+the Duke, my master, and your own, I shall deem myself the happiest man
+alive; for �tis the reward I crave for the loyal service of one who,
+more than any other, is bound to give his life in the service of you
+both. And I am sure, madam, that the love you bear my Lord aforesaid is
+attended with such chastity and nobleness that, apart from myself,
+who am but a worm of the earth, not even the greatest Prince and most
+perfect man to be found could break the union that exists between you.
+For my own part, my Lord has brought me up from childhood, and made me
+what I am, and to save my life I could not entertain towards any wife,
+daughter, sister or mother of his any thought contrary to what is due
+from a loyal and faithful servant.�
+
+The Duchess would not allow him to continue, but finding that she was
+in danger of obtaining a dishonourable refusal, she suddenly interrupted
+him, and said--
+
+�Wicked and boastful fool, who seeks any such thing from you? Do you
+think that your good looks win you the love of the very flies in the
+air? Nay, if you were presumptuous enough to address yourself to me, I
+would show you that I love, and seek to love, none but my husband. What
+I have said to you was spoken only for my amusement, to try you and
+laugh at you, as I do at all foolish lovers.�
+
+�Madam,� said the gentleman, �I believed, and do still believe, that it
+is as you say.�
+
+Then, without listening further, she withdrew in haste to her own
+apartment, and, finding that she was followed by her ladies, went into
+her closet, where she sorrowed after a fashion that cannot be described.
+On the one part, the love wherein she had failed caused her mortal
+sadness; on the other, her anger, both against herself for having
+entered upon such foolish talk and against the gentleman for his
+discreet reply, drove her into such fury that at one moment she wished
+to make away with herself, and at another, to live that she might avenge
+herself on one whom she now regarded as her deadly enemy.
+
+When she had wept for a long while, she made pretence of being ill, in
+order that she might not be present at the Duke�s supper, at which the
+gentleman was commonly in waiting. The Duke, who loved his wife better
+than he did himself, came to see her; but the more effectually to work
+her end, she told him that she believed herself to be with child, and
+that her pregnancy had caused a rheum to come upon her eyes, which gave
+her much pain. So passed two or three days, during which the Duchess
+kept her bed in sadness and melancholy, until at last the Duke thought
+that something further must be the matter. He therefore came at night
+to sleep with her; but, finding that for all he could do he could in no
+sort check her sighs, he said to her--
+
+�You know, sweetheart, that I love you as dearly as my life, and that
+if yours were lacking I could not endure my own. If therefore you would
+preserve my health, I pray you tell me what causes you to sigh after
+this manner; for I cannot believe that such unhappiness can come only
+because you are with child.�
+
+The Duchess, finding that her husband was disposed to her just as she
+could have wished him to be, thought that the time was come to seek
+vengeance for her affliction; and embracing the Duke, she began to weep,
+and said--
+
+�Alas, my lord, my greatest unhappiness is to see you deceived by
+those on whom is so deep an obligation to guard your substance and your
+honour.�
+
+The Duke, on hearing this, was very desirous of knowing why she spoke
+in that manner, and earnestly begged her to make the truth known to him
+without fear. After refusing several times, she said--
+
+�I shall never wonder, my lord, that foreigners make war on Princes,
+when those who are in duty most bound to them, wage upon them a war so
+cruel that loss of territory were nothing in comparison. I say this,
+my lord, in reference to a certain gentleman� (naming her enemy) �who,
+though reared by your own hand and treated more like a son than a
+servant, has made a cruel and base attempt to ruin the honour of your
+wife, in which is also bound up the honour of your house and your
+children. Although for a long time he showed me such looks as pointed to
+his wicked purpose, yet my heart, which only cares for you, understood
+nothing of them; and so at last he declared himself in words to which
+I returned a reply such as beseemed my condition and my chastity.
+Nevertheless, I now so hate him that I cannot endure to look at him,
+and for this cause I have continued in my own apartment and lost the
+happiness of fellowship with you. I entreat you, my lord, keep not this
+pestilence near your person; for, after such a crime, he might fear lest
+I should tell you of it, and so attempt worse. This, my lord, is the
+cause of my sorrow, and methinks it were right and fitting that you
+should deal with it forthwith.�
+
+The Duke, who on the one hand loved his wife and felt himself grievously
+affronted, and on the other loved his servant, whose faithfulness he had
+so fully tried that he could scarce believe this falsehood against him,
+was in great distress and filled with anger. Repairing to his own room,
+he sent word to the gentleman to come no more into his presence, but to
+withdraw to his lodging for a time. The gentleman, being ignorant of the
+cause of this, was grieved exceedingly, for he knew that he had deserved
+the opposite of such unworthy treatment. Aware, then, of his own
+innocence in heart and deed, he sent a comrade to speak to the Duke and
+take him a letter, humbly entreating that if any evil report had caused
+his banishment, his master would be pleased to suspend judgment until he
+had heard from himself the truth of the matter, when it would be found
+that he had been guilty of no offence.
+
+When the Duke saw this letter, his anger was somewhat abated. He
+secretly sent for the gentleman to his own room, and with wrathful
+countenance said--
+
+�I could never have thought that the care I took to rear you as my own
+child would be changed into regret at having so highly advanced you;
+but you have attempted what was more hurtful to me than loss of life
+or substance, and have sought to assail the honour of one who is half
+myself, and so bring infamy on my house and name. You may be assured
+that this outrage is so wounding to my heart that, were it not for my
+doubt whether it be true or not, you would have already been at the
+bottom of the water, and so have received in secret due punishment for
+the wrong that in secret you intended against me.�
+
+The gentleman was in no wise dismayed by this discourse, but, ignorant
+as he was of the truth, spoke forth with confidence and entreated the
+Duke to name his accuser, since such a charge should be justified rather
+with the lance than with the tongue.
+
+�Your accuser,� said the Duke, �carries no weapon but chastity. Know,
+then, that none other but my wife has told me this, and she begged me to
+take vengeance upon you.�
+
+The poor gentleman, though he then perceived the lady�s great
+wickedness, would not accuse her.
+
+�My lord,� he replied, �my lady may say what she will. You know her
+better than I do, and you are aware if ever I saw her when out of your
+sight, save only on one occasion, when she spoke but little with me.
+You have, moreover, as sound a judgment as any Prince alive; wherefore I
+pray you, my lord, judge whether you have ever seen aught in me to cause
+any suspicion; and remember love is a fire that cannot be hidden so as
+never to be known of by those who have had a like distemper. So I pray
+you, my lord, to believe two things of me: first, that my loyalty to you
+is such that were my lady, your wife, the fairest being in the world,
+love would never avail to make me stain my honour and fidelity; and
+secondly, that even were she not your wife, I should be least in love
+with her of all the women I have ever known, since there are many others
+to whom I would sooner plight my troth.�
+
+On hearing these words of truth, the Duke began to be softened, and
+said--
+
+�I assure you, on my part, that I did not believe it. Do, therefore,
+according to your wont, in the assurance that, if I find the truth to be
+on your side, I will love you yet better than before. But if it be not
+so, your life is in my hands.�
+
+The gentleman thanked him and offered to submit to any pain or penalty
+if he were found guilty.
+
+The Duchess, on seeing the gentleman again in waiting as had formerly
+been his wont, could not endure it in patience, but said to her
+husband--
+
+��Twould be no more than you deserve, my lord, if you were poisoned,
+since you put more trust in your deadly enemies than in your friends.�
+
+�I pray you, sweetheart, do not torment yourself in this matter,� said
+the Duke. �If I find that you have told me true, I promise you he shall
+not live four and twenty hours. But he has sworn to the contrary, and I
+have myself never perceived any such fault, and so I cannot believe it
+without complete proof.�
+
+�In good sooth, my lord,� she replied, �your goodness renders his
+wickedness the greater. What more complete proof would you have than
+this, that no love affair has ever been imputed to him? Believe me, my
+lord, were it not for the lofty purpose that he took into his head of
+being my lover, he would not have continued so long without a mistress;
+for never did a young man live solitary as he does in such good company,
+unless he had fixed his heart so high as to be content merely with his
+own vain hope. Since, then, you think that he is not hiding the truth
+from you, put him, I beg you, on oath as regards his love. If he loves
+another, I am content that you should believe him, and if not, you will
+know that what I say is true.�
+
+The Duke thought his wife�s reasonings very good, and, taking the
+gentleman into the country with him, said--
+
+�My wife continues still of the same mind, and has set before me an
+argument that causes me grave suspicion against you. It is deemed
+strange that you who are so gallant and young have never been known to
+love, and this makes me think that you have such affection for her as
+she says, and that the hope it gives you renders you content to think
+of no other woman. As a friend, therefore, I pray you, and as a master I
+command you to tell me whether you are in love with any lady on earth.�
+
+Although the gentleman would have fain concealed his passion yet as
+he loved his life, he was obliged, on seeing his master�s jealousy, to
+swear to him that he did indeed love one whose beauty was so great, that
+the beauty of the Duchess or of any lady of the Court would be simply
+ugliness beside it. But he entreated that he might never be compelled to
+name her, since the agreement between himself and his sweetheart was of
+such a nature that it could not be broken excepting by whichever of them
+should be the first to make it known.
+
+The Duke promised not to urge him, and being quite satisfied with him,
+treated him with more kindness than ever before. The Duchess perceived
+this, and set herself with her wonted craft to find out the reason.
+The Duke did not hide it from her; whereupon strong jealousy sprang up
+beside her desire for vengeance, and she begged her husband to command
+the gentleman to name his sweetheart. She assured him that the story was
+a lie, and that the course she urged was the best means of testing
+it. If the gentleman, said she, did not name her whom he deemed so
+beautiful, and his master believed him on his mere word, he would indeed
+be the most foolish Prince alive.
+
+The poor Duke, whose wife directed his thoughts at her pleasure, went to
+walk alone with the gentleman, and told him that he was in even greater
+trouble than before; for he was greatly minded to believe that he had
+been given an excuse to keep him from suspecting the truth. This was a
+greater torment to him than ever; and he therefore begged the gentleman,
+as earnestly as he was able, to name her whom he loved so dearly. The
+poor gentleman entreated that he might not be made to commit so great
+an offence against his mistress as to break the promise he had given her
+and had kept so long, and thus lose in a day all that he had preserved
+for seven years. And he added that he would rather suffer death than in
+this wise wrong one who had been true to him.
+
+The Duke, finding that he would not tell him, became deeply jealous, and
+with a wrathful countenance exclaimed--
+
+�Well, choose one of two things: either tell me whom you love more than
+any other, or else go into banishment from the territories over which
+I rule, under pain of a cruel death if you be found within them after a
+week is over.�
+
+If ever heart of loyal servant was torn with anguish, it was so with
+that of this poor gentleman, who might well have said, _Angusti� sunt
+mihi undique_, for on the one part he saw that by telling the truth
+he would lose his mistress, if she learned that he had failed in his
+promise to her; while, if he did not confess it, he would be banished
+from the land in which she dwelt, and be no more able to see her. Hard
+pressed in this manner on all sides, there came upon him a cold sweat,
+as on one whose sorrow was bringing him near to death. The Duke,
+observing his looks, concluded that he loved no other lady than the
+Duchess, and was enduring this suffering because he was able to name
+none other. He therefore said to him with considerable harshness--
+
+�If what you say were true, you would not have so much trouble in
+telling me; but methinks �tis your crime that is tormenting you.�
+
+The gentleman, piqued by these words, and impelled by the love that he
+bore his master, resolved to tell him the truth, believing that he was
+too honourable a man ever, on any account, to reveal it. Accordingly,
+throwing himself upon his knees, and clasping his hands, he said--
+
+�My lord, the duty that I owe to you and the love that I bear you
+constrain me more than the fear of any death. I can see that you imagine
+and judge falsely concerning me, and, to take this trouble from you, I
+am resolved to do that to which no torment had compelled me. But I pray
+you, my lord, swear to me by the honour of God, and promise me by your
+own faith as a Prince and a Christian, that you will never reveal the
+secret which, since it so pleases you, I am obliged to tell.�
+
+Upon this the Duke swore to him with all the oaths he could think of
+that he would never reveal aught of it to any living being, whether by
+speech, or writing, or feature. Then the young man, feeling confidence
+in so virtuous a Prince as he knew his master to be, began the building
+up of his misfortune, and said--
+
+�It is now seven years, my lord, since knowing your niece, the Lady
+du Vergier, to be a widow and without kindred, I set myself to win her
+favour. But, since I was of too lowly a birth to wed her, I contented
+myself with being received by her as her true knight, as indeed I have
+been. And it has pleased God that the affair has hitherto been contrived
+with much discretion, so that neither man nor woman knows of it save
+ourselves alone, and now, my lord, you also. I place my life and honour
+in your hands, entreating you to keep the matter secret and to esteem
+your niece none the less; for I think that under heaven there is no more
+perfect being.�
+
+If ever man was rejoiced it was the Duke, for, knowing as he did the
+exceeding beauty of his niece, he now had no doubt that she was more
+pleasing than his wife. However, being unable to understand how so great
+a mystery could have been contrived, he begged the gentleman to tell
+him how it was that he was able to see her. The gentleman related to him
+then that his lady�s chamber looked upon a garden, and that, on the days
+when he was to visit her, a little gate was left open through which he
+went in on foot until he heard the barking of a little dog which the
+lady used to loose in the garden when all her women were withdrawn. Then
+he went and conversed with her all night long, and, in parting from
+her, would appoint a day on which he would return; and this appointment,
+unless for some weighty reason, he never failed to keep. The Duke, who
+was the most inquisitive man alive, and who had made love in no small
+degree in his day, wished both to satisfy his suspicions and to fully
+understand so strange a business; and he therefore begged the gentleman
+to take him, not as a master but as a companion, the next time he went
+thither. To this the gentleman, having gone so far already, consented,
+saying that he had an appointment for that very day; at which the Duke
+was as glad as if he had gained a kingdom. Making pretence of retiring
+to rest in his closet, he caused two horses to be brought for himself
+and the gentleman, and they travelled all night long from Argilly, where
+the Duke lived, to Le Vergier. (2)
+
+     2  At Argilly the Dukes of Burgundy had a castle, which was
+     destroyed during the religious wars at the close of the
+     sixteenth century. The place is now a small village in the
+     arrondissement of Nuits, C�te d�Or. As the crow flies, it is
+     some ten miles distant from the ruins of the castle of
+     Vergy, which stands on a steep height, at an altitude of
+     over 1600 ft., within five miles from Nuits. The castle,
+     which can only be reached on one side of the hill, by a
+     narrow, winding and precipitous pathway, is known to have
+     been in existence already in the tenth century, when the
+     Lords of Vergy were Counts of Chalons, Beaune, and Nuits.
+     They appear to have engaged in a struggle for supremacy with
+     the princes of the first Ducal house of Burgundy, but in
+     1193 Alix de Vergy espoused Duke Eudes III., to whom she
+     brought, as dower, the greater part of the paternal
+     inheritance. The castle of Vergy was dismantled by Henry
+     IV., and the existing ruins are of small extent. Some
+     antiquaries believe the fortress to have been originally
+     built by the Romans.--B.J. and L.
+
+Then they left their horses without the wall, and the gentleman brought
+the Duke into the garden through the little gate, begging him to remain
+behind a walnut-tree, whence he might see whether he had been told the
+truth or not.
+
+They had been but a short time in the garden when the little dog began
+to bark, and the gentleman walked towards the tower, where his lady
+failed not to come and meet him. She kissed him, saying that it seemed
+a thousand years since she had seen him, and then they went into the
+chamber and shut the door behind them.
+
+Having seen the whole of the mystery, the Duke felt more than satisfied.
+Nor had he a great while to wait, for the gentleman told his mistress
+that he must needs return sooner than was his wont, since the Duke was
+to go hunting at four o�clock, and he durst not fail to attend him.
+
+The lady, who set honour before delight, would not keep him from
+fulfilling his duty; for what she prized most in their honourable
+affection was that it was kept secret from all.
+
+So the gentleman departed an hour after midnight, and his lady in cloak
+and kerchief went with him, yet not so far as she wished, for, fearing
+lest she should meet the Duke, he obliged her to return. Then he
+mounted with the Duke and returned to the castle of Argilly, his master
+unceasingly swearing to him on the way that he would die rather than
+ever reveal his secret. Moreover, he then put so much trust in the
+gentleman, and had so much love for him, that no one in his Court stood
+higher in his favour. The Duchess grew furious at this, but the Duke
+forbade her ever to speak to him about the gentleman again, saying that
+he now knew the truth about him and was well pleased, since the lady
+in question was more worthy of love than herself. These words deeply
+pierced the heart of the Duchess, and she fell into a sickness that was
+worse than fever.
+
+The Duke went to see her in order to comfort her, but there was no
+means of doing this except by telling her the name of this beautiful and
+dearly loved lady. She pressed him urgently to do this, until at last
+the Duke went out of the room, saying--
+
+�If you speak to me again after this fashion, we shall part one from the
+other.�
+
+These words increased the sickness of the Duchess, and she pretended
+that she felt her infant stirring, at which the Duke was so rejoiced
+that he came and lay beside her. But, just when she saw him most loving
+towards her, she turned away, and said--
+
+�I pray you, my lord, since you have no love for either wife or child,
+leave us to die together.�
+
+With these words she gave vent to many tears and lamentations, and the
+Duke was in great fear lest she should lose her child. He therefore took
+her in his arms and begged her to tell him what she would have, since he
+possessed nothing that was not also hers.
+
+�Ah, my lord,� she replied, weeping, �what hope can I have that you
+would do a hard thing for me, when you will not do the easiest and most
+reasonable in the world, which is to name to me the mistress of the
+wickedest servant you ever had? I thought that you and I had but one
+heart, one soul, and one flesh. But now I see that you look upon me as
+a stranger, seeing that your secrets, which should be known to me, are
+hidden from me as though I were a stranger. Alas! my lord, you have told
+me many weighty and secret matters, of which you have never known me to
+speak, you have proved my will to be like to your own, and you cannot
+doubt but that I am less myself than you. And if you have sworn never to
+tell the gentleman�s secret to another, you will not break your oath in
+telling it to me, for I am not and cannot be other than yourself. I have
+you in my heart, I hold you in my arms, I have in my womb a child in
+whom you live, and yet I may not have your heart as you have mine. The
+more faithful and true I am to you, the more cruel and stern are you to
+me, so that a thousand times a day do I long by a sudden death to rid
+my child of such a father and myself of such a husband. And I hope that
+this will be ere long, since you set a faithless servant before a wife
+such as 1 am to you, and before the life of the mother of your child,
+which will perish because I cannot have of you that which I most desire
+to know.�
+
+So saying, she embraced and kissed her husband, and watered his face
+with her tears, uttering the while such lamentations and sighs that the
+good Prince feared to lose wife and child together, and resolved to tell
+her all the truth of the matter. Nevertheless, he first swore to her
+that if ever she revealed it to a living being she should die by his
+own hand; and she agreed to and accepted this punishment. Then the poor,
+deceived husband told her all that he had seen from beginning to end,
+and she made show of being well pleased. In her heart she was minded
+very differently, but through fear of the Duke she concealed her passion
+as well as she was able.
+
+Now on a certain great feast-day the Duke held his Court, to which he
+had bidden all the ladies of that country, and among the rest his
+niece. When the dances began, all did their duty save the Duchess, who,
+tormented by the sight of her niece�s beauty and grace, could neither
+make merry nor prevent her spleen from being perceived. At last she
+called all the ladies, and making them scat themselves around her, began
+to talk of love; and seeing that the Lady du Vergier said nothing, she
+asked her, with a heart which jealousy was rending--
+
+�And you, fair niece, is it possible that your beauty has found no lover
+or true knight?�
+
+�Madam,� replied the Lady du Vergier, �my beauty has not yet made such
+a conquest. Since my husband�s death I have sought to love none but his
+children, with whom I deem myself happy.�
+
+�Fair niece, fair niece,� replied the Duchess, with hateful spleen,
+�there is no love so secret that it is not known, and no little dog so
+well broken in and trained that it cannot be heard to bark.�
+
+I leave you to imagine, ladies, what sorrow the poor Lady du Vergier
+felt in her heart on finding a matter, so long concealed, thus made
+known to her great dishonour. Her honour, which had been so carefully
+guarded and was now wofully lost, tortured her, but still more so her
+suspicion that her lover had failed in his promise to her. This she did
+not think he could have done, unless it were that he loved some lady
+fairer than herself, to whom his love had constrained him to make the
+whole matter known. Yet so great was her discretion that she gave no
+sign, but replied laughing to the Duchess that she did not understand
+the language of animals. However, beneath this prudent concealment her
+heart was filled with sadness, so that she rose up, and, passing out of
+the chamber, entered a closet in sight of the Duke, who was walking up
+and down.
+
+Having thus reached a place where she believed herself to be alone, the
+poor lady let herself fall helplessly upon a bed, whereat a damsel, who
+had sat down beside it to sleep, rose up and drew back the curtains
+to see who this might be. Finding that it was the Lady du Vergier,
+who believed herself to be alone, she durst say nothing to her, but
+listened, making as little noise as she was able. And in a stifled voice
+the poor Lady du Vergier began to lament, saying--
+
+�O unhappy one, what words have I heard? to what decree of death have I
+hearkened? what final sentence have I received? O best beloved of men,
+is this the reward of my chaste, honourable and virtuous love? O my
+heart, hast thou made so parlous an election, and chosen for the
+most loyal the most faithless, for the truest the most false, for the
+discreetest the most slanderous? Alas! can it be that a thing hidden
+from every human eye has been revealed to the Duchess? Alas, my little
+dog, so well taught and the sole instrument of my love and virtuous
+affection, it was not you who betrayed me, it was he whose voice is
+louder than a dog�s bark, and whose heart is more thankless than any
+brute�s. Tis he who, contrary to his oath and promise, has made known
+the happy life which, wronging none, we so long have led together. O my
+beloved, the love of whom alone has entered into my heart, and preserved
+my life, must you now be declared my deadly foe, while mine honour is
+given to the winds, my body to the dust, and my soul to its everlasting
+abode? Is the beauty of the Duchess so exceeding great that, like the
+beauty of Circe, it has bewitched and transformed you? Has she turned
+you from virtue to vice, from goodness to wickedness, from being a man
+to be a beast of prey? O my beloved, though you have failed in your
+promise to me, yet will I keep mine to you, and, now that our love has
+been revealed, will never see you more. Nevertheless, I cannot live
+without your presence, and so I gladly yield to my exceeding sorrow, and
+will seek for it no cure either in reason or in medicine. Death alone
+shall end it, and death will be sweeter to me than life on earth without
+lover, honour or happiness. Neither war nor death has robbed me of my
+lover; no sin or fault of mine has robbed me of my honour; neither error
+nor demerit of mine has made me lose my joy. �Tis cruel fate that
+has rendered the most favoured of men thankless, and has caused me to
+receive the contrary of that which I deserved.
+
+�Ah, my Lady Duchess, what delight it was to you to taunt me with my
+little dog! Rejoice, then, in the happiness you owe to me alone; taunt
+her who thought by careful concealment and virtuous love to be free from
+any taunt. Ah! how those words have bruised my heart! how they have made
+me blush for shame and pale for jealousy! Alas, my heart, I feel that
+thou art indeed undone! The wicked love that has discovered me burns
+thee; jealousy of thee and evil intent towards thee are to thee as ice
+and death; while wrath and sorrow do not suffer me to comfort thee.
+Alas, poor soul, that in adoring the creature didst forget the Creator,
+thou must return into the hands of Him from whom vain love tore thee
+away. Have trust, my soul, that thou wilt find in Him a Father kinder
+than was the lover for whose sake thou hast so often forgotten Him. O my
+God, my Creator, Thou who art the true and perfect love, by whose grace
+the love I bore to my beloved has been stained by no blemish save
+that of too great an affection, I implore Thee in mercy to receive the
+soul-and spirit of one who repents that she has broken thy first and
+most just commandment. And, through the merits of Him whose love passeth
+all understanding, forgive the error into which excess of love has led
+me, for in Thee alone do I put my perfect trust. And farewell, O my
+beloved, whose empty name doth break my very heart.�
+
+With these words she fell backward, and her face grew pallid, her lips
+blue, and her extremities cold.
+
+Just at this moment the gentleman she loved came into the hall, and,
+seeing the Duchess dancing with the ladies, looked everywhere for his
+sweetheart. Not finding her, he went into the chamber of the Duchess,
+and there found the Duke, who was walking up and down, and who, guessing
+his purpose, whispered in his ear--
+
+�She went into that closet, and methought she was ill.�
+
+The gentleman asked whether he would be pleased to let him go in, and
+the Duke begged him to do so. When he entered the closet he found the
+Lady du Vergier, come to the last stage of her mortal life; whereat,
+throwing his arms about her, he said--
+
+�What is this, sweetheart? Would you leave me?�
+
+The poor lady, hearing the voice that she knew so well, recovered a
+little strength and opened her eyes to look upon him who was the cause
+of her death; but at this look her love and anguish waxed so great that,
+with a piteous sigh, she yielded up her soul to God.
+
+The gentleman, more dead than the dead woman herself, asked the damsel
+who was there how this sickness had come upon his sweetheart, and she
+told him all the words that she had heard. Then the gentleman knew that
+the Duke had revealed the secret to his wife, and felt such frenzy that,
+whilst embracing his sweetheart�s body, he for a long time watered it
+with his tears, saying--
+
+�O traitorous, wicked and unhappy lover that I am! why has not the
+punishment of my treachery fallen upon me, and not upon her who is
+innocent? Why was I not struck by a bolt from heaven on the day when my
+tongue revealed the secret and virtuous love between us? Why did not
+the earth open to swallow up this traitor to his troth? O tongue, mayest
+thou be punished as was the tongue of the wicked rich man in hell!
+
+�O heart, too fearful of death and banishment, mayest thou be torn
+continually by eagles as was the heart of Ixion! (3)
+
+     3  Queen Margaret�s memory plainly failed her here.--Ed.
+
+�Alas, sweetheart, the greatest of all the greatest woes has fallen upon
+me! I thought to keep you, but I have lost you; I thought to see you for
+a long time and to abide with you in sweet and honourable content, yet
+now I embrace your dead body, and you passed away in sore displeasure
+with me, with my heart and with my tongue. O most loyal and faithful of
+women, I do confess myself the most disloyal, fickle and faithless of
+all men. Gladly would I complain of the Duke in whose promise I trusted,
+hoping thus to continue our happy life; but alas! I should have known
+that none could keep our secret better than I kept it myself. The Duke
+had more reason in telling his secret to his wife than I in telling mine
+to him. I accuse none but myself of the greatest wickedness that was
+ever done between lovers. I ought to have submitted to be cast into the
+moat as he threatened to do with me; at least, sweetheart, you would
+then have lived in widowhood and I have died a glorious death in
+observing the law that true love enjoins. But through breaking it I am
+now in life, and you, through perfectness of love, are dead; for your
+pure, clear heart could not bear to know the wickedness of your lover.
+
+�O my God! why didst Thou endow me with so light a love and so ignorant
+a heart? Why didst thou not create me as the little dog that faithfully
+served his mistress? Alas, my little friend, the joy your bark was wont
+to give me is turned to deadly sorrow, now that another than we twain
+has heard your voice. Yet, sweetheart, neither the love of the Duchess
+nor of any living woman turned me aside, though indeed that wicked one
+did often ask and entreat me. �Twas by my ignorance, which thought to
+secure our love for ever, that I was overcome. Yet for that ignorance am
+I none the less guilty; for I revealed my sweetheart�s secret and broke
+my promise to her, and for this cause alone do I see her lying dead
+before my eyes. Alas, sweetheart, death will to me be less cruel than
+to you, whose love has ended your innocent life. Methinks it would not
+deign to touch my faithless and miserable heart; for life with dishonour
+and the memory of that which I have lost through guilt would be harder
+to bear than ten thousand deaths. Alas, sweetheart, had any dared to
+slay you through mischance or malice, I should quickly have clapped hand
+to sword to avenge you; �tis therefore right that I should not pardon
+the murderer who has caused your death by a more wicked act than any
+sword-thrust. Did I know a viler executioner than myself, I would
+entreat him to put your traitorous lover to death. O Love! I have
+offended thee from not having known how to love, and therefore thou wilt
+not succour me as thou didst succour her who kept all thy laws. �Tis not
+right that I should die after so honourable a manner; but �tis well that
+I should die by mine own hand. I have washed your face, sweet, with my
+tears, and with my tongue have craved your forgiveness; and now it only
+remains for my hand to make my body like unto yours, and send my soul
+whither yours will go, in the knowledge that a virtuous and honourable
+love can never end, whether in this world or in the next.�
+
+Rising up from the body he then, like a frenzied man beside himself,
+drew his dagger and with great violence stabbed himself to the heart.
+Then he again took his sweetheart in his arms, kissing her with such
+passion that it seemed as though he were seized rather with love than
+with death.
+
+The damsel, seeing him deal himself the blow, ran to the door and called
+for help. The Duke, on hearing the outcry, suspected misfortune to those
+he loved, and was the first to enter the closet, where he beheld the
+piteous pair. He sought to separate them, and, if it were possible, to
+save the gentleman; but the latter clasped his sweetheart so fast that
+he could not be taken from her until he was dead. Nevertheless he heard
+the Duke speaking to him and saying--�Alas! what is the cause of this?�
+ To which, with a glance of fury, he replied--�My tongue, my lord, and
+yours.� So saying, he died, with his face close pressed to that of his
+mistress.
+
+The Duke, wishing to know more of the matter, made the damsel tell him
+what she had seen and heard; and this she did at full length, sparing
+nothing. Then the Duke, finding that he was himself the cause of all
+this woe, threw himself upon the two dead lovers, and, with great
+lamentation and weeping, kissed both of them several times and asked
+their forgiveness. And after that he rose up in fury, and drew the
+dagger from the gentleman�s body; and, just as a wild boar, wounded with
+a spear, rushes headlong against him that has dealt the blow, so did the
+Duke now seek out her who had wounded him to the bottom of his soul. He
+found her dancing in the hall, and more merry than was her wont at
+the thought of the excellent vengeance she had wreaked on the Lady du
+Vergier.
+
+The Duke came upon her in the midst of the dance, and said--
+
+�You took the secret upon your life, and upon your life shall fall the
+punishment.�
+
+So saying, he seized her by the head-dress and stabbed her with the
+dagger in the breast. All the company were astonished, and it was
+thought that the Duke was out of his mind; but, having thus worked his
+will, he brought all his retainers together in the hall and told them
+the virtuous and pitiful story of his niece, and the evil that his wife
+had wrought her. And those who were present wept whilst they listened.
+
+Then the Duke ordered that his wife should be buried in an abbey which
+he founded partly to atone for the sin that he had committed in killing
+her; and he caused a beautiful tomb to be built, in which the bodies of
+his niece and the gentleman were laid together, with an epitaph setting
+forth their tragic story. And the Duke undertook an expedition against
+the Turks, in which God so favoured him, that he brought back both
+honour and profit. On his return, he found his eldest son now able to
+govern his possessions, and so left all to him, and went and became a
+monk in the abbey where his wife and the two lovers were buried. And
+there did he spend his old age happily with God.
+
+�Such, ladies, is the story which you begged me to relate, and which,
+as I can see from your eyes, you have not heard without compassion. It
+seems to me that you should take example by it, and beware of placing
+your affections upon men; for, however honourable or virtuous these
+affections may be, in the end they have always an aftertaste of evil.
+You see how St. Paul would not that even married people should so
+deeply love each other; (4) for the more our hearts are set upon earthly
+things, the more remote are they from heavenly affection, and the harder
+is the tie to be broken. I therefore pray you, ladies, ask God for His
+Holy Spirit, who will so fire your hearts with the love of God, that
+when death comes, you will not be pained at leaving that which you love
+too well in this world.�
+
+     4  I _Corinthians_ vii. 32-5.--M.
+
+�If their love,� said Geburon, �was as honourable as you describe, why
+was it needful to keep it so secret?�
+
+�Because,� said Parlamente, �the wickedness of men is so great, that
+they can never believe deep love to be allied with honour, but judge
+men and women to be wicked according to their own passions. Hence, if a
+woman has a dear friend other than one of her nearest kinsfolk, she must
+speak with him in secret if she would speak long with him; for a woman�s
+honour is attacked, whether she love virtuously or viciously, since
+people judge only from appearances.�
+
+�But,� said Geburon, �when a secret of that kind is revealed, people
+think far worse of it.�
+
+�I grant you that,� said Longarine; �and so it is best not to love at
+all.�
+
+�We appeal from that sentence,� said Dagoucin, �for, did we believe the
+ladies to be without love, we would fain be ourselves without life. I
+speak of those who live but to win love: and, even if they secure it
+not, yet the hope of it sustains them and prompts them to do a thousand
+honourable deeds, until old age changes their fair sufferings to other
+pains. But, did we think that ladies were without love, it were needful
+we should turn traders instead of soldiers, and instead of winning fame,
+think only of hea�ping up riches.�
+
+�You would say, then,� said Hircan, �that, were there no women, we
+should all be dastards, as though we had no courage save such as they
+put into us. But I am of quite the opposite opinion, and hold that
+nothing weakens a man�s courage so much as to consort with women or love
+them too much. For this reason the Jews would not suffer a man to go to
+the war within a year after his marriage, lest love for his wife should
+draw him back from the dangers that he ought to seek.� (5)
+
+     5  See _Deuteronomy_ xx. 5, 6, 7; and the comments thereon
+     of Rabelais (book iii. ch. vi.).--M.
+
+�I consider that law,� said Saffredent, �to have been without reason,
+for nothing will more readily make a man leave his home than marriage.
+The war without is not harder of endurance than the war within; and I
+think that, to make men desirous of going into foreign lands instead of
+lingering by their hearths, it were only needful to marry them.�
+
+�It is true,� said Ennasuite, �that marriage takes from them the care
+of their houses; for they trust in their wives, and for their own part
+think only of winning fame, feeling certain that their wives will give
+due heed to the profit.�
+
+�However that may be,� replied Saffredent, �I am glad that you are of my
+opinion.�
+
+�But,� said Parlamente, �you are not discussing what is chiefly to be
+considered, and that is why the gentleman, who was the cause of all the
+misfortune, did not as quickly die of grief as she who was innocent.�
+
+Nomerfide replied--
+
+��Twas because women love more truly than men.�
+
+�Nay,� said Simontault, ��twas because the jealousy and spitefulness of
+women make them die without knowing the reason, whereas men are led by
+their prudence to inquire into the truth of the matter. When this has
+been learnt through their sound sense, they display their courage, as
+this gentleman did; for, as soon as he understood the reason of his
+sweetheart�s misfortune, he showed how truly he loved her and did not
+spare his own life.�
+
+�Yet,� said Ennasuite, �she died of true love, for her steadfast and
+loyal heart could not endure to be so deceived.�
+
+�It was her jealousy,� said Simontault, �which would not yield to
+reason, so that she believed evil of her lover of which he was not
+guilty at all. Moreover, her death was matter of necessity, for she
+could not prevent it, whilst her lover�s death was voluntary, after he
+had recognised his own wrongdoing.�
+
+�Still,� said Nomerfide, �the love must needs be great that causes such
+deep sorrow.�
+
+�Have no fear of it,� said Hircan, �for you will never die of that kind
+of fever.�
+
+�Nor,� said Nomerfide, �will you ever kill yourself after recognising
+your error.�
+
+Here Parlamente, who suspected that the dispute was being carried on at
+her own expense, said, laughing--
+
+��Tis enough that two persons should have died of love, without two
+others fighting for the same cause. And there is the last bell sounding
+for vespers, which will have us gone whether you be willing or not.�
+
+By her advice the whole company then rose and went to hear vespers, not
+forgetting in their fervent prayers the souls of those true lovers, for
+whom, also, the monks, of their charity, said a _De profundis_. As long
+as supper lasted there was no talk save of the Lady du Vergier, and
+then, when they had spent a little time together, they withdrew to their
+several apartments, and so brought to an end the Seventh Day.
+
+
+[Illustration: 213.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+
+
+
+EIGHTH DAY.
+
+_On the Eighth Day relation is made of the greatest yet truest follies
+that each can remember_.
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE.
+
+When morning was come they inquired whether their bridge (1) were being
+well advanced, and found that it might be finished in two or three days.
+These were not welcome tidings to some among the company, for they
+would gladly have had the work last a longer time, so as to prolong
+the happiness that they enjoyed in this pleasant mode of life. Finding,
+however, that only two or three such days were left, they resolved to
+turn them to account, and begged the Lady Oisille to give them their
+spiritual nourishment as had been her wont. This she forthwith did,
+but she detained them longer than usual, for before setting forth she
+desired to finish reading the canonical writings of St. John; and so
+well did she acquit herself of this, that it seemed as if the Holy
+Spirit in all His love and sweetness spoke by her mouth. Glowing with
+this heavenly flame, they went to hear high mass, and afterwards dined
+together, again speaking of the past day, and doubting whether they
+could make another as fair.
+
+     1  The allusion is to the bridge over the Gave spoken of in
+     the General Prologue (_ante_, vol. i. p. 25-6).--M.
+
+In order to set about it, they retired to their own rooms until it was
+time to repair to their Chamber of Accounts on the Board of Green Grass,
+where they found the monks already arrived and in their places.
+
+When all were seated, the question was put, who should begin; and
+Saffredent said--
+
+�You did me the honour to have me begin on two days. Methinks we should
+act wrongly towards the ladies if one of them did not also begin on
+two.�
+
+�It were then needful,� said the Lady Oisille, �either that we should
+continue here for a great while, or else that a gentleman and a lady of
+the company should forego the beginning of a day.�
+
+�For my part,� said Dagoucin, �had I been chosen, I would have given my
+place to Saffredent.�
+
+�And I,� said Nomerfide, �to Parlamente, for I have been so wont to
+serve that I know not how to command.�
+
+To this all agreed, and Parlamente thus began--
+
+�Ladies, the days that are past have been filled with so many tales of
+wisdom, that I would beg you to fill this one with the greatest (yet
+most real) follies that we can remember. So, to lead the way, I will
+begin.�
+
+
+[Illustration: 219a. The Saddler�s Wife Cured by the sight of her Husband
+Caressing the Serving-maid]
+
+[The Saddler�s Wife Cured by the sight of her Husband Caressing the
+Serving-maid]
+
+[Illustration: 219.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXXI_.
+
+     _A saddler�s wife, who was grievously sick, was made whole
+     and recovered the power of speech, which for the space of
+     two days site had lost, on seeing her husband holding his
+     serving-maid too familiarly on the bed whilst she herself
+     was drawing to her end_.
+
+In the town of Amboise there lived one Brimbaudier, (1) saddler to the
+Queen of Navarre, and a man whose colour of feature showed him to be
+by nature rather a servant of Bacchus than a priest of Diana. He had
+married a virtuous woman who controlled his household very discreetly,
+and with whom he was well content.
+
+     1  Boaistuau gives the name as Bruribandier, and Gruget
+     transforms it into Borribaudier. M, Pifteau, after examining
+     the MSS., is doubtful whether Brimbaudier is the correct
+     reading. Bromardier, which in old French meant a tippler
+     (Ducange, _Briemardum_), would have been an appropriate name
+     for the individual referred to.--Ed.
+
+One day it was told him that his good wife was sick and in great danger,
+at which tidings he was in the greatest trouble imaginable. He went with
+all speed to her aid, and found her so low, poor woman, that she had
+more need of a confessor than a doctor. Thereupon he made the most
+pitiful lamentation that could be, but to represent it well �twere
+needful to speak thickly as he did, (2) and better still to paint one�s
+face like his.
+
+     2  Curiously enough, the transcriber of MS. No. 1520
+     attempts to give some idea of the husband�s pronunciation by
+     transforming all his r�s into l�s. Here is an example: �Je
+     pelz ma povle femme, que fesai-ze, moi malhureux?... M�amie
+     je me meuls, je suis pis que tlepass�... je ne s�ai que
+     faize,� &c.--L.
+
+When he had done all that he could for her, she asked for the cross, and
+it was brought. On seeing this, the good man flung himself upon a bed in
+despair, crying and saying in his thick speech--
+
+�Ah God! I am losing my poor wife! What shall I do, unhappy man that I
+am?�
+
+After uttering many such complaints, he perceived that there was no one
+in the room but a young servant-maid, passably fair and buxom, and he
+called to her in a whisper.
+
+�Sweetheart,� he said, �I am dying. I am more than dead to see your
+mistress dying in this manner. I know not what to do or say, except
+that I commend myself to you, and beg you to care for my house and my
+children. Take therefore the keys from my side, and order the household,
+for I myself can attend to nothing more.�
+
+The poor girl had pity on him and comforted him, begging him not to
+despair, so that, if she must lose her mistress, she might not also lose
+her good master.
+
+�Sweetheart,� he replied, ��tis all of no avail, for I am indeed dying.
+See yourself how cold my face is; bring your cheeks close to mine and
+warm them.�
+
+With this he laid his hand upon her breast. She tried to make some
+difficulty, but he begged her to have no fear, since they must indeed
+see each other more closely. And speaking in this wise, he took her in
+his arms and threw her upon the bed.
+
+Then his wife, whose only company was the cross and the holy water,
+and who had not spoken for two days, began to cry out as loudly as her
+feeble voice enabled her--
+
+�Ah! ah! ah! I am not dead yet!� And threatening them with her hand, she
+repeated--�Villain! monster! I am not dead yet!�
+
+On hearing her voice, the husband and maid rose up, but she was in such
+a rage against them that her anger consumed the catarrhal humour that
+had prevented her from speaking, and she poured upon them all the abuse
+that she could think of. And from that hour she began to mend, though
+not without often reproaching her husband for the little love he bore
+her. (3)
+
+     3  This story was imitated by No�l du Fail de La H�rissaye
+     in his _Contes d�Eutrapel_ (ch. v._ De la Goutte_), where
+     the hero of the incident is called Glaume Esnaut de
+     Tremeril. �It is said,� writes Du Fail, �that the wife of
+     that rascal Glaume of Tremeril when at the point of death,
+     on seeing Glaume too familiar with her serving-woman,
+     recovered her senses, saying, �Ah! wicked man, I am not yet
+     so low as you thought. By God�s grace, mistress baggage, you
+     shall go forth at once.�� Curiously enough, the 1585 edition
+     of the _Contes d�Eutrapel_ was printed at Rennes for No�l
+     Glame, virtually the same name as Glaume.--M.
+
+�By this you see, ladies, the hypocrisy of men, and how a little
+consolation will make them forget their sorrow for their wives.�
+
+�How do you know,� said Hircan, �that he had not heard that such was the
+best remedy his wife could have? Since his kindly treatment availed
+not to cure her, he wished to try whether the opposite would prove any
+better, and the trial was a very fortunate one. But I marvel that you
+who are a woman should have shown how the constitution of your sex is
+brought to amendment rather by foul means than by fair.�
+
+�Without doubt,� said Longarine, �behaviour of that kind would make me
+rise not merely from my bed, but from a grave such as that yonder.�
+
+�And what wrong did he do her,� asked Saffre-dent, �by comforting
+himself when he thought that she was dead? It is known that the
+marriage-tie lasts only through life, and that when this is ended it is
+loosed.�
+
+�Ay,� said Oisille, �loosed from oath and bond, but a good heart is
+never loosed from love. The husband you have told us of was indeed quick
+to forget his grief, since he could not wait until his wife had breathed
+her last.�
+
+�What I think strangest of all,� said Nomerfide, �is that, when death
+and the cross were before his eyes, he should not have lost all desire
+to offend against God.�
+
+�A brave argument!� said Simontault. �You would therefore not be
+surprised to see a man act wantonly provided he were a good distance
+from the church and cemetery?�
+
+�You may laugh at me as much as you please,� said Nomerfide;
+�nevertheless the contemplation of death must greatly chill a heart,
+however young it may be.�
+
+�I should indeed be of the same opinion as yourself,� said Dagoucin, �if
+I had not heard a Princess say the opposite.�
+
+�In other words.� said Parlamente, �she told some story about it. If it
+be so, I will give you my place that you may relate it to us.�
+
+Then Dagoucin began as follows:--
+
+
+[Illustration: 224.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 225a. The Monk Conversing with the Nun while Shrouding
+a Dead Body]
+
+[The Monk Conversing with the Nun while Shrouding a Dead Body]
+
+[Illustration: 225.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXXII_.
+
+     _Whilst engaged in the last deed of charity, the shrouding
+     of a dead body, a monk did also engage with a nun in the
+     deeds of the flesh, and made her big with child_. (1)
+
+
+
+In one of the finest towns of France after Paris there stood an hospital
+(2) richly endowed--namely, with a Prioress and fifteen or sixteen nuns,
+while in another building there was a Prior and seven or eight monks.
+Every day the monks said mass, but the nuns only their paternosters and
+the Hours of Our Lady, for they were occupied in tending the sick.
+
+     1  Gruget first printed this tale, which was not given by
+     Boaistuau.--L.
+
+     2  It is impossible to say what town and hospital Margaret
+     here refers to. Lyons is the scene of the latter part of the
+     story; and we are inclined to think that the earlier
+     incidents may have occurred at Dijon, where there was a
+     famous hospital under ecclesiastical management, founded by
+     Eudes III., seventh Duke of Burgundy.--L. and Ed.
+
+One day it chanced that a poor man died, and the nuns, being all
+assembled with him, after giving him every remedy for his health, sent
+for one of their monks to confess him. Then, finding that he was growing
+weaker, they gave him the extreme unction, after which he little by
+little lost the power of speech.
+
+But as he was a long time in passing away, and it seemed that he could
+still hear, the nuns continued speaking to him with the most comforting
+words they knew, until at last they grew weary, and, finding that night
+was come and that it was late, retired one after another to rest. Thus,
+to shroud the body, there remained only one of the youngest of the nuns,
+with a monk whom she feared more than the Prior or any other, by reason
+of the severity that he displayed in both speech and life.
+
+When they had duly uttered their Hours in the poor man�s ear, they
+perceived that he was dead, and thereupon laid him out. Whilst
+engaged on this last deed of charity, the monk began to speak of
+the wretchedness of life, and the blessedness of death; and in such
+discourse they continued until after midnight.
+
+The poor girl listened attentively to the monk�s pious utterances,
+looking at him the while with tears in her eyes; and so pleasing were
+these to him that, whilst speaking of the life to come, he began
+to embrace her as though he longed to bear her away in his arms to
+Paradise.
+
+The poor girl, listening to his discourse and deeming him the most pious
+of the community, ventured not to say him nay.
+
+Perceiving this, the wicked monk, whilst still speaking of God,
+accomplished with her the work which the devil suddenly put into their
+hearts--for before there had been no question of such a thing. He
+assured her, however, that secret sin was not imputed to men by God, and
+that two persons who had no ties, could do no wrong in this manner,
+when no scandal came of it; and, to avoid all scandal, he told her to be
+careful to confess to none but himself.
+
+So they parted each from the other, she going first. And as she passed
+through a chapel dedicated to Our Lady, she was minded to make her
+prayer as was her wont. But when she began with the words, �Mary,
+Virgin,� she remembered that she had lost the title of virginity not
+through force or love, but through foolish fear; and she began to weep
+so bitterly that it seemed as if her heart must break.
+
+The monk, hearing the sighing from a distance, suspected her repentance,
+which might make him lose his delight, and to prevent this, he came and,
+finding her prostrate before the image, began to rebuke her harshly,
+telling her that if she had any scruples of conscience she should
+confess herself to him, and that she need not so act again unless she
+desired; for she might behave in either way without sin. The foolish
+nun, thinking to make atonement to God, confessed herself to the monk;
+but in respect of penance he swore to her that she did no sin in loving
+him, and that holy water would suffice to wash away such a peccadillo.
+
+Believing in him more than in God, she again some time afterwards
+yielded to him, and so became big with child. At this she was in deep
+grief, and entreated the Prioress to have the monk turned away from his
+monastery, saying that she knew him to be so crafty that he would not
+fail to seduce her. The Abbess and the Prior, who understood each other,
+laughed at her, saying that she was big enough to defend herself against
+a man, and that the monk she spoke of was too virtuous to do such a
+deed.
+
+At last, urged by the prickings of her conscience, she craved license
+to go to Rome, for she thought that, by confessing her sin at the Pope�s
+feet, she might recover her virginity. This the Prior and Prioress very
+readily granted her, for they were more willing that she should become
+a pilgrim contrary to the rules of her order, than be shut up in the
+convent with her present scruples. They feared also that in her despair
+she might denounce the life that was led among them, and so gave her
+money for her journey.
+
+But God brought it to pass that when she came to Lyons, my lady the
+Duchess of Alen�on, afterwards Queen of Navarre, being one evening after
+vespers in the roodloft of the church of St. John, whither she came
+secretly to perform a novena with three or four of her women, (3)
+heard someone mounting the stairway whilst she was kneeling before the
+crucifix. By the light of the lamp she saw it was a nun, and in order
+that she might hear her devotions, the Duchess thereupon withdrew to the
+corner of the altar. The nun, who believed herself to be alone, knelt
+down and, beating her breast, began weeping so sorrowfully that it was
+piteous to hear her; and all the while she cried naught but this--�Alas!
+my God, take pity on this poor sinner.�
+
+     3  See _ante_, Tale LXV., note i.
+
+The Duchess, wishing to learn what it meant, went up to her and said,
+�Dear heart, what ails you, and whence do you come, and what brings you
+to this place?�
+
+The poor nun, who did not know her, replied, �Ah, sweet, my woe is such
+that I have no help but in God; and I pray that He may bring me to speak
+with the Duchess of Alen�on. To her alone will I tell the matter, for I
+am sure that, if it be possible, she will set it right.�
+
+�Dear heart,� then said the Duchess, �you may speak to me as you would
+to her, for I am one of her nearest friends.�
+
+�Forgive me,� said the nun; �she alone must know my secret.�
+
+Then the Duchess told her that she might speak freely, since she had
+indeed found her whom she sought. Forthwith the poor woman threw herself
+at her feet, and, after she had wept, related what you have heard
+concerning her hapless fortune. The Duchess consoled her so well, that
+whilst she took not from her everlasting repentance for her sin, she
+put from her mind the journeying to Rome, and then sent her back to her
+priory with letters to the Bishop of the place to have that shameful
+monk turned away.
+
+�I have this story from the Duchess herself, and from it you may see,
+ladies, that Nomerfide�s prescription is not good for all, since these
+persons fell into lewdness even while touching and laying out the dead.�
+
+��Twas a device,� said Hircan, �that methinks no man ever used before,
+to talk of death and engage in the deeds of life.�
+
+��Tis no deed of life,� said Oisille, �to sin, for it is well known that
+sin begets death.�
+
+�You may be sure,� said Saffredent, �that these poor folk gave no
+thought to any such theology; but just as the daughters of Lot made
+their father drunk so that the human race might be preserved, so these
+persons wished to repair what death had spoiled, and to replace the dead
+body by a new one. I therefore can see no harm in the matter except the
+tears of the poor nun, who was always weeping and always returning to
+the cause of her tears.�
+
+�I have known many of the same kind,� said Hircan, �who wept for their
+sins and laughed at their pleasures both together.�
+
+�I think I know whom you mean,� said Parlamente, �and their laughter has
+lasted so great a while that �twere time the tears should begin.�
+
+�Hush!� said Hircan. �The tragedy that has begun with laughter is not
+ended yet.�
+
+�To change the subject,� said Parlamente, �it seems to me that Dagoucin
+departed from our purpose. We were to tell only merry tales, and his was
+very piteous.�
+
+�You said,� replied Dagoucin, �that you would only tell of follies, and
+I think that herein I have not been lacking. But, that we may hear a
+more pleasant story, I give my vote to Nomerfide, in the hope that she
+will make amends for my error.�
+
+�I have indeed,� she answered, �a story ready which is worthy to follow
+yours; for it speaks of monks and death. So I pray you give good heed.�
+
+_Here end the Tales and Novels of the late Queen of Navarre, that is,
+all that can be recovered of them_.
+
+
+[Illustration: 232.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+
+
+
+THE SUPPOSED NARRATORS OF THE _HEPTAMERON_ TALES.
+
+In his introductory essay to this translation of the _Heptameron_, Mr.
+George Saintsbury has called attention to the researches of various
+commentators who have laboured to identify the supposed narrators of
+Queen Margaret�s tales. As it may be fairly assumed that the setting
+of the work is pure invention on the Queen�s part, the researches in
+question can scarcely serve any useful purpose. Still they appear to
+have had considerable attraction for several erudite editors, whose
+opinions, occasionally alluded to in our notes, we will here briefly
+summarise for the information of those whom the matter may interest:--
+
+OISILLE, a widow lady of long experience, is supposed by Messrs. de
+Lincy, Lacroix, G�nin, Frank, de Montaiglon and Miss Mary Robinson to be
+Louise of Savoy. In some MSS. the name is written Osyle, the anagram
+of _Loyse_, in which fashion Louise was spelt in old French. It may be
+pointed out, _en passant_, that Brant�me�s grandmother, the S�n�chale
+of Poitou, whose connection with the _Heptameron_ is recorded, was also
+named Louise (see ante, vol. i. p. lxxxii.).
+
+PARLAMENTE, wife of Hircan, is supposed by the same commentators to be
+Queen Margaret herself; this is assumed mainly because the views
+which Parlamente expresses on religion, philosophy, men and women,
+are generally in accord with those which the Queen is known to have
+professed.
+
+HIRCAN, in M. de Lincy�s opinion, might be the Duke of Alen�on,
+Margaret�s first husband. Messrs. Frank and Mont-aiglon, following M.
+Lacroix, prefer to identify him as Henry d�Albret, King of Navarre.
+They conjecture the name of Hircan to be derived from Ilanricus, a not
+uncommon fashion of spelling Henricus. It might, however, simply come
+from _hircus_, a he-goat, for Hircan is a man of gross, sensual tastes.
+
+LONGARINE, a young widow, is supposed by M. de Lincy to be Blanche de
+Chastillon, _n�e_ de Tournon (concerning whom see _ante_, vol. i. p. 84,
+n. 7, and p. 120 _et seq_.; vol. iv. p. 144, n. 2; and vol. v. p. 25, n.
+2). M. Frank, however, thinks she is Aim�e Motier de la Fayette, lady of
+_Longray_, widow of Francis de Silly, Bailiff of Caen, and _gouvernante_
+to Queen Margaret�s daughter, Jane of Navarre. Miss Robinson shares this
+opinion, but M. de Montaiglon thinks that _Longarine_ would rather
+be Aim�e Motier de la Fayette�s daughter Frances, married to Frederic
+d�Almenesches, of one of the branches of the house of Foix.
+
+SIMONTAULT (occasionally _Symontaut_), a young knight, is thought by M.
+de Lincy to be Henry d�Albret, Margaret�s second husband, who was of an
+extremely amorous disposition, and much younger than herself. Messrs.
+Frank and de Montaiglon, however, fancy _Simontault_ to have been
+Francis, Baron de Bourdeilles, father of Brant�me. It is admitted,
+however, that if this be the case, it is curious that Brant�me should
+not have alluded to it in any of his writings, whereas he does speak
+both of his mother and of his grandmother in connection with the
+_Heptameron_.
+
+ENNASUITE (occasionally _Ennasuitte_ or _Ennasuicte_, and in some MSS.
+_Emarsuite_), is supposed by Messrs. de Lincy, Frank, and de Montaiglon
+to be Anne de Vivonne, wife of Francis de Bourdeilles and mother of
+Brant�me (see ante, vol. iv. p. 144, n. 2). It is pointed out that the
+name may be transformed into the three words _Anne et suite_.
+
+DAGOUCIN, a young gentleman, is thought by M. Frank to be Nicholas Dangu
+(see ante, vol. i. p. 20, n. 4, and p. 40, n. 3), who became Chancellor
+to the King of Navarre. M. Lacroix, however, fancies this personage to
+be a Count d�Agoust.
+
+GEBURON, apparently an elderly man, would in M. Frank�s opinion be the
+Seigneur de Burye, a captain of the Italian wars to whom Brant�me (his
+cousin-german) alludes in his writings. The name of de Burye is also
+found in a list of the personages present at Queen Margaret�s funeral.
+M. de Montaiglon shares M. Frank�s views.
+
+NOMERFIDE, so M. de Lincy suggests, may have been the famous Frances
+de Foix, Countess of Chateaubriand; but M. Frank opines that she is a
+Demoiselle de Fimarcon or Fi�dmarcon (Lat. _Feudimarco_), who in
+1525 married John de Montpczat, called �Captain Carbon,� one of the
+exquisites of the famous Field of the cloth of gold. Miss Robinson,
+however, fancies that Nomerfide is Isabel d�Albret, sister of Margaret�s
+second husband, and wife of Ren� de Rohan.
+
+SAFFREDENT, so M. de Lincy thinks, may be Admiral de Bonnivet; M. Frank
+suggests John de Montpezat; and Miss Robinson Ren� de Rohan, who, after
+his father Peter de Rohan-Gi� (husband of Rolandine, see _ante_, vol.
+iii., Tale XXI, notes 2 and 15), had been killed at Pavia, was for some
+years entrusted to Queen Margaret�s care. As Miss Robinson points out,
+_Saffredent_ literally means greedy tooth or sweet tooth.
+
+Those who may be desirous of studying and comparing these various
+attempts at identification, will find all the evidence and arguments of
+any value set forth in the writings of M. Frank, M. de Montaiglon and
+Miss Robinson, which are specified in the Bibliography annexed to this
+appendix.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHY.
+
+Fourteen MS. copies of the _Heptameron_ are known to exist. Twelve
+of these are at the Biblioth�que Nationale, Paris, one is at the town
+library of Orleans, and one in the Vatican library. We also have some
+record of four other copies which were in private libraries at the end
+of the last century.
+
+The twelve MSS. at the Biblioth�que Nationale are the following:--
+
+I. (No. 1511 in the catalogue). A folio volume bound in red morocco,
+bearing the B�thune arms. This MS. is on ruled paper, and only one leaf,
+the last, is missing.
+
+II. (No. 1512). A small folio, calf gilt, 350 leaves, from Colbert�s
+library. The handwriting is that of the middle of the sixteeenth
+century, and is the same throughout; the last page bearing the signature
+�Doulcet.� This supplied the text followed in the present translation.
+
+III. (No. 1513). A small folio, half-bound in red morocco, stamped with
+King Louis Philippe�s monogram. It contains only twenty-eight of the
+tales.
+
+IV. (No. 1514). A large quarto, calf, from the De Mesmes library.
+Contains only thirty-four of the tales.
+
+V. (No. 1515). A small folio from Colbert�s library, bound in calf,
+in Groslier�s style. The text is complete, but there are numerous
+interlinear and marginal corrections and additions, in the same
+handwriting as MS. VII.
+
+VI. (Nos. 1516 to 1519). Four quarto vols., red morocco, B�thune arms.
+The first prologue is deficient, as is also the last leaf of tale lxxi.
+
+VII. (No. 1520). A folio vol., calf and red morocco, stamped with
+fleurs-de-lys and the monogram of Louis XVIII. This MS. on stout ruled
+paper, in a beautiful italic handwriting of the end of the sixteenth
+century, is complete. Unfortunately Queen Margaret�s phraseology has
+been considerably modified, though, on the other hand, the copyist has
+inserted a large number of different readings, as marginal notes, which
+render his work of great value. It is frequently quoted in the present
+translation.
+
+VIII. (No. 1523). A folio vol., calf, from the De La Marre library. The
+first two leaves are deficient, and the text ends with the fifth tale of
+Day IV.
+
+IX. (No. 1522). A small folio, bound in parchment, from the De La Marre
+library. Only the tales of the first four days are complete, and on
+folio 259 begins a long poem called Les Prisons, the work probably of
+William Filandrier, whom Queen Margaret protected. On the first folio of
+the volume is the inscription, in sixteenth-century handwriting: _Pour
+ma sour Marie Philander_. The poem _Les Prisons_ is quoted on pp.
+xxxviii.-ix. vol. i. of the present work. It concludes with an epitaph
+on Margaret, dated 1549.
+
+X. (No. 1524). A folio vol. from Colbert�s library, bound in red and
+yellow morocco, on which is painted, on a blue ground, a vine laden with
+grapes twining round the trunk of a tree. On either side and in gold
+letters is the device, _Sin e doppo la morte_ (until and after death).
+Following the title-page, on which the work is called �The Decameron of
+the most high and most illustrious Princess, Madame Margaret of France,�
+ is a curious preface signed �Adrian de Thou,� and dated �Paris, August
+8, 1553.� This Adrian de Thou, Lord of Hierville and canon of Notre Dame
+de Paris, counsellor and clerk of the Paris Parliament, was the fourth
+son of Augustine de Thou and uncle to James Augustus de Thou, the
+historian. He died in October 1570. His MS. of the _Heptameron_, a
+most beautiful specimen of caligraphy, contains a long table of various
+readings and obscure passages; this was consulted in preparing the text
+for the present translation. The titles to the tales have also been
+borrowed from this MS.; they were composed by De Thou himself, and
+figure in no other MS. copy.
+
+XI. (No. 1525). A small folio, calf, from Colbert�s library, very
+incomplete and badly written, but containing the _Miroir de J�su Crist
+crucifi�_, the last poem Queen Margaret composed (see _ante_, vol. i. p.
+lxxxvi.).
+
+XII. (No. 2155). A small quarto, red morocco, from the library of
+Mazarin, whose escutcheon has been cut off. The text, which is
+complete and correct, excepting that a portion of the prologue has been
+accidentally transposed, is followed by an epitaph on the Queen. The
+handwriting throughout is that of the end of the sixteenth century.
+
+
+The other MSS. of the _Heptameron_ are the following:--
+
+XIII. (Orleans town library, No. 352). A folio vol. of 440 pp. It is
+doubtful whether this MS. is of the sixteenth or seventeenth century.
+It bears the title _L�Heptam�ron des Nouvelles, &c_. There are numerous
+deficiencies in the text.
+
+XIV. (Vatican library, No. 929; from the library of Queen Christina of
+Sweden). A folio vol., calf, 95 leaves, handwriting of the end of the
+sixteenth century. This only contains fifteen of the stories.
+
+XV. (present possessor unknown). A folio vol., red morocco; text (ending
+with tale lxix. ) in sixteenth-century handwriting, with illuminated
+initial letters to each tale. _Catalogue des livres de feue Mme. la
+Comtesse de Verrue_, Paris, G. Martin, 1737.
+
+XVI. (possessor unknown). MS. supposed to be the original, a large
+folio, handwriting of the period, antique binding, containing the
+seventy-two tales. _Catalogue des livres, &c., du cabinet de M. Filheul,
+&c._, Paris, Chardin, 1779, pp. xxi. and 280.
+
+XVII. (possessor unknown). A folio vol., blue morocco, gilt. No. 1493
+in the catalogue of the _Biblioth�que de Simon Bernard, chez Barrois_,
+Paris, 1734; and No. 213 in a _Catalogue de manuscrits int�ressants qui
+seront vendus... en la maison de M. Gueret, notaire_, Paris, Debure fils
+jeune, 1776.
+
+XVIII. (possessor unknown). A folio vol., blue morocco, gilt, stamped
+with the arms of France, from the Randon de Boisset library; the
+seventy-two tales complete, a very fine copy. _Catalogue des livres de
+la biblioth�qzie de l�Abb� Rive_, Marseilles, 1793. (This MS. should not
+be confounded with No. xvii. See L. J. Hubaud�s _Dissertation sur les
+Contes de la Reine de Navarre_, Marseilles, 1850.)
+
+
+The following are the editions of Queen Margaret�s tales issued from the
+press from the sixteenth century to the present time. The list has been
+prepared with great care, and we believe it to be as complete a one as
+can be furnished; it includes several editions not mentioned in Brunet�s
+Manual:--
+
+I. _Histoires des Amans Fortunez d�di�es � tr�s illustre princesse, Mme.
+Marguerite de Bourbon, etc., par Pierre Boaistuau, dit Launoy_, Paris,
+1558, 40. The authorisation to print and publish was accorded to Vincent
+Sertenas, and the work was issued by three different booksellers; some
+copies bearing the name of Gilles Robinot, others that of Jean Cavyller,
+and others that of Gilles Gilles.
+
+This, the first edition of the Queen�s work, contains only sixty-seven
+of the tales, which are not divided into days or printed in their proper
+sequence; the prologues, moreover, are deficient, and all the
+bold passages on religious and philosophical questions, &c, in the
+conversational matter following the stories, are suppressed.
+
+II. _L�Heptam�ron des Nouvelles de tris illustre et tr�s excellente
+Princesse Marguerite de Valois, Royne de Navarre, &c., d�di� � tr�s
+illustre et tr�s vertueuse Princesse Jeanne, Royne de Navarre, par
+Claude Gruget, parisien_, Paris, Vincent Certena, or Jean Caveillier,
+1559.
+
+This contains all the Queen�s tales excepting Nos. xi., xliv., and
+xlvi., which Gruget replaced by others, probably written by himself. The
+other stories are placed in their proper order, but none of the names
+and passages suppressed by Boaistuau are restored. The phraseology of
+the MSS., moreover, is still further modified and polished.
+
+The text adopted by Boaistuau and Gruget was followed, with a few
+additional modifications, in all the editions issued during the later
+years of the sixteenth century. Most of these are badly printed and
+contain numerous typographical errors:--
+
+III. _L�Heptam�ron des Nouvelles, &c_. Reprint of Gruget�s edition,
+sold by Vincent Sertenas, Gilles Robinot & Gilles Gille, and printed by
+Benoist Pr�vost, Paris, 1560.
+
+IV. _L�Heptam�ron des Nouvelles, &c_., 1560, 16mo. (No bookseller�s or
+printer�s name appears in this edition. )
+
+V. _L�Heptam�ron, &c_. (Gruget). Guill. Rouill�, Lyons, 1561, small
+12mo; Gilles Gilles, Paris, 1561, 16mo.
+
+VI. The same. Norment & Bruneau, and Gilles Gilles, Paris, 1567, 16mo.
+
+VII. The same. Louys Cloquemin, Lyons, 1572, 16mo (reprinted in 1578 and
+1581).
+
+VIII. The same. Michel de Roigny, Paris, 1574, 16mo (round letters).
+
+IX. The same. Gab. Buon, Paris, 1581, 16mo.
+
+X. The same. Abel L�Angelier, Paris, 1581, 18mo.
+
+XI. The same. Jean Osmont, Rouen, 1598, 578 pp., sin. 12mo (good type).
+
+XII. The same. Romain Beauvais, Rouen, 1598, 589 pp. 12mo.
+
+
+In the seventeenth century the _Heptameron_ was frequently reprinted,
+Gruget�s text, with a few changes, being still followed until 1698, when
+it occurred to some obscure literary man to put the tales into so-called
+_beau langage_. At the same time the title of _Heptameron_, devised by
+Gruget, was discarded (see post, No. XVI.).
+
+XIII. _L�Heptam�ron_, &c., printed by Ch. Chappellein, Paris, 1607,
+18mo.
+
+XIV. The same. _Sur Pimprim� � Paris_, J. Bessin (Holland), 1615, sm.
+l2mo (reprinted in 1698, 2. vols. 12mo).
+
+XV. The same. David du Petit-Val, Rouen, 1625, 12mo.
+
+XVI. _Contes et Nouvelles de Marguerite de Valois, Reine de Navarre, mis
+en beau langage_. Gallet, Amsterdam, 1698, 2 vols, sm. 8vo. This edition
+is valued not for its _beau langage_, but for the copperplate engravings
+illustrating it. These are coarsely executed, and are attributed to
+Roman de Hooge, but do not bear his name. A reprint of the edition
+appeared at Amsterdam in 1700.
+
+XVII. The same. Gallet, Amsterdam, 1708, 2 vols. sm. 8vo. Virtually a
+reprint, but with several of the Roman de Hooge plates deficient, and
+replaced by others signed Harrewyn.
+
+XVIII. The same. La Haye (Chartres), 1733, 2 vols. sm. 12mo.
+
+XIX. The same. Londres, 1744, 2 vols. 12mo.
+
+XX. Heptam�ron Fran�ais, ou les Nouvelles de Marguerite, Reine de
+Navarre; chez la Nouvelle Soci�t� Typographique, Berne, 1780-1, 3 vols.
+8vo. On some copies the title is simply, Nouvelles de Marguerite,
+etc., Berne, 1781; on others B�at Louis Walthard is designated as the
+publisher.
+
+For this edition were executed the copperplate engravings, designed by
+Freudenberg and Dunker, which illustrate the present translation. It was
+at first intended to issue the work in parts, but after parts i. and ii.
+had been published (at 4 livres each) the project was abandoned. A few
+copies of these two parts are in existence; they bear the date 1778.
+Freudenberg began his designs in the previous year, and finished them in
+1780.
+
+This edition is greatly prized for its illustrations; the text, however,
+largely modified by Jean Rodolphe de Sinner, is without value. The work
+was reissued at Paris in 1784 (8 vols, in 8vo, some copies 18mo), at
+Berne in 1792, and again in Paris in 1807 (8 vols. 18mo).
+
+
+The following new editions of the _Heptameron_ have appeared during the
+present century:--
+
+XXI. _Contes et Nouvelles de Marguerite, &c_. Dauthereau, Paris, 1828, 5
+vols. 32mo. (Collection des romans fran�ais et �trangers.)
+
+XXII. _L�Heptam�ron, ou Histoire des Amants fortun�s, &c, ancien texte
+publi� par C. Gruget.., revu, corrig� et publi� avec des notes, &c.,
+par le bibliophile Jacob_. Gosselin (Biblioth�que d��lite), Paris, 1841,
+12mo. In this edition the Bibliophile Jacob (M. P. Lacroix) but
+slightly modified Gruget�s text, and his annotation was comparatively
+insignificant. His work was reproduced in a volume of the _Panth�on
+Litt�raire: Les vieux Conteurs fran�ais_, Paris, 1841, 1. 8vo. (double
+cols.).
+
+XXIII. _Heptam�ron des Nouvelles de... Margtierile d�Angoul�me...
+publi�e sur les manuscrits par la Soci�t� des Bibliophiles Fran�ais_ (Le
+Roux de Lincy, editor), Paris, 1853-4, 3 vols. sm. 18mo.
+
+In this edition the real text of the tales was printed for the first
+time, M. de Lincy having carefully examined the best MSS. for this
+purpose. The present English translation is based upon his work. Copies
+of the �Bibliophiles Fran�ais� edition, which contains a portrait of the
+Queen, a facsimile of a miniature, and an engraving showing her arms and
+device, cannot be purchased, when in fair condition, for less than �6 in
+Paris.
+
+XXIV. _L�Heptam�ron des Nouvelles, etc.... avec des notes et une
+notice par P. L. Jacob, Bibliophile_ (Paul Lacroix). Adolphe Delahays,
+_Biblioth�que Gauloise_, Paris, 1858, 18mo.
+
+In this edition M. Lacroix, following M. de Lincy�s example, went to the
+MSS. for his text, which he annotated with care and erudition. All his
+notes of any importance are reproduced in the present translation. The
+edition of 1858 was reprinted in 1875.
+
+XXV. _L�Heptam�ron, &c_. Gamier fr�res, Paris, n.d., 1 vol. 18mo.
+This was long the �popular� edition in France. The text, which is
+considerably modernised, is of no value.
+
+XXVI. _Les sept Journ�es de la Reine de Navarre, suivies de la
+huiti�me_. Paris, Librairie des Bibliophiles (Jouaust), 1872, 4 vols.
+l6mo.
+
+In this edition Gruget�s text is followed; the notes, &c, are by M.
+Lacroix. The work is prized for its illustrations (a portrait and eight
+etchings) by Leopold Flameng. It was originally issued in eight parts.
+The value of the copies varies according to the paper on which they are
+printed. Those on India or Whatman paper, with a duplicate set of the
+engravings, command high prices. The text has been reissued by the same
+firm in two cr. 8vo vols, under the title of _L�Heptam�ron des contes,
+etc_.
+
+XXVII. _L�Heptam�ron des Nouvelles, &c_, preface, notes, &c, by Benjamin
+Pifteau, in the _Nouvelle Collection Jannet_, Alphonse Lemerre, Paris,
+1875, 2 vols. l6mo.
+
+This, undoubtedly the best of all the cheap editions, has been reprinted
+by Marpon & Flammarion, Paris, n.d. The text is from the MSS.; the
+notes are mainly abbreviated from those of MM. de Lincy and Lacroix. M.
+Pifteau supplies an introduction and glossary.
+
+XXVIII. _L�Heptam�ron, &c., publi� avec Introduction, Notes et Glossaire
+par F�lix Frank_. Liseux, Paris, 1879, 3 vols. 12mo.
+
+This, from the literary point of view, is one of the most important of
+modern editions. The text is not taken from the same MS. as was followed
+by M. de Lincy. The tales are preceded by a lengthy introduction, in
+which the editor discusses Queen Margaret�s work and seeks to identify
+the supposed narrators of her tales. He has frequently been quoted in
+the notes to this translation.
+
+XXIX. _L�Heptam�ron, &c, avec notes, variantes et glossaire par F.
+Dillaye et notice par A. France_. A. Lemerre, Paris, 1879.
+
+A handy edition based on the MSS. The notes embody the substance of
+M. de Lincy�s and M. Lacroix�s researches with additional particulars
+supplied by M. Dillaye, who has been quoted in the course of the present
+work.
+
+XXX. _L�Heptam�ron, &c., publi� stir les manuscrits avec les notes de
+MM. Le Poux de Lincy et Anatole de Montaiglon_. Auguste Eudes, Paris,
+1880, 8 vols. 1. 8vo and 4 vols. cr. 8vo.
+
+The edition in 8 vols, (two copies of which on parchment were issued at
+�44 each; and twelve on Japanese paper at �20 each) is illustrated with
+the Freudenberg plates; that in 4 vols, contains the text only. The text
+is the same as that of No. XXIII.; but with additional notes, prefatory
+matter, &c. The copyright attaching to this edition was acquired for
+the present work, in which all M. de Montaiglon�s important notes are
+reproduced.
+
+
+Among the English translations of the _Heptameron_ are the following:--
+
+_Heptameron_, or the _History of the Fortunate Lovers_, translated by
+R. Codrington, London, 1654, 12mo. (Dedicated to Thomas Stanley, the
+translator of Anacreon and editor of �schylus, and based on Boaistuau�s
+defective text.)
+
+The _Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre, nota first translated
+from the original text, by Walter K. Kelly_. Bohn (extra volume),
+London, 1855. This has been several times reprinted. The translation
+is a very free rendering of M. de Lincy�s text; many passages are
+deficient.
+
+The _Heptameron, &c., translated from the original French by Arthur
+Machen_. Privately printed (G. Redway), London, 1886, 1 vol. 1. 8vo. A
+scholarly translation, not annotated; illustrated with the etchings by
+Flameng (see _ante_, edition xxv.).
+
+_The Fortunate Lovers, twenty-seven novels of the Queen of Navarre,
+translated by Arthur Machen, edited with notes and introduction by A.
+Mary F. Robinson_. G. Redway, London, 1887, 8vo. Etched frontispiece
+by G. P. Jacomb Hood. This only contains such of the tales as the
+lady-editor considered unobjectionable. In her introduction she sketches
+the life of Queen Margaret and discusses the identity of the supposed
+narrators of the tales. Some of the notes are original, but the majority
+are based upon the researches of French commentators.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V.
+(of V.), by Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALES OF THE HEPTAMERON ***
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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+
+<!DOCTYPE html
+   PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+   "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" >
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
+    <title>
+      The Heptameron, Volume V.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd7; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
+    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
+    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
+    blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
+    pre     { font-family: Times; font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;}
+
+</style>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V. (of V.), by
+Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V. (of V.)
+
+Author: Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
+
+Illustrator: Freudenberg and Dunker
+
+Translator: George Saintsbury: From The Authentic Text
+Of M. Le Roux De Lincy With An Essay Upon The Heptameron by the Translator
+
+Release Date: February 7, 2006 [EBook #17705]
+Last Updated: September 9, 2016
+
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALES OF THE HEPTAMERON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img alt="cover (92K)" src="images/cover.jpg" width="100%" />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img alt="spines (63K)" src="images/spines.jpg" width="100%" />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      THE TALES OF<br /> THE HEPTAMERON<br /> <br /> OF<br /> <br /> Margaret, Queen
+      of Navarre
+    </h1>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      <i>Newly Translated into English from the Authentic Text</i> <br /> <br />
+      OF M. LE ROUX DE LINCY WITH <br /> <br /> AN ESSAY UPON THE HEPTAMERON <br />
+      BY <br /> GEORGE SAINTSBURY, M.A. <br /> <br /> Also the Original
+      Seventy-three Full Page Engravings <br /> Designed by S. FREUDENBERG <br />
+      <br /> And One Hundred and Fifty Head and Tail Pieces <br /> By DUNKER<br />
+      <br /> <i>IN FIVE VOLUMES</i>
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      VOLUME THE FIFTH
+    </h2>
+    <h4>
+      LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY OF ENGLISH BIBLIOPHILISTS <br /> MDCCCXCIV
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+     <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto" cellpadding="4" border="3">
+      <tbody>
+        <tr>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17701/17701-h/17701-h.htm">Volume
+            I.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17702/17702-h/17702-h.htm">Volume
+            II.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17703/17703-h/17703-h.htm">Volume
+            III.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17704/17704-h/17704-h.htm">Volume
+            IV.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+      </tbody>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="100%" alt="Frontispiece " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [Margaret, Queen of Navarre, from a crayon drawing by Clouet, preserved at
+      the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/titlepage.jpg" width="100%" alt="Titlepage " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <blockquote>
+      <h2>
+        Contents
+      </h2>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> <b>SIXTH DAY</b>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_PROL6"> PROLOGUE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> <i>TALE LI</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> <i>TALE LII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> <i>TALE LIII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> <i>TALE LIV</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> <i>TALE LV</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> <i>TALE LVI</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> <i>TALE LVII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> <i>TALE LVIII.</i> </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> <i>TALE LIX</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> <i>TALE LX</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> <b>SEVENTH DAY</b>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_PROL7"> PROLOGUE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> <i>TALE LXI</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> <i>TALE LXII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> <i>TALE LXIII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> <i>TALE LXIV</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> <i>TALE LXV</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> <i>TALE LXVI</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> <i>TALE LXVII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> <i>TALE LXVIII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> <i>TALE LXIX</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> <i>TALE LXX</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> <b>EIGHTH DAY.</b> </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_PROL8"> PROLOGUE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> <i>TALE LXXI</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> <i>TALE LXXII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_APPE"> APPENDIX. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0035"> THE SUPPOSED NARRATORS OF THE <i>HEPTAMERON</i>
+        TALES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_BIBL"> BIBLIOGRAPHY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br /> <br />
+      </p>
+      <hr />
+      <p>
+        <br /> <br />
+      </p>
+      <h2>
+        List of Illustrations
+      </h2>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0001"> Frontispiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0002"> Titlepage </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0003"> 005a.jpg the Duke of Urbino Sending The
+        Maiden to Prison for Carrying Messages </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0004"> 005.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0005"> 014.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0006"> 015a.jpg the Gentleman and his Friend Annoyed
+        by The Smell of Sugar </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0007"> 015.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0008"> 022.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0009"> 023a.jpg the Lord Des Cheriots Flying from
+        The Prince&rsquo;s Servant </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0010"> 023.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0011"> 036.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0012"> 037a.jpg the Lady Watching The Shadow Faces
+        Kissing </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0013"> 037.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0014"> 042.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0015"> 043a.jpg the Servant Selling The Horse With
+        The Cat </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0016"> 043.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0017"> 049.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0018"> 051a.jpg the Grey Friar Introducing his
+        Comrade to The Lady and Her Daughter </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0019"> 051.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0020"> 061.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0021"> 063a.jpg the English Lord Seizing The Lady&rsquo;s
+        Glove </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0022"> 063.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0023"> 070.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0024"> 071a. The Gentleman Mocked by The Ladies when
+        Returning from The False Tryst </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0025"> 071.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0026"> 078.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0027"> 079a. The Lady Discovering Her Husband With
+        The Waiting-woman </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0028"> 079.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0029"> 090.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0030"> 091a. The Chanter of Blois Delivering his
+        Mistress from The Grave </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0031"> 091.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0032"> 099.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0033"> 105a. The Lady Returning to Her Lover, The
+        Canon of Autun </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0034"> 105.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0035"> 117.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0036"> 119a. The Gentleman&rsquo;s Spur Catching in The
+        Sheet </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0037"> 119.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0038"> 124.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0039"> 125a. The King Asking The Young Lord to Join
+        his Banquet </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0040"> 125.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0041"> 132.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0042"> 133a. The Lady Swooning in The Arms of The
+        Gentleman Of Valencia Who Had Become a Monk </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0043"> 133.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0044"> 141.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0045"> 143a. The Old Woman Startled by The Waking of
+        The Soldier </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0046"> 143.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0047"> 147.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0048"> 149a. The Old Serving-woman Explaining Her
+        Mistake To The Duke and Duchess of Vendôme </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0049"> 149.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0050"> 154.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0051"> 155a. The Wife Reading to Her Husband on The
+        Desert Island </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0052"> 155.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0053"> 161.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0054"> 163a. The Apothecary&rsquo;s Wife Giving The Dose
+        of Cantharides To Her Husband </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0055"> 163.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0056"> 168.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0057"> 169a. The Wife Discovering Her Husband in The
+        Hood Of Their Serving-maid </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0058"> 169.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0059"> 174.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0060"> 175a. The Gentleman Killing Himself on The
+        Death of his Mistress </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0061"> 175.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0062"> 213.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0063"> 219a. The Saddler&rsquo;s Wife Cured by The Sight
+        of Her Husband Caressing the Serving-maid </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0064"> 219.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0065"> 224.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0066"> 225a. The Monk Conversing With The Nun While
+        Shrouding A Dead Body </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0067"> 225.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0068"> 232.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+    </blockquote>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_TOC" id="link2H_TOC">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DETAILED CONTENTS OF VOLUME V.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <b>SIXTH DAY.</b>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Prologue
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0008">Tale LI.</a> Cruelty of the Duke of Urbino, who,
+      contrary to the promise he had given to the Duchess, hanged a poor lady
+      that had consented to convey letters to his son&rsquo;s sweetheart, the sister
+      of the Abbot of Farse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0009">Tale LII.</a> Merry trick played by the varlet of
+      an apothecary at Alençon on the Lord de la Tirelière and the lawyer
+      Anthony Bacheré, who, thinking to breakfast at his expense, find that they
+      have stolen from him something very different to a loaf of sugar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0010">Tale LIII.</a> Story of the Lady of Neufchâtel, a
+      widow at the Court of Francis I., who, through not admitting that she has
+      plighted her troth to the Lord des Cheriots, plays him an evil trick
+      through the means of the Prince of Belhoste.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0011">Tale LIV.</a> Merry adventure of a serving-woman
+      and a gentleman named Thogas, whereof his wife has no suspicion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0012">Tale LV.</a> The widow of a merchant of
+      Saragossa, not wishing to lose the value of a horse, the price of which
+      her husband had ordered to be given to the poor, devises the plan of
+      selling the horse for one ducat only, adding, however, to the bargain a
+      cat at ninety-nine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0013">Tale LVI.</a> Notable deception practised by an
+      old Grey Friar of Padua, who, being charged by a widow to find a husband
+      for her daughter, did, for the sake of getting the dowry, cause her to
+      marry a young Grey Friar, his comrade, whose condition, however, was
+      before long discovered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0014">Tale LVII.</a> Singular behaviour of an English
+      lord, who is content merely to keep and wear upon his doublet the glove of
+      a lady whom he loves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0015">Tale LVIII.</a> A lady at the Court of Francis
+      I., wishing to prove that she has no commerce with a certain gentleman who
+      loves her, gives him a pretended tryst and causes him to pass for a thief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0016">Tale LIX.</a> Story of the same lady, who,
+      learning that her husband is in love with her waiting-woman, contrives to
+      surprise him and impose her own terms upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0017">Tale LX.</a> A man of Paris, thinking his wife to
+      be well and duly deceased, marries again, but at the end of fifteen years
+      is forced to take his first wife back, although she has been living
+      meantime with one of the chanters of Louis XII.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <b>SEVENTH DAY.</b>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Prologue
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0020">Tale LXI.</a> Great kindness of a husband, who
+      consents to take back his wife twice over, spite of her wanton love for a
+      Canon of Autun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0021">Tale LXII.</a> How a lady, while telling a story
+      as of another, let her tongue trip in such a way as to show that what she
+      related had happened to herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0022">Tale LXIII.</a> How the honourable behaviour of a
+      young lord, who feigns sickness in order to be faithful to his wife,
+      spoils a party in which he was to have made one with the King, and in this
+      way saves the honour of three maidens of Paris.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0023">Tale LXIV.</a> Story of a gentleman of Valencia
+      in Spain, whom a lady drove to such despair that he became a monk, and
+      whom afterwards she strove in vain to win back to herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0024">Tale LXV.</a> Merry mistake of a worthy woman,
+      who in the church of St. John of Lyons mistakes a sleeping soldier for one
+      of the statues on a tomb, and sets a lighted candle on his forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0025">Tale LXVI.</a> How an old serving-woman, thinking
+      to surprise a Prothonotary with a lady, finds herself insulting Anthony de
+      Bourbon and his wife Jane d&rsquo;Albret.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0026">Tale LXVII.</a> How the Sire de Robertval,
+      granting a traitor his life at the prayers of the man&rsquo;s wife, set them
+      both down on a desert island, and how, after the husband&rsquo;s death, the wife
+      was rescued and brought back to La Rochelle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0027">Tale LXVIII.</a> The wife of an apothecary at
+      Pau, hearing her husband give some powder of cantharides to a woman who
+      was godmother with himself, secretly administered to him such a dose of
+      the same drug that he nearly died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0028">Tale LXIX.</a> How the wife of one of the King&rsquo;s
+      Equerries surprised her husband muffled in the hood of their servant-maid,
+      and bolting meal in her stead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0029">Tale LXX.</a> Of the love of a Duchess of
+      Burgundy for a gentleman who rejects her advances, for which reason she
+      accuses him to the Duke her husband, and the latter does not believe his
+      oaths till assured by him that he loves the Lady du Vergier. Then the
+      Duchess, having drawn knowledge of this amour from her husband, addresses
+      to the Lady du Vergier in public, an allusion that causes the death of
+      both lovers; and the Duke, in despair at his own lack of discretion, stabs
+      the Duchess himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <b>EIGHTH DAY.</b>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Prologue
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0032">Tale LXXI.</a> The wife of a saddler of Amboise
+      is saved on her deathbed through a fit of anger at seeing her husband
+      fondle a servant-maid.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0033">Tale LXXII.</a> Kindness of the Duchess of
+      Alençon to a poor nun whom she meets at Lyons, on her way to Rome, there
+      to confess to the Pope how a monk had wronged her, and to obtain his
+      Holiness&rsquo;s pardon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SIXTH DAY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <i>On the Sixth Day are related the deceits practised<br /> by Man on
+      Woman, Woman on Man, or<br /> Woman on Woman, through<br /> greed, revenge,
+      and<br /> wickedness</i>. <a name="link2H_PROL6" id="link2H_PROL6">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PROLOGUE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In the morning the Lady Oisille went earlier than was her wont to make
+      ready for her reading in the hall, but the company being advised of this,
+      and eager to hearken to her excellent instruction, used such despatch in
+      dressing themselves that she had not long to wait. Perceiving their
+      fervour, she set about reading them the Epistle of St. John the
+      Evangelist, which is full of naught but love, in the same wise as, on the
+      foregoing days, she had expounded to them St. Paul&rsquo;s Epistle to the
+      Romans. The company found this fare so much to their taste, that, although
+      they tarried a half-hour longer than on the other days, it seemed to them
+      as if they had not remained there a quarter of an hour altogether. From
+      thence they proceeded to the contemplation of the mass, when one and all
+      commended themselves to the Holy Ghost in order that they might that day
+      be enabled to satisfy their merry audience; and, after they had broken
+      their fast and taken a little rest, they set out to resume their
+      accustomed diversion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And the Lady Oisille asking who should begin the day, Longarine made
+      answer&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I give my vote to Madame Oisille; she has this day read to us so
+      beauteous a lesson, that she can but tell us some story apt to crown the
+      glory which she won this morning.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am sorry,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;that I cannot tell you aught so profitable
+      this afternoon as I did in the morning. But at least the purport of my
+      story shall not depart from the teaching of Holy Scripture, where it is
+      written, &lsquo;Trust not in princes, nor in the sons of men, in whom is not our
+      salvation.&rsquo; (1) And that this truth may not be forgotten by you for lack
+      of an example, I will tell you a tale which is quite true, and the memory
+      of which is so fresh that the eyes of those that saw the piteous sight are
+      scarcely yet dried.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0003" id="linkimage-0003">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/005a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="005a.jpg the Duke of Urbino Sending The Maiden to Prison for Carrying Messages Between his Son and His Sweetheart " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Duke of Urbino sending the Maiden to Prison for carrying<br />
+      Messages between his Son and his Sweetheart]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0004" id="linkimage-0004">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/005.jpg" width="100%" alt="005.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LI</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Because he would not have his son make a poor marriage, the
+     Duke of Urbino, contrary to the promise given to his wife,
+     hanged a young maiden by whom his son was wont to inform his
+     sweetheart of the love he bore her</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The Duke of Urbino, called the Prefect, (1) the same that married the
+      sister of the first Duke of Mantua, had a son of between eighteen and
+      twenty years of age, who was in love with a girl of an excellent and
+      honourable house, sister to the Abbot of Farse. (2) And since, according
+      to the custom of the country, he was not free to converse with her as he
+      wished, he obtained the aid of a gentleman in his service, who was in love
+      with a very beautiful and virtuous young damsel in the service of his
+      mother. By means of this damsel he informed his sweetheart of the deep
+      affection that he bore her; and the poor girl, thinking no harm, took
+      pleasure in doing him service, believing his purpose to be so good and
+      virtuous that she might honourably be the carrier of his intentions. But
+      the Duke, who had more regard for the profit of his house than for any
+      virtuous affection, was in such great fear lest these dealings should lead
+      his son (3) into marriage, that he caused a strict watch to be kept;
+      whereupon he was informed that the poor damsel had been concerned in
+      carrying some letters from his son to the lady he loved. On hearing this
+      he was in great wrath, and resolved to take the matter in hand.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  This is Francesco Maria I., della Rovere, nephew to Pope
+     Julius II., by whom he was created Prefect of Rome. Brought
+     up at the French Court, he became one of the great captains
+     of the period, especially distinguishing himself in the
+     command of the Venetian forces during the earlier part of
+     his career. He married Leonora Ypolita Gonzaga, daughter of
+     Francesco II., fourth Marquis of Mantua, respecting whom see
+     <i>ante</i>, vol. iii., notes to Tale XIX. It was Leonora rather
+     than her husband who imparted lustre to the Court of Urbino
+     at this period by encouraging arts and letters. Among those
+     who flourished there were Raffaelle and Baldassare
+     Castiglione. Francesco Maria, born in March 1491, died in
+     1538 from the effects&mdash;so it is asserted by several
+     contemporary writers&mdash;of a poisonous lotion which a Mantuan
+     barber had dropped into his ear. His wife, who bore him two
+     sons (see post, note 3), died at the age of 72, in 1570.&mdash;L.
+     and Ed.
+
+     2  The French words are <i>Abbé de Farse</i>. Farse would appear
+     to be a locality, as abbots were then usually designated by
+     the names of their monasteries; still it may be intended for
+     the Abbot&rsquo;s surname, and some commentators, adopting this
+     view, have suggested that the proper reading would be
+     Farnese.&mdash;Ed.
+
+     3  The Duke&rsquo;s two sons were Federigo, born in March 1511,
+     and Guidobaldo, born in April 1514. The former according to
+     all authorities died when &ldquo;young,&rdquo; and probably long before
+     reaching man&rsquo;s estate. Dennistoun, in his searching <i>Memoirs
+     of the Dukes of Urbino</i> (London, 1851), clearly shows that
+     for many years prior to Francesco Maria&rsquo;s death his second
+     son Guidobaldo was the only child remaining to him. Already
+     in 1534, when but twenty years old, Guidobaldo was regarded
+     as his father&rsquo;s sole heir and successor. In that year
+     Francesco Maria forced the young man to marry Giulia Varana,
+     a child of eleven, in order that he might lay claim to her
+     father&rsquo;s state of Camerino and annex it to the duchy. There
+     is no record of Guidobaldo having ever engaged in any such
+     intrigue as related by Queen Margaret in the above tale,
+     still it must be to him that she refers, everything pointing
+     to the conclusion that his brother Federigo died in
+     childhood. Guidobaldo became Duke of Urbino on his father&rsquo;s
+     death.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      He could not, however, conceal his anger so well that the maiden was not
+      advised of it, and knowing his wickedness, which was in her eyes as great
+      as his conscience was small, she felt a wondrous dread. Going therefore to
+      the Duchess, she craved leave to retire somewhere out of the Duke&rsquo;s sight
+      until his passion should be past; but her mistress replied that, before
+      giving her leave to do so, she would try to find out her husband&rsquo;s will in
+      the matter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Very soon, however, the Duchess heard the Duke&rsquo;s evil words concerning the
+      affair, and, knowing his temper, she not only gave the maiden leave, but
+      advised her to retire into a convent until the storm was over. This she
+      did as secretly as she could, yet not so stealthily but that the Duke was
+      advised of it. Thereupon, with pretended cheerfulness of countenance, he
+      asked his wife where the maiden was, and she, believing him to be well
+      aware of the truth, confessed it to him. He feigned to be vexed thereat,
+      saying that the girl had no need to behave in that fashion, and that for
+      his part he desired her no harm. And he requested his wife to cause her to
+      come back again, since it was by no means well to have such matters noised
+      abroad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess replied that, if the poor girl was so unfortunate as to have
+      lost his favour, it were better for a time that she should not come into
+      his presence; however, he would not hearken to her reasonings, but
+      commanded her to bid the maiden return.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess failed not to make the Duke&rsquo;s will known to the maiden; but
+      the latter, who could not but feel afraid, entreated her mistress that she
+      might not be compelled to run this risk, saying that she knew the Duke was
+      not so ready to forgive her as he feigned to be. Nevertheless, the Duchess
+      assured her that she should take no hurt, and pledged her own life and
+      honour for her safety.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl, who well knew that her mistress loved her, and would not lightly
+      deceive her, trusted in her promise, believing that the Duke would never
+      break a pledge when his wife&rsquo;s honour was its warranty. And accordingly
+      she returned to the Duchess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as the Duke knew this, he failed not to repair to his wife&rsquo;s
+      apartment. There, as soon as he saw the maiden, he said to his wife, &ldquo;So
+      such-a-one has returned,&rdquo; and turning to his gentlemen, he commanded them
+      to arrest her and lead her to prison.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At this the poor Duchess, who by the pledging of her word had drawn the
+      maiden from her refuge, was in such despair that, falling upon her knees
+      before her husband, she prayed that for love of herself and of his house
+      he would not do so foul a deed, seeing that it was in obedience to himself
+      that she had drawn the maiden from her place of safety.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But no prayer that she could utter availed to soften his hard heart, or to
+      overcome his stern resolve to be avenged. Without making any reply, he
+      withdrew as speedily as possible, and, foregoing all manner of trial, and
+      forgetting God and the honour of his house, he cruelly caused the hapless
+      maiden to be hanged.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I cannot undertake to recount to you the grief of the Duchess; it was such
+      as beseemed a lady of honour and a tender heart on beholding one, whom she
+      would fain have saved, perish through trust in her own plighted faith.
+      Still less is it possible to describe the deep affliction of the unhappy
+      gentleman, the maiden&rsquo;s lover, who failed not to do all that in him lay to
+      save his sweetheart&rsquo;s life, offering to give his own for hers; but no
+      feeling of pity moved the heart of this Duke, whose only happiness was
+      that of avenging himself on those whom he hated. (4)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     4  That Francesco-Maria was a man of a hasty, violent
+     temperament is certain. Much that Guicciardini relates of
+     him was doubtless penned in a spirit of resentment, for
+     during the time the historian lived at Urbino the Duke
+     repeatedly struck him, and on one occasion felled him to the
+     ground, with the sneering remark, &ldquo;Your business is to
+     confer with pedants.&rdquo; On the other hand, however, there is
+     independent documentary evidence in existence&mdash;notably
+     among the Urbino MSS. in the Vatican library&mdash;which shows
+     that Francesco-Maria in no wise recoiled from shedding
+     blood. He was yet in his teens when it was reported to him
+     that his sister&mdash;the widow of Venanzio of Camerino, killed
+     by Caesar Borgia&mdash;had secretly married a certain Giovanni
+     Andrea of Verona and borne him a son. Watching his
+     opportunity, Francesco-Maria set upon the unfortunate Andrea
+     one day in the ducal chamber and then and there killed him,
+     though not without resistance, for Andrea only succumbed
+     after receiving <i>four-and-twenty</i> stabs with his murderer&rsquo;s
+     poignard (Urbino MSS. Vat. No. 904). A few years later, in
+     1511, Francesco-Maria assassinated the Papal Legate
+     Alidosio, Cardinal Archbishop of Pavia, whom he encountered
+     in the environs of Bologna riding his mule and followed by a
+     hundred light horse. Nevertheless Urbino, with only a small
+     retinue, galloped up to him, plunged a dagger into his
+     stomach and fled before the soldiery could intervene. From
+     these examples it will be seen that, although history has
+     preserved no record of the affair related by Queen Margaret,
+     her narrative may well be a true one.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Thus, in spite of every law of honour, was the innocent maiden put to
+      death by this cruel Duke, to the exceeding sorrow of all that knew her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, ladies, what are the effects of wickedness when this is combined
+      with power.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I had indeed heard,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;that the Italians were prone to
+      three especial vices; but I should not have thought that vengeance and
+      cruelty would have gone so far as to deal a cruel death for so slight a
+      cause.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Longarine,&rdquo; said Saffredent, laughing, &ldquo;you have told us one of the three
+      vices, but we must also know the other two.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you did not know them,&rdquo; she replied, &ldquo;I would inform you, but I am
+      sure that you know them all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;From your words,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;it seems that you deem me very
+      vicious.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;but you so well know the ugliness of vice that,
+      better than any other, you are able to avoid it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not be amazed,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;at this act of cruelty. Those who
+      have passed through Italy have seen such incredible instances, that this
+      one is in comparison but a trifling peccadillo.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, truly,&rdquo; said Geburon. &ldquo;When Rivolta was taken by the French, (5)
+      there was an Italian captain who was esteemed a knightly comrade, but on
+      seeing the dead body of a man who was only his enemy in that being a
+      Guelph he was opposed to the Ghibellines, he tore out his heart, broiled
+      it on the coals and devoured it. And when some asked him how he liked it,
+      he replied that he had never eaten so savoury or dainty a morsel. Not
+      content with this fine deed, he killed the dead man&rsquo;s wife, and tearing
+      out the fruit of her womb, dashed it against a wall. Then he filled the
+      bodies both of husband and wife with oats and made his horses eat from
+      them. Think you that such a man as that would not surely have put to death
+      a girl whom he suspected of offending him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     5  Rivolta or Rivoli was captured by the French under Louis
+     XII. in 1509. An instance of savagery identical in character
+     with that mentioned by &ldquo;Geburon&rdquo; had already occurred at the
+     time of Charles VIII.&lsquo;s expedition to Naples, when the
+     culprit, a young Italian of good birth, was seized and
+     publicly executed.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It must be acknowledged,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;that this Duke of Urbino was
+      more afraid that his son might make a poor marriage than desirous of
+      giving him a wife to his liking.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think you can have no doubt,&rdquo; replied Simon-tault, &ldquo;that it is the
+      Italian nature to love unnaturally that which has been created only for
+      nature&rsquo;s service.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Worse than that,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;they make a god of things that are
+      contrary to nature.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And there,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;you have another one of the sins that I
+      meant; for we know that to love money, excepting so far as it be
+      necessary, is idolatry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Parlamente then said that St. Paul had not forgotten the vices of the
+      Italians, and of all those who believe that they exceed and surpass others
+      in honour, prudence and human reason, and who trust so strongly to this
+      last as to withhold from God the glory that is His due. Wherefore the
+      Almighty, jealous of His honour, renders&rsquo; those who believe themselves
+      possessed of more understanding than other men, more insensate even than
+      wild the beasts, causing them to show by their unnatural deeds that their
+      sense is reprobate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Longarine here interrupted Parlamente to say that this was indeed the
+      third sin to which the Italians were prone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By my faith,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;this discourse is very pleasing to me,
+      for, since those that possess the best trained and acutest understandings
+      are punished by being made more witless even than wild beasts, it must
+      follow that such as are humble, and low, and of little reach, like myself,
+      are filled with the wisdom of angels.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I protest to you,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;that I am not far from your opinion,
+      for none is more ignorant than he who thinks he knows.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have never seen a mocker,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;that was not mocked, a
+      deceiver that was not deceived, or a boaster that was not humbled.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You remind me,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;of a deceit which, had it been of a
+      seemly sort, I would willingly have related.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;since we are here to utter truth, I give you my
+      vote that you may tell it to us whatsoever its nature may be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Since you give place to me,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;I will tell it you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0005" id="linkimage-0005">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/014.jpg" width="100%" alt="014.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0006" id="linkimage-0006">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/015a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="015a.jpg the Gentleman and his Friend Annoyed by The Smell of That Which They Thought Was Sugar " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Gentleman and his Friend annoyed by The Smell of that <br /> which
+      they Thought was Sugar]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0007" id="linkimage-0007">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/015.jpg" width="100%" alt="015.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>An apothecary s man, espying behind him an advocate who was
+     to plague him, and on whom he desired to be revenged,
+     dropped from his sleeve a lump of frozen ordure, wrapped in
+     paper like a sugar-loaf, which a gentleman who was with the
+     advocate picked up and hid in his bosom, and then went to
+     breakfast at a tavern, whence he came forth with all the
+     cost and shame that he had thought to bring upon the poor
+     varlet</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Near the town of Alençon there lived a gentleman called the Lord of La
+      Tireliere, who one morning came from his house to the town afoot, both
+      because the distance was not great and because it was freezing hard. (1)
+      When he had done his business, he sought out a crony of his, an advocate
+      named Anthony Bacheré, and, after speaking with him of his affairs, he
+      told him that he should much like to meet with a good breakfast, but at
+      somebody else&rsquo;s expense. While thus discussing, they sat themselves down
+      in front of an apothecary&rsquo;s shop, where there was a varlet who listened to
+      them, and who forthwith resolved to give them their breakfast.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  The phraseology of this story varies considerably in the
+     different MSS. of the <i>Heptameron</i>. In No. 1520, for
+     instance, the tale begins as follows: &ldquo;In the town of
+     Alençon, in the time of the last Duke Charles, there was an
+     advocate, a merry companion, fond of breakfasting o&rsquo;
+     mornings. One day, whilst he sat at his door, he saw pass a
+     gentleman called the Lord of La Tilleriere, who, by reason
+     of the extreme cold, had come on foot from his house to the
+     town in order to attend to certain business there, and in
+     doing so had not forgotten to put on his great robe, lined
+     with fox-skin. And when he saw the advocate, who was much
+     such a man as himself, he told him that he had completed his
+     business, and had nothing further to do, except it were to
+     find a good breakfast. The advocate made answer that they
+     could find breakfasts enough and to spare, provided they had
+     some one to defray the cost, and, taking the other under the
+     arm, he said to him, &lsquo;Come, gossip, we may perhaps find some
+     fool who will pay the reckoning for us both.&rsquo; Now behind
+     them was an apothecary&rsquo;s man, an artful and inventive
+     fellow, whom this advocate was always plaguing,&rdquo; &amp;c.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      He went out from his shop into a street whither all repaired on needful
+      occasions, (2) and there found a large lump of ordure standing on end, and
+      so well frozen that it looked like a small loaf of fine sugar. Forthwith
+      he wrapped it in handsome white paper, in the manner he was wont to use
+      for the attraction of customers, and hid it in his sleeve.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  In olden time, as shown in the <i>Mémoires de l&rsquo;Académie de
+     Troyes</i>, there were in most French towns streets specially
+     set aside for the purpose referred to. At Alençon, in Queen
+     Margaret&rsquo;s time, there was a street called the Rue des
+     Fumiers, as appears from a report dated March 8, 1564
+     (Archives of the Orne, Series A). Probably it is to this
+     street that she alludes. (Communicated by M. L. Duval,
+     archivist of the department of the Orne).&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Afterwards he came and passed in front of the gentleman and the advocate,
+      and, letting the sugar-loaf (3) fall near them, as if by mischance, went
+      into a house whither he had pretended to be carrying it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Lord of La Tirelière (4) hastened back with all speed to pick up what
+      he thought to be a sugar-loaf, and just as he had done so the apothecary&rsquo;s
+      man also came back looking and asking for his sugar everywhere.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  M. Duval, archivist of the Orne, states that La
+     Tirelière, which is situated near St. Germain-du-Corbois,
+     within three miles of Alençon, is an old <i>gentilhommière</i> or
+     manor-house, surrounded by a moat. It was originally a
+     simple <i>vavassonrie</i> held in fief from the Counts and Dukes
+     of Alençon by the Pantolf and Crouches families, and in the
+     seventeenth century was merged into the marquisate of
+     L&rsquo;Isle.&mdash;M.
+
+     4  Sugar was at this period sold by apothecaries, and was a
+     rare and costly luxury. There were loaves of various sizes,
+     but none so large as those of the present time.&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, thinking that he had cleverly tricked him, then went in
+      haste to a tavern with his crony, to whom he said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our breakfast has been paid for at the cost of that varlet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When he was come to the tavern he called for good bread, good wine and
+      good meat, for he thought that he had wherewith to pay. But whilst he was
+      eating, as he began to grow warm, his sugar-loaf in its turn began to thaw
+      and melt, and filled the whole room with the smell peculiar to it,
+      whereupon he, who carried it in his bosom, grew wroth with the
+      waiting-woman, and said to her&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are the filthiest folks that ever I knew in this town, for either you
+      or your children have strewn all this room with filth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By St. Peter!&rdquo; replied the woman, &ldquo;there is no filth here unless you have
+      brought it in yourselves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereupon they rose, by reason of the great stench that they smelt, and
+      went up to the fire, where the gentleman drew out of his bosom a
+      handkerchief all dyed with the melted sugar, and on opening his robe,
+      lined with fox-skin, found it to be quite spoiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And all that he was able to say to his crony was this&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The rogue whom we thought to deceive has deceived us instead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then they paid their reckoning and went away as vexed as they had been
+      merry on their arrival, when they fancied they had tricked the
+      apothecary&rsquo;s varlet. (5)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     5  In MS. 1520, this tale ends in the following manner:&mdash;
+     &ldquo;They were no sooner in the street than they perceived the
+     apothecary&rsquo;s man going about and making inquiry of every one
+     whether they had not seen a loaf of sugar wrapped in paper.
+     They [the advocate and his companion] sought to avoid him,
+     but he called aloud to the advocate, &lsquo;If you have my loaf of
+     sugar, sir, I beg that you will give it back to me, for &lsquo;tis
+     a double sin to rob a poor servant.&rsquo; His shouts brought to
+     the spot many people curious to witness the dispute, and the
+     true circumstances of the case were so well proven, that the
+     apothecary&rsquo;s man was as glad to have been robbed as the
+     others were vexed at having committed such a nasty theft.
+     However, they comforted themselves with the hope that they
+     might some day give him tit for tat.&rdquo;&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Often, ladies, do we see the like befall those who delight in using such
+      cunning. If the gentleman had not sought to eat at another&rsquo;s expense, he
+      would not have drunk so vile a beverage at his own. It is true, ladies,
+      that my story is not a very clean one, but you gave me license to speak
+      the truth, and I have done so in order to show you that no one is sorry
+      when a deceiver is deceived.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is commonly said,&rdquo; replied Hircan, &ldquo;that words have no stink, yet
+      those for whom they are intended do not easily escape smelling them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;that such words do not stink, but there are
+      others which are spoken of as nasty, and which are of such evil odour that
+      they disgust the soul even more than the body is disgusted when it smells
+      such a sugar-loaf as you described in the tale.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;tell me what words you know of so foul as to
+      sicken both the heart and soul of a virtuous woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It would indeed be seemly,&rdquo; replied Oisille, &ldquo;that I should tell you
+      words which I counsel no woman to utter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By that,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;I quite understand what those terms are. They
+      are such as women desirous of being held discreet do not commonly employ.
+      But I would ask all the ladies present why, when they dare not utter them,
+      they are so ready to laugh at them when they are used in their presence.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then said Parlamente&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We do not laugh because we hear such pretty expressions, though it is
+      indeed true that every one is disposed to laugh on seeing anybody stumble
+      or on hearing any one utter an unfitting word, as often happens. The
+      tongue will trip and cause one word to be used for another, even by the
+      discreetest and most excellent speakers. But when you men talk viciously,
+      not from ignorance, but by reason of your own wickedness, I know of no
+      virtuous woman who does not feel a loathing for such speakers, and who
+      would not merely refuse to hearken to them, but even to remain in their
+      company.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is very true,&rdquo; responded Geburon. &ldquo;I have frequently seen women make
+      the sign of the cross on hearing certain words spoken, and cease not in
+      doing so after these words had been uttered a second time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But how many times,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;have they put on their masks (6)
+      in order to laugh as freely as they pretended to be angry?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet it were better to do this,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;than to let it be seen
+      that the talk pleased them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;you praise a lady&rsquo;s hypocrisy no less than her
+      virtue?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Virtue would be far better,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;but, when it is lacking,
+      recourse must be had to hypocrisy, just as we use our slippers (7) to
+      disguise our littleness. And it is no small matter to be able to conceal
+      our imperfections.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     8  <i>Tourets-de-nez</i>. <i>See ante</i>, vol. iii. p. 27, note 5.&mdash;Ed.
+
+     7  High-heeled slippers or <i>mules</i> were then worn.&mdash;B. J.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By my word,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;it were better sometimes to show some slight
+      imperfection than to cover it so closely with the cloak of virtue.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true,&rdquo; said Ennasuitc, &ldquo;that a borrowed garment brings the borrower
+      as much dishonour when he is constrained to return it as it brought him
+      honour whilst it was being worn, and there is a lady now living who, by
+      being too eager to conceal a small error, fell into a greater.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that I know whom you mean; in any case, however,
+      do not pronounce her name.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ho! ho!&rdquo; said Geburon [to Ennasuite], &ldquo;I give you my vote on condition
+      that when you have related the story you will tell us the names. We will
+      swear never to mention them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I promise it,&rdquo; said Knnasuite, &ldquo;for there is nothing that may not be told
+      in all honour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0008" id="linkimage-0008">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/022.jpg" width="100%" alt="022.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0009" id="linkimage-0009">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/023a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="023a.jpg the Lord Des Cheriots Flying from The Prince&rsquo;s Servant " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Lord des Cheriots flying from the Prince&rsquo;s Servant]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0010" id="linkimage-0010">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/023.jpg" width="100%" alt="023.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LIII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>By her dissimulation the Lady of Neufchastel caused the
+     Prince of Belhoste to put her to such proof that it turned
+     to her dishonour</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      King Francis the First was once at a handsome and pleasant castle, whither
+      he had gone with a small following, both for the purpose of hunting and in
+      order to take some repose. With him in his train was a certain Prince of
+      Belhoste, (1) as worshipful, virtuous, discreet and handsome a Prince as
+      any at Court. The wife he had married did not belong to a family of high
+      rank, yet he loved her as dearly and treated her as well as it were
+      possible for a husband to do, and also trusted in her. And when he was in
+      love with anybody he never concealed it from her, knowing that she had no
+      other will than his own.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  The Bibliophile Jacob surmises that this personage may be
+     one of the Italian grandees at that period in the service of
+     France, in which case the allusion may be to John
+     Caraccioli, Prince of Melphes, created a marshal of France
+     in 1544. Queen Margaret, however, makes no mention of her
+     Prince being a foreigner. &ldquo;Belhoste&rdquo; is of course a
+     fictitious name invented to replace that which the Prince
+     really bore, and admits of so many interpretations that its
+     meaning in the present instance cannot well be determined.
+     From the circumstance, however, that the Prince&rsquo;s wife was
+     of inferior birth to himself, it is not impossible that the
+     personage referred to may be either Charles de Bourbon,
+     Prince of La Roche-sur-Yonne and Duke of Beaupréau, or John
+     VIII., Lord of Créqui, Canaples and Pontdormi, and Prince of
+     Poix. The former, who married Philippa de Montespedon, widow
+     of René de Montéjan, and a lady of honour to Catherine de&rsquo;
+     Medici when Dauphiness, took a prominent part in the last
+     wars of Francis I.&lsquo;s reign, and survived till 1565. The
+     latter, generally known at Court by the name of Canaples,
+     was a gentleman of the chamber and an especial favourite of
+     Francis I. Brantôme says of him in his <i>Homines Illustres</i>
+     that he was &ldquo;a valiant lord and the strongest man of arms
+     that in those days existed in all Christendom, for he broke
+     a lance, no matter its strength, as easily as though it were
+     a mere switch, and few were able to withstand him.&rdquo; In 1525
+     the Prince of Poix married a Demoiselle d&rsquo;Acigné or Assigny,
+     of <i>petite noblesse</i>, who in 1532 became a lady of honour to
+     Queen Eleanor. She died in 1558, surviving her husband by
+     three years. See Rouard&rsquo;s rare <i>Notice dun Recueil de
+     Crayons à la Bibliothèque Méjanes d&rsquo;Aix</i>, Paris, 1863.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Now this Prince conceived a deep affection for a widow lady called Madame
+      de Neufchastel, (2) who was reputed the most beautiful woman it were
+      possible to see; and if the Prince of Bel-hoste loved her well, his wife
+      loved her no less, and would often send and bid her to dinner, for she
+      deemed her so discreet and honourable, that, instead of being grieved by
+      her husband&rsquo;s love for her, she rejoiced to see him address his attentions
+      to one so full of honour and virtue.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  M. Lacroix thinks that this lady may be Jane de Hochberg,
+     only daughter of Philip, sovereign Count of Neufchâtel.
+     According to the custom of the time, she was commonly called
+     Madame de Neufchâtel, despite her marriage with Louis
+     d&rsquo;Orléans, Duke of Longueville. She died in 1543, after a
+     lengthy widowhood. We consider the accuracy of M. Lacroix&rsquo;s
+     surmise to be extremely doubtful, for the names of both the
+     men figuring in the story are obviously altered so as to
+     conceal their identity, and it is therefore not likely that
+     Queen Margaret would designate the lady by her real name,
+     and thus publish her shame to the world. The Madame de
+     Neufchâtel she speaks of may really have been a Madame de
+     Châteauneuf, Châteauvieux or Maisonneuve; or we may again be
+     in presence of Margaret&rsquo;s lady of honour, the widowed
+     Blanche de Chastillon, <i>née</i> de Tournon, to whom frequent
+     reference has been made.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      This affection lasted for a great while, the Prince of Belhoste caring for
+      all the lady&rsquo;s affairs as though they were his own, and his wife doing no
+      less. By reason, however, of her beauty many great lords and gentlemen
+      earnestly sought the lady&rsquo;s favour, some only for love&rsquo;s sake, others for
+      sake of the ring, for, besides being beautiful, she was also very rich.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the rest was a young gentleman, called the Lord des Cheriots, (3)
+      who wooed her so ardently that he was never absent from her levee and
+      couchée, and was also with her as much as possible during the day. This
+      did not please the Prince of Belhoste, who thought that a man of such poor
+      estate, and so lacking in grace, did not deserve an honourable and
+      gracious reception, and he often made remonstrances about it to the lady.
+      She, however, being one of Eve&rsquo;s daughters, (4) excused herself by saying
+      that she spoke with every one in general, and that their own affection was
+      the better concealed, since she never spoke more with one than with
+      another.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  &ldquo;Des Cheriots&rdquo; (occasionally Des Cheriotz in the MS.) may
+     be a play upon the name of D&rsquo;Escars, sometimes written Des
+     Cars. According to La Curne de Ste. Palaye <i>car</i> as well as
+     <i>char</i> signified chariot. The D&rsquo;Escars dukedom is modern,
+     dating from 1815, and in the time of Francis I. the family
+     was of small estate. Some members of it may well have filled
+     inferior offices about the court, as in 1536 a Demoiselle
+     Suzanne d&rsquo;Escars married Geoffrey de Pompadour, who was both
+     a prothonotary and cupbearer to Francis I., and lived to
+     become Governor of the Limousin under Charles IX.&mdash;M. and
+     Ed.
+
+     4  We take this expression from MS. 1520. Ours says, &ldquo;a
+     daughter of the Duke,&rdquo; which is evidently an error.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Albeit, after some time, this Lord des Cheriots so pressed her that, more
+      through his importunity than through love, she promised to marry him,
+      begging him, however, not to urge her to reveal the marriage until her
+      daughters were wedded. After this the gentleman was wont to go with
+      untroubled conscience to her chamber at whatsoever hour he chose, and none
+      but a waiting-woman and a serving-man had knowledge of the matter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the Prince perceived that the gentleman was growing more and more
+      familiar in the house of her whom he so dearly loved, he took it in
+      ill-part, and could not refrain from saying to the lady&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have always prized your honour like that of my own sister, and you are
+      aware of the honourable manner in which I have addressed you, and the
+      happiness that I have in loving a lady as discreet and virtuous as
+      yourself; but did I think that another who deserves it not could win by
+      importunity that which I am not willing to crave, contrary to your own
+      desire, this would be unendurable to me, and in the like degree
+      dishonouring to you. I tell you this because you are beautiful and young,
+      and although hitherto of good repute, are now beginning to gain a very
+      evil fame. Even though he be not your equal in birth or fortune, and have
+      less influence, knowledge and address, yet it were better to have married
+      him than to give all men matter for suspicion. I pray you, therefore, tell
+      me whether you are resolved to love him, for I will not have him as fellow
+      of mine. I would rather leave you altogether to him, and put away from me
+      the feelings that I have hitherto borne you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor lady, fearful of losing his affection, thereupon began to weep,
+      and vowed to him that she would rather die than wed the gentleman of whom
+      he had spoken, but (she added) he was so importunate that she could not
+      help his entering her chamber at a time when every one else did so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of such times as those,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;I do not speak, for I can go
+      as well as he, and see all what you are doing. But I have been told that
+      he goes after you are in bed, and this I look upon as so extraordinary
+      that, if you should continue in this mode of life without declaring him to
+      be your husband, you will be disgraced more than any woman that ever
+      lived.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She swore to him with all the oaths she could utter that the other was
+      neither her husband nor her lover, but only as importunate a gentleman as
+      there well could be.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Since he is troublesome to you,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;I promise you that I
+      will rid you of him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What!&rdquo; asked the lady. &ldquo;Would you kill him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;but I will give him to understood that it is
+      not in such a place as this, not in such a house as the King&rsquo;s, that
+      ladies are to be put to shame. And I swear to you by the faith of the
+      lover that I am, that if, after I have spoken with him, he does not
+      correct himself, I will correct him in such a manner as to make him a
+      warning to others.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying he went away, and on leaving the room failed not to meet the
+      Lord des Cheriots on his way in. To him he spoke after the fashion that
+      you have heard, assuring him that the first time he was found there after
+      an hour at which gentlemen might reasonably visit the ladies, he would
+      give him such a fright as he would ever remember. And he added that the
+      lady was of too noble a house to be trifled with after such a fashion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman protested that he had never been in the room except in the
+      same manner as the rest, and, if the Prince should find him there, he gave
+      him full leave to do his worst.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day afterwards, when the gentleman believed the Prince&rsquo;s words to have
+      been forgotten, he went to see his lady in the evening, and remained
+      sufficiently late.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince [that same evening] told his wife that Madame de Neufchastel
+      had a severe cold, upon hearing which the worthy lady begged that he would
+      visit her on behalf of them both, and make excuse for herself, since she
+      could not go by reason of a certain matter that she must needs attend to
+      in her room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince waited until the King was in bed, and then went to give the
+      lady good-evening, but as he was going up a stairway he met a serving-man
+      coming down, who, on being asked how his mistress did, swore that she was
+      in bed and asleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince went down the stairway, but, suspecting that the servant had
+      lied, looked behind and saw him going back again with all speed. He walked
+      about the courtyard in front of the door to see whether the servant would
+      return. A quarter of an hour later he perceived him come down again and
+      look all about to see who was in the courtyard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Forthwith the Prince was convinced that the Lord des Cheriots was in the
+      lady&rsquo;s chamber, but through fear of himself durst not come down, and he
+      therefore again walked about for a long-while.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At last, observing that the lady&rsquo;s room had a casement which was not at
+      all high up, and which looked upon a little garden, he remembered the
+      proverb which says, &ldquo;When the door fails the window avails,&rdquo; and he
+      thereupon called a servant of his own, and said to him&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go into the garden there behind, and, if you see a gentleman come down
+      from the window, draw your sword as soon as he reaches the ground, clash
+      it against the wall, and cry out, &lsquo;Slay! slay!&rsquo; Be careful, however, that
+      you do not touch him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The servant went whither his master had sent him, and the Prince walked
+      about until three hours after midnight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the Lord des Cheriots heard that the Prince was still in the yard, he
+      resolved to descend by the window, and, having first thrown clown his
+      cloak, he then, by the help of his good friends, leapt into the garden. As
+      soon as the servant saw him, he failed not to make a noise with his sword,
+      at the same time crying, &ldquo;Slay! slay!&rdquo; Upon this the poor gentleman,
+      believing it was his [the servant&rsquo;s] master, was in such great fear that,
+      without thinking of his cloak, he fled as quickly as he was able.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He met the archers of the watch, who wondered greatly to see him running
+      in this fashion, but he durst say nothing to them, except to beg them to
+      open him the gate [of the castle], or else to lodge him with themselves
+      until morning. And this, as they had not the keys, they did.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the Prince went to bed, and, finding his wife asleep, awoke her
+      saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Guess, my wife, what hour it is.&lsquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have not heard the clock strike since I went to bed,&rdquo; she replied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is three hours after midnight,&rdquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If that be so,&rdquo; said his wife, &ldquo;where have you been all this time? I
+      greatly fear that your health will be the worse for it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sweetheart,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;watching will never make me ill when I am
+      engaged in preventing those who try to deceive me from going to sleep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, he began to laugh so heartily that his wife begged him to tell
+      her of the matter. This he did at length, showing her the wolf&rsquo;s skin (4)
+      which his servant had brought him. After making merry at the expense of
+      the hapless lovers, they went to sleep in gentle tranquillity, while the
+      other two passed the night in torment, fearing and dreading lest the
+      affair should be revealed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      However, the gentleman, knowing right well that he could not use
+      concealment with the Prince, came to him in the morning when he was
+      dressing to beg that he would not expose him, and would give orders for
+      the return of his cloak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince pretended that he knew nothing of the matter, and put such a
+      face on it that the gentleman was wholly at a loss what to think. But in
+      the end he received a rating that he had not expected, for the Prince
+      assured him that, if ever he went to the lady&rsquo;s room again, he would tell
+      the King of it, and have him banished the Court.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, ladies, judge whether it had not been better for this poor
+      lady to have spoken freely to him who did her the honour of loving and
+      esteeming her, instead of leading him by her dissimulation to prove her in
+      a way that brought her so much shame.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She knew,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;that if she confessed the truth she would
+      wholly lose his favour, and this she on no account desired to do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems to me,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;that when she had chosen a husband to
+      her liking, she ought not to have feared the loss of any other man&rsquo;s
+      affection.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am sure,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;that if she had dared to reveal her
+      marriage, she would have been quite content with her husband; but she
+      wished to hide it until her daughters were wed, and so she would not
+      abandon so good a means of concealment.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was not for that reason,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;but because the ambition
+      of women is so great that they are never satisfied with having only one
+      lover. I have heard that the discreetest of them are glad to have three&mdash;one,
+      namely, for honour, one for profit, and one for delight. Each of the three
+      thinks himself loved the best, but the first two are as servants to the
+      last.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You speak,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;of such women as have neither love nor
+      honour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;there are some of the kind that I describe,
+      whom you reckon among the most honourable in the land.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You may be sure,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that a crafty woman will be able to live
+      where all others die of hunger.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;when their craftiness is discerned, &lsquo;tis death.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, &lsquo;tis life,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;for they deem it no small glory to be
+      reputed more crafty than their fellows. And the reputation of &lsquo;crafty,&rsquo;
+      gained thus at their own expense, brings lovers more readily under
+      subjection to them than does their beauty, for one of the greatest
+      delights shared by those who are in love is to conduct the affair slyly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You speak,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;of wanton love, for the honourable has no
+      need of concealment.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;I pray you put that thought out of your head. The
+      more precious the drug, the less should it be exposed to the air, because
+      of the perverseness of those who trust only to outward signs. These are
+      not different in the case of honourable and faithful affection than in any
+      other case, so they must none the less be hidden when the love is virtuous
+      than when it is the opposite, if one would avoid the evil opinion of those
+      who cannot believe that a man may love a lady in all honour, and who,
+      being themselves slaves to pleasure, think every one else the same. If we
+      were all of good faith, look and speech would be without concealment, at
+      least toward those who would rather die than take them in an evil sense.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I protest to you, Dagoucin,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that your philosophy is too
+      deep for any man here to understand or believe. You would have us think
+      that men are angels, or stones, or devils.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am well aware,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;that men are men and subject to every
+      passion, but there are some, nevertheless, who would rather die than that
+      their mistresses should, for their delight, do aught against their
+      consciences.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To die means a great deal,&rdquo; said Geburon. &ldquo;I would not believe that of
+      them were it uttered by the lips of the austerest monk alive.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, I believe,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that there is none but desires the very
+      opposite. But they make pretence of disliking the grapes when these hang
+      too high to be gathered.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Still,&rdquo; said Nomcrfide, &ldquo;I am sure that the Prince&rsquo;s wife was very glad
+      to find that her husband was learning to know women.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I assure you it was not so,&rdquo; said Ennasuite. &ldquo;She was very sorry on
+      account of the love that she bore the lady.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I would as soon,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;have the lady who laughed when her
+      husband kissed her maid.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In sooth,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;you shall tell us the story. I give place to
+      you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Although the story is very short,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;I will still relate
+      it, for I would rather make you laugh than speak myself at length.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0011" id="linkimage-0011">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/036.jpg" width="100%" alt="036.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0012" id="linkimage-0012">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/037a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="037a.jpg the Lady Watching The Shadow Faces Kissing " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Lady watching the Shadow Faces Kissing]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0013" id="linkimage-0013">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/037.jpg" width="100%" alt="037.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LIV</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Thogas&rsquo;s wife, believing that her husband loved none but
+     herself, was pleased that her serving-woman should amuse
+     him, and laughed when in her presence he kissed the girl
+     before her eyes, and with her knowledge</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Between the Pyrenees Mountains and the Alps, there dwelt a gentleman named
+      Thogas, (1) who had a wife and children, with a very beautiful house, and
+      so much wealth and pleasure at his hand, that there was reason he should
+      live in contentment, had it not been that he was subject to great pain
+      beneath the roots of the hair, in such wise that the doctors advised him
+      to sleep no longer with his wife. She, whose chief thought was for her
+      husband&rsquo;s life and health, readily consented, and caused her bed to be set
+      in another corner of the room directly opposite her husband&rsquo;s, so that
+      they could neither of them put out their heads without seeing each other.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  We are unable to trace any family named Thogas, which is
+     probably a fictitious appellation. Read backwards with the
+     letter h omitted it forms Sagot, whilst if the syllables be
+     transposed it suggests Guasto, a well-known Basque or
+     Navarrese name.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      This lady had two serving-women, and often when the lord and his lady were
+      in bed, they would each take some diverting book to read, whilst the
+      serving-women held candles, the younger, that is, for the gentleman, and
+      the other for his wife.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, finding that the maid was younger and handsomer than her
+      mistress, took such great pleasure in observing her that he would break
+      off his reading in order to converse with her. His wife could hear this
+      very plainly, but believing that her husband loved none but herself, she
+      was well pleased that her servants should amuse him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It happened one evening, however, when they had read longer than was their
+      wont, that the lady looked towards her husband&rsquo;s bed where was the young
+      serving-maid holding the candle. Of her she could see nothing but her
+      back, and of her husband nothing at all excepting on the side of the
+      chimney, which jutted out in front of his bed, and the white wall of which
+      was bright with the light from the candle. And upon this wall she could
+      plainly see the shadows both of her husband and of her maid; whether they
+      drew apart, or came near together or laughed, it was all as clear to her
+      as though she had veritably beheld them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, using no precaution since he felt sure that his wife could
+      not see them, kissed her maid, and on the first occasion his wife suffered
+      this to pass without uttering a word. But when she saw that the shadows
+      frequently returned to this fellowship, she feared that there might be
+      some reality beneath it all, and burst into a loud laugh, whereat the
+      shadows were alarmed and separated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman then asked his wife why she was laughing so heartily, so
+      that he might have a share in her merriment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Husband,&rdquo; she replied, &ldquo;I am so foolish that I laugh at my own shadow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Inquire as he might, she would never acknowledge any other reason, but,
+      nevertheless, he thenceforward refrained from kissing such shadow-faces.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is the story of which I was reminded when I spoke of the lady who
+      loved her husband&rsquo;s sweetheart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By my faith,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;if my maid had treated me in that fashion,
+      I should have risen and extinguished the candle upon her nose.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are indeed terrible,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;but it had been well done if your
+      husband and the maid had both turned upon you and beaten you soundly.
+      There should not be so much ado for a kiss; and &lsquo;twould have been better
+      if his wife had said nothing about it, and had suffered him to take his
+      pastime, which might perchance have cured his complaint.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;she was afraid that the end of the pastime would
+      make him worse.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was not one of those,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;against whom our Lord says, &lsquo;We
+      have mourned to you and ye have not lamented, we have sung to you and ye
+      have not danced,&rsquo; (2) for when her husband was ill, she wept, and when he
+      was merry, she laughed. In the same fashion every virtuous woman ought to
+      share the good and evil, the joy and the sadness of her husband, and serve
+      and obey him as the Church does Jesus Christ.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  &ldquo;They are like unto children sitting in the market-place,
+     and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto
+     you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye
+     have not wept.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>St. Luke</i> vii. 32.&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, ladies,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;our husbands should be to us what Christ
+      is to the Church.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So are we,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;and, if it were possible, something more;
+      for Christ died but once for His Church, whereas we die daily for our
+      wives.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Die!&rdquo; said Longarine. &ldquo;Methinks that you and the others here present are
+      now worth more crowns than you were worth pence before you were wed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I know why,&rdquo; said Saffredent; &ldquo;it is because our worth is often
+      tried. Still our shoulders are sensible of having worn the cuirass so
+      long.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;you had been obliged to wear harness for a month
+      and lie on the hard ground, you would greatly long to regain the bed of
+      your excellent wife, and wear the cuirass of which you now complain. But
+      it is said that everything can be endured except ease, and that none know
+      what rest is until they have lost it. This foolish woman, who laughed when
+      her husband was merry, was fond of taking her rest under any
+      circumstances.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am sure,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;that she loved her rest better than her
+      husband, since she took nothing that he did to heart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She did take to heart,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;those things which might have
+      been hurtful to his conscience and his health, but she would not dwell
+      upon trifles.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When you speak of conscience,&rdquo; said Simontault &ldquo;you make me laugh. &lsquo;Tis a
+      thing to which I would have no woman give heed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It would be a good thing,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;if you had a wife like one
+      who, after her husband&rsquo;s death, proved that she loved her money better
+      than her conscience.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;tell us that tale. I give you my vote.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I had not intended,&rdquo; said Nomcrfide, &ldquo;to relate so short a story, but,
+      since it is suited to the occasion, I will do so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0014" id="linkimage-0014">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/042.jpg" width="100%" alt="042.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0015" id="linkimage-0015">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/043a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="043a.jpg the Servant Selling The Horse With The Cat " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Servant selling the Horse with the Cat]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0016" id="linkimage-0016">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/043.jpg" width="100%" alt="043.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LV</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A merchant&rsquo;s widow, whilst carrying out her husband&rsquo;s will,
+     interpreted its purport to the advantage of herself and her
+     children</i>. (1)
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the town of Safagossa there lived a rich merchant, who, finding his
+      death draw nigh, and himself no longer able to retain possession of his
+      goods&mdash;-which he had perchance gathered together by evil means&mdash;thought
+      that if he made a little present to God, he might thus after his death
+      make part atonement for his sins, just as though God sold His pardon for
+      money. Accordingly, when he had settled matters in respect of his house,
+      he declared it to be his desire that a fine Spanish horse which he
+      possessed should be sold for as much as it would bring, and the money
+      obtained for it be distributed among the poor. And he begged his wife that
+      she would in no wise fail to sell the horse as soon as he was dead, and
+      distribute the money in the manner he had commanded.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  Whether the incidents here related be true or not, it is
+     probable that this was a story told to Queen Margaret at the
+     time of her journey to Spain in 1525. It will have been
+     observed (<i>ante</i>, pp. 36 and 42) that both the previous tale
+     and this one are introduced into the <i>Heptameron</i> in a semi-
+     apologetic fashion, as though the Queen had not originally
+     intended that her work should include such short, slight
+     anecdotes. However, already at this stage&mdash;the fifty-fifth
+     only of the hundred tales which she proposed writing&mdash;she
+     probably found fewer materials at her disposal than she had
+     anticipated, and harked back to incidents of her earlier
+     years, which she had at first thought too trifling to
+     record. Still, slight as this story may be, it is not
+     without point. The example set by the wife of the Saragossa
+     merchant has been followed in modern times in more ways than
+     one.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      When the burial was over and the first tears were shed, the wife, who was
+      no more of a fool than Spanish women are used to be, went to the servant
+      who with herself had heard his master declare his desire, and said to him&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks I have lost enough in the person of a husband I loved so dearly,
+      without afterwards losing his possessions. Yet would I not disobey his
+      word, but rather better his intention; for the poor man, led astray by the
+      greed of the priests, thought to make a great sacrifice to God in
+      bestowing after his death a sum of money, not a crown of which, as you
+      well know, he would have given in his lifetime to relieve even the sorest
+      need. I have therefore bethought me that we will do what he commanded at
+      his death, and in still better fashion than he himself would have done if
+      had he lived a fortnight longer. But no living person must know aught of
+      the matter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When she had received the servant&rsquo;s promise to keep it secret, she said to
+      him&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will go and sell the horse, and when you are asked, &lsquo;How much?&rsquo; you
+      will reply, &lsquo;A ducat.&rsquo; I have, however, a very fine cat which I also wish
+      to dispose of, and you will sell it with the horse for ninety-nine ducats,
+      so that cat and horse together will bring in the hundred ducats for which
+      my husband wished to sell the horse alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The servant readily fulfilled his mistress&rsquo;s command. While he was walking
+      the horse about the market-place, and holding the cat in his arms, a
+      gentleman, who had seen the horse before, and was desirous of possessing
+      it, asked the servant what price he sought.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A ducat,&rdquo; replied the man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you,&rdquo; said the gentleman, &ldquo;do not mock me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I assure you, sir,&rdquo; said the servant, &ldquo;that it will cost you only a
+      ducat. It is true that the cat must be bought at the same time, and for
+      the cat I must have nine and ninety ducats.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Forthwith, the gentleman, thinking the bargain a reasonable one, paid him
+      one ducat for the horse, and the remainder as was desired of him, and took
+      his goods away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The servant, on his part, went off with the money, with which his mistress
+      was right well pleased, and she failed not to give the ducat that the
+      horse had brought to the poor Mendicants, (2) as her husband had
+      commanded, and the remainder she kept for the needs of herself and her
+      children. (3)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  The allusion is not to the ordinary beggars who then, as
+     now, swarmed in Spain, but to the Mendicant friars.&mdash;Ed.
+
+     3  In Boaistuau&rsquo;s and Gruget&rsquo;s editions of the <i>Heptameron</i>
+     the dialogue following this tale is replaced by matter of
+     their own invention. They did not dare to reproduce Queen
+     Margaret&rsquo;s bold opinions respecting the clergy, the monastic
+     orders, &amp;c., at a time when scores of people, including even
+     Counsellors of Parliament, were being burnt at the stake for
+     heresy.&mdash;L. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What think you? Was she not far more prudent than her husband, and did
+      she not think less of her conscience than of the advantage of her
+      household?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;that she did love her husband; but, seeing
+      that most men wander in their wits when at the point of death, and knowing
+      his intentions, she tried to interpret them to her children&rsquo;s advantage.
+      And therein I hold her to have been very prudent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What!&rdquo; said Geburon. &ldquo;Do you not hold it a great wrong not to carry out
+      the last wishes of departed friends?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Assuredly I do,&rdquo; said Parlamente; &ldquo;that is to say if the testator be in
+      his right mind, and not raving.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you call it raving to give one&rsquo;s goods to the Church and the poor
+      Mendicants?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not call it raving,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;if a man distribute what God
+      has given into his hands among the poor; but to make alms of another
+      person&rsquo;s goods is, in my opinion, no great wisdom. You will commonly see
+      the greatest usurers build the handsomest and most magnificent chapels
+      imaginable, thinking they may appease God with ten thousand ducats&rsquo; worth
+      of building for a hundred thousand ducats&rsquo; worth of robbery, just as
+      though God did not know how to count.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In sooth,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;I have many a time wondered how they can think
+      to appease God for things which He Himself rebuked when He was on earth,
+      such as great buildings, gildings, pictures and paint. If they really
+      understood the passage in which God says to us that the only offering He
+      requires from us is a contrite and humble heart, (4) and the other in
+      which St. Paul says we are the temples of God wherein He desires to dwell,
+      (5) they would be at pains to adorn their consciences while yet alive, and
+      would not wait for the hour when man can do nothing more, whether good or
+      evil, nor (what is worse) charge those who remain on earth to give their
+      alms to folk upon whom, during their lifetime, they did not deign to look.
+      But He who knows the heart cannot be deceived, and will judge them not
+      according to their works, but according to their faith and charity towards
+      Himself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     4  &ldquo;The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and
+     a contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>Psalm</i>
+     li. 17.&mdash;Ed.
+
+     5  &ldquo;For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath
+     said, I will dwell in them and walk in them,&rdquo; &amp;c.&mdash;2
+     <i>Corinthians</i> vi. 16.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why is it, then,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;that these Grey Friars and Mendicants
+      talk to us at our death of nothing but bestowing great benefits upon their
+      monasteries, assuring us that they will put us into Paradise whether we
+      will or not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How now, Geburon?&rdquo; said Hircan. &ldquo;Have you forgotten the wickedness you
+      related to us of the Grey Friars, that you ask how such folk find it
+      possible to lie? I declare to you that I do not think that there can be
+      greater lies than theirs. Those, indeed, who speak on behalf of the whole
+      community are not to be blamed, but there are some among them who forget
+      their vows of poverty in order to satisfy their own greed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks, Hircan,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;you must know some such tale, and if
+      it be worthy of this company, I pray you tell it us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;although it irks me to speak of such folk.
+      Methinks they are of the number of those of whom Virgil says to Dante,
+      &lsquo;Pass on and heed them not.&rsquo; (6) Still, to show you that they have not
+      laid aside their passions with their worldly garments, I will tell you of
+      something that once came to pass.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     6  <i>Non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa</i> (Dante&rsquo;s
+     <i>Purgatorio</i>, iii. 51). The allusion is to the souls of
+     those who led useless and idle lives on earth, supporting
+     neither the Divinity by the observance of virtue, nor the
+     spirit of evil by the practice of vice. They are thus cast
+     out both from heaven and hell.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0017" id="linkimage-0017">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/049.jpg" width="100%" alt="049.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0018" id="linkimage-0018">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/051a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="051a.jpg the Grey Friar Introducing his Comrade to The Lady and Her Daughter " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Grey Friar introducing his Comrade to the Lady and her Daughter]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0019" id="linkimage-0019">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/051.jpg" width="100%" alt="051.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LVI</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A pious lady had recourse to a Grey Friar for his advice in
+     providing her daughter with a good husband, for whom she
+     proposed making it so profitable a match that the worthy
+     father, hoping to get the money she intended for her son-in-
+     law, married her daughter to a young comrade of his own. The
+     latter came every evening to sup and lie with his wife, and
+     in the morning returned in the garb of a scholar to his
+     convent. But one day while he was chanting mass, his wife
+     perceived him and pointed him out to her mother; who,
+     however, could not believe that it was he until she had
+     pulled off his coif while he was in bed, and from his tonsure
+     learned the whole truth, and the deceit used by her father
+     confessor</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      A French lady, whilst sojourning at Padua, was informed that there was a
+      Grey Friar in the Bishop&rsquo;s prison there, and finding that every one spoke
+      jestingly about him, she inquired the reason. She was told that this Grey
+      Friar, who was an old man, had been confessor to a very honourable and
+      pious widow lady, mother of only one daughter, whom she loved so dearly as
+      to be at all pains to amass riches for her, and to find her a good
+      husband. Now, seeing that her daughter was grown up, she was unceasingly
+      anxious to find her a husband who might live with them in peace and quiet,
+      a man, that is, of a good conscience, such as she deemed herself to
+      possess. And since she had heard some foolish preacher say that it were
+      better to do evil by the counsel of theologians than to do well through
+      belief in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, she had recourse to her
+      father confessor, a man already old, a doctor of theology and one who was
+      held to lead a holy life by the whole town, for she felt sure that, with
+      his counsel and good prayers, she could not fail to find peace both for
+      herself and for her daughter. After she had earnestly begged him to choose
+      for her daughter such a husband as he knew a woman that loved God and her
+      honour ought to desire, he replied that first of all it was needful to
+      implore the grace of the Holy Spirit with prayer and fasting, and then,
+      God guiding his judgment, he hoped to find what she required.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So the Friar retired to think over the matter; and whereas he had heard
+      from the lady that she had got five hundred ducats together to give to her
+      daughter&rsquo;s husband, and that she would take upon herself the charge of
+      maintaining both husband and wife with lodgment, furniture and clothes, he
+      bethought himself that he had a young comrade of handsome figure and
+      pleasing countenance, to whom he might give the fair maiden, the house,
+      the furniture, maintenance and food, whilst he himself kept the five
+      hundred ducats to gratify his burning greed. And when he spoke to his
+      comrade of the matter, he found that they were both of one mind upon it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He therefore returned to the lady and said&mdash;&ldquo;I verily believe that
+      God has sent his angel Raphael to me as he did to Tobit, to enable me to
+      find a perfect husband for your daughter. I have in my house the most
+      honourable gentleman in Italy, who has sometimes seen your daughter and is
+      deeply in love with her. And so to-day, whilst I was at prayer, God sent
+      him to me, and he told me of his desire for the marriage, whereupon,
+      knowing his lineage and kindred and notable descent, I promised him to
+      speak to you on the matter. There is, indeed, one defect in him, of which
+      I alone have knowledge, and it is this. Wishing to save one of his friends
+      whom another man was striving to slay, he drew his sword in order to
+      separate them; but it chanced that his friend slew the other, and thus,
+      although he himself had not dealt a blow, yet inasmuch as he had been
+      present at a murder and had drawn his sword, he became a fugitive from his
+      native town. By the advice of his kinsfolk he came hither in the garb of a
+      scholar, and he dwells here unknown until his kinsfolk shall have ended
+      the matter; and this he hopes will shortly be done. For this reason, then,
+      it would be needful that the marriage should be performed in secret, and
+      that you should suffer him to go in the daytime to the public lectures and
+      return home every evening to sup and sleep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sir,&rdquo; replied the worthy woman, &ldquo;I look upon what you tell me as of great
+      advantage to myself, for I shall at least have by me what I most desire in
+      the world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereupon the Grey Friar brought his comrade, bravely attired with a
+      crimson satin doublet, and the lady was well pleased with him. And as soon
+      as he was come the betrothal took place, and, immediately after midnight,
+      a mass was said and they were married. Then they went to bed together
+      until daybreak, when the bridegroom told his wife that to escape discovery
+      he must needs return to the college.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After putting on his crimson satin doublet and his long robe, without
+      forgetting his coif of black silk, he bade his wife, who was still in bed,
+      good-bye, promising that he would come every evening to sup with her, but
+      that at dinner they must not wait for him. So he went away and left his
+      wife, who esteemed herself the happiest woman alive to have found so
+      excellent a match. And the young wedded Friar returned to the old father
+      and brought him the five hundred ducats, as had been agreed between them
+      when arranging the marriage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the evening he failed not to return and sup with her, who believed him
+      to be her husband, and so well did he make himself liked by her and by his
+      mother-in-law, that they would not have exchanged him for the greatest
+      Prince alive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This manner of life continued for some time, but God in His kindness takes
+      pity upon those that are deceived without fault of their own, and so in
+      His mercy and goodness it came to pass that one morning the lady and her
+      daughter felt a great desire to go and hear mass at St. Francis, (1) and
+      visit their good father confessor through whose means they deemed
+      themselves so well provided, the one with a son-in-law and the other with
+      a husband.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  The church of the Grey Friars&rsquo; monastery, St Francis
+     being their patron.&mdash;B. J.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      It chanced that they did not find the confessor aforesaid nor any other
+      that they knew, and, while waiting to see whether the father would come,
+      they were pleased to hear high mass, which was just beginning. And whilst
+      the young wife was giving close heed to the divine service and its
+      mystery, she was stricken with astonishment on seeing the Priest turn
+      himself about to pronounce the <i>Dominus vobiscum</i>, for it seemed to
+      her that it was her husband or else his very fellow. She uttered, however,
+      not a word, but waited till he should turn round again, when, looking
+      still more carefully at him, she had no doubt that it was indeed he. Then
+      she twitched her mother, who was deep in contemplation, and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alas! madam, what is it that I see?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is it?&rdquo; said her mother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is my husband,&rdquo; she replied, &ldquo;who is singing mass, or else &lsquo;tis one
+      as like him as can be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, my daughter,&rdquo; replied the mother, who had not carefully
+      observed him, &ldquo;do not take such a thought into your head. It is impossible
+      that men who are so holy should have practised such deceit. You would sin
+      grievously against God if you believed such a thing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Nevertheless the mother did not cease looking at him, and when it came to
+      the <i>Ite missa est</i> she indeed perceived that no two sons of the same
+      mother were ever so much alike. Yet she was so simple that she would fain
+      have said, &ldquo;O God, save me from believing what I see.&rdquo; Since her daughter
+      was concerned in the matter, however, she would not suffer it to remain in
+      uncertainty, and resolved to learn the truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When evening was come, and the husband (who had perceived nothing of them)
+      was about to return, the mother said to her daughter&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We shall now, if you are willing, find out the truth concerning your
+      husband. When he is in bed I will go to him, and then, while he is not
+      thinking, you will pluck off his coif from behind, and we shall see
+      whether he be tonsured like the Friar who said mass.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As it was proposed, so was it done. As soon as the wicked husband was in
+      bed, the old lady came and took both his hands as though in sport&mdash;her
+      daughter took off his coif, and there he was with his fine tonsure. At
+      this both mother and daughter were as greatly astonished as might be, and
+      forthwith they called their servants to seize him and bind him fast till
+      the morning, nor did any of his excuses or fine speeches avail him aught.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When day was come, the lady sent for her confessor, making as though she
+      had some great secret to tell him, whereupon he came with all speed, and
+      then, reproaching him for the deceit that he had practised on her, she had
+      him seized like the other. Afterwards she sent for the officers of
+      justice, in whose hands she placed them both. It is to be supposed that if
+      the judges were honest men they did not suffer the offence to go
+      unpunished. (2)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  There is some little resemblance between this tale and
+     the 36th of Morlini&rsquo;s <i>Novello, De monacho qui duxit
+     uxorem</i>.&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;From this story, ladies, you will see that those who have taken vows of
+      poverty are not free from the temptation of covetousness, which is the
+      cause of so many ills.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, of so many blessings,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;for with the five hundred
+      ducats that the old woman would have stored up there was made much good
+      cheer, while the poor maiden, who had been longing for a husband, was thus
+      enabled to have two, and to speak with more knowledge as to the truth of
+      all hierarchies.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You always hold the falsest opinions,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;that ever I knew.
+      You think that all women are of your own temper.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so, madam, with your good leave,&rdquo; said Saffredent. &ldquo;I would give much
+      that they were as easily satisfied as we are.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is a wicked speech,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;and there is not one present but
+      knows the contrary, and that what you say is untrue. The story that has
+      just been told proves the ignorance of poor women and the wickedness of
+      those whom we regard as better than the rest of your sex; for neither
+      mother nor daughter would do aught according to their own fancy, but
+      subjected desire to good advice.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Some women are so difficult,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;that they think they ought
+      to have angels instead of men.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And for that reason,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;they often meet with devils, more
+      especially those who, instead of trusting to God&rsquo;s grace, think by their
+      own good sense, or that of others, that they may in this world find some
+      happiness, though this is granted by none save God, from whom alone it can
+      come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How now, Simontault!&rdquo; said Oisille. &ldquo;I did not think that you knew so
+      much good.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;&lsquo;tis a pity that I have not been proved, for I
+      see that through lack of knowledge you have already judged ill of me. Yet
+      I may well practise a Grey Friar&rsquo;s trade, since a Grey Friar has meddled
+      with mine.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So you call it your trade,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;to deceive women? Thus out
+      of your mouth are you judged.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Had I deceived a hundred thousand,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;I should yet not
+      have avenged the woes that I have endured for the sake of one alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;how often you complain of women; yet, for all
+      that, we see you so merry and hearty that it is impossible to believe that
+      you have endured all the woes you speak of. But the &lsquo;Compassionless Fair
+      One&rsquo; (3) replies that&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis as well to say as much
+     To draw some comfort thence.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+
+     3  <i>La belle Dame sans mercy</i>, by Alain Chartier.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You quote a truly notable theologian,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;one who is not
+      only froward himself, but makes all the ladies so, who have read and
+      followed his teaching.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet his teaching,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;is as profitable for youthful dames
+      as any that I know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If it were indeed true,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;that the ladies were without
+      compassion, we might as well let our horses rest and our armour grow rusty
+      until the next war, and think of nothing but household affairs. And, I
+      pray you, tell me whether it is an excellence in a lady to have the
+      reputation of being without pity, or charity, or love, or mercy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Without charity or love,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;they should not be, but the
+      word &lsquo;mercy&rsquo; sounds so ill among women that they cannot use it without
+      wounding their honour; for properly speaking &lsquo;mercy&rsquo; means to grant a
+      favour sought, and we well know what the favour is that men desire.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May it please you, madam,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;there are some men who are
+      so reasonable that they crave nought but speech.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You remind me,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;of one who was content with a glove.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We must know who this easy lover was,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;and so this time I
+      give my vote to you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It will give me pleasure to tell the tale,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;for it is
+      full of virtue.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0020" id="linkimage-0020">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/061.jpg" width="100%" alt="061.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0021" id="linkimage-0021">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/063a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="063a.jpg the English Lord Seizing The Lady&rsquo;s Glove " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The English Lord seizing the Lady&rsquo;s Glove]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0022" id="linkimage-0022">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/063.jpg" width="100%" alt="063.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LVII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>An English lord for seven years loved a lady without ever
+     venturing to let her know of it, until one day, when
+     observing her in a meadow, he lost all colour and control of
+     feature through a sudden throbbing of the heart that came
+     upon him. Then she, showing her compassion, at his request
+     placed her gloved hand upon his heart, whereupon he pressed
+     it so closely, whilst declaring to her the love he had so
+     long borne her, that she withdrew it, leaving in its place
+     her glove. And this glove he afterwards enriched with gems
+     and fastened upon his doublet above his heart, and showed
+     himself so graceful and virtuous a lover that he never
+     sought any more intimate favour of her</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      King Louis the Eleventh (1) sent the Lord de Montmorency to England as his
+      ambassador, and so welcome was the latter in that country that the King
+      and all the Princes greatly esteemed and loved him, and even made divers
+      of their private affairs known to him in order to have his counsel upon
+      them.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  Some of the MS. say Louis XII., but we cannot find that
+     either the eleventh or twelfth Louis sent any Montmorency as
+     ambassador to England. Ripault-Desormeaux states, however,
+     in his history of this famous French family, that William de
+     Montmorency, who, after fighting in Italy under Charles
+     VIII. and Louis XII., became, governor of the Orléanais and
+     <i>chevalier d&rsquo;honneur</i> to Louise of Savoy was one of the
+     signatories of the treaty concluded with Henry VIII. of
+     England, after the-battle of Pavia in 1525. We know that
+     Louise, as Regent of France, at that time sent John Brinon
+     and John Joachim de Passano as ambassadors to England, and
+     possibly William de Montmorency accompanied them, since
+     Desormeaux expressly states that he guaranteed the loyal
+     observance of the treaty then negotiated. William was the
+     father of Anne, the famous Constable of France, and died May
+     24, 1531. &ldquo;Geburon,&rdquo; in the dialogue following the above
+     tale, mentions that he had well known the Montmorency
+     referred to, and speaks of him as of a person dead and gone.
+     It is therefore scarcely likely that Queen Margaret alludes
+     to Francis de Montmorency, Lord of La Rochepot, who was only
+     sent on a mission to England in 1546, and survived her by
+     many years.&mdash;L. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      One day, at a banquet that the King gave to him, he was seated beside a
+      lord (2) of high lineage, who had on his doublet a little glove, such as
+      women wear, fastened with hooks of gold and so adorned upon the
+      finger-seams with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls, that it was
+      indeed a glove of great price.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  The French word is <i>Millor (Milord)</i> and this is probably
+     one of the earliest instances of its employment to designate
+     a member of the English aristocracy. In such of the <i>Cent
+     Nouvelles Nouvelles</i> in which English nobles figure, the
+     latter are invariably called <i>seigneurs</i> or <i>chevaliers</i>,
+     and addressed as <i>Monseigneur</i>, Later on, when Brantôme
+     wrote, the term <i>un milord anglais</i> had become quite common,
+     and he frequently makes use of it in his various works.
+     English critics have often sneered at modern French writers
+     for employing the expression, but it will be seen from this
+     that they have simply followed a very old tradition.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The Lord de Montmorency looked at it so often that the English lord
+      perceived he was minded to inquire why it was so choicely ordered; so,
+      deeming its story to be greatly to his own honour, he thus began&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can see that you think it strange I should have so magnificently
+      arrayed a simple glove, and on my part I am still more ready to tell you
+      the reason, for I deem you an honest gentleman and one who knows what
+      manner of passion love is, so that if I did well in the matter you will
+      praise me for it, and if not, make excuse for me, knowing that every
+      honourable heart must obey the behests of love. You must know, then, that
+      I have all my life long loved a lady whom I love still, and shall love
+      even when I am dead, but, as my heart was bolder to fix itself worthily
+      than were my lips to speak, I remained for seven years without venturing
+      to make her any sign, through fear that, if she perceived the truth, I
+      should lose the opportunities I had of often being in her company; and
+      this I dreaded more than death. However, one day, while I was observing
+      her in a meadow, a great throbbing of the heart came upon me, so that I
+      lost all colour and control of feature. Perceiving this, she asked me what
+      the matter was, and I told her that I felt an intolerable pain of the
+      heart. She, believing it to be caused by a different sickness than love,
+      showed herself pitiful towards me, which prompted me to beg her to lay her
+      hand upon my heart and see how it was beating. This, more from charity
+      than from any other affection, she did, and while I held her gloved hand
+      against my heart, it began to beat and strain in such wise, that she felt
+      that I was speaking the truth. Then I pressed her hand to my breast,
+      saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Alas, madam, receive the heart which would fain break forth from my
+      breast to leap into the hand of her from whom I look for indulgence, life
+      and pity, and which now constrains me to make known to you the love that I
+      have so long concealed, for neither my heart nor I can now control this
+      potent God.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When she heard those words, she deemed them very strange. She wished to
+      withdraw her hand, but I held it fast, and the glove remained in her cruel
+      hand&rsquo;s place; and having neither before nor since had any more intimate
+      favour from her, I have fastened this glove upon my heart as the best
+      plaster I could give it. And I have adorned it with the richest rings I
+      have, though the glove itself is wealth that I would not exchange for the
+      kingdom of England, for I deem no happiness on earth so great as to feel
+      it on my breast.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Lord de Montmorency, who would have rather had a lady&rsquo;s hand than her
+      glove, praised his very honourable behaviour, telling him that he was the
+      truest lover he had ever known, and was worthy of better treatment, since
+      he set so much value upon so slight a thing; though perchance, if he had
+      obtained aught better than the glove, the greatness of his love might have
+      made him die of joy. With this the English lord agreed, not suspecting
+      that the Lord de Montmorency was mocking him. (3)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  Alluding to this story, Brantôme writes as follows in his
+     <i>Dames Galantes</i>: &ldquo;You have that English <i>Milord</i> in the
+     Hundred Tales of the Queen of Navarre, who wore his
+     mistress&rsquo;s glove at his side, beautifully adorned. I myself
+     have known many gentlemen who, before wearing their silken
+     hose, would beg their ladies and mistresses to try them on
+     and wear them for some eight or ten days, rather more than
+     less, and who would then themselves wear them in extreme
+     veneration and contentment, both of mind and body.&rdquo;&mdash;
+     Lalanne&rsquo;s <i>OEuvres de Brantôme</i>, vol. ix. p. 309.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If all men were so honourable as this one, the ladies might well trust
+      them, since the cost would be merely a glove.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I knew the Lord de Montmorency well,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;and I am sure that
+      he would not have cared to fare after the English fashion. Had he been
+      contented with so little, he would not have been so successful in love as
+      he was, for the old song says&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &lsquo;Of a cowardly lover
+     No good is e&rsquo;er heard.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You may be sure,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;that the poor lady withdrew her hand
+      with all speed, when she felt the beating of his heart, because she
+      thought that he was about to die, and people say that there is nothing
+      women loathe more than to touch dead bodies.&rdquo; (4)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     4  Most of this sentence, deficient in our MS., is taken
+     from MS. No. 1520.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you had spent as much time in hospitals as in taverns,&rdquo; said
+      Ennasuite, &ldquo;you would not speak in that way, for you would have seen women
+      shrouding dead bodies, which men, bold as they are, often fear to touch.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;that there is none upon whom penance has
+      been laid but does the opposite of that wherein he formerly had delight,
+      like a lady I once saw in a notable house, who, to atone for her delight
+      in kissing one she loved, was found at four o&rsquo;clock in the morning kissing
+      the corpse of a gentleman who had been killed the day before, and whom she
+      had never liked more than any other. Then every one knew that this was a
+      penance for past delights. But as all the good deeds done by women are
+      judged ill by men, I am of opinion that, dead or alive, there should be no
+      kissing except after the fashion that God commands.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For my part,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;I care so little about kissing women, except
+      my own wife, that I will assent to any law you please, yet I pity the
+      young folk whom you deprive of this trifling happiness, thus annulling the
+      command of St. Paul, who bids us kiss <i>in osculo sancto.</i>&rdquo; (5)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     5  <i>Romans</i> xvi. 16; 1 <i>Corinthians</i> xvi. 20; 2
+     <i>Corinthians</i> xiii. 12; I <i>Thessalonians</i> v. 26. Also 1
+     <i>Peter</i> v. 14.&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If St. Paul had been such a man as you are,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;we should
+      indeed have required proof of the Spirit of God that spoke in him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the end,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;you will doubt Holy Scripture rather than
+      give up one of your petty affectations.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;God forbid,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;that we should doubt Holy Scripture, but we
+      put small faith in your lies. There is no woman but knows what her belief
+      should be, namely, never to doubt the Word of God or believe the word of
+      man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet,&rdquo; said Simontauit, &ldquo;I believe that there are more men deceived by
+      women than [women] by men. The slenderness of women&rsquo;s love towards us
+      keeps them from believing our truths, whilst our exceeding love towards
+      them makes us trust so completely in their falsehoods, that we are
+      deceived before we suspect such a thing to be possible.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;you have been hearing some fool complain of
+      being duped by a wanton woman, for your words carry but little weight, and
+      need the support of an example. If, therefore, you know of one, I give you
+      my place that you may tell it to us. I do not say that we are bound to
+      believe you on your mere word, but it will assuredly not make our ears
+      tingle to hear you speak ill of us, since we know what is the truth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, since it is for me to speak,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;&lsquo;tis I who will tell
+      you the tale.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0023" id="linkimage-0023">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/070.jpg" width="100%" alt="070.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0024" id="linkimage-0024">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/071a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="071a. The Gentleman Mocked by The Ladies when Returning from The False Tryst " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Gentleman Mocked by the Ladies When Returning From The False Tryst]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0025" id="linkimage-0025">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/071.jpg" width="100%" alt="071.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LVIII.</i>
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A gentleman, through putting too much trust in the
+     truthfulness of a lady whom he had offended by forsaking her
+     for others just when she was most in love with him, was, by
+     a false tryst, deceived by her, and bemocked by the whole
+     Court</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      At the Court of King Francis the First there was a lady (1) of excellent
+      wit, who, by her grace, virtue and pleasantness of speech, had won the
+      hearts of several lovers. With these she right well knew how to pass the
+      time, but without hurt to her honour, conversing with them in such
+      pleasant fashion that they knew not what to think, for those who were the
+      most confident were reduced to despair, whilst those that despaired the
+      most became hopeful. Nevertheless, while fooling most of them, she could
+      not help greatly loving one whom she called her cousin, a name which
+      furnished a pretext for closer fellowship.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  M. de Lincy surmises that Margaret is referring to
+     herself both here and in the following tale, which concerns
+     the same lady. His only reason for the supposition, however,
+     is that the lady&rsquo;s views on certain love matters are akin to
+     those which the Queen herself professed.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      However, as there is nothing in this world of firm continuance, their
+      friendship often turned to anger and then was renewed in stronger sort
+      than ever, so that the whole Court could not but be aware of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day the lady, both to let it be seen that she was wholly void of
+      passion, and to vex him, for love of whom she had endured much annoyance,
+      showed him a fairer countenance than ever she had done before. Thereupon
+      the gentleman, who lacked boldness neither in love nor in war, began hotly
+      to press the suit that he many a time previously had addressed to her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She, pretending to be wholly vanquished by pity, promised to grant his
+      request, and told him that she would with this intent go into her room,
+      which was on a garret floor, where she knew there was nobody. And as soon
+      as he should see that she was gone he was to follow her without fail, for
+      he would find her ready to give proof of the good-will that she bore him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, believing what she said, was exceedingly well pleased, and
+      began to amuse himself with the other ladies until he should see her gone,
+      and might quickly follow her. But she, who lacked naught of woman&rsquo;s
+      craftiness, betook herself to my Lady Margaret, daughter of the King, and
+      to the Duchess of Montpensier, (2) to whom she said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will if you are willing, show you the fairest diversion you have ever
+      seen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  The former is Margaret of France, Duchess of Savoy and
+     Berry. Born in June 1523, she died in September 1574.&mdash;
+     Queen Margaret was her godmother. When only three years old,
+     she was promised in marriage to Louis of Savoy, eldest son
+     of Duke Charles III., and he dying, she espoused his younger
+     brother, Emmanuel Philibert, in July 1549. Graceful and
+     pretty as a child (see <i>ante</i>, vol. i. p. xlviii.), she
+     became, thanks to the instruction of the famous Michael de
+     l&rsquo; Hôpital, one of the most accomplished women of her time,
+     and Brantôme devotes an article to her in his <i>Dames
+     Illustres</i> (Lalanne, v. viii. pp. 328-37). See also Hilarion
+     de Coste&rsquo;s <i>Éloges et Vies des Reines, Princesses, &amp;c</i>.,
+     Paris, 1647, vol. ii. p. 278.
+
+     The Duchess of Montpensier, also referred to above, is
+     Jacqueline de Longwick (now Longwy), Countess of Bar-sur-
+     Seine, daughter of J. Ch. de Longwick, Lord of Givry, and of
+     Jane, <i>bâtarde</i> of Angoulême. In 1538 Jacqueline was
+     married to Louis II. de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier. She
+     gained great influence at the French Court, both under
+     Francis I. and afterwards, and De Thou says of her that she
+     was possessed of great wit and wisdom, far superior to the
+     century in which she lived. She died in August 1561, and was
+     the mother of Francis I., Duke of Montpensier, sometimes
+     called the Dauphin of Auvergne, who fought at Jarnac,
+     Moncontour, Arques, and Ivry, against Henry of Navarre.&mdash;L.,
+     B. J. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      They, being by no means enamoured of melancholy, begged that she would
+      tell them what it was.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know such a one,&rdquo; she replied, &ldquo;as worthy a gentleman as lives, and
+      as bold. You are aware how many ill turns he has done me, and that, just
+      when I loved him most, he fell in love with others, and so caused me more
+      grief than I have ever suffered to be seen. Well, God has now afforded me
+      the means of taking revenge upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am forthwith going to my own room, which is overhead, and immediately
+      afterwards, if it pleases you to keep watch, you will see him follow me.
+      When he has passed the galleries, and is about to go up the stairs, I pray
+      you come both to the window and help me to cry &lsquo;Thief!&rsquo; You will then see
+      his rage, which, I am sure, will not become him badly, and, even if he
+      does not revile me aloud, I am sure he will none the less do so in his
+      heart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This plan was not agreed to without laughter, for there was no gentleman
+      that tormented the ladies more than he did, whilst he was so greatly liked
+      and esteemed by all, that for nothing in the world would any one have run
+      the risk of his raillery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It seemed, moreover, to the two Princesses that they would themselves
+      share in the glory which the other lady looked to win over this gentleman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Accordingly, as soon as they saw the deviser of the plot go out, they set
+      themselves to observe the gentleman&rsquo;s demeanour. But little time went by
+      before he shifted his quarters, and, as soon as he had passed the door,
+      the ladies went out into the gallery, in order that they might not lose
+      sight of him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suspecting nothing, he wrapped his cloak about his neck, so as to hide his
+      face, and went down the stairway to the court, but, seeing some one whom
+      he did not desire to have for witness, he came back by another way, and
+      then went down into the court a second time. The ladies saw everything
+      without being perceived by him, and when he reached the stairway, by which
+      he thought he might safely reach his sweetheart&rsquo;s chamber, they went to
+      the window, whence they immediately perceived the other lady, who began
+      crying out &lsquo;Thief!&rsquo; at the top of her voice; whereupon the two ladies
+      below answered her so loudly that their voices were heard all over the
+      castle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I leave you to imagine with what vexation the gentleman fled to his
+      lodgings. He was not so well muffled as not to be known by those who were
+      in the mystery, and they often twitted him with it, as did even the lady
+      who had done him this ill turn, saying that she had been well revenged
+      upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It happened, however, that he was so ready with his replies and evasions
+      as to make them believe that he had quite suspected the plan, and had only
+      consented to visit the lady in order to furnish them with some diversion,
+      for, said he, he would not have taken so much trouble for her sake, seeing
+      that his love for her had long since flown. The ladies would not admit the
+      truth of this, so that the point is still in doubt; nevertheless, it is
+      probable that he believed the lady. And since he was so wary and so bold
+      that few men of his age and time could match and none could surpass him
+      (as has been proved by his very brave and knightly death), (3) you must,
+      it seems to me, confess that men of honour love in such wise as to be
+      often duped, by placing too much trust in the truthfulness of the ladies.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  This naturally brings Bonnivet to mind, though of course
+     the gay, rash admiral was not the only Frenchman of the time
+     who spent his life in making love and waging war.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In good faith,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;I commend this lady for the trick she
+      played; for when a man is loved by a lady and forsakes her for another,
+      her vengeance cannot be too severe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;if she is loved by him; but there are some who
+      love men without being certain that they are loved in return, and when
+      they find that their sweethearts love elsewhere, they call them fickle. It
+      therefore happens that discreet women are never deceived by such talk, for
+      they give no heed or belief even to those people who speak truly, lest
+      they should prove to be liars, seeing that the true and the false speak
+      but one tongue.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If all women were of your opinion,&rdquo; said Simon-tault, &ldquo;the gentlemen
+      might pack up their prayers at once; but, for all that you and those like
+      you may say, we shall never believe that women are as unbelieving as they
+      are fair. And in this wise we shall live as content as you would fain
+      render us uneasy by your maxims.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Truly,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;knowing as I well do who the lady is that played
+      that fine trick upon the gentleman, it is impossible for me not to believe
+      in any craftiness on her part. Since she did not spare her husband, &lsquo;twere
+      fitting she should not spare her lover.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Her husband, say you?&rdquo; said Simontault. &ldquo;You know, then, more than I do,
+      and so, since you wish it, I give you my place that you may tell us your
+      opinion of the matter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And since you wish it,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;I will do so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0026" id="linkimage-0026">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/078.jpg" width="100%" alt="078.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0027" id="linkimage-0027">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/079a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="079a. The Lady Discovering Her Husband With The Waiting-woman " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Lady discovering her Husband with the Waiting-woman]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0028" id="linkimage-0028">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/079.jpg" width="100%" alt="079.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LIX</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>This same lady, finding that her husband took it ill that
+     she should have lovers with whom she amused herself without
+     hurt to her honour, kept close watch upon him, and so
+     discovered how pleasantly he addressed himself to one of her
+     waiting-women. This woman she gained upon, made her consent
+     to what her husband solicited, and then surprised him in
+     such error that to atone for it, he was forced to confess
+     that he deserved greater punishment than herself; by which
+     means she was afterwards able to live as her fancy listed</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The lady of your story was wedded to a rich gentleman of high and ancient
+      lineage, and had married him on account of the great affection that they
+      bore to one another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Being a woman most pleasant of speech, she by no means concealed from her
+      husband that she had lovers whom she made game of for her pastime, and, at
+      first, her husband shared in her pleasure. But at last this manner of life
+      became irksome to him, for on the one part he took it ill that she should
+      hold so much converse with those that were no kinsfolk or friends of his
+      own, and on the other, he was greatly vexed by the expense to which he was
+      put in sustaining her magnificence and in following the Court.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He therefore withdrew to his own house as often as he was able, but so
+      much company came thither to see him that the expenses of his household
+      became scarcely any less, for, wherever his wife might be, she always
+      found means to pass her time in sports, dances, and all such matters as
+      youthful dames may use with honour. And when sometimes her husband told
+      her, laughing, that their expenses were too great, she would reply that
+      she promised never to make him a &ldquo;coqu&rdquo; or cuckold, but only a &ldquo;coquin,&rdquo;
+       that is, a beggar; for she was so exceedingly fond of dress, that she must
+      needs have the bravest and richest at the Court. (1) Her husband took her
+      thither as seldom as possible, but she did all in her power to go, and to
+      this end behaved in a most loving fashion towards her husband, who would
+      not willingly have refused her a much harder request.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  As Queen Margaret was by no means over fond of gorgeous
+     apparel and display, this passage is in contradiction with
+     M. de Lincy&rsquo;s surmise that the lady of this and the
+     preceding tale may be herself. In any case the narrative
+     could only apply to the period of her first marriage, and
+     this was in no wise a love-match. Yet we are told at the
+     outset of the above story that the lady and gentleman had
+     married on account of the great affection between them. On
+     the other hand, these details may have been introduced the
+     better to conceal the identity of the persons referred to.&mdash;
+     Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Now one day, when she had found that all her devices could not induce him
+      to make this journey to the Court, she perceived that he was very pleasant
+      in manner with a chamber-woman (2) she had, and thereupon thought she
+      might turn the matter to her own advantage. Taking the girl apart, she
+      questioned her cleverly, using both wiles and threats, in such wise that
+      the girl confessed that, ever since she had been in the house, not a day
+      had passed on which her master had not sought her love; but (she added)
+      she would rather die than do aught against God and her honour, more
+      especially after the honour which the lady had done her in taking her into
+      her service, for this would make such wickedness twice as great.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  The French expression here is <i>femme de chambre à
+     chaperon</i>. The <i>chaperon</i> in this instance was a cap with a
+     band of velvet worn across it as a sign of gentle and even
+     noble birth. The attendant referred to above would therefore
+     probably be a young woman of good descent, constrained by
+     circumstances to enter domestic service.&mdash;B. J. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      On hearing of her husband&rsquo;s unfaithfulness, the lady immediately felt both
+      grief and joy. Her grief was that her husband, despite all his show of
+      loving her, should be secretly striving to put her to so much shame in her
+      own household, and this when she believed herself far more beautiful and
+      graceful than the woman whom he sought in her stead. But she rejoiced to
+      think that she might surprise her husband in such manifest error that he
+      would no longer be able to reproach her with her lovers, nor with her
+      desire to dwell at Court; and, to bring this about, she begged the girl
+      gradually to grant her husband what he sought upon certain conditions that
+      she made known to her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl was minded to make some difficulty, but when her mistress
+      warranted the safety both of her life and of her honour, she consented to
+      do whatever might be her pleasure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, on continuing his pursuit of the girl, found her
+      countenance quite changed towards him, and therefore urged his suit more
+      eagerly than had been his wont; but she, knowing by heart the part she had
+      to play, made objection of her poverty, and said that, if she complied
+      with his desire, she would be turned away by her mistress, in whose
+      service she looked to gain a good husband.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman forthwith replied that she need give no thought to any such
+      matters, since he would bestow her in marriage more profitably than her
+      mistress would be able to do, and further, would contrive the matter so
+      secretly that none would know of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon this they came to an agreement, and, on considering what place would
+      be most suited for such a fine business, the girl said that she knew of
+      none better or more remote from suspicion than a cottage in the park,
+      where there was a chamber and a bed suitable for the occasion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, who would not have thought any place unsuitable, was
+      content with the one she named, and was very impatient for the appointed
+      day and hour to come.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl kept her word to her mistress, and told her in full the whole
+      story of the plan, and how it was to be put into execution on the morrow
+      after dinner. She would not fail, said she, to give a sign when the time
+      came to go to the cottage, and she begged her mistress to be watchful, and
+      in no wise fail to be present at the appointed hour, in order to save her
+      from the danger into which her obedience was leading her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This her mistress swore, begging her to be without fear, and promising
+      that she would never forsake her, but would protect her from her husband&rsquo;s
+      wrath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the morrow was come and dinner was over, the gentleman was more
+      pleasant with his wife than ever, and although this was not very agreeable
+      to her, she dissembled so well that he did not perceive the truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After dinner she asked him how he was minded to pass away the time, and he
+      answered that he knew of nothing better than to play at &ldquo;cent.&rdquo; (3)
+      Forthwith everything was made ready for the game, but the lady pretended
+      that she did not care to take part in it, and would find diversion enough
+      in looking at the players.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  This is probably a reference to the card game now called
+     piquet, usually played for a hundred points. It is one of
+     the oldest of its kind. See Rabelais&rsquo; <i>Gargantua</i>, book i.
+     chap, xxii.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Just before he sat down to play, the gentleman failed not to ask the girl
+      to remember her promise to him, and while he was playing she passed
+      through the room, making a sign to her mistress which signified that she
+      was about to set out on the pilgrimage she had to make. The sign was
+      clearly seen by the lady, but her husband perceived nothing of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An hour later, however, one of his servants made him a sign from a
+      distance, whereupon he told his wife that his head ached somewhat, and
+      that he must needs rest and take the air. She, knowing the nature of his
+      sickness as well as he did himself, asked him whether she should play in
+      his stead, and he consented, saying that he would very soon return.
+      However, she assured him that she could take his place for a couple of
+      hours without weariness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So the gentleman withdrew to his room, and thence by an alley into his
+      park.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady, who knew another and shorter way, waited for a little while, and
+      then, suddenly feigning to be seized with colic, gave her hand at play to
+      another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as she was out of the room, she put off her high-heeled shoes and
+      ran as quickly as she could to the place, where she had no desire that the
+      bargain should be struck without her. And so speedily did she arrive,
+      that, when she entered the room by another door, her husband was but just
+      come in. Then, hiding herself behind the door, she listened to the fair
+      and honest discourse that he held to her maid. But when she saw that he
+      was coming near to the criminal point, she seized him from behind, saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, I am too near that you should take another.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It is needless to ask whether the gentleman was in extreme wrath, both at
+      being balked of the delight he had looked to obtain, and at having his
+      wife, whose affection he now greatly feared to lose for ever, know more of
+      him than he desired. He thought, however, that the plot had been contrived
+      by the girl, and (without speaking to his wife) he ran after her with such
+      fury that, had not his wife rescued her from his hands, he would have
+      killed her. He declared that she was the wickedest jade he had ever known,
+      and that, if his wife had waited to see the end, she would have found that
+      he was only mocking her, for, instead of doing what she expected, he would
+      have chastised her with rods.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But his wife, knowing what words of the sort were worth, set no value upon
+      them, and addressed such reproaches to him that he was in great fear lest
+      she should leave him. He promised her all that she asked, and, after her
+      sage reproaches, confessed that it was wrong of him to complain that she
+      had lovers; since a fair and honourable woman is none the less virtuous
+      for being loved, provided that she do or say nothing contrary to her
+      honour; whereas a man deserves heavy punishment when he is at pains to
+      pursue a woman that loves him not, to the wronging of his wife and his own
+      conscience. He would therefore, said he, never more prevent his wife from
+      going to Court, nor take it ill that she should have lovers, for he knew
+      that she spoke with them more in jest than in affection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This talk was not displeasing to the lady, for it seemed to her that she
+      had gained an important point. Nevertheless she spoke quite to the
+      contrary, pretending that she had no delight in going to Court, since she
+      no longer possessed his love, without which all assemblies were
+      displeasing to her; and saying that a woman who was truly loved by her
+      husband, and who loved him in return, as she did, carried with her a
+      safe-conduct that permitted her to speak with one and all, and to be
+      derided by none.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor gentleman was at so much pains to assure her of the love he bore
+      her, that at last they left the place good friends. That they might not
+      again fall into such trouble, he begged her to turn away the girl through
+      whom he had undergone so much distress. This she did, but did it by
+      bestowing her well and honourably in marriage, and at her husband&rsquo;s
+      expense.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And, to make the lady altogether forget his folly, the gentleman soon took
+      her to Court, in such style and so magnificently arrayed that she had good
+      reason to be content.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This, ladies, was what made me say I did not find the trick she played
+      upon one of her lovers a strange one, knowing, as I did, the trick she had
+      played upon her husband.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have described to us a very cunning wife and a very stupid husband,&rdquo;
+       said Hircan. &ldquo;Having advanced so far, he ought not to have come to a
+      standstill and stopped on so fair a road.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what should he have done?&rdquo; said Longarine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What he had taken in hand to do,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;for his wife was no less
+      wrathful with him for his intention to do evil than she would have been
+      had he carried the evil into execution. Perchance, indeed, she would have
+      respected him more if she had seen that he was a bolder gallant.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is all very well,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;but where will you find a man to
+      face two women at once? His wife would have defended her rights and the
+      girl her virginity.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;True,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;but a strong bold man does not fear to assail two
+      that are weak, nor will he ever fail to vanquish them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I readily understand,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;that if he had drawn his sword he
+      might have killed them both, but otherwise I cannot see that he had any
+      means of escape. I pray you, therefore, tell us what you would have done?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should have taken my wife in my arms,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;and have carried
+      her out. Then I should have had my own way with her maid by love or by
+      force.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis enough, Hircan,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;that you know how to do evil.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am sure, Parlamente,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;that I do not scandalise the
+      innocence in whose presence I speak, and by what I have said I do not mean
+      that I support a wicked deed. But I wonder at the attempt, which was in
+      itself worthless, and at the attempter, who, for fear rather than for love
+      of his wife, failed to complete it. I praise a man who loves his wife as
+      God ordains; but when he does not love her, I think little of him for
+      fearing her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Truly,&rdquo; replied Parlamente, &ldquo;if love did not render you a good husband, I
+      should make small account of what you might do through fear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are quite safe, Parlamente,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;for the love I bear you
+      makes me more obedient than could the fear of either death or hell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You may say what you please,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;but I have reason to be
+      content with what I have seen and known of you. As for what I have not
+      seen, I have never wished to make guess or still less inquiry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think it great folly,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;for women to inquire so
+      curiously concerning their husbands, or husbands concerning their wives.
+      Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, without giving so much heed
+      to the morrow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet it is sometimes needful,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;to inquire into matters that
+      may touch the honour of a house in order to set them right, though not to
+      pass evil judgment upon persons, seeing that there is none who does not
+      fail.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Many,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;have at divers times fallen into trouble for lack
+      of well and carefully inquiring into the errors of their wives.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;if you know any such instance, do not keep
+      it from us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do indeed know one,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;and since you so desire, I will
+      relate it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0029" id="linkimage-0029">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/090.jpg" width="100%" alt="090.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0030" id="linkimage-0030">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/091a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="091a. The Chanter of Blois Delivering his Mistress from The Grave " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Chanter of Blois delivering his Mistress from the Grave]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0031" id="linkimage-0031">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/091.jpg" width="100%" alt="091.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LX</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A man of Paris, through not making good inquiry concerning
+     his wife, whom he believed dead, though she was indeed
+     making good cheer with a chanter to the King, married a
+     second wife, whom, after having several children by her and
+     consorting with her for fourteen or fifteen years, he was
+     constrained to leave, in order to take his first wife back
+     again</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the city of Paris there was a man who was so good-natured that he would
+      have scrupled to believe a man abed with his wife, even if he had seen him
+      with his own eyes. This poor man married a woman whose conduct was as bad
+      as could be; nevertheless he perceived nothing of it, and treated her as
+      though she were the most virtuous woman alive. One day, however, when King
+      Louis XII. came to Paris, his wife surrendered herself to one of the
+      choir-men of the aforesaid sovereign, and when she found that the King was
+      leaving Paris and that she would no longer be able to see the singer, she
+      resolved to follow him and forsake her husband. To this the chanter
+      agreed, and brought her to a house that he had near Blois, (1) where for a
+      long while they lived together. The poor husband, finding that he had lost
+      his wife, sought her everywhere; and at last it was told him that she was
+      gone away with the chanter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wishing to recover the lost ewe which he had so badly watched, he wrote
+      many letters to her begging her to return to him, and saying that he would
+      take her back if she were willing to be a virtuous woman. But she took
+      such great delight in listening to the songs of the chanter, that she had
+      forgotten her husband&rsquo;s voice, and gave no heed to all his excellent
+      words, but mocked at them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Therefore the husband, in great wrath, gave her to know that, since she
+      would return to him in no other way, he would demand her in legal fashion
+      of the Church. (2) The wife, dreading that if the law should take the
+      matter in hand she and her chanter would fare badly, devised a stratagem
+      worthy of such a woman as herself. Feigning sickness, she sent for some
+      honourable women of the town to come and see her, and this they willingly
+      did, hoping that her illness might be a means of withdrawing her from her
+      evil life, with which purpose they addressed the sagest admonitions to
+      her. Thereupon she, whilst pretending to be grievously sick, made a show
+      of weeping and acknowledging her sinfulness in such sort that she gained
+      the pity of the whole company, who quite believed that she was speaking
+      from the bottom of her heart. And, finding her thus subdued and sorry,
+      they began to comfort her, telling her that God was in no wise so terrible
+      as many preachers represented Him, and that He would never refuse to show
+      her mercy.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  Louis XII.&lsquo;s favourite place of residence.&mdash;Ed.
+
+     2  Implying the Officialité or episcopal court.&mdash;B. J.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      After this excellent discourse, they sent for a virtuous man to come and
+      confess her, and on the morrow the priest of the parish came to administer
+      the Holy Sacrament. This she received so piously, that all the virtuous
+      women of the town who were present wept to see her devoutness, praising
+      God, who of His goodness had in this wise shown compassion upon this poor
+      creature.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Afterwards she pretended that she could no longer take food, whereupon the
+      extreme unction was brought by the priest and received by her with many
+      pious signs; for (as they thought) she was scarcely able to speak. She
+      continued thus for a great while, and it seemed as though she were
+      gradually losing her sight, hearing and other senses, whereat there came
+      from all a cry of &ldquo;Jesus!&rdquo; As night was at hand and the ladies were far
+      from home, they all withdrew; and just as they were leaving the house it
+      was told them that she was dead, whereupon, saying their <i>De profundis</i>
+      for her, they returned to their houses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The priest asked the chanter where he would have her buried, and the other
+      replied that she had desired to be buried in the cemetery, and that it
+      would be well to bring her there at night. So the poor unfortunate was
+      shrouded by a serving-woman, who was careful not to hurt her, and then by
+      brave torchlight she was carried to the grave that the chanter had caused
+      to be made.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the body passed in front of the houses of those who had been present
+      when she received the extreme unction, they all came forth and followed
+      her to the tomb; and there she was soon left by women and priests alike.
+      The chanter, however, did not go away, but, as soon as he saw the company
+      some distance off, he and the serving-woman opened the grave wherein was
+      his sweetheart more alive than ever, and he sent her secretly to his
+      house, where for a long time he kept her concealed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The husband, who was in pursuit of her, came as far as Blois to demand
+      justice, when he found that she was dead and buried according to the
+      testimony of all the ladies of Blois. They told him, too, what a good end
+      she had made, and the worthy man was rejoiced to think that his wife&rsquo;s
+      soul was in Paradise, and himself rid of her wicked body.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In this wise well content, he betook himself back to Paris, where he
+      married a beautiful and virtuous young woman, and a good housewife, by
+      whom he had several children, and with whom he lived for fourteen or
+      fifteen years. But at last rumour, which can keep nothing hid, advised him
+      that his wife was not dead, but was still dwelling with the wicked
+      chanter. The poor man concealed the matter as well as he was able,
+      pretending to know nothing about it, and hoping that it was a lie. But his
+      wife, who was a discreet woman, was told of it, and such was her anguish
+      at the tidings that she was like to die of grief. Had it been possible
+      without offence to her conscience, she would gladly have concealed her
+      misfortune, but it was not possible. The Church immediately took the
+      affair in hand, and first of all separated them from each other until the
+      truth of the matter should be known.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then was this poor man obliged to leave the good and go after the bad, and
+      in this wise he came to Blois shortly after Francis the First had become
+      king. Here he found Queen Claude and my Lady the Regent, (3) to whom he
+      made his complaint, asking for her whom he would gladly not have found,
+      but whom, to the great compassion of the whole company, he was now obliged
+      to see.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  This shows that the incidents of the tale occurred in the
+     summer or autumn of 1515, when Francis I. was absent in
+     Italy conducting the campaign which resulted in the victory
+     of Marignano and the surrender of Milan.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      When his wife was brought before him, she strove for a long while to
+      maintain that he was not her husband, which he would willingly have
+      believed had he been able. More disappointed than abashed, she told him
+      that she would rather die than go back with him, and at this he was well
+      pleased; but the ladies in whose presence she spoke in this unseemly
+      fashion condemned her to return, and so rated the chanter with many a
+      threat, that he was obliged to tell his ugly sweetheart to go back with
+      her husband, and to declare that he himself would never see her more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rejected thus on all sides, the poor unfortunate withdrew to a home in
+      which she was fated to meet with better treatment from her husband than
+      she had deserved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see, ladies, why I say that if the poor husband had been more
+      watchful over his wife, he would not thus have lost her. A thing that is
+      well guarded is difficult to lose, but heedlessness makes the thief.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis a strange thing,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;how strong love is just where it
+      seems most unreasonable.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have heard,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;that it were easier to break two
+      marriages than to sunder the love of a priest and his serving-maid.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe it,&rdquo; said Ennasuite; &ldquo;for those who bind others together in
+      marriage, are so well able to tie the knot that nought but death can
+      destroy it. Theologians, moreover, hold that spiritual language is of more
+      effect than any other, and in consequence spiritual love surpasses any
+      other kind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a thing that I cannot forgive in ladies,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;when they
+      forsake an honourable husband or a lover for a priest, however handsome
+      and worthy the latter may be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, Dagoucin,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;intermeddle not with our Holy Mother
+      Church. Be assured that &lsquo;tis a great delight for timorous and
+      secret-loving women to sin with those who can absolve them; for there are
+      some who are more ashamed to confess a thing than to do it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You speak,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;of those who have no knowledge of God, and who
+      think not that secret matters are one day revealed in presence of the
+      Company of Heaven. But I think that it is not for confession&rsquo;s sake that
+      they go after confessors; for the Enemy has so blinded them that they are
+      more concerned to attach themselves where they think there is most
+      concealment and security, than anxious to obtain absolution for the
+      wickedness of which they do not repent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Repent, say you?&rdquo; said Saffredent. &ldquo;Nay, they deem themselves holier than
+      other women. I am sure that there are some who deem it honourable in
+      themselves that they are constant in such love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You speak in such a manner,&rdquo; said Oisille to Saffredent, &ldquo;that I think
+      you know of some one of that kind. I pray you, therefore, begin the Day
+      tomorrow by telling us what you know. But now the last bell for vespers is
+      already ringing; for our friends the monks went off as soon as they had
+      heard the tenth tale, and left us to finish our discussions among
+      ourselves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At these words they all rose and came to the church, where they found the
+      monks awaiting them. Then, after hearing vespers, they all supped
+      together, talking the while of many excellent stories. After supper they
+      went, according to their wont, to disport themselves somewhat in the
+      meadow, and then retired to rest, in order that their memories might be
+      the sounder on the morrow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0032" id="linkimage-0032">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/099.jpg" width="100%" alt="099.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SEVENTH DAY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <i>On the Seventh Day relation is made<br /> of such as have done<br />
+      quite contrary to<br /> their duty<br /> or desire</i>. <a
+      name="link2H_PROL7" id="link2H_PROL7">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PROLOGUE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In the morning the Lady Oisille failed not to administer to them wholesome
+      nutriment, which she did by reading of the acts and virtuous deeds of the
+      glorious knights and apostles of Jesus Christ, as related by St. Luke,
+      telling them withal that these relations should suffice to make them long
+      for the return of such a time, and to make them weep for the uncomeliness
+      of this age as compared with that. When she had sufficiently read and
+      expounded to them the beginning of this excellent book, she begged them to
+      go to the church in such union as that in which the Apostles were wont to
+      pray, seeking of God the mercy which is never refused to those who ask for
+      it in faith. Her counsel was approved by all, and they came to the church
+      just as the Mass of the Holy Spirit was beginning; this seemed to them
+      very apt to the occasion, and they hearkened to the service in great
+      devotion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Afterwards they went to dinner, where they called to mind the apostolic
+      life, and took such great delight in it that it was as though their
+      undertaking had been forgotten. But Nomerfide, who was the youngest,
+      noticed this, and said, &ldquo;The Lady Oisille has made us so devout that we
+      are letting slip the hour at which we are wont to withdraw, in order to
+      make ready for the relating of our tales.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her words caused the whole company to rise, and, after they had been for a
+      while in their rooms, they failed not to repair to the meadow as on the
+      day before. When they were seated at their ease, the Lady Oisille said to
+      Saffredent, &ldquo;Although I am certain that you will say nothing to the
+      advantage of women, yet I must call upon you to tell the tale that you had
+      in readiness yester evening.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I protest, madam,&rdquo; replied Saffredent, &ldquo;against winning the repute of a
+      slanderer through telling the truth, or losing the favour of virtuous
+      ladies through relating the deeds of the wanton. I have felt what it is to
+      lack their presence, and had I equally lacked their fair favours, I had
+      not been alive to-day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, he turned his eyes away from her who was the cause of his
+      happiness and of his woe; and, looking upon Ennasuite, caused her to blush
+      as deeply as though his words had been directed to her. Yet was he none
+      the less understood by her whom he desired should understand him. The Lady
+      Oisille then assured him that he might freely speak the truth at the cost
+      of any person concerned; whereupon he thus began:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0033" id="linkimage-0033">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/105a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="105a. The Lady Returning to Her Lover, The Canon of Autun " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Lady returning to her Lover, the Canon of Autun]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0034" id="linkimage-0034">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/105.jpg" width="100%" alt="105.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXI</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A husband is reconciled with his wife after she had lived
+     during fourteen or fifteen years with a Canon of Autun</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Near the town of Autun there lived a very beautiful woman, who was tall,
+      fair, and as handsome of feature as any I have ever seen. She was married
+      to an honest man who seemed somewhat younger than herself, and who loved
+      and treated her well enough to give her reason for content.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A little while after they were married, he took her to the town of Autun,
+      where he had business; and while he was engaged with the law, his wife
+      would go to the church to pray God for him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She repaired so often to this holy place that a very rich Canon fell in
+      love with her, and wooed her so urgently that the unhappy creature gave
+      herself up to him. Her husband had no suspicion of this, however, for he
+      gave more thought to the guarding of his property than of his wife.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the time for departure was come, and they must needs return to their
+      home, which was full seven leagues from the town, great was the woman&rsquo;s
+      sorrow. But the Canon promised that he would often go and see her, and
+      this he did, pretending to be making some journey which led him past the
+      house. The gentleman, however, was not so foolish as not to perceive the
+      truth, and he so skilfully contrived matters, that when the Canon came
+      thither he no longer met the wife, who was too well hidden by her husband
+      to allow of his having any speech with her. The wife, knowing her
+      husband&rsquo;s jealousy, gave no sign that this was displeasing to her;
+      nevertheless, she resolved to set things to rights, for she felt herself
+      as it were in hell, deprived as she was of the sight of her God.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day, when her husband was abroad, she found a means to occupy her
+      servants, both men and women, after such a fashion that she was left alone
+      in the house. Immediately, she took what was needful, and, with no company
+      save that of the wanton love she carried with her, she repaired on foot to
+      Autun. Here she arrived none too late to be recognised by her Canon, who
+      kept her shut up in hiding for more than a year, and this in spite of the
+      monitions and excommunications that were procured against him by her
+      husband.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The latter, finding that he had no other remedy, at last complained to the
+      Bishop, who had an Archdeacon, as worthy a man as any at that time in
+      France. This Archdeacon himself searched with great diligence through all
+      the Canon&rsquo;s houses, until he discovered the one in which the woman was
+      being kept in concealment, whereupon he cast her into prison, and laid
+      heavy penance upon the Canon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The husband, knowing that his wife had been recovered by the counsels of
+      the Archdeacon and divers other excellent persons, was content to take her
+      back on her swearing to him that she would live for the future as beseemed
+      a virtuous woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This the worthy man in his deep love for her readily believed, and,
+      bringing her back to his house, he treated her as honourably as before,
+      except that he gave her two old serving-women who never left her, one or
+      other of them being at all times with her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But, however kindly her husband might use her, the wicked love she bore
+      towards the Canon caused her to regard all rest as torment. And although
+      she was a very beautiful woman and her husband a man of excellent
+      constitution, vigorous and strong, she never had any children by him, her
+      heart being always seven leagues away from her body; this, however, she
+      concealed so well that it seemed to her husband that, like himself, she
+      had wholly forgotten the past.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But in her great wickedness she was not so minded; for, just when she saw
+      her husband most in love with her and having least suspicion, she
+      pretended to fall ill, and continued in this pretence until her husband
+      was in wondrous distress, and anxious to spare nought that might relieve
+      her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      However, she played her part so exceedingly well that he, and all in the
+      house, thought that she was sick unto death, and was growing by degrees
+      weaker and weaker. Finding that her husband was no less grieved than he
+      should have been glad, she begged of him that he would authorise her to
+      make her will, and this with tears he did.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Having power of bequest, although she had no children, she gave to her
+      husband what she could, craving at the same time his forgiveness for her
+      wrong-doing towards him. Then she sent for the priest, confessed herself,
+      and received the Holy Sacrament of the Altar with such devoutness, that
+      all wept to see so glorious an end.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the evening was come, she begged her husband to send for the extreme
+      unction, saying that, as she was growing very weak, she was in fear lest
+      she might not live to receive it. Her husband in all haste caused it to be
+      brought by the priest, and she, by receiving it with very great humility,
+      prompted every one to praise her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After she had got through her brave mysteries, she told her husband that,
+      having through God&rsquo;s grace received all that the Church commands, she felt
+      great peace of conscience, and would fain take some rest; and she begged
+      him to do the like, seeing that he had great need of it after all his
+      weeping and watching with her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When her husband was gone, and all his servants with him, the poor old
+      women, who had so long watched her in health and now had no fear of losing
+      her except by death, went contentedly and comfortably to bed. As soon as
+      she heard them asleep and loudly snoring, she rose in nothing but her
+      shift, and went out of the room, listening to hear if any one was yet
+      astir in the house. Taking every precaution, she then (as she well knew
+      how) let herself out through a little garden-gate that was not shut, and,
+      barefooted and in her shift, journeyed all night long towards Autun and
+      the saint, who had preserved her from death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It happened, however, that as the distance was great, she could not
+      accomplish the whole of it before daylight overtook her. Looking then all
+      along the road, she perceived two horsemen who were galloping at full
+      speed, and thinking that it might be her husband in search of her, she hid
+      herself entirely in a marsh, with her head among the reeds. As her husband
+      (for he it was) passed close beside her, he spoke to a servant who was
+      with him, in tones of deep despair, saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, the wicked woman! Who could have thought that so foul and abominable
+      a deed could be hidden under cloak of the holy sacraments of the Church.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If Judas,&rdquo; replied the servant, &ldquo;feared not to betray his Master when he
+      was receiving the like, a woman&rsquo;s treachery is but small matter for
+      wonder.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At this point the husband passed on, and his wife remained among the
+      rushes, in greater gladness at having deceived and escaped him than she
+      had ever felt at home in a good bed but in subjection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor husband sought her through all the town of Autun, but learning
+      for certain that she had not entered it, he retraced his steps,
+      complaining unceasingly of her and of his loss, and threatening her with
+      nothing short of death if he should find her. Of this she had as little
+      fear in her mind as she had of cold in her body, although the place and
+      season might well have caused her to repent of her evil journey. And any
+      one who did not know how the fire of hell inflames those that are filled
+      with it, must needs wonder how it was that this unhappy woman could so
+      leave a warm bed and continue for a whole day in the piercing cold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yet she neither lost courage nor gave up the journey, but, as soon as
+      night was come, went forward once more. Just as the gate at Autun was
+      being closed, this pilgrim arrived thither and repaired straight to the
+      shrine of her saint, who was in great wonder at her coming, and could
+      scarcely believe that it was indeed she. But when he had carefully looked
+      at her and examined her at all points, he found that, unlike a spirit, she
+      was really possessed of bone and flesh, and so became convinced that she
+      was no ghost.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And thenceforward they agreed so well together that she dwelt with the
+      Canon for fourteen or fifteen years.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Although for a time she lived in concealment, in the end she lost all
+      fear, and (what is worse) became so exceedingly proud of her lover that at
+      church she would set herself before most of the honourable women of the
+      town, wives of officials and others. Moreover, she had children by the
+      Canon, and among others a daughter who was married to a rich merchant, and
+      who had so magnificent a wedding that all the women of the town murmured
+      exceedingly, yet were powerless to set the affair to rights.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now it happened that at this time Queen Claude, wife of King Francis,
+      passed through the town of Autun, having with her my Lady the Regent,
+      mother of the King aforesaid, and the Duchess of Alençon, her daughter.
+      (1) One of the Queen&rsquo;s waiting-women, named Perrette, came to the Duchess
+      and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam, I pray you listen to me, and you will do a better deed than if you
+      went to hear the whole day&rsquo;s service at the church.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  This would have occurred in the late autumn of 1515, when
+     the Court journeyed southward to meet Francis I. on his
+     return from the Marignano campaign.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess gave ready heed, knowing that nought but good counsel could
+      come from her. Then Perrette forthwith told her how she had taken a young
+      girl to help her in washing the Queen&rsquo;s linen, and how, on asking the news
+      of the town, she had heard from her the vexation which all the honourable
+      women endured at seeing the Canon&rsquo;s mistress go before them, together with
+      some of the history of the wicked woman&rsquo;s life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess went immediately to the Queen and my Lady the Regent, and told
+      them the story; and they, without any form of law, sent for the unhappy
+      woman. The latter sought no concealment, for her shame was turned to pride
+      at being mistress in the household of so rich a man; and hence, with no
+      feeling of confusion or disgrace, she presented herself before the ladies
+      aforesaid, who were so abashed by her hardihood that at first they knew
+      not what to say. After a time, however, my Lady the Regent rebuked her in
+      a fashion which would have made a right-thinking woman weep, though this
+      unhappy creature did not do so, but with great boldness said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, ladies, let my honour go unscathed, for, God be praised, I
+      have lived so well and virtuously with the Canon that no person alive can
+      say aught against me. And let it not be thought that I am living in
+      opposition to the will of God, since, for three years past, the Canon has
+      not come near me, and we live together as chastely and as lovingly as two
+      little angels, without any speech or wish between us to the contrary. And
+      any one separating us will commit a great sin, for the worthy man, who is
+      nigh eighty years old, will not live long without me, who am forty-five.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      You may imagine how the ladies then comported themselves, and what
+      remonstrance they all made with her; but, in spite of the words that were
+      spoken, and her own age, and the honourable indignation of those present,
+      her obstinacy was not softened. That she might be the more effectually
+      humbled, they sent for the good Archdeacon of Autun, and he condemned her
+      to lie in prison for a year, faring on bread and water. The ladies further
+      sent for her husband, and he, after hearing their excellent exhortations,
+      was content to take her back again after she should have performed her
+      penance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But when she found that she was a prisoner, and that the Canon was
+      resolved to have her back no more, she thanked the ladies for having taken
+      a devil off her shoulders, and showed such deep and perfect contrition
+      that her husband, instead of waiting until the year should have expired,
+      came and asked her of the Archdeacon before a fortnight was over; and
+      since then they have lived together in all peace and affection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see, ladies, how the chains of St. Peter are by wicked ministers
+      converted into those of Satan, which it is so hard to break that even the
+      sacraments, which cast out devils from the body, are here the means of
+      making them abide longer in the conscience; for the best things, when
+      abused, bring about most evil.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Truly,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;this woman was a very wicked one, but at the same
+      time she was well punished by her appearance before such judges as the
+      ladies you have named. The mere glance of the Lady Regent had such power
+      that never was there a woman, however virtuous, that did not dread being
+      found unworthy in her sight. Those who were looked upon kindly by her
+      deemed that they had earned a high honour, knowing as they did that none
+      but virtuous women were favoured by her.&rdquo; (2)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  We are asked to believe that Oisille is none other than
+     the Lady Regent (Louise of Savoy), but is it likely she
+     would thus speak of herself? We can scarcely conceive Queen
+     Margaret perpetrating such a flagrant anachronism.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It were indeed a fine thing,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that there should be greater
+      dread of a woman&rsquo;s eyes than of the Holy Sacrament, which, if it be not
+      received in faith and charity, brings with it eternal damnation.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Those,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;who are not inspired by God are, I promise you,
+      in greater dread of the temporal than of the spiritual powers. And I
+      believe that the poor creature was brought to mend her ways rather by her
+      imprisonment and the thought of seeing her Canon no more, than by any
+      remonstrance that might have been made to her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;you have forgotten the chief cause of her return
+      to her husband, which was that the Canon was eighty years old, whilst her
+      husband was younger than herself; so the worthy lady had the best of all
+      her bargains. Had the Canon been young, she would not have been willing to
+      forsake him, and the admonitions of the ladies would have been as
+      ineffectual as the sacraments.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Further,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;I think she did well not to confess her sin so
+      readily; such an offence ought to be humbly acknowledged to God, but
+      stoutly denied before men. Even though it be true, still, by deception and
+      swearing, doubt may be cast upon it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so,&rdquo; said Longarine. &ldquo;A sin can scarcely be so secret that it will
+      not become revealed, unless God in His pity conceal it, as in the case of
+      those who for love of Himself have truly repented.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;will you say of those women who have no sooner
+      done a deed of folly than they tell some one about it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think that a strange thing,&rdquo; answered Longarine, &ldquo;and a sign that sin
+      is not displeasing to them. If, as I said, a sin is not covered by the
+      mercy of God, it cannot be denied before men; there are many who,
+      delighting in such talk, glory to make their vices known, whilst others
+      who contradict themselves in this way become their own accusers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you know any such instance,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;I give you my place and
+      beg you to tell it us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Listen then,&rdquo; said Longarine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0035" id="linkimage-0035">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/117.jpg" width="100%" alt="117.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0036" id="linkimage-0036">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/119a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="119a. The Gentleman&rsquo;s Spur Catching in The Sheet " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Gentleman&rsquo;s Spur catching in the Sheet]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0037" id="linkimage-0037">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/119.jpg" width="100%" alt="119.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A lady&rsquo;s tongue tripped so awkwardly whilst she was telling
+     a story, as if of another, to a dame of high degree, that
+     her honour thenceforward bore a stain which she could never
+     remove</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the time of King Francis the First there lived a lady of the blood
+      royal, who was endowed with honour, virtue and beauty, and well knew how
+      to tell a story with grace and to laugh at such as might be told to her.
+      (1) This lady being at one of her houses, all her subjects and neighbours
+      came to see her; for she was as much liked as it were possible for woman
+      to be.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  M. de Lincy thinks that this lady may be Louise of Savoy,
+     who was very fond of listening to stories of an equivocal
+     character. This, it may be pointed out, is one of the
+     reasons why the commentators of the <i>Heptameron</i> suppose her
+     to be Oisille, though the latter in the conversational
+     passages following the tales displays considerable prudery
+     and devoutness. That Louise was a woman of extremely amorous
+     tendency is well known; we need, indeed, no better proof of
+     it than her unseemly passion for the Constable de Bourbon
+     when she was five-and-forty years of age. If she be the lady
+     of royal blood spoken of above, the incidents of the tale
+     may have occurred in the Bourbonnais, a considerable portion
+     of which passed into her hands after the flight of the
+     Constable from France. It will be noted that allusion is
+     made to the lady&rsquo;s subjects, showing that she exercised a
+     feudal sway. As one of the commentators of the <i>Heptameron</i>
+     has pointed out, Queen Margaret always saw her mother&mdash;that
+     &ldquo;donna terribilissima!&rdquo; as De Lussy called her&mdash;in such an
+     ideal light that M. de Lincy&rsquo;s surmise may well be a correct
+     one despite the attributes of honour, virtue and beauty
+     bestowed on the lady whom she speaks of.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Among others there came a lady who hearkened whilst the rest told every
+      story they could think of in order to amuse the Princess. This lady then
+      resolved that she would not be behind the others, and accordingly said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam, I will tell you a fine story, but you must promise me not to speak
+      of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then she forthwith continued&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The story, madam, is on my conscience a perfectly true one, and concerns
+      a married lady who lived in all honour with her husband, although he was
+      old and she was young. A gentleman who was her neighbour, seeing her
+      married to this old man, fell in love with her, and importuned her for
+      several years; but never received of her any reply save such as a virtuous
+      woman should make. One day the gentleman bethought him that if he could
+      take her at a disadvantage she might perchance be less harsh towards him,
+      and, after he had for a long while weighed the danger that he might run,
+      his love for the lady wholly banished his fears, and he resolved to find a
+      time and place. He kept excellent watch, and so one morning, when the
+      lady&rsquo;s husband was going to another of his houses, and leaving at daybreak
+      by reason of the heat, the young gallant came to the house, where he found
+      the lady asleep in her bed, and perceived that the serving-women were gone
+      out of the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, without having sense enough to fasten the door, he got into the
+      lady&rsquo;s bed all booted and spurred as he was, and when she awoke, she was
+      as distressed as she could possibly be. But in spite of any remonstrance
+      that she could make to him, he took her by force, saying that if she
+      should make the matter known he would tell every one that she had sent for
+      him; and at this the lady was so greatly afraid that she durst not cry
+      out. Afterwards, on some of her women coming in, he rose in haste and
+      would have been perceived by none if his spur, which had become fastened
+      in the upper sheet, had not drawn it right off, leaving the lady quite
+      naked in her bed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So far the lady had told the story as if of another, but at the end she
+      involuntarily said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never was a woman so confounded as I was, when I found myself lying quite
+      naked.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At these last words the lady, who had hitherto hearkened to the story
+      without laughing, could not refrain from doing so, and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By what I can see, you are well qualified to tell the tale.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor lady tried in every possible way to clear her honour, but it was
+      already flown so far away that she was never able to recall it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I assure you, ladies, that had she felt any deep displeasure in doing
+      such a deed, she would have desired to forget it. But, as I have told you,
+      sin will of itself be discovered before it could otherwise be known,
+      unless it be hidden by the mantle which, as David says, makes man
+      blessed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In good sooth,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;she was the greatest fool I have ever
+      heard of, to make the others laugh at her own expense.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not deem it strange,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;that the word should follow
+      the deed, for it is easier to say than to do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;what sin had she committed? She was asleep in her
+      bed, he threatened her with shame and death; Lucrèce, who is so highly
+      praised, did just the same.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is true,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;and I confess that there is none too
+      righteous to fall. But when one has felt great offence in the deed, the
+      same holds good of the recollection; and whereas Lucrèce to efface the
+      latter killed herself, this foolish woman tried to make others laugh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nevertheless,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;it seems that she was a virtuous woman,
+      seeing that she had been many times entreated but would never consent, so
+      that the gentleman must needs resort to treachery and force in order to
+      wrong her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What!&rdquo; said Parlamente. &ldquo;Do you think that a woman has answered for her
+      honour, when she gives herself up after refusing two or three times? There
+      would then be many virtuous women among those that are deemed the
+      opposite, for many of them have been known to refuse for a long while
+      those to whom their hearts had been given, some doing this through fear
+      for their honour, and others in order to make themselves still more
+      ardently loved and esteemed. No account, therefore, should be made of a
+      woman unless she stands firm to the end. But if a man refuse a beautiful
+      girl, do you regard that as great virtue?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Truly,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;if a young and lusty man so refused, I should hold
+      it worthy of high praise, but none the less difficult of belief.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;I know one who refused to partake in amours that
+      were sought after by all his comrades.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;take my place and tell us the tale, yet
+      remember that you must here utter the truth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I promise you,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;that I will tell it in all its
+      simplicity, without any colouring or disguise.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0038" id="linkimage-0038">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/124.jpg" width="100%" alt="124.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0039" id="linkimage-0039">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/125a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="125a. The King Asking The Young Lord to Join his Banquet " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The King asking the Young Lord to join his Banquet]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0040" id="linkimage-0040">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/125.jpg" width="100%" alt="125.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXIII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A gentleman&rsquo;s refusal of an amour that was sought after by
+     all his comrades, was imputed to him as great virtue, and
+     his wife loved him and esteemed him in consequence far more
+     than before</i>. (1)
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the city of Paris there lived four girls, of whom two were sisters, and
+      such was their beauty, youth and freshness, that they were run after by
+      all the gallants. A gentleman, however, who at that time held the office
+      of Provost of Paris (2) from the King, seeing that his master was young,
+      of an age to desire such company, so cleverly contrived matters with all
+      four of the damsels that each, thinking herself intended for the King,
+      agreed to what the aforesaid Provost desired. This was that they should
+      all of them be present at a feast to which he invited his master.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  This story, omitted by Boaistuau, was included in
+     Gruget&rsquo;s edition of the <i>Heptameron</i>.&mdash;L.
+
+     2  This is John de la Barre, already alluded to in Tale I.
+     The <i>Journal d&rsquo;un Bourgeois de Paris</i> tells us that he was
+     born in Paris of poor parents, and became a favourite of
+     Francis I., who appointed him Bailiff of the capital,
+     without requiring him to pay any of the dues attaching to
+     the office. From the roll of the royal household for 1522,
+     we also find that he was then a gentleman of the bed chamber
+     with 1200 <i>livres</i> salary, master of the wardrobe (a post
+     worth 200 <i>livres</i>) and governor of the pages, for the board
+     and clothing of whom he received 5000 <i>livres</i> annually. In
+     1526 he became Provost as well as Bailiff of Paris, the two
+     offices then being amalgamated. He was further created Count
+     of Etampes, and acquired the lordship of Veretz, best
+     remembered by its associations with the murder of Paul Louis
+     Courier. La Barre fought at Pavia, was taken prisoner with
+     the King, and remained his constant companion during his
+     captivity. Several letters of his, dating from this period
+     and of great historical interest, are still extant; some of
+     them have been published by Champollion-Figeac (<i>Captivité
+     de François Ier</i>) and Génin (<i>Lettres de Marguerite, &amp;c</i>).
+     Under date 1533 (o. s.) the &ldquo;Bourgeois de Paris&rdquo; writes in
+     his <i>Journal</i>: &ldquo;At the beginning of March there died in
+     Paris, at the house of Monsieur Poncher, Monsieur le Prévost
+     de Paris, named de La Barre.... The King was then in Paris,
+     at his chateau of the Louvre, and there was great pomp at
+     the obsequies; and he was borne to his lordship of Veretz,
+     near Tours, that he might be buried there.&rdquo; Numerous
+     particulars concerning La Barre will also be found in M. de
+     Laborde&rsquo;s <i>Comptes des Bâtiments du Roi au XVIeme Siècle</i>.&mdash;
+     L. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      He told the latter his plan, which was approved both by the Prince and by
+      two other great personages of the Court, all three agreeing together to
+      share in the spoil.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While they were looking for a fourth comrade, there arrived a handsome and
+      honourable lord who was ten years younger than the others. He was invited
+      to the banquet, but although he accepted with a cheerful countenance, in
+      his heart he had no desire for it. For on the one part he had a wife who
+      was the mother of handsome children, and with whom he lived in great
+      happiness, and in such peacefulness that on no account would he have had
+      her suspect evil of him. And on the other hand he was the lover of one of
+      the handsomest ladies of her time in France, whom he loved and esteemed so
+      greatly that all other women seemed to him ugly beside her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In his early youth, before he was married, he had found it impossible to
+      gaze upon and associate with other women, however beautiful they might be;
+      for he took more delight in gazing upon his sweetheart, and in perfectly
+      loving her, than in having all that another might have given him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This lord, then, went to his wife and told her secretly of the enterprise
+      that his master had in hand, saying that he would rather die than do what
+      he had promised. For (he told her) just as there was no living man whom he
+      would not venture to attack in anger, although he would rather die than
+      commit a causeless and wilful murder unless his honour compelled him to
+      it; even so, unless driven by extreme love, such as may serve to blind
+      virtuous men, he would rather die than break his marriage vow to gratify
+      another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On hearing these words of his, and finding that so much honour dwelt in
+      one so young, his wife loved and esteemed him more than she had ever done
+      before, and inquired how he thought he might best excuse himself, since
+      Princes often frown on those who do not praise what they like.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have always heard,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;that a wise man has a journey or a
+      sickness in his sleeve for use in time of need. I have therefore resolved
+      that I will feign a grievous sickness four or five days beforehand, and in
+      this matter your countenance may render me true service.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tis a worthy and holy hypocrisy,&rdquo; said his wife, &ldquo;and I will not fail to
+      serve you with the saddest face I can command; for he who can avoid
+      offending God and angering the Prince is fortunate indeed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As it was resolved, so was it done, and the King was very sorry to hear
+      from the wife of her husband&rsquo;s sickness. This, however, lasted no long
+      time; for, on account of certain business which arose, the King
+      disregarded his pleasure to attend to his duty, and betook himself away
+      from Paris.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      However, one day, remembering their unfinished undertaking, he said to the
+      young lord:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We were very foolish to leave so suddenly without seeing the four girls
+      who are declared to be the fairest in my kingdom.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am very glad,&rdquo; replied the young lord, &ldquo;that you failed in the matter,
+      for I was in great fear that, by reason of my sickness, I should be the
+      only one to miss so pleasant an adventure.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      By reason of this answer the King never suspected the dissimulation of the
+      young lord, who was thenceforward loved by his wife more dearly than he
+      had ever been before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hereupon Parlamente began to laugh, and could not hold from saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He would have loved his wife better if he had done this for love of her
+      alone. But in any case he is worthy of great praise.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems to me,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that it is no great merit in a man to keep
+      his chastity for love of his wife, inasmuch as there are many reasons
+      which in a manner compel him to do so. In the first place, God commands
+      it; his marriage vow binds him to it, and, further, surfeited nature is
+      not liable to temptation or desire as necessity is. But when the
+      unfettered love that a man bears towards a mistress of whom he has no
+      delight, and no other happiness save that of seeing her and speaking with
+      her, and from whom he often receives harsh replies&mdash;when this love is
+      so loyal and steadfast that nothing can ever make it change, I say that
+      such chastity is not simply praiseworthy but miraculous.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis no miracle in my opinion,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;for when the heart is
+      plighted, nothing is impossible to the body.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;True,&rdquo; said Hircan; &ldquo;to bodies which have become those of angels.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not speak only of those,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;who by the grace of God are
+      wholly transformed into Himself, but of the grosser spirits that we see
+      here below among men. And, if you give heed, you will find that those who
+      have set their hearts and affections upon seeking after the perfection of
+      the sciences, have forgotten not only the lust of the flesh, but even the
+      most needful matters, such as food and drink; for so long as the soul is
+      stirred within the body, so long does the flesh continue as though
+      insensible. Thence comes it that those who love handsome, honourable and
+      virtuous women have such happiness of spirit in seeing them and speaking
+      with them, that the flesh is lulled in all its desires. Those who cannot
+      feel this happiness are the carnally-minded, who, wrapped in their
+      exceeding fatness, cannot tell whether they have a soul or not. But, when
+      the body is in subjection to the spirit, it is as though heedless of the
+      failings of the flesh, and the beliefs of such persons may render them
+      insensible of the same. I knew a gentleman who, to show that he loved his
+      mistress more dearly than did any other man, proved it to all his comrades
+      by holding his bare fingers in the flame of a candle. And then, with his
+      eyes fixed upon his mistress, he remained firm until he had burned himself
+      to the bone, and yet said that he had felt no hurt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;that the devil whose martyr he was ought to
+      have made a St. Lawrence of him; for there are few whose love-flame is hot
+      enough to keep them from fearing that of the smallest taper. But if a lady
+      had suffered me to endure so much hurt for her sake, I should either have
+      sought a rich reward or else have taken my love away from her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;you would have your hour after the lady had had
+      hers? That was what was done by a gentleman of the neighbourhood of
+      Valencia in Spain, whose story was told to me by a captain, a right worthy
+      man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, madam,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;take my place and tell it us, for I
+      am sure that it must be a good one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This story, ladies,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;will teach you both to think twice
+      when you are inclined to give a refusal and to lay aside the thought that
+      the present will always continue; and so, knowing that it is subject to
+      mutation, you will have a care for the time to come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0041" id="linkimage-0041">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/132.jpg" width="100%" alt="132.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0042" id="linkimage-0042">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/133a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="133a. The Lady Swooning in The Arms of The Gentleman Of Valencia Who Had Become a Monk " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Lady Swooning in the Arms of the Gentleman of Valencia who had become
+      a Monk]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0043" id="linkimage-0043">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/133.jpg" width="100%" alt="133.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXIV</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>After a lady had for the space of five or six years made
+     trial of the love that a certain gentleman bore her, she
+     desired to have a still stronger proof of it, and reduced
+     him to such despair that he turned monk, on which account
+     she was not able to win him back again when she would fain
+     have done so</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the city of Valencia there lived a gentleman, who for the space of five
+      or six years had loved a lady so perfectly that the honour and conscience
+      of neither of them had taken any hurt; for his intent was to have her as
+      his wife, and this was reasonable, seeing that he was handsome, rich and
+      of good descent. But, before he became her lover, he first inquired
+      concerning her own mind, whereupon she declared herself willing to marry
+      according to the counsels of her kinsfolk. The latter, being come together
+      for the purpose, deemed the marriage a very reasonable one provided that
+      the maiden was herself disposed to it; but she&mdash;whether because she
+      thought to do better or because she wished to hide her love for him&mdash;-made
+      some difficulty, and the company separated, not without regret at having
+      failed to conclude a match so well suited to both parties.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The most grieved of all was the poor gentleman, who would have borne his
+      misfortune with patience had he thought that the fault lay with the
+      kinsfolk and not with her; but he knew the truth, and the knowledge was to
+      him worse than death. So, without speaking to his sweetheart or to any
+      other person, he withdrew to his own house, and, after setting his affairs
+      in order, betook himself to a solitary spot, where he strove to forget his
+      love and change it wholly to that love of our Lord which were truly a
+      higher duty than the other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During this time he received no tidings of his mistress or her kindred,
+      and he therefore resolved that, since he had failed to obtain the happiest
+      life he could hope for, he would choose the most austere and disagreeable
+      that he could imagine. With this sad intent, which might well have been
+      called despair, he went and became a monk in the monastery of St. Francis.
+      This monastery was not far from the dwellings of divers of his kinsfolk,
+      who, on hearing of his desperate condition, did all that in them lay to
+      hinder his purpose; but this was so firmly rooted in his heart that it was
+      not possible to turn him from it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nevertheless, as the source of his distemper was known to them, they
+      determined to seek the cure, and so repaired to her who was the cause of
+      his sudden devoutness. She was greatly astonished and grieved by this
+      mischance, for, in refusing for a time, she had thought only to test his
+      affection, not to lose it for ever. Seeing now the evident risk that she
+      ran of doing this last, she sent him a letter, which, ill-translated, was
+      as follows:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Since love, if tested not full needfully,
+     Steadfast and faithful is not shown to be,
+     By length of time my heart would that assay
+     Whereon itself was set to love alway&mdash;
+     To wit, a husband with that true love filled
+     Such as no lapsing time has ever killed.
+     This, then, was the sole reason that I drew
+     My kin to hinder for a year or two
+     That closest tie which lasts till life is not,
+     And whereby woe is oftentimes begot.
+     Yet sought I not to have you wholly sent
+     Away; such was in no wise my intent,
+     For none save you could I have e&rsquo;er adored
+     Or looked to as my husband and my lord.
+     But woe is me, what tidings reach mine ear!
+     That you, to lead the cloistered life austere,
+     Are gone with speech to none; whereat the pain
+     That ever holds me, now can brook no rein,
+     But forces me mine own estate to slight
+     For that which yours aforetime was of right;
+     To seek him out who once sought me alone,
+     And win him who myself has sometimes won.
+     Nay then, my love, life of the life in me,
+     For loss of whom I fain would cease to be,
+     Turn hither, graciously, those eyes of pain
+     And trace those wandering footsteps back again.
+     Leave the grey robe and its austerity,
+     Come back and taste of that felicity
+     Which often you desired, and which to-day
+     Time has nor slain, nor swept away.
+     For you alone I&rsquo;ve kept myself; and I,
+     Lacking your presence, cannot choose but die.
+     Come back then; in your sweetheart have belief,
+     And for past memories find cool relief
+     In holy marriage-ties. Ah! then, my dear,
+     To me, not to your pride give ready ear,
+     And rest of this assured, I had no thought
+     To give, sweetheart, to you offence in aught,
+     But only yearned your faithfulness to prove
+     And then to make you happy with my love.
+     But now that through this trial, free from scathe,
+     Are come your steadfastness and patient faith,
+     And all that loyal love to me is known,
+     Which at the last has made me yours alone,
+     Come, my beloved, take what is your due
+     And wholly yield to me, as I to you!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      This letter, brought by a friend of hers with every remonstrance that it
+      was possible to make, was received and read by the gentleman friar with
+      such sadness of countenance, such sighs and such tears, that it seemed as
+      though he would drown and burn the poor epistle. But he made no reply to
+      it, except to tell the messenger that the mortification of his exceeding
+      passion had cost him so dear as to have taken from him both the wish to
+      live and the fear to die. He therefore requested her who had been the
+      cause of this, that since she had not chosen to satisfy his passionate
+      longings, she would, now that he was rid of them, abstain from tormenting
+      him, and rest content with the evil which was past. For that evil he could
+      find no remedy but the choice of an austere life, which by continual
+      penance might bring him to forget his grief, and, by fasts and
+      disciplines, subdue his body, till the thought of death should be to him
+      but a sovereign consolation. Above all, he begged that he might never hear
+      of her, since he found the mere remembrance of her name a purgatory not to
+      be endured.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman went back with this mournful reply, and reported it to the
+      maiden who did not hear it without intolerable sorrow. But Love, which
+      will not suffer the spirit utterly to fail, gave her the thought that, if
+      she could see him, her words and presence might be of more effect than the
+      writing. She therefore, with her father and the nearest of her kin, went
+      to the monastery where he abode. She had left nothing in her box that
+      might set off her beauty, for she felt sure that, could he but once look
+      at her and hear her, the fire that had so long dwelt in both their hearts
+      must of necessity be kindled again in greater strength than before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Coming thus into the monastery towards the end of vespers, she sent for
+      him to come to her in a chapel that was in the cloister. He, knowing not
+      who it was that sought him, went in all ignorance to the sternest battle
+      in which he had ever been. When she saw him so pale and wan that she could
+      hardly recognise him, yet filled with grace, in no whit less winning than
+      of yore, Love made her stretch out her arms to embrace him, whilst her
+      pity at seeing him in such a plight so enfeebled her heart, that she sank
+      swooning to the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor monk, who was not void of brotherly charity, lifted her up and
+      set her upon a seat in the chapel. Although he had no less need of aid
+      than she had, he feigned to be unaware of her passion, and so strengthened
+      his heart in the love of God against the opportunities now present with
+      him, that, judging by his countenance, he seemed not to know what was
+      actually before him. Having recovered from her weakness, she turned upon
+      him her beautiful, piteous eyes, which were enough to soften a rock, and
+      began to utter all such discourse as she believed apt to draw him from the
+      place in which he now was. He replied as virtuously as he was able; but at
+      last, finding that his heart was being softened by his sweetheart&rsquo;s
+      abundant tears, and perceiving that Love, the cruel archer whose pains he
+      long had known, was ready with his golden dart to deal him fresh and more
+      deadly wounds, he fled both from Love and from his sweetheart, like one
+      whose only resource lay, indeed, in flight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he was shut up in his room, not desiring to let her go without some
+      settlement of the matter, he wrote her a few words in Spanish, which seem
+      to me so excellent in their matter that I would not by translating them
+      mar their grace. These were brought to her by a little novice, who found
+      her still in the chapel and in such despair that, had it been lawful, she
+      too would have remained there and turned friar. But when she saw the
+      words, which were these&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Volvete don venesti, anima mia,
+     Que en las tristas vidas es la mia,&rdquo; (1)
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      she knew that all hope was gone, and she resolved to follow the advice of
+      him and her friends, and so returned home, there to lead a life as
+      melancholy as that of her lover in his monastery was austere.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  &ldquo;Return whence thou earnest, my soul,
+     for among the sad lives is mine.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see, ladies, what vengeance the gentleman took upon his harsh
+      sweetheart, who, thinking to try him, reduced him to such despair that,
+      when she would have regained him, she could not do so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am sorry,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;that he did not lay aside his gown and
+      marry her. It would, I think, have been a perfect marriage.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In good sooth,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;I think he was very wise. Anyone who
+      well considers what marriage is will deem it no less grievous than a
+      monkish life. Moreover, being so greatly weakened by fasts and abstinence,
+      he feared to take upon him a burden of that kind which lasts all through
+      life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;she wronged so feeble a man by tempting him to
+      marriage, for &lsquo;tis too much for the strongest man alive; but had she
+      spoken to him of love, free from any obligation but that of the will,
+      there is no friar&rsquo;s cord that would not have been untied. However, since
+      she sought to draw him out of purgatory by offering him hell, I think that
+      he was quite right to refuse her, and to let her feel the pain that her
+      own refusal had cost him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By my word,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;there are many who, thinking to do better
+      than their fellows, do either worse or else the very opposite of what they
+      desire.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Truly,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;you remind me&mdash;though, indeed, the matter is
+      not greatly to the point&mdash;of a woman who did the opposite of what she
+      desired, and so caused a great uproar in the church of St. John of Lyons.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;take my place and tell us about it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My story,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;will not be so long or so piteous as the one we
+      have heard from Parlamente.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0044" id="linkimage-0044">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/141.jpg" width="100%" alt="141.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0045" id="linkimage-0045">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/143a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="143a. The Old Woman Startled by The Waking of The Soldier " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Old Woman startled by the Waking of the Soldier]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0046" id="linkimage-0046">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/143.jpg" width="100%" alt="143.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXV</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Though the priests of St. John of Lyons would fain have
+     concealed it, the falsity of a miracle was brought to light
+     through an old woman&rsquo;s folly becoming known</i>. (1)
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the church of St. John of Lyons there is a very dark chapel, and inside
+      it a stone tomb with figures of great personages raised life-like upon it,
+      whilst several men-at-arms lie all around it.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  We believe that the incident here narrated occurred early
+     in 1525, when Margaret is known to have been at Lyons. She
+     and her husband (on his return from Pavia) resided there at
+     the house of the Obédiencier de St. Just, and it was in the
+     church of St. Just that the Duke of Alençon was buried.
+     Doubtless it was during his illness that the <i>novena</i>
+     alluded to in the final tale of the <i>Heptameron</i> was
+     performed by Queen Margaret at the church of St. John of
+     Lyons, where the two most important chapels, according to
+     Quincarnon&rsquo;s <i>Antiquités et la fondation de la Métropole
+     des Gaules, &amp;c.</i>, Lyons, 1673, were the Most Holy Eucharist,
+     or Bourbon chapel, built in 1449 by Charles de Bourbon,
+     Primate of Gaul, and the Holy Sepulchre, or Good Friday
+     chapel, erected at the beginning of the fifteenth century by
+     Philip de Turey, Archbishop of Lyons. Unfortunately the
+     church of St. John was in 1652 devastated by the Huguenots,
+     who in their insensate fury destroyed almost all the tombs.
+     It is therefore now impossible to identify the chapel and
+     tomb to which the Queen of Navarre refers in the above
+     story, though her allusion to the dimness of the light would
+     incline us to place the incident she recounts in the
+     Chapelle du St. Sépulcre.&mdash;L. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      One day a soldier, walking in the church at the very height of summer,
+      felt inclined to sleep, and, looking at this dark, cool chapel, resolved
+      to go and guard the tomb in sleep like the rest; (2) and accordingly he
+      lay down beside them. Now it chanced that a very pious old woman came in
+      while his sleep was the soundest, and having performed her devotions,
+      holding a lighted taper in her hand, she sought to fix this taper to the
+      tomb. Finding that the sleeping man was nearest to her, she tried to set
+      it upon his forehead, thinking that it was of stone; but the wax would not
+      stick to such stone as this, whereupon the worthy dame, believing that the
+      reason of it was the coldness of the statue, applied the flame to the
+      sleeper&rsquo;s forehead, that she might the better fix the taper on it. At
+      this, however, the statue, which was not without feeling, began to cry
+      out.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  Meaning the recumbent statues of the men-at-arms.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The good woman was then in exceeding fear, and set herself to shout, &ldquo;A
+      miracle! a miracle!&rdquo; until all who were in the church ran, some to ring
+      the bells, and the rest to view the miracle. The good woman forthwith took
+      them to see the statue that had stirred, whereupon many found food for
+      laughter; though the greater number were unable to feel any content,
+      inasmuch as they had really determined to make profit out of the tomb, and
+      to gain as much money by it as by the crucifix on their pulpit, which is
+      said to have spoken. (3) But when the woman&rsquo;s folly became known the farce
+      came to an end. If all knew of their follies, they would not be accounted
+      holy nor their miracles true. And I would beg you, ladies, to see
+      henceforward to what saints you offer your candles. (4)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  The crucifix in the church of St. John was mainly of
+     silver, and, according to Quincarnon, at the time of a
+     Huguenot outbreak at Lyons it was thrown to the ground by a
+     Calvinist minister named Ruffy, who, after reducing it to
+     fragments, carried all the precious metal away with him.&mdash;M.
+
+     4  The latter portion of this story and all the dialogue
+     that follows it are omitted by Boaistuau in his edition.
+     Gruget inserted the dialogue, but he did not dare to print
+     the passage respecting the talking crucifix.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis notable,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that, whatever the matter in question may
+      be, women always do wrong.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it wrong,&rdquo; asked Nomerfide, &ldquo;to bring candles to a tomb?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;if the flame be turned against a man&rsquo;s forehead; for
+      nothing good should be called good if it be attended with evil. You may be
+      sure that the poor woman thought she had made a fine gift to God with her
+      little candle.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I look not to the gift,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;but to the heart that offers it.
+      Perhaps this worthy woman had more love for God than those who offer great
+      torches; for, as the Gospel says, she gave of her need.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Still, I no not believe,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;that God, who is sovereign
+      wisdom, can be pleased with the foolishness of women. Although simplicity
+      is pleasing to Him, I see from the Scriptures that He despises the
+      ignorant; and if He commands us to be as harmless as the dove, He none the
+      less commands us to be wise like the serpent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For my part,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;I do not call the woman ignorant who brings
+      her candle or burning taper into the presence of God, and makes amends for
+      her wrongdoing on bended knees before her sovereign Lord, confessing her
+      unworthiness and with steadfast hope seeking pity and salvation.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Would to God,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;that all understood it in the same way as
+      you; but I do not believe that these poor fools do it with the intent you
+      say.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The women,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;who are least able to speak are just those who
+      are most sensible of the love and will of God; wherefore &lsquo;tis well to
+      judge none but ourselves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ennasuite laughed and said&mdash;&ldquo;&lsquo;Tis no wonderful thing to have
+      frightened a sleeping varlet, since women of as lowly condition have
+      frightened noble Princes, without putting fire to their foreheads.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am sure,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;that you know some such story, which you are
+      willing to relate; wherefore, if it please you, you shall take my place.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The tale will not be a long one,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;but, could I recount
+      it just as it happened, you would have no desire to weep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0047" id="linkimage-0047">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/147.jpg" width="100%" alt="147.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0048" id="linkimage-0048">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/149a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="149a. The Old Serving-woman Explaining Her Mistake To The Duke and Duchess of Vendôme " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Old Serving-woman explaining her Mistake <br /> to the Duke and
+      Duchess of Vendôme]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0049" id="linkimage-0049">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/149.jpg" width="100%" alt="149.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXVI</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>The Duke of Vendôme and the Princess of Navarre, whilst
+     resting together one afternoon, were surprised by an old
+     serving-woman, who took them for a prothonotary and a damsel
+     between whom she suspected some affection; and, through this
+     fine justicement, a matter, of which intimates were
+     ignorant, was made known to strangers</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the year when the Duke of Vendôme married the Princess of Navarre, (1)
+      the King and Queen, their parents, after feasting at Vendôme, went with
+      them into Guienne, and, visiting a gentleman&rsquo;s house where there were many
+      honourable and beautiful ladies, the newly married pair danced so long in
+      this excellent company that they became weary, and, withdrawing to their
+      chamber, lay down in their clothes upon the bed and fell asleep, doors and
+      windows being shut and none remaining with them.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  It was in October 1548, some eighteen months after Henry
+     II. had succeeded Francis I., that Anthony de Bourbon, Duke
+     of Vendôme, who after the King&rsquo;s children held the first
+     rank in France, was married at Moulins to Margaret&rsquo;s
+     daughter Jane of Navarre. The Duke was then thirty and Jane
+     twenty years old. &ldquo;I never saw so joyous a bride,&rdquo; wrote
+     Henry II. to Montmorency, &ldquo;she never does anything but
+     laugh.&rdquo; She was indeed well pleased with the match, the
+     better so, perhaps, as her husband had settled 100,000
+     livres on her, a gift which was the more acceptable by
+     reason of her extravagant tastes and love of display. Ste.
+     Marthe, in his <i>Oraison Funèbre</i> on Queen Margaret, speaks
+     of her daughter&rsquo;s marriage as &ldquo;a most fortunate
+     conjunction,&rdquo; and refers to her son-in-law as &ldquo;the most
+     valiant and magnanimous Prince Anthony, Duke of Vendôme,
+     whose admirable virtues have so inclined all France to love
+     and revere him, that princes and nobles, the populace, the
+     great and the humble alike, no sooner hear his name
+     mentioned than they forthwith wish him and beg God to bestow
+     on him all possible health and prosperity.&rdquo;&mdash;Ed
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Just, however, when their sleep was at its soundest, they were awakened by
+      their door being opened from without, and the Duke drew the curtain and
+      looked to see who it might be, suspecting indeed that it was one of his
+      friends who was minded to surprise him. But he perceived a tall, old
+      bed-chamber woman come in and walk straight up to their bed, where, for
+      the darkness of the room, she could not recognise them. Seeing them,
+      however, quite close together, she began to cry out&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou vile and naughty wanton! I have long suspected thee to be what thou
+      art, yet for lack of proof spoke not of it to my mistress. But now thy
+      vileness is so clearly shown that I shall in no sort conceal it; and thou,
+      foul renegade, who hast wrought such shame in this house by the undoing of
+      this poor wench, if it were not for the fear of God, I would e&rsquo;en cudgel
+      thee where thou liest. Get up, in the devil&rsquo;s name, get up, for methinks
+      even now thou hast no shame.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke of Vendôme and the Princess hid their faces against each other in
+      order to have the talk last longer, and they laughed so heartily that they
+      were not able to utter a word. Finding that for all her threats they were
+      not willing to rise, the serving-woman came closer in order to pull them
+      by the arms. Then she at once perceived both from their faces and from
+      their dress that they were not those whom she sought, and, recognising
+      them, she flung herself upon her knees, begging them to pardon her error
+      in thus robbing them of their rest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the Duke of Vendôme was not content to know so little, and rising
+      forthwith, he begged the old woman to say for whom she had taken them.
+      This at first she was not willing to do; but at last, after he had sworn
+      to her never to reveal it, she told him that there was a girl in the house
+      with whom a prothonotary (2) was in love, and that she had long kept a
+      watch on them, since it pleased her little to see her mistress trusting in
+      a man who was working this shame towards her. She then left the Prince and
+      Princess shut in as she had found them, and they laughed for a long while
+      over their adventure. And, although they afterwards told the story they
+      would never name any of the persons concerned.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  The office of apostolic prothonotary was instituted by
+     Pope Clement I., there being at first twelve such officers,
+     whose duty was to write the lives of the saints and other
+     apostolic records. Gradually their number so increased, that
+     in the fifteenth century the title of prothonotary had come
+     to be merely an honorary dignity, conferred as a matter of
+     course on doctors of theology of noble family, or otherwise
+     of note. In the role of Francis I.&lsquo;s household for 1522, we
+     find but one prothonotary mentioned, but in that for 1529
+     there are twelve. More than one of them might have been
+     called <i>un letrado que no tenia muchas letras</i>, as Brantôme
+     wrote of Thomas de Lescun, Prothonotary of Foix and
+     afterwards Marshal of France. &ldquo;In those days,&rdquo; adds the
+     author of <i>Les Grands Capitaines Français</i>, &ldquo;it was usual
+     for prothonotaries and even for those of good family not to
+     have much learning, but to enjoy themselves, hunt, make love
+     and seduce the wives of the poor gentlemen who were gone to
+     the wars.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>OEuvres complètes de Brantôme</i>, 8vo edit., vol.
+     ii. p. 144.&mdash;L. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see, ladies, how the worthy dame, whilst thinking to do a fine deed
+      of justice, made known to strange princes a matter of which the servants
+      of the house had never heard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think I know,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;in whose house it was, and who the
+      prothonotary is; for he has governed many a lady&rsquo;s house, and when he
+      cannot win the mistress&rsquo;s favour he never fails to have that of one of the
+      maids. In other matters, however, he is an honourable and worthy man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why do you say &lsquo;in other matters&rsquo;?&rdquo; said Hircan. &ldquo;Tis for that very
+      behaviour that I deem him so worthy a man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can see,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;that you know the sickness and the
+      sufferer, and that, if he needed excuse, you would not fail him as
+      advocate. Yet I would not trust myself to a man who could not contrive his
+      affairs without having them known to the serving-women.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And do you imagine,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;that men care whether such a matter
+      be known if only they can compass their end? You may be sure that, even if
+      none spoke of it but themselves, it would still of necessity be known.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They have no need,&rdquo; said Hircan angrily, &ldquo;to say all that they know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps,&rdquo; she replied, blushing, &ldquo;they would not say it to their own
+      advantage.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Judging from your words,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;it would seem that men
+      delight in hearing evil spoken about women, and I am sure that you reckon
+      me among men of that kind. I therefore greatly wish to speak well of one
+      of your sex, in order that I may not be held a slanderer by all the rest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I give you my place,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;praying you withal to control your
+      natural disposition, so that you may acquit yourself worthily in our
+      honour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Forthwith Simontault began&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tis no new thing, ladies, to hear of some virtuous act on your part
+      which, methinks, should not be hidden but rather written in letters of
+      gold, that it may serve women as an example, and give men cause for
+      admiration at seeing in the weaker sex that from which weakness is prone
+      to shrink. I am prompted, therefore, to relate something that I heard from
+      Captain Robertval and divers of his company.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0050" id="linkimage-0050">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/154.jpg" width="100%" alt="154.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0051" id="linkimage-0051">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/155a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="155a. The Wife Reading to Her Husband on The Desert Island " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Wife Reading to her Husband on the Desert Island]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0052" id="linkimage-0052">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/155.jpg" width="100%" alt="155.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXVII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A poor woman risked her own life to save that of her
+     husband, whom she forsook not until death</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The Captain Robertval aforesaid once made a voyage across the seas to the
+      island of Canadas, (1) himself being chief in command by the appointment
+      of the King, his master. And there, if the air of the country were good,
+      he had resolved to dwell and to build towns and castles. With this work he
+      made such a beginning as is known to all; and to people the country with
+      Christians he took with him all kinds of artificers, among whom was a most
+      wicked man, who betrayed his master and put him in danger of being
+      captured by the natives. But God willed that his attempt should be
+      discovered before any evil befell the Captain, who, seizing the wicked
+      traitor, was minded to punish him as he deserved. And this he would have
+      done but for the man&rsquo;s wife, who had followed her husband through the
+      perils of the deep and would not now leave him to die, but with many tears
+      so wrought upon the Captain and all his company that, for pity of her and
+      for the sake of the services she had done them, her request was granted.
+      In consequence, husband and wife were left together on a small island in
+      the sea, inhabited only by wild beasts, and were suffered to take with
+      them such things as were needful.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  Canada had been discovered by Cabot in 1497; and in 1535
+     James Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence and, taking
+     possession of the country in the name of Francis I., called
+     it La Nouvelle France. Seven years later a gentleman of
+     Picardy, named John Francis de La Roque, Lord of Robertval,
+     accompanying Cartier, established a colony on the Isle
+     Royale, and subsequently built the fort of Charlebourg. One
+     of his pilots, named Alphonse of Saintonge, meanwhile
+     reconnoitred the coasts both of Canada and Labrador. About
+     this time (1542) the incidents related in the above tale
+     must have occurred.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The poor folk, finding themselves all alone and surrounded by wild and
+      cruel beasts, had no recourse but to God, who had ever been this poor
+      woman&rsquo;s steadfast hope; and, since she found all her consolation in Him,
+      she carried the New Testament with her for safeguard, nourishment and
+      consolation, and in it read unceasingly. Further, she laboured with her
+      husband to make them a little dwelling as best they might, and when the
+      lions (2) and other animals came near to devour them, the husband with his
+      arquebuss and she with stones made so stout a defence that not only were
+      the beasts afraid to approach, but often some were slain that were very
+      good for food. And on this flesh and the herbs of the land, they lived for
+      some time after their bread failed them.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  This mention of lions on a small desert island in the
+     Canadian seas would be rather perplexing did we not know how
+     great at that time was the general ignorance on most matters
+     connected with natural history. Possibly the allusion may be
+     to the <i>lion marin</i>, as the French call the leonine seal.
+     This, however, is anything but an aggressive animal.
+     Curiously enough, Florimond de Rémond, the sixteenth century
+     writer, speaks of a drawing of a &ldquo;marine lion&rdquo; given to him
+     &ldquo;by that most illustrious lady Margaret Queen of Navarre, to
+     whom it had been presented by a Spanish gentleman, who was
+     taking a second copy of it to the Emperor Charles V., then
+     in Spain.&rdquo;&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      At last, however, the husband could no longer endure this nutriment, and
+      by reason of the waters that they drank became so swollen that in a short
+      while he died, and this without any service or consolation save from his
+      wife, she being both his doctor and his confessor; and when he had
+      joyously passed out of the desert into the heavenly country, the poor
+      woman, left now in solitude, buried him in the earth as deeply as she was
+      able. Nevertheless the beasts quickly knew of it, and came to eat the dead
+      body; but the poor woman, firing with the arquebuss from her cabin, saved
+      her husband&rsquo;s flesh from finding such a grave.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Leading thus in regard to her body the life of a brute, and in regard to
+      her soul the life of an angel, she passed her time in reading,
+      meditations, prayers and orisons, having a glad and happy mind in a wasted
+      and half-dead body. But He who never forsakes His own, and who manifests
+      His power when others are in despair, did not suffer the virtue that he
+      had put into this woman to be unknown by men, but willed that it should be
+      made manifest to His own glory. He therefore brought things so to pass,
+      that after some time, when one of the ships of the armament was passing by
+      the island, those that were looking that way perceived some smoke, which
+      reminded them of the persons who had been left there, and they resolved to
+      go and see what God had done with them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor woman, seeing the ship draw nigh, dragged herself to the shore,
+      and there they found her on their arrival. After giving praise to God, she
+      brought them to her poor cottage and showed them on what she had lived
+      during her abode in that place. This would have seemed to them impossible
+      of belief, but for their knowledge that God is as powerful to feed His
+      servants in a desert as at the greatest banquet in the world. As the poor
+      woman could not continue in such a spot, they took her with them straight
+      to La Rochelle, where, their voyage ended, they arrived. And when they had
+      made known to the inhabitants the faithfulness and endurance of this
+      woman, she was very honourably received by all the ladies, who gladly sent
+      their daughters to her to learn to read and write. In this honest calling
+      she maintained herself for the rest of her life, having no other desire
+      save to admonish every one to love and trust Our Lord, and setting forth
+      as an example the great compassion that He had shown towards her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, ladies, you cannot say I do not praise the virtues which God has
+      given you, and which show the more when possessed by one of lowly
+      condition.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, we are not sorry,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;to hear you praise the mercies of
+      Our Lord, for in truth all virtue comes from Him; but we must confess that
+      man assists in the work of God as little as women. Neither can by heart or
+      will do more than plant. God alone giveth the increase.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you have studied Scripture,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;you know that St. Paul
+      says that Apollos planted and he himself watered; (3) but he does not
+      speak of women as having set hand to the work of God.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  The text is just the contrary: &ldquo;I have planted, Apollos
+     watered; but God gave the increase.&rdquo;&mdash;I <i>Corinthians</i> iii.
+     6.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You would follow,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;the opinion of those wicked men who
+      take a passage of Scripture that is in their favour and leave one that is
+      against them. If you had read St. Paul to the end, you would have found
+      that he commends himself to the ladies, who greatly laboured with him in
+      the work of the Gospel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;However that may be,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;the woman in the story is well
+      worthy of praise both for the love she bore her husband, on whose behalf
+      she risked her own life, and for the faith she had in God, who, as we see,
+      did not forsake her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;as far as the first is concerned, that there
+      is no woman present but would do as much to save her husband&rsquo;s life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;that some husbands are such brutes that the
+      women who live with them should not find it strange to live among their
+      fellows.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ennasuite, who took these words to herself, could not refrain from saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Provided the beasts did not bite me, their company would be more pleasant
+      to me than that of men, who are choleric and intolerable. But I abide by
+      what I have said, that, if my husband were in a like danger, I should not
+      leave him to die.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Beware,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;of loving too fondly, for excess of love will
+      deceive both him and you. There is a medium in all things, and through
+      lack of knowledge love often gives birth to hate.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;you have not carried your discourse so far
+      without having an instance to confirm it. If, then, you know such a one, I
+      give you my place that you may tell it to us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;the tale shall, as is my wont, be a short and a
+      merry one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0053" id="linkimage-0053">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/161.jpg" width="100%" alt="161.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0054" id="linkimage-0054">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/163a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="163a. The Apothecary&rsquo;s Wife Giving The Dose of Cantharides To Her Husband " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Apothecary&rsquo;s Wife giving the Dose of Cantharides <br /> to her
+      Husband]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0055" id="linkimage-0055">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/163.jpg" width="100%" alt="163.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXVIII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>An apothecary&rsquo;s wife, finding that her husband made no
+     great account of her, and wishing to be better loved by him,
+     followed the advice that he had given to a &ldquo;commère&rdquo; (1) of
+     his, whose sickness was of the same kind as her own; but she
+     prospered not so well as the other, and instead of love
+     reaped hate</i>.
+
+     1  Mr W. Kelly has pointed out (Bohn&rsquo;s <i>Heptameron</i>, p. 395)
+     that in France the godfather and godmother of a child are
+     called in reference to each other compère and commère, terms
+     implying mutual relations of an extremely friendly kind. &ldquo;The
+     same usage exists in all Catholic countries,&rdquo; adds Mr Kelly,
+     &ldquo;and one of the novels of the <i>Decameron</i> is founded on a
+     very general opinion in Italy that an amorous connection
+     between a <i>compadre</i> and his <i>commadre</i> partook almost of
+     the nature of incest.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      In the town of Pau in Beam there was an apothecary whom men called Master
+      Stephen. He had married a virtuous wife and a thrifty, with beauty enough
+      to content him. But just as he was wont to taste different drugs, so did
+      he also with women, that he might be the better able to speak of all
+      kinds. His wife was greatly tormented by this, and at last lost all
+      patience; for he made no account of her except by way of penance during
+      Holy Week.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day when the apothecary was in his shop, and his wife had hidden
+      herself behind him to listen to what he might say, a woman, who was
+      &ldquo;commère&rdquo; to the apothecary, and was stricken with the same sickness as
+      his own wife, came in, and, sighing, said to him&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alas, good godfather, I am the most unhappy woman alive. I love my
+      husband better than myself, and do nothing but think of how I may serve
+      and obey him; but all my labour is wasted, for he prefers the wickedest,
+      foulest, vilest woman in the town to me. So, godfather, if you know of any
+      drug that will change his humour, prithee give it me, and, if I be well
+      treated by him, I promise to reward you by all means in my power.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The apothecary, to comfort her, said that he knew of a powder which, if
+      she gave it to her husband with his broth or roast, after the fashion of
+      Duke&rsquo;s powder, (2) would induce him to entertain her in the best possible
+      manner. The poor woman, wishing to behold this miracle, asked him what the
+      powder was, and whether she could have some of it. He declared that there
+      was nothing like powder of cantharides, of which he had a goodly store;
+      and before they parted she made him prepare this powder, and took as much
+      of it as was needful for her purpose. And afterwards she often thanked the
+      apothecary, for her husband, who was strong and lusty, and did not take
+      too much, was none the worse for it.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  Boaistuau and Gruget call this preparation <i>poudre de
+     Dun</i>, as enigmatical an appellation as <i>poudre de Duc</i>. As
+     for the specific supplied by the apothecary, the context
+     shows that this was the same aphrodisiac as the Marquis de
+     Sades put to such a detestable use at Marseilles in 1772,
+     when, after fleeing from justice, he was formally sentenced
+     to death, and broken, in effigy, upon the wheel. See P.
+     Lacroix&rsquo;s <i>Curiosités de l&rsquo;histoire de France, IIème Série</i>,
+     Paris, 1858.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The apothecary&rsquo;s wife heard all this talk, and thought within herself that
+      she had no less need of the recipe than her husband&rsquo;s &ldquo;commère.&rdquo;
+       Observing, therefore, the place where her husband put the remainder of the
+      powder, she resolved that she would use some of it when she found an
+      opportunity; and this she did within three or four days. Her husband, who
+      felt a coldness of the stomach, begged her to make him some good soup, but
+      she replied that a roast with Duke&rsquo;s powder would be better for him;
+      whereupon he bade her go quickly and prepare it, and take cinnamon and
+      sugar from the shop. This she did, not forgetting also to take the
+      remainder of the powder given to the &ldquo;commère,&rdquo; without any heed to dose,
+      weight or measure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The husband ate the roast, and thought it very good. Before long, however,
+      he felt its effects, and sought to soothe them with his wife, but this he
+      found was impossible, for he felt all on fire, in such wise that he knew
+      not which way to turn. He then told his wife that she had poisoned him,
+      and demanded to know what she had put into the roast. She forthwith
+      confessed the truth, telling him that she herself required the recipe
+      quite as much as his &ldquo;commère.&rdquo; By reason of his evil plight, the poor
+      apothecary could belabour her only with hard words; however, he drove her
+      from his presence, and sent to beg the Queen of Navarre&rsquo;s apothecary (3)
+      to come and see him. This the Queen&rsquo;s apothecary did, and whilst giving
+      the other all the remedies proper for his cure (which in a short time was
+      effected) he rebuked him very sharply for his folly in counselling another
+      to use drugs that he was not willing to take himself, and declared that
+      his wife had only done her duty, inasmuch as she had desired to be loved
+      by her husband.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  It was from her apothecary no doubt that Queen Margaret
+     heard this story.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Thus the poor man was forced to endure the results of his folly in
+      patience, and to own that he had been justly punished in being brought
+      into such derision as he had proposed for another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks, ladies, this woman&rsquo;s love was as indiscreet as it was great.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you call it loving her husband,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;to give him pain for
+      the sake of the delight that she herself looked to have?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;she only desired to win back her husband&rsquo;s
+      love, which she deemed to have gone far astray; and for the sake of such
+      happiness there is nothing that a woman will not do.&rdquo; &ldquo;Nevertheless,&rdquo; said
+      Geburon, &ldquo;a woman ought on no account to make her husband eat or drink
+      anything unless, either through her own experience or that of learned
+      folk, she be sure that it can do him no harm. Ignorance, however, must be
+      excused, and hers was worthy of excuse; for the most blinding passion is
+      love, and the most blinded of persons is a woman, since she has not
+      strength enough to conduct so weighty a matter wisely.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Geburon,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;you are departing from your own excellent custom
+      so as to make yourself of like mind with your fellows; but there are women
+      who have endured love and jealousy in patience.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;and pleasantly too; for the most sensible are those
+      who take as much amusement in laughing at their husbands&rsquo; doings, as their
+      husbands take in secretly deceiving them. If you will make it my turn, so
+      that the Lady Oisille may close the day, I will tell you a story about a
+      wife and her husband who are known to all of us here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Begin, then,&rdquo; said Nomerfide; and Hircan, laughing, began thus:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0056" id="linkimage-0056">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/168.jpg" width="100%" alt="168.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0057" id="linkimage-0057">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/169a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="169a. The Wife Discovering Her Husband in The Hood Of Their Serving-maid " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Wife discovering her Husband in the <br /> Hood of their Serving-maid]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0058" id="linkimage-0058">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/169.jpg" width="100%" alt="169.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXIX</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>On finding her husband bolting meal in the garb of her
+     serving-woman, whom he was awaiting in the hope that he
+     would obtain from her what he desired, a certain lady showed
+     such good sense that she was content to laugh and make merry
+     at his folly</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      At the castle of Odoz (1) in Bigorre, there dwelt one Charles, equerry to
+      the King and an Italian by birth, who had married a very virtuous and
+      honourable woman. After bearing him many children, she was now grown old,
+      whilst he also was not young. And he lived with her in all peacefulness
+      and affection, for although he would at times speak with his
+      serving-women, his excellent wife took no notice of this, but quietly
+      dismissed them whenever she found that they were becoming too familiar in
+      her house.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  The scene of this tale is laid at the castle where
+     Margaret died. Ste. Marthe in his <i>Oraison funèbre</i>,
+     pronounced at Alençon fifteen days after the Queen&rsquo;s death,
+     formally states that she expired at Odos near Tarbes. He is
+     not likely to have been mistaken, so that Brantome&rsquo;s
+     assertion that the Queen died at Audos in Beam may be
+     accepted as incorrect (<i>ante</i>, vol. i. p. lxxxviii.). It is
+     further probable that the above tale was actually written at
+     Odos (<i>ante</i>, vol. i. p. lxxxvi.), but the authenticity of
+     the incidents is very doubtful, as there is an extremely
+     similar story in the <i>Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles</i> (No, xvii.
+     <i>Le Conseiller au bluteau</i>), in which the hero of the
+     adventure is a &ldquo;great clerk and knight who presided over the
+     Court of Accounts in Paris.&rdquo; For subsequent imitations see
+     Malespini&rsquo;s <i>Ducento Novelle</i> (No. xcvii.) and <i>Les Joyeuses
+     Adventures et Nouvelles Recreations</i> (No. xix.)&mdash;L. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      One day she hired a discreet and worthy girl, telling her of her husband&rsquo;s
+      temper and her own, and how she was wont to turn away such girls whom she
+      found to be wantons. This maid, wishing to continue in her mistress&rsquo;s
+      service and esteem, resolved to remain a virtuous woman; and although her
+      master often spoke to her, she on her part gave no heed to his words save
+      that she repeated them to her mistress, and they thus both derived much
+      diversion from his folly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day the maid was in a back room bolting meal, and wearing her &ldquo;sarot,&rdquo;
+       a kind of hood which, after the fashion of that country, not only formed a
+      coif but covered the whole of the back and shoulders. Her master, finding
+      her in this trim, came and urged her very pressingly, and, although she
+      would not have done such a thing even to save her life, she pretended to
+      consent, and asked leave to go first and see whether her mistress was
+      engaged in some such manner that they might not be surprised together. To
+      this he agreed; whereupon she begged him to put her hood upon his head and
+      to continue bolting whilst she was away, in order that her mistress might
+      still hear the noise of the bolter. And this he gladly did, in the hope of
+      obtaining what he sought.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The maid, who was by no means inclined to melancholy, ran off to her
+      mistress and said to her&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come and see your good husband, whom I have taught to bolt in order to be
+      rid of him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The wife made all speed to behold this new serving-woman, and when she saw
+      her husband with the hood upon his head and the bolter in his hands, she
+      began to laugh so exceedingly, clapping her hands the while, that she was
+      scarce able to say to him&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How much dost want a month, wench, for thy labour?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The husband, on hearing this voice, realised that he had been deceived,
+      and, throwing down both what he was holding and wearing, he ran at the
+      girl, calling her a thousand bad names. Had his wife not set herself in
+      front of the maid, he would have given her wage enough for her quarter;
+      but at last all was settled to the content of the parties concerned, and
+      thenceforward they lived together without quarrelling. (2)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  The Italian Charles, equerry to the King, to whom the
+     leading part is assigned in Queen Margaret&rsquo;s tale, may have
+     been Charles de San Severino, who figures among the
+     equerries with a salary of 200 <i>livres</i>, in the roll of the
+     royal household for 1522. The San Severino family, one of
+     the most prominent of Naples, had attached itself to the
+     French cause at the time of the expedition of Charles VIII.,
+     whom several of its members followed to France. In 1522 we
+     find a &ldquo;Monsieur de Saint-Severin&rdquo; holding the office of
+     first <i>maître d&rsquo;hôtel</i> to Francis I., and over a course of
+     several years his son figures among the <i>enfants
+     d&rsquo;honneur</i>.&mdash;B. J. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What say you, ladies, of this wife? Was she not sensible to make sport of
+      her husband&rsquo;s sport?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Twas no sport,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;for the husband who failed in his
+      purpose.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;that he had more delight in laughing with
+      his wife, than at killing himself at his age with his serving-woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Still, I should be sorely vexed,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;to be discovered so
+      bravely coifed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have heard,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;that it was not your wife&rsquo;s fault that
+      she did not once discover you in very much the same attire in spite of all
+      your craft, and that since then she has known no repose.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rest content with what befalls your own house,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;without
+      inquiring into what befalls mine. Nevertheless, my wife has no reason to
+      complain of me, and even did I act as you say, she would never have
+      occasion to notice it through any lack of what she might need.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Virtuous women,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;require nothing but the love of their
+      husbands, which alone can satisfy them. Those who seek a brutish
+      satisfaction will never find it where honour enjoins.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you call it brutish,&rdquo; asked Geburon, &ldquo;if a wife desires that her
+      husband should give her her due?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I say,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;that a chaste woman, whose heart is filled with
+      true love, is more content to be perfectly loved than to have all the
+      delights that the body can desire.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am of your opinion,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;but my lords here will neither
+      hear it nor confess it. I think if mutual love cannot satisfy a woman, her
+      husband alone will not do so; for unless she live in the love that is
+      honourable for a woman, she must be tempted by the infernal lustfulness of
+      brutes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In truth,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;you remind me of a lady who was both handsome
+      and well wedded, but who, through not living in that honourable love,
+      became more carnal than swine and more cruel than lions.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ask you, madam,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;to end the day by telling us her
+      story.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That I cannot do,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;and for two reasons. The first is that
+      it is exceedingly long; and the second, that it does not belong to our own
+      day. It is written indeed by an author worthy of belief; but we are sworn
+      to relate nothing that has been written.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is true,&rdquo; said Parlamente; &ldquo;but I believe I know the story you mean,
+      and it is written in such old language that methinks no one present except
+      ourselves has ever heard of it. It will therefore be looked upon as new.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon this the whole company begged her to tell it without fear for its
+      length, seeing that a full hour was yet left before vespers. So, at their
+      request, the Lady Oisille thus began:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0059" id="linkimage-0059">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/174.jpg" width="100%" alt="174.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0060" id="linkimage-0060">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/175a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="175a. The Gentleman Killing Himself on The Death of his Mistress " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Gentleman Killing Himself on the Death of his Mistress]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0061" id="linkimage-0061">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/175.jpg" width="100%" alt="175.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXX</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>The Duchess of Burgundy, not content with the love that her
+     husband bore her, conceived so great an affection for a
+     young gentleman that, when looks and glances were not
+     sufficient to inform him of her passion, she declared it to
+     him in words which led to an evil ending</i>. (1)
+
+     1  This story is borrowed from an old <i>fabliau</i>, known under
+     the title of the <i>Châtelaine de Vergy</i>, which will be found
+     in the <i>Recueil de Barbazan</i> (vol iv.) and in Legrand
+     d&rsquo;Aussy&rsquo;s <i>Fabliaux</i> (vol iii.). Margaret calls the lady
+     Madame du Vergier (literally the lady of the orchard) in her
+     tale. Bandello imitated the same <i>fabliau</i> in his <i>Novelle</i>
+     (1554; part iv. nov. v.), but gave it a different ending.
+     Belleforest subsequently adapted it for his <i>Histoires
+     Tragiques</i>. Margaret&rsquo;s tale may also be compared with No.
+     lxii. of the <i>Cento Novelle antiche</i>, p. 84 of the edition
+     of Florence, 1825.&mdash;L. and M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the Duchy of Burgundy there was a Duke who was a very honourable and
+      handsome Prince. He had married a wife whose beauty pleased him so greatly
+      that it kept him from knowledge of her character, and he took thought only
+      how he might please her, whilst she made excellent show of returning his
+      affection. Now the Duke had in his household a gentleman filled with all
+      the perfection that could be sought for in a man. He was loved by all,
+      more especially by the Duke, who had reared him from childhood near his
+      own person; and, finding him possessed of such excellent qualities, the
+      Duke loved him exceedingly and trusted him with all such matters as one of
+      his years could understand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess, who had not the heart of a virtuous woman and Princess, and
+      was not content with the love that her husband bore her and the good
+      treatment that she had at his hands, often observed this gentleman, and so
+      much to her liking did she find him, that she loved him beyond measure.
+      This she strove unceasingly to make known to him, as well by soft and
+      piteous glances as by sighs and passionate looks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the gentleman, whose inclinations had ever been to virtue alone, could
+      not perceive wickedness in a lady who had so little excuse for it, and so
+      the glances and looks of the poor wanton bore no fruit save her own
+      frenzied despair. This at last drove her to extremes, and forgetting that
+      she was a woman fit to be entreated and yet to refuse, and a Princess made
+      to be worshipped by such lovers and yet to hold them in scorn, she acted
+      with the spirit of a man transported by passion, with a view to rid
+      herself of the fire which she could no longer endure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Accordingly, one day when her husband was gone to the council, at which
+      the gentleman by reason of his youth was not present, she beckoned him to
+      come to her, which he did, thinking that she had some command to give him.
+      But leaning on his arm, like a woman wearied with repose, she brought him
+      to walk in a gallery, where she said to him&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I marvel that you who are so handsome and young, and full of excellent
+      grace, have lived in this company, where are so many beautiful ladies, and
+      yet have been lover or true knight to none.&rdquo; Then, looking at him as
+      graciously as she was able, she waited for his reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;if I were worthy that your Highness should stoop to
+      think of me, you would have still greater reason to marvel at seeing a man
+      so little worthy of love as I am, offer his service where it would be
+      rejected or scorned.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On hearing this discreet reply, the Duchess felt she loved him more than
+      before. She vowed to him that there was not a lady at her Court who would
+      not be only too happy to have such a knight, and that he might well make
+      an adventure of the sort, since there was no danger but he would come out
+      of it with honour. The gentleman kept his eyes downcast, not daring to
+      meet her looks, which were hot enough to melt ice; but, just as he was
+      trying to excuse himself, the Duke sent for the Duchess to come to the
+      council on some matter that concerned her, and thither with much regret
+      she went. The gentleman never afterwards made the slightest sign of having
+      understood a word of what she had said to him, at which she was
+      exceedingly distressed and vexed; and she knew not to what cause to impute
+      her failure, unless it were to the foolish fear of which she deemed the
+      gentleman to be possessed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few days afterwards, finding that he gave no sign of understanding what
+      she had said, she resolved on her part to set aside all fear or shame, and
+      to tell him of her love. She felt sure that beauty such as hers could not
+      be otherwise than well received, although she would fain have had the
+      honour of being wooed. However, she set her honour on one side for her
+      pleasure&rsquo;s sake, and after she had several times attempted the same
+      fashion of discourse as at first, but without receiving any reply to her
+      liking, she one day plucked the gentleman by the sleeve, and told him that
+      she must speak to him on certain matters of weight. The gentleman went
+      with the humility and reverence that were her due to a deep window into
+      which she had withdrawn; and, on perceiving that no one in the room could
+      see her, she began in a trembling voice, that halted between desire and
+      fear, to continue her former discourse, rebuking him for not yet having
+      chosen some lady in the company, and promising him that, no matter who it
+      might be, she would help him to win kindly treatment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, who was no less vexed than astonished by her words, replied&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam, my heart is so tender, that, were I once refused, I should never
+      again have joy in this world; and I know myself to be of such little worth
+      that no lady at this Court would deign to accept my suit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess blushed, and, imagining that at last he was indeed won, vowed
+      to him that she knew the most beautiful lady in the company would, if he
+      were willing, joyfully receive him, and afford him perfect happiness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alas! madam,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;I do not think that there is any woman in this
+      company so unfortunate and so blind as to find me worthy of her love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess, finding that he would not understand her, drew the veil of
+      her passion somewhat aside, and, by reason of the fears which the
+      gentleman&rsquo;s virtue caused her, spoke to him in the form of a question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If fortune,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;had so far favoured you that it was myself who
+      bore you this goodwill, what would you say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, who thought that he was dreaming when he heard her speak in
+      this wise, dropped on his knee, and replied&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam, when God by His favour enables me to have both the favour of the
+      Duke, my master, and your own, I shall deem myself the happiest man alive;
+      for &lsquo;tis the reward I crave for the loyal service of one who, more than
+      any other, is bound to give his life in the service of you both. And I am
+      sure, madam, that the love you bear my Lord aforesaid is attended with
+      such chastity and nobleness that, apart from myself, who am but a worm of
+      the earth, not even the greatest Prince and most perfect man to be found
+      could break the union that exists between you. For my own part, my Lord
+      has brought me up from childhood, and made me what I am, and to save my
+      life I could not entertain towards any wife, daughter, sister or mother of
+      his any thought contrary to what is due from a loyal and faithful
+      servant.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess would not allow him to continue, but finding that she was in
+      danger of obtaining a dishonourable refusal, she suddenly interrupted him,
+      and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wicked and boastful fool, who seeks any such thing from you? Do you think
+      that your good looks win you the love of the very flies in the air? Nay,
+      if you were presumptuous enough to address yourself to me, I would show
+      you that I love, and seek to love, none but my husband. What I have said
+      to you was spoken only for my amusement, to try you and laugh at you, as I
+      do at all foolish lovers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam,&rdquo; said the gentleman, &ldquo;I believed, and do still believe, that it is
+      as you say.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, without listening further, she withdrew in haste to her own
+      apartment, and, finding that she was followed by her ladies, went into her
+      closet, where she sorrowed after a fashion that cannot be described. On
+      the one part, the love wherein she had failed caused her mortal sadness;
+      on the other, her anger, both against herself for having entered upon such
+      foolish talk and against the gentleman for his discreet reply, drove her
+      into such fury that at one moment she wished to make away with herself,
+      and at another, to live that she might avenge herself on one whom she now
+      regarded as her deadly enemy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When she had wept for a long while, she made pretence of being ill, in
+      order that she might not be present at the Duke&rsquo;s supper, at which the
+      gentleman was commonly in waiting. The Duke, who loved his wife better
+      than he did himself, came to see her; but the more effectually to work her
+      end, she told him that she believed herself to be with child, and that her
+      pregnancy had caused a rheum to come upon her eyes, which gave her much
+      pain. So passed two or three days, during which the Duchess kept her bed
+      in sadness and melancholy, until at last the Duke thought that something
+      further must be the matter. He therefore came at night to sleep with her;
+      but, finding that for all he could do he could in no sort check her sighs,
+      he said to her&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know, sweetheart, that I love you as dearly as my life, and that if
+      yours were lacking I could not endure my own. If therefore you would
+      preserve my health, I pray you tell me what causes you to sigh after this
+      manner; for I cannot believe that such unhappiness can come only because
+      you are with child.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess, finding that her husband was disposed to her just as she
+      could have wished him to be, thought that the time was come to seek
+      vengeance for her affliction; and embracing the Duke, she began to weep,
+      and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alas, my lord, my greatest unhappiness is to see you deceived by those on
+      whom is so deep an obligation to guard your substance and your honour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke, on hearing this, was very desirous of knowing why she spoke in
+      that manner, and earnestly begged her to make the truth known to him
+      without fear. After refusing several times, she said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall never wonder, my lord, that foreigners make war on Princes, when
+      those who are in duty most bound to them, wage upon them a war so cruel
+      that loss of territory were nothing in comparison. I say this, my lord, in
+      reference to a certain gentleman&rdquo; (naming her enemy) &ldquo;who, though reared
+      by your own hand and treated more like a son than a servant, has made a
+      cruel and base attempt to ruin the honour of your wife, in which is also
+      bound up the honour of your house and your children. Although for a long
+      time he showed me such looks as pointed to his wicked purpose, yet my
+      heart, which only cares for you, understood nothing of them; and so at
+      last he declared himself in words to which I returned a reply such as
+      beseemed my condition and my chastity. Nevertheless, I now so hate him
+      that I cannot endure to look at him, and for this cause I have continued
+      in my own apartment and lost the happiness of fellowship with you. I
+      entreat you, my lord, keep not this pestilence near your person; for,
+      after such a crime, he might fear lest I should tell you of it, and so
+      attempt worse. This, my lord, is the cause of my sorrow, and methinks it
+      were right and fitting that you should deal with it forthwith.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke, who on the one hand loved his wife and felt himself grievously
+      affronted, and on the other loved his servant, whose faithfulness he had
+      so fully tried that he could scarce believe this falsehood against him,
+      was in great distress and filled with anger. Repairing to his own room, he
+      sent word to the gentleman to come no more into his presence, but to
+      withdraw to his lodging for a time. The gentleman, being ignorant of the
+      cause of this, was grieved exceedingly, for he knew that he had deserved
+      the opposite of such unworthy treatment. Aware, then, of his own innocence
+      in heart and deed, he sent a comrade to speak to the Duke and take him a
+      letter, humbly entreating that if any evil report had caused his
+      banishment, his master would be pleased to suspend judgment until he had
+      heard from himself the truth of the matter, when it would be found that he
+      had been guilty of no offence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the Duke saw this letter, his anger was somewhat abated. He secretly
+      sent for the gentleman to his own room, and with wrathful countenance said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I could never have thought that the care I took to rear you as my own
+      child would be changed into regret at having so highly advanced you; but
+      you have attempted what was more hurtful to me than loss of life or
+      substance, and have sought to assail the honour of one who is half myself,
+      and so bring infamy on my house and name. You may be assured that this
+      outrage is so wounding to my heart that, were it not for my doubt whether
+      it be true or not, you would have already been at the bottom of the water,
+      and so have received in secret due punishment for the wrong that in secret
+      you intended against me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman was in no wise dismayed by this discourse, but, ignorant as
+      he was of the truth, spoke forth with confidence and entreated the Duke to
+      name his accuser, since such a charge should be justified rather with the
+      lance than with the tongue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your accuser,&rdquo; said the Duke, &ldquo;carries no weapon but chastity. Know,
+      then, that none other but my wife has told me this, and she begged me to
+      take vengeance upon you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor gentleman, though he then perceived the lady&rsquo;s great wickedness,
+      would not accuse her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My lord,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;my lady may say what she will. You know her better
+      than I do, and you are aware if ever I saw her when out of your sight,
+      save only on one occasion, when she spoke but little with me. You have,
+      moreover, as sound a judgment as any Prince alive; wherefore I pray you,
+      my lord, judge whether you have ever seen aught in me to cause any
+      suspicion; and remember love is a fire that cannot be hidden so as never
+      to be known of by those who have had a like distemper. So I pray you, my
+      lord, to believe two things of me: first, that my loyalty to you is such
+      that were my lady, your wife, the fairest being in the world, love would
+      never avail to make me stain my honour and fidelity; and secondly, that
+      even were she not your wife, I should be least in love with her of all the
+      women I have ever known, since there are many others to whom I would
+      sooner plight my troth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On hearing these words of truth, the Duke began to be softened, and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I assure you, on my part, that I did not believe it. Do, therefore,
+      according to your wont, in the assurance that, if I find the truth to be
+      on your side, I will love you yet better than before. But if it be not so,
+      your life is in my hands.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman thanked him and offered to submit to any pain or penalty if
+      he were found guilty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess, on seeing the gentleman again in waiting as had formerly been
+      his wont, could not endure it in patience, but said to her husband&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Twould be no more than you deserve, my lord, if you were poisoned, since
+      you put more trust in your deadly enemies than in your friends.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, sweetheart, do not torment yourself in this matter,&rdquo; said the
+      Duke. &ldquo;If I find that you have told me true, I promise you he shall not
+      live four and twenty hours. But he has sworn to the contrary, and I have
+      myself never perceived any such fault, and so I cannot believe it without
+      complete proof.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In good sooth, my lord,&rdquo; she replied, &ldquo;your goodness renders his
+      wickedness the greater. What more complete proof would you have than this,
+      that no love affair has ever been imputed to him? Believe me, my lord,
+      were it not for the lofty purpose that he took into his head of being my
+      lover, he would not have continued so long without a mistress; for never
+      did a young man live solitary as he does in such good company, unless he
+      had fixed his heart so high as to be content merely with his own vain
+      hope. Since, then, you think that he is not hiding the truth from you, put
+      him, I beg you, on oath as regards his love. If he loves another, I am
+      content that you should believe him, and if not, you will know that what I
+      say is true.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke thought his wife&rsquo;s reasonings very good, and, taking the
+      gentleman into the country with him, said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My wife continues still of the same mind, and has set before me an
+      argument that causes me grave suspicion against you. It is deemed strange
+      that you who are so gallant and young have never been known to love, and
+      this makes me think that you have such affection for her as she says, and
+      that the hope it gives you renders you content to think of no other woman.
+      As a friend, therefore, I pray you, and as a master I command you to tell
+      me whether you are in love with any lady on earth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Although the gentleman would have fain concealed his passion yet as he
+      loved his life, he was obliged, on seeing his master&rsquo;s jealousy, to swear
+      to him that he did indeed love one whose beauty was so great, that the
+      beauty of the Duchess or of any lady of the Court would be simply ugliness
+      beside it. But he entreated that he might never be compelled to name her,
+      since the agreement between himself and his sweetheart was of such a
+      nature that it could not be broken excepting by whichever of them should
+      be the first to make it known.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke promised not to urge him, and being quite satisfied with him,
+      treated him with more kindness than ever before. The Duchess perceived
+      this, and set herself with her wonted craft to find out the reason. The
+      Duke did not hide it from her; whereupon strong jealousy sprang up beside
+      her desire for vengeance, and she begged her husband to command the
+      gentleman to name his sweetheart. She assured him that the story was a
+      lie, and that the course she urged was the best means of testing it. If
+      the gentleman, said she, did not name her whom he deemed so beautiful, and
+      his master believed him on his mere word, he would indeed be the most
+      foolish Prince alive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor Duke, whose wife directed his thoughts at her pleasure, went to
+      walk alone with the gentleman, and told him that he was in even greater
+      trouble than before; for he was greatly minded to believe that he had been
+      given an excuse to keep him from suspecting the truth. This was a greater
+      torment to him than ever; and he therefore begged the gentleman, as
+      earnestly as he was able, to name her whom he loved so dearly. The poor
+      gentleman entreated that he might not be made to commit so great an
+      offence against his mistress as to break the promise he had given her and
+      had kept so long, and thus lose in a day all that he had preserved for
+      seven years. And he added that he would rather suffer death than in this
+      wise wrong one who had been true to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke, finding that he would not tell him, became deeply jealous, and
+      with a wrathful countenance exclaimed&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, choose one of two things: either tell me whom you love more than
+      any other, or else go into banishment from the territories over which I
+      rule, under pain of a cruel death if you be found within them after a week
+      is over.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      If ever heart of loyal servant was torn with anguish, it was so with that
+      of this poor gentleman, who might well have said, <i>Angustiæ sunt mihi
+      undique</i>, for on the one part he saw that by telling the truth he would
+      lose his mistress, if she learned that he had failed in his promise to
+      her; while, if he did not confess it, he would be banished from the land
+      in which she dwelt, and be no more able to see her. Hard pressed in this
+      manner on all sides, there came upon him a cold sweat, as on one whose
+      sorrow was bringing him near to death. The Duke, observing his looks,
+      concluded that he loved no other lady than the Duchess, and was enduring
+      this suffering because he was able to name none other. He therefore said
+      to him with considerable harshness&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If what you say were true, you would not have so much trouble in telling
+      me; but methinks &lsquo;tis your crime that is tormenting you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, piqued by these words, and impelled by the love that he
+      bore his master, resolved to tell him the truth, believing that he was too
+      honourable a man ever, on any account, to reveal it. Accordingly, throwing
+      himself upon his knees, and clasping his hands, he said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My lord, the duty that I owe to you and the love that I bear you
+      constrain me more than the fear of any death. I can see that you imagine
+      and judge falsely concerning me, and, to take this trouble from you, I am
+      resolved to do that to which no torment had compelled me. But I pray you,
+      my lord, swear to me by the honour of God, and promise me by your own
+      faith as a Prince and a Christian, that you will never reveal the secret
+      which, since it so pleases you, I am obliged to tell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon this the Duke swore to him with all the oaths he could think of that
+      he would never reveal aught of it to any living being, whether by speech,
+      or writing, or feature. Then the young man, feeling confidence in so
+      virtuous a Prince as he knew his master to be, began the building up of
+      his misfortune, and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is now seven years, my lord, since knowing your niece, the Lady du
+      Vergier, to be a widow and without kindred, I set myself to win her
+      favour. But, since I was of too lowly a birth to wed her, I contented
+      myself with being received by her as her true knight, as indeed I have
+      been. And it has pleased God that the affair has hitherto been contrived
+      with much discretion, so that neither man nor woman knows of it save
+      ourselves alone, and now, my lord, you also. I place my life and honour in
+      your hands, entreating you to keep the matter secret and to esteem your
+      niece none the less; for I think that under heaven there is no more
+      perfect being.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      If ever man was rejoiced it was the Duke, for, knowing as he did the
+      exceeding beauty of his niece, he now had no doubt that she was more
+      pleasing than his wife. However, being unable to understand how so great a
+      mystery could have been contrived, he begged the gentleman to tell him how
+      it was that he was able to see her. The gentleman related to him then that
+      his lady&rsquo;s chamber looked upon a garden, and that, on the days when he was
+      to visit her, a little gate was left open through which he went in on foot
+      until he heard the barking of a little dog which the lady used to loose in
+      the garden when all her women were withdrawn. Then he went and conversed
+      with her all night long, and, in parting from her, would appoint a day on
+      which he would return; and this appointment, unless for some weighty
+      reason, he never failed to keep. The Duke, who was the most inquisitive
+      man alive, and who had made love in no small degree in his day, wished
+      both to satisfy his suspicions and to fully understand so strange a
+      business; and he therefore begged the gentleman to take him, not as a
+      master but as a companion, the next time he went thither. To this the
+      gentleman, having gone so far already, consented, saying that he had an
+      appointment for that very day; at which the Duke was as glad as if he had
+      gained a kingdom. Making pretence of retiring to rest in his closet, he
+      caused two horses to be brought for himself and the gentleman, and they
+      travelled all night long from Argilly, where the Duke lived, to Le
+      Vergier. (2)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  At Argilly the Dukes of Burgundy had a castle, which was
+     destroyed during the religious wars at the close of the
+     sixteenth century. The place is now a small village in the
+     arrondissement of Nuits, Côte d&rsquo;Or. As the crow flies, it is
+     some ten miles distant from the ruins of the castle of
+     Vergy, which stands on a steep height, at an altitude of
+     over 1600 ft., within five miles from Nuits. The castle,
+     which can only be reached on one side of the hill, by a
+     narrow, winding and precipitous pathway, is known to have
+     been in existence already in the tenth century, when the
+     Lords of Vergy were Counts of Chalons, Beaune, and Nuits.
+     They appear to have engaged in a struggle for supremacy with
+     the princes of the first Ducal house of Burgundy, but in
+     1193 Alix de Vergy espoused Duke Eudes III., to whom she
+     brought, as dower, the greater part of the paternal
+     inheritance. The castle of Vergy was dismantled by Henry
+     IV., and the existing ruins are of small extent. Some
+     antiquaries believe the fortress to have been originally
+     built by the Romans.&mdash;B.J. and L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Then they left their horses without the wall, and the gentleman brought
+      the Duke into the garden through the little gate, begging him to remain
+      behind a walnut-tree, whence he might see whether he had been told the
+      truth or not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They had been but a short time in the garden when the little dog began to
+      bark, and the gentleman walked towards the tower, where his lady failed
+      not to come and meet him. She kissed him, saying that it seemed a thousand
+      years since she had seen him, and then they went into the chamber and shut
+      the door behind them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Having seen the whole of the mystery, the Duke felt more than satisfied.
+      Nor had he a great while to wait, for the gentleman told his mistress that
+      he must needs return sooner than was his wont, since the Duke was to go
+      hunting at four o&rsquo;clock, and he durst not fail to attend him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady, who set honour before delight, would not keep him from
+      fulfilling his duty; for what she prized most in their honourable
+      affection was that it was kept secret from all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So the gentleman departed an hour after midnight, and his lady in cloak
+      and kerchief went with him, yet not so far as she wished, for, fearing
+      lest she should meet the Duke, he obliged her to return. Then he mounted
+      with the Duke and returned to the castle of Argilly, his master
+      unceasingly swearing to him on the way that he would die rather than ever
+      reveal his secret. Moreover, he then put so much trust in the gentleman,
+      and had so much love for him, that no one in his Court stood higher in his
+      favour. The Duchess grew furious at this, but the Duke forbade her ever to
+      speak to him about the gentleman again, saying that he now knew the truth
+      about him and was well pleased, since the lady in question was more worthy
+      of love than herself. These words deeply pierced the heart of the Duchess,
+      and she fell into a sickness that was worse than fever.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke went to see her in order to comfort her, but there was no means
+      of doing this except by telling her the name of this beautiful and dearly
+      loved lady. She pressed him urgently to do this, until at last the Duke
+      went out of the room, saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you speak to me again after this fashion, we shall part one from the
+      other.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      These words increased the sickness of the Duchess, and she pretended that
+      she felt her infant stirring, at which the Duke was so rejoiced that he
+      came and lay beside her. But, just when she saw him most loving towards
+      her, she turned away, and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, my lord, since you have no love for either wife or child,
+      leave us to die together.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With these words she gave vent to many tears and lamentations, and the
+      Duke was in great fear lest she should lose her child. He therefore took
+      her in his arms and begged her to tell him what she would have, since he
+      possessed nothing that was not also hers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, my lord,&rdquo; she replied, weeping, &ldquo;what hope can I have that you would
+      do a hard thing for me, when you will not do the easiest and most
+      reasonable in the world, which is to name to me the mistress of the
+      wickedest servant you ever had? I thought that you and I had but one
+      heart, one soul, and one flesh. But now I see that you look upon me as a
+      stranger, seeing that your secrets, which should be known to me, are
+      hidden from me as though I were a stranger. Alas! my lord, you have told
+      me many weighty and secret matters, of which you have never known me to
+      speak, you have proved my will to be like to your own, and you cannot
+      doubt but that I am less myself than you. And if you have sworn never to
+      tell the gentleman&rsquo;s secret to another, you will not break your oath in
+      telling it to me, for I am not and cannot be other than yourself. I have
+      you in my heart, I hold you in my arms, I have in my womb a child in whom
+      you live, and yet I may not have your heart as you have mine. The more
+      faithful and true I am to you, the more cruel and stern are you to me, so
+      that a thousand times a day do I long by a sudden death to rid my child of
+      such a father and myself of such a husband. And I hope that this will be
+      ere long, since you set a faithless servant before a wife such as 1 am to
+      you, and before the life of the mother of your child, which will perish
+      because I cannot have of you that which I most desire to know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, she embraced and kissed her husband, and watered his face with
+      her tears, uttering the while such lamentations and sighs that the good
+      Prince feared to lose wife and child together, and resolved to tell her
+      all the truth of the matter. Nevertheless, he first swore to her that if
+      ever she revealed it to a living being she should die by his own hand; and
+      she agreed to and accepted this punishment. Then the poor, deceived
+      husband told her all that he had seen from beginning to end, and she made
+      show of being well pleased. In her heart she was minded very differently,
+      but through fear of the Duke she concealed her passion as well as she was
+      able.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now on a certain great feast-day the Duke held his Court, to which he had
+      bidden all the ladies of that country, and among the rest his niece. When
+      the dances began, all did their duty save the Duchess, who, tormented by
+      the sight of her niece&rsquo;s beauty and grace, could neither make merry nor
+      prevent her spleen from being perceived. At last she called all the
+      ladies, and making them scat themselves around her, began to talk of love;
+      and seeing that the Lady du Vergier said nothing, she asked her, with a
+      heart which jealousy was rending&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you, fair niece, is it possible that your beauty has found no lover
+      or true knight?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam,&rdquo; replied the Lady du Vergier, &ldquo;my beauty has not yet made such a
+      conquest. Since my husband&rsquo;s death I have sought to love none but his
+      children, with whom I deem myself happy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fair niece, fair niece,&rdquo; replied the Duchess, with hateful spleen, &ldquo;there
+      is no love so secret that it is not known, and no little dog so well
+      broken in and trained that it cannot be heard to bark.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I leave you to imagine, ladies, what sorrow the poor Lady du Vergier felt
+      in her heart on finding a matter, so long concealed, thus made known to
+      her great dishonour. Her honour, which had been so carefully guarded and
+      was now wofully lost, tortured her, but still more so her suspicion that
+      her lover had failed in his promise to her. This she did not think he
+      could have done, unless it were that he loved some lady fairer than
+      herself, to whom his love had constrained him to make the whole matter
+      known. Yet so great was her discretion that she gave no sign, but replied
+      laughing to the Duchess that she did not understand the language of
+      animals. However, beneath this prudent concealment her heart was filled
+      with sadness, so that she rose up, and, passing out of the chamber,
+      entered a closet in sight of the Duke, who was walking up and down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Having thus reached a place where she believed herself to be alone, the
+      poor lady let herself fall helplessly upon a bed, whereat a damsel, who
+      had sat down beside it to sleep, rose up and drew back the curtains to see
+      who this might be. Finding that it was the Lady du Vergier, who believed
+      herself to be alone, she durst say nothing to her, but listened, making as
+      little noise as she was able. And in a stifled voice the poor Lady du
+      Vergier began to lament, saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O unhappy one, what words have I heard? to what decree of death have I
+      hearkened? what final sentence have I received? O best beloved of men, is
+      this the reward of my chaste, honourable and virtuous love? O my heart,
+      hast thou made so parlous an election, and chosen for the most loyal the
+      most faithless, for the truest the most false, for the discreetest the
+      most slanderous? Alas! can it be that a thing hidden from every human eye
+      has been revealed to the Duchess? Alas, my little dog, so well taught and
+      the sole instrument of my love and virtuous affection, it was not you who
+      betrayed me, it was he whose voice is louder than a dog&rsquo;s bark, and whose
+      heart is more thankless than any brute&rsquo;s. Tis he who, contrary to his oath
+      and promise, has made known the happy life which, wronging none, we so
+      long have led together. O my beloved, the love of whom alone has entered
+      into my heart, and preserved my life, must you now be declared my deadly
+      foe, while mine honour is given to the winds, my body to the dust, and my
+      soul to its everlasting abode? Is the beauty of the Duchess so exceeding
+      great that, like the beauty of Circe, it has bewitched and transformed
+      you? Has she turned you from virtue to vice, from goodness to wickedness,
+      from being a man to be a beast of prey? O my beloved, though you have
+      failed in your promise to me, yet will I keep mine to you, and, now that
+      our love has been revealed, will never see you more. Nevertheless, I
+      cannot live without your presence, and so I gladly yield to my exceeding
+      sorrow, and will seek for it no cure either in reason or in medicine.
+      Death alone shall end it, and death will be sweeter to me than life on
+      earth without lover, honour or happiness. Neither war nor death has robbed
+      me of my lover; no sin or fault of mine has robbed me of my honour;
+      neither error nor demerit of mine has made me lose my joy. &lsquo;Tis cruel fate
+      that has rendered the most favoured of men thankless, and has caused me to
+      receive the contrary of that which I deserved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, my Lady Duchess, what delight it was to you to taunt me with my
+      little dog! Rejoice, then, in the happiness you owe to me alone; taunt her
+      who thought by careful concealment and virtuous love to be free from any
+      taunt. Ah! how those words have bruised my heart! how they have made me
+      blush for shame and pale for jealousy! Alas, my heart, I feel that thou
+      art indeed undone! The wicked love that has discovered me burns thee;
+      jealousy of thee and evil intent towards thee are to thee as ice and
+      death; while wrath and sorrow do not suffer me to comfort thee. Alas, poor
+      soul, that in adoring the creature didst forget the Creator, thou must
+      return into the hands of Him from whom vain love tore thee away. Have
+      trust, my soul, that thou wilt find in Him a Father kinder than was the
+      lover for whose sake thou hast so often forgotten Him. O my God, my
+      Creator, Thou who art the true and perfect love, by whose grace the love I
+      bore to my beloved has been stained by no blemish save that of too great
+      an affection, I implore Thee in mercy to receive the soul-and spirit of
+      one who repents that she has broken thy first and most just commandment.
+      And, through the merits of Him whose love passeth all understanding,
+      forgive the error into which excess of love has led me, for in Thee alone
+      do I put my perfect trust. And farewell, O my beloved, whose empty name
+      doth break my very heart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With these words she fell backward, and her face grew pallid, her lips
+      blue, and her extremities cold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just at this moment the gentleman she loved came into the hall, and,
+      seeing the Duchess dancing with the ladies, looked everywhere for his
+      sweetheart. Not finding her, he went into the chamber of the Duchess, and
+      there found the Duke, who was walking up and down, and who, guessing his
+      purpose, whispered in his ear&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She went into that closet, and methought she was ill.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman asked whether he would be pleased to let him go in, and the
+      Duke begged him to do so. When he entered the closet he found the Lady du
+      Vergier, come to the last stage of her mortal life; whereat, throwing his
+      arms about her, he said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is this, sweetheart? Would you leave me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor lady, hearing the voice that she knew so well, recovered a little
+      strength and opened her eyes to look upon him who was the cause of her
+      death; but at this look her love and anguish waxed so great that, with a
+      piteous sigh, she yielded up her soul to God.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, more dead than the dead woman herself, asked the damsel who
+      was there how this sickness had come upon his sweetheart, and she told him
+      all the words that she had heard. Then the gentleman knew that the Duke
+      had revealed the secret to his wife, and felt such frenzy that, whilst
+      embracing his sweetheart&rsquo;s body, he for a long time watered it with his
+      tears, saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O traitorous, wicked and unhappy lover that I am! why has not the
+      punishment of my treachery fallen upon me, and not upon her who is
+      innocent? Why was I not struck by a bolt from heaven on the day when my
+      tongue revealed the secret and virtuous love between us? Why did not the
+      earth open to swallow up this traitor to his troth? O tongue, mayest thou
+      be punished as was the tongue of the wicked rich man in hell!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O heart, too fearful of death and banishment, mayest thou be torn
+      continually by eagles as was the heart of Ixion! (3)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  Queen Margaret&rsquo;s memory plainly failed her here.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alas, sweetheart, the greatest of all the greatest woes has fallen upon
+      me! I thought to keep you, but I have lost you; I thought to see you for a
+      long time and to abide with you in sweet and honourable content, yet now I
+      embrace your dead body, and you passed away in sore displeasure with me,
+      with my heart and with my tongue. O most loyal and faithful of women, I do
+      confess myself the most disloyal, fickle and faithless of all men. Gladly
+      would I complain of the Duke in whose promise I trusted, hoping thus to
+      continue our happy life; but alas! I should have known that none could
+      keep our secret better than I kept it myself. The Duke had more reason in
+      telling his secret to his wife than I in telling mine to him. I accuse
+      none but myself of the greatest wickedness that was ever done between
+      lovers. I ought to have submitted to be cast into the moat as he
+      threatened to do with me; at least, sweetheart, you would then have lived
+      in widowhood and I have died a glorious death in observing the law that
+      true love enjoins. But through breaking it I am now in life, and you,
+      through perfectness of love, are dead; for your pure, clear heart could
+      not bear to know the wickedness of your lover.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O my God! why didst Thou endow me with so light a love and so ignorant a
+      heart? Why didst thou not create me as the little dog that faithfully
+      served his mistress? Alas, my little friend, the joy your bark was wont to
+      give me is turned to deadly sorrow, now that another than we twain has
+      heard your voice. Yet, sweetheart, neither the love of the Duchess nor of
+      any living woman turned me aside, though indeed that wicked one did often
+      ask and entreat me. &lsquo;Twas by my ignorance, which thought to secure our
+      love for ever, that I was overcome. Yet for that ignorance am I none the
+      less guilty; for I revealed my sweetheart&rsquo;s secret and broke my promise to
+      her, and for this cause alone do I see her lying dead before my eyes.
+      Alas, sweetheart, death will to me be less cruel than to you, whose love
+      has ended your innocent life. Methinks it would not deign to touch my
+      faithless and miserable heart; for life with dishonour and the memory of
+      that which I have lost through guilt would be harder to bear than ten
+      thousand deaths. Alas, sweetheart, had any dared to slay you through
+      mischance or malice, I should quickly have clapped hand to sword to avenge
+      you; &lsquo;tis therefore right that I should not pardon the murderer who has
+      caused your death by a more wicked act than any sword-thrust. Did I know a
+      viler executioner than myself, I would entreat him to put your traitorous
+      lover to death. O Love! I have offended thee from not having known how to
+      love, and therefore thou wilt not succour me as thou didst succour her who
+      kept all thy laws. &lsquo;Tis not right that I should die after so honourable a
+      manner; but &lsquo;tis well that I should die by mine own hand. I have washed
+      your face, sweet, with my tears, and with my tongue have craved your
+      forgiveness; and now it only remains for my hand to make my body like unto
+      yours, and send my soul whither yours will go, in the knowledge that a
+      virtuous and honourable love can never end, whether in this world or in
+      the next.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rising up from the body he then, like a frenzied man beside himself, drew
+      his dagger and with great violence stabbed himself to the heart. Then he
+      again took his sweetheart in his arms, kissing her with such passion that
+      it seemed as though he were seized rather with love than with death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The damsel, seeing him deal himself the blow, ran to the door and called
+      for help. The Duke, on hearing the outcry, suspected misfortune to those
+      he loved, and was the first to enter the closet, where he beheld the
+      piteous pair. He sought to separate them, and, if it were possible, to
+      save the gentleman; but the latter clasped his sweetheart so fast that he
+      could not be taken from her until he was dead. Nevertheless he heard the
+      Duke speaking to him and saying&mdash;&ldquo;Alas! what is the cause of this?&rdquo;
+       To which, with a glance of fury, he replied&mdash;&ldquo;My tongue, my lord, and
+      yours.&rdquo; So saying, he died, with his face close pressed to that of his
+      mistress.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke, wishing to know more of the matter, made the damsel tell him
+      what she had seen and heard; and this she did at full length, sparing
+      nothing. Then the Duke, finding that he was himself the cause of all this
+      woe, threw himself upon the two dead lovers, and, with great lamentation
+      and weeping, kissed both of them several times and asked their
+      forgiveness. And after that he rose up in fury, and drew the dagger from
+      the gentleman&rsquo;s body; and, just as a wild boar, wounded with a spear,
+      rushes headlong against him that has dealt the blow, so did the Duke now
+      seek out her who had wounded him to the bottom of his soul. He found her
+      dancing in the hall, and more merry than was her wont at the thought of
+      the excellent vengeance she had wreaked on the Lady du Vergier.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke came upon her in the midst of the dance, and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You took the secret upon your life, and upon your life shall fall the
+      punishment.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, he seized her by the head-dress and stabbed her with the dagger
+      in the breast. All the company were astonished, and it was thought that
+      the Duke was out of his mind; but, having thus worked his will, he brought
+      all his retainers together in the hall and told them the virtuous and
+      pitiful story of his niece, and the evil that his wife had wrought her.
+      And those who were present wept whilst they listened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the Duke ordered that his wife should be buried in an abbey which he
+      founded partly to atone for the sin that he had committed in killing her;
+      and he caused a beautiful tomb to be built, in which the bodies of his
+      niece and the gentleman were laid together, with an epitaph setting forth
+      their tragic story. And the Duke undertook an expedition against the
+      Turks, in which God so favoured him, that he brought back both honour and
+      profit. On his return, he found his eldest son now able to govern his
+      possessions, and so left all to him, and went and became a monk in the
+      abbey where his wife and the two lovers were buried. And there did he
+      spend his old age happily with God.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Such, ladies, is the story which you begged me to relate, and which, as I
+      can see from your eyes, you have not heard without compassion. It seems to
+      me that you should take example by it, and beware of placing your
+      affections upon men; for, however honourable or virtuous these affections
+      may be, in the end they have always an aftertaste of evil. You see how St.
+      Paul would not that even married people should so deeply love each other;
+      (4) for the more our hearts are set upon earthly things, the more remote
+      are they from heavenly affection, and the harder is the tie to be broken.
+      I therefore pray you, ladies, ask God for His Holy Spirit, who will so
+      fire your hearts with the love of God, that when death comes, you will not
+      be pained at leaving that which you love too well in this world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     4  I <i>Corinthians</i> vii. 32-5.&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If their love,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;was as honourable as you describe, why was
+      it needful to keep it so secret?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;the wickedness of men is so great, that they
+      can never believe deep love to be allied with honour, but judge men and
+      women to be wicked according to their own passions. Hence, if a woman has
+      a dear friend other than one of her nearest kinsfolk, she must speak with
+      him in secret if she would speak long with him; for a woman&rsquo;s honour is
+      attacked, whether she love virtuously or viciously, since people judge
+      only from appearances.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;when a secret of that kind is revealed, people think
+      far worse of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I grant you that,&rdquo; said Longarine; &ldquo;and so it is best not to love at
+      all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We appeal from that sentence,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;for, did we believe the
+      ladies to be without love, we would fain be ourselves without life. I
+      speak of those who live but to win love: and, even if they secure it not,
+      yet the hope of it sustains them and prompts them to do a thousand
+      honourable deeds, until old age changes their fair sufferings to other
+      pains. But, did we think that ladies were without love, it were needful we
+      should turn traders instead of soldiers, and instead of winning fame,
+      think only of hea&rsquo;ping up riches.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You would say, then,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that, were there no women, we should
+      all be dastards, as though we had no courage save such as they put into
+      us. But I am of quite the opposite opinion, and hold that nothing weakens
+      a man&rsquo;s courage so much as to consort with women or love them too much.
+      For this reason the Jews would not suffer a man to go to the war within a
+      year after his marriage, lest love for his wife should draw him back from
+      the dangers that he ought to seek.&rdquo; (5)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     5  See <i>Deuteronomy</i> xx. 5, 6, 7; and the comments thereon
+     of Rabelais (book iii. ch. vi.).&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I consider that law,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;to have been without reason, for
+      nothing will more readily make a man leave his home than marriage. The war
+      without is not harder of endurance than the war within; and I think that,
+      to make men desirous of going into foreign lands instead of lingering by
+      their hearths, it were only needful to marry them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;that marriage takes from them the care of
+      their houses; for they trust in their wives, and for their own part think
+      only of winning fame, feeling certain that their wives will give due heed
+      to the profit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;However that may be,&rdquo; replied Saffredent, &ldquo;I am glad that you are of my
+      opinion.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;you are not discussing what is chiefly to be
+      considered, and that is why the gentleman, who was the cause of all the
+      misfortune, did not as quickly die of grief as she who was innocent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Nomerfide replied&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Twas because women love more truly than men.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;&lsquo;twas because the jealousy and spitefulness of
+      women make them die without knowing the reason, whereas men are led by
+      their prudence to inquire into the truth of the matter. When this has been
+      learnt through their sound sense, they display their courage, as this
+      gentleman did; for, as soon as he understood the reason of his
+      sweetheart&rsquo;s misfortune, he showed how truly he loved her and did not
+      spare his own life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;she died of true love, for her steadfast and loyal
+      heart could not endure to be so deceived.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was her jealousy,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;which would not yield to reason,
+      so that she believed evil of her lover of which he was not guilty at all.
+      Moreover, her death was matter of necessity, for she could not prevent it,
+      whilst her lover&rsquo;s death was voluntary, after he had recognised his own
+      wrongdoing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Still,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;the love must needs be great that causes such
+      deep sorrow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have no fear of it,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;for you will never die of that kind of
+      fever.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nor,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;will you ever kill yourself after recognising your
+      error.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here Parlamente, who suspected that the dispute was being carried on at
+      her own expense, said, laughing&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis enough that two persons should have died of love, without two others
+      fighting for the same cause. And there is the last bell sounding for
+      vespers, which will have us gone whether you be willing or not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      By her advice the whole company then rose and went to hear vespers, not
+      forgetting in their fervent prayers the souls of those true lovers, for
+      whom, also, the monks, of their charity, said a <i>De profundis</i>. As
+      long as supper lasted there was no talk save of the Lady du Vergier, and
+      then, when they had spent a little time together, they withdrew to their
+      several apartments, and so brought to an end the Seventh Day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0062" id="linkimage-0062">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/213.jpg" width="100%" alt="213.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      EIGHTH DAY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <i>On the Eighth Day relation is made<br /> of the greatest yet truest<br />
+      folliesthat each<br /> can remember</i>. <a name="link2H_PROL8"
+       id="link2H_PROL8">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PROLOGUE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When morning was come they inquired whether their bridge (1) were being
+      well advanced, and found that it might be finished in two or three days.
+      These were not welcome tidings to some among the company, for they would
+      gladly have had the work last a longer time, so as to prolong the
+      happiness that they enjoyed in this pleasant mode of life. Finding,
+      however, that only two or three such days were left, they resolved to turn
+      them to account, and begged the Lady Oisille to give them their spiritual
+      nourishment as had been her wont. This she forthwith did, but she detained
+      them longer than usual, for before setting forth she desired to finish
+      reading the canonical writings of St. John; and so well did she acquit
+      herself of this, that it seemed as if the Holy Spirit in all His love and
+      sweetness spoke by her mouth. Glowing with this heavenly flame, they went
+      to hear high mass, and afterwards dined together, again speaking of the
+      past day, and doubting whether they could make another as fair.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  The allusion is to the bridge over the Gave spoken of in
+     the General Prologue (<i>ante</i>, vol. i. p. 25-6).&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In order to set about it, they retired to their own rooms until it was
+      time to repair to their Chamber of Accounts on the Board of Green Grass,
+      where they found the monks already arrived and in their places.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When all were seated, the question was put, who should begin; and
+      Saffredent said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You did me the honour to have me begin on two days. Methinks we should
+      act wrongly towards the ladies if one of them did not also begin on two.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It were then needful,&rdquo; said the Lady Oisille, &ldquo;either that we should
+      continue here for a great while, or else that a gentleman and a lady of
+      the company should forego the beginning of a day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For my part,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;had I been chosen, I would have given my
+      place to Saffredent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;to Parlamente, for I have been so wont to serve
+      that I know not how to command.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      To this all agreed, and Parlamente thus began&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ladies, the days that are past have been filled with so many tales of
+      wisdom, that I would beg you to fill this one with the greatest (yet most
+      real) follies that we can remember. So, to lead the way, I will begin.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0063" id="linkimage-0063">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/219a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="219a. The Saddler&rsquo;s Wife Cured by The Sight of Her Husband Caressing the Serving-maid " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Saddler&rsquo;s Wife Cured by the sight of her Husband <br /> Caressing the
+      Serving-maid]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0064" id="linkimage-0064">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/219.jpg" width="100%" alt="219.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXXI</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A saddler&rsquo;s wife, who was grievously sick, was made whole
+     and recovered the power of speech, which for the space of
+     two days site had lost, on seeing her husband holding his
+     serving-maid too familiarly on the bed whilst she herself
+     was drawing to her end</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the town of Amboise there lived one Brimbaudier, (1) saddler to the
+      Queen of Navarre, and a man whose colour of feature showed him to be by
+      nature rather a servant of Bacchus than a priest of Diana. He had married
+      a virtuous woman who controlled his household very discreetly, and with
+      whom he was well content.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  Boaistuau gives the name as Bruribandier, and Gruget
+     transforms it into Borribaudier. M, Pifteau, after examining
+     the MSS., is doubtful whether Brimbaudier is the correct
+     reading. Bromardier, which in old French meant a tippler
+     (Ducange, <i>Briemardum</i>), would have been an appropriate name
+     for the individual referred to.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      One day it was told him that his good wife was sick and in great danger,
+      at which tidings he was in the greatest trouble imaginable. He went with
+      all speed to her aid, and found her so low, poor woman, that she had more
+      need of a confessor than a doctor. Thereupon he made the most pitiful
+      lamentation that could be, but to represent it well &lsquo;twere needful to
+      speak thickly as he did, (2) and better still to paint one&rsquo;s face like
+      his.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  Curiously enough, the transcriber of MS. No. 1520
+     attempts to give some idea of the husband&rsquo;s pronunciation by
+     transforming all his r&rsquo;s into l&rsquo;s. Here is an example: &ldquo;Je
+     pelz ma povle femme, que fesai-ze, moi malhureux?... M&rsquo;amie
+     je me meuls, je suis pis que tlepassé... je ne sçai que
+     faize,&rdquo; &amp;c.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      When he had done all that he could for her, she asked for the cross, and
+      it was brought. On seeing this, the good man flung himself upon a bed in
+      despair, crying and saying in his thick speech&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah God! I am losing my poor wife! What shall I do, unhappy man that I
+      am?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After uttering many such complaints, he perceived that there was no one in
+      the room but a young servant-maid, passably fair and buxom, and he called
+      to her in a whisper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sweetheart,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I am dying. I am more than dead to see your
+      mistress dying in this manner. I know not what to do or say, except that I
+      commend myself to you, and beg you to care for my house and my children.
+      Take therefore the keys from my side, and order the household, for I
+      myself can attend to nothing more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor girl had pity on him and comforted him, begging him not to
+      despair, so that, if she must lose her mistress, she might not also lose
+      her good master.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sweetheart,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;&lsquo;tis all of no avail, for I am indeed dying.
+      See yourself how cold my face is; bring your cheeks close to mine and warm
+      them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With this he laid his hand upon her breast. She tried to make some
+      difficulty, but he begged her to have no fear, since they must indeed see
+      each other more closely. And speaking in this wise, he took her in his
+      arms and threw her upon the bed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then his wife, whose only company was the cross and the holy water, and
+      who had not spoken for two days, began to cry out as loudly as her feeble
+      voice enabled her&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! ah! ah! I am not dead yet!&rdquo; And threatening them with her hand, she
+      repeated&mdash;&ldquo;Villain! monster! I am not dead yet!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On hearing her voice, the husband and maid rose up, but she was in such a
+      rage against them that her anger consumed the catarrhal humour that had
+      prevented her from speaking, and she poured upon them all the abuse that
+      she could think of. And from that hour she began to mend, though not
+      without often reproaching her husband for the little love he bore her. (3)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  This story was imitated by Noël du Fail de La Hérissaye
+     in his <i>Contes d&rsquo;Eutrapel</i> (ch. v.<i> De la Goutte</i>), where
+     the hero of the incident is called Glaume Esnaut de
+     Tremeril. &ldquo;It is said,&rdquo; writes Du Fail, &ldquo;that the wife of
+     that rascal Glaume of Tremeril when at the point of death,
+     on seeing Glaume too familiar with her serving-woman,
+     recovered her senses, saying, &lsquo;Ah! wicked man, I am not yet
+     so low as you thought. By God&rsquo;s grace, mistress baggage, you
+     shall go forth at once.&rsquo;&rdquo; Curiously enough, the 1585 edition
+     of the <i>Contes d&rsquo;Eutrapel</i> was printed at Rennes for Noël
+     Glame, virtually the same name as Glaume.&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By this you see, ladies, the hypocrisy of men, and how a little
+      consolation will make them forget their sorrow for their wives.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you know,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that he had not heard that such was the
+      best remedy his wife could have? Since his kindly treatment availed not to
+      cure her, he wished to try whether the opposite would prove any better,
+      and the trial was a very fortunate one. But I marvel that you who are a
+      woman should have shown how the constitution of your sex is brought to
+      amendment rather by foul means than by fair.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Without doubt,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;behaviour of that kind would make me
+      rise not merely from my bed, but from a grave such as that yonder.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what wrong did he do her,&rdquo; asked Saffre-dent, &ldquo;by comforting himself
+      when he thought that she was dead? It is known that the marriage-tie lasts
+      only through life, and that when this is ended it is loosed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;loosed from oath and bond, but a good heart is never
+      loosed from love. The husband you have told us of was indeed quick to
+      forget his grief, since he could not wait until his wife had breathed her
+      last.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What I think strangest of all,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;is that, when death and
+      the cross were before his eyes, he should not have lost all desire to
+      offend against God.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A brave argument!&rdquo; said Simontault. &ldquo;You would therefore not be surprised
+      to see a man act wantonly provided he were a good distance from the church
+      and cemetery?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You may laugh at me as much as you please,&rdquo; said Nomerfide; &ldquo;nevertheless
+      the contemplation of death must greatly chill a heart, however young it
+      may be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should indeed be of the same opinion as yourself,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;if I
+      had not heard a Princess say the opposite.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In other words.&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;she told some story about it. If it be
+      so, I will give you my place that you may relate it to us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Dagoucin began as follows:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0065" id="linkimage-0065">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/224.jpg" width="100%" alt="224.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0066" id="linkimage-0066">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/225a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="225a. The Monk Conversing With The Nun While Shrouding A Dead Body " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Monk Conversing with the Nun while Shrouding a Dead Body]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0067" id="linkimage-0067">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/225.jpg" width="100%" alt="225.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXXII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Whilst engaged in the last deed of charity, the shrouding
+     of a dead body, a monk did also engage with a nun in the
+     deeds of the flesh, and made her big with child</i>. (1)
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In one of the finest towns of France after Paris there stood an hospital
+      (2) richly endowed&mdash;namely, with a Prioress and fifteen or sixteen
+      nuns, while in another building there was a Prior and seven or eight
+      monks. Every day the monks said mass, but the nuns only their paternosters
+      and the Hours of Our Lady, for they were occupied in tending the sick.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  Gruget first printed this tale, which was not given by
+     Boaistuau.&mdash;L.
+
+     2  It is impossible to say what town and hospital Margaret
+     here refers to. Lyons is the scene of the latter part of the
+     story; and we are inclined to think that the earlier
+     incidents may have occurred at Dijon, where there was a
+     famous hospital under ecclesiastical management, founded by
+     Eudes III., seventh Duke of Burgundy.&mdash;L. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      One day it chanced that a poor man died, and the nuns, being all assembled
+      with him, after giving him every remedy for his health, sent for one of
+      their monks to confess him. Then, finding that he was growing weaker, they
+      gave him the extreme unction, after which he little by little lost the
+      power of speech.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But as he was a long time in passing away, and it seemed that he could
+      still hear, the nuns continued speaking to him with the most comforting
+      words they knew, until at last they grew weary, and, finding that night
+      was come and that it was late, retired one after another to rest. Thus, to
+      shroud the body, there remained only one of the youngest of the nuns, with
+      a monk whom she feared more than the Prior or any other, by reason of the
+      severity that he displayed in both speech and life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When they had duly uttered their Hours in the poor man&rsquo;s ear, they
+      perceived that he was dead, and thereupon laid him out. Whilst engaged on
+      this last deed of charity, the monk began to speak of the wretchedness of
+      life, and the blessedness of death; and in such discourse they continued
+      until after midnight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor girl listened attentively to the monk&rsquo;s pious utterances, looking
+      at him the while with tears in her eyes; and so pleasing were these to him
+      that, whilst speaking of the life to come, he began to embrace her as
+      though he longed to bear her away in his arms to Paradise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor girl, listening to his discourse and deeming him the most pious
+      of the community, ventured not to say him nay.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Perceiving this, the wicked monk, whilst still speaking of God,
+      accomplished with her the work which the devil suddenly put into their
+      hearts&mdash;for before there had been no question of such a thing. He
+      assured her, however, that secret sin was not imputed to men by God, and
+      that two persons who had no ties, could do no wrong in this manner, when
+      no scandal came of it; and, to avoid all scandal, he told her to be
+      careful to confess to none but himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So they parted each from the other, she going first. And as she passed
+      through a chapel dedicated to Our Lady, she was minded to make her prayer
+      as was her wont. But when she began with the words, &ldquo;Mary, Virgin,&rdquo; she
+      remembered that she had lost the title of virginity not through force or
+      love, but through foolish fear; and she began to weep so bitterly that it
+      seemed as if her heart must break.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The monk, hearing the sighing from a distance, suspected her repentance,
+      which might make him lose his delight, and to prevent this, he came and,
+      finding her prostrate before the image, began to rebuke her harshly,
+      telling her that if she had any scruples of conscience she should confess
+      herself to him, and that she need not so act again unless she desired; for
+      she might behave in either way without sin. The foolish nun, thinking to
+      make atonement to God, confessed herself to the monk; but in respect of
+      penance he swore to her that she did no sin in loving him, and that holy
+      water would suffice to wash away such a peccadillo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Believing in him more than in God, she again some time afterwards yielded
+      to him, and so became big with child. At this she was in deep grief, and
+      entreated the Prioress to have the monk turned away from his monastery,
+      saying that she knew him to be so crafty that he would not fail to seduce
+      her. The Abbess and the Prior, who understood each other, laughed at her,
+      saying that she was big enough to defend herself against a man, and that
+      the monk she spoke of was too virtuous to do such a deed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At last, urged by the prickings of her conscience, she craved license to
+      go to Rome, for she thought that, by confessing her sin at the Pope&rsquo;s
+      feet, she might recover her virginity. This the Prior and Prioress very
+      readily granted her, for they were more willing that she should become a
+      pilgrim contrary to the rules of her order, than be shut up in the convent
+      with her present scruples. They feared also that in her despair she might
+      denounce the life that was led among them, and so gave her money for her
+      journey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But God brought it to pass that when she came to Lyons, my lady the
+      Duchess of Alençon, afterwards Queen of Navarre, being one evening after
+      vespers in the roodloft of the church of St. John, whither she came
+      secretly to perform a novena with three or four of her women, (3) heard
+      someone mounting the stairway whilst she was kneeling before the crucifix.
+      By the light of the lamp she saw it was a nun, and in order that she might
+      hear her devotions, the Duchess thereupon withdrew to the corner of the
+      altar. The nun, who believed herself to be alone, knelt down and, beating
+      her breast, began weeping so sorrowfully that it was piteous to hear her;
+      and all the while she cried naught but this&mdash;&ldquo;Alas! my God, take pity
+      on this poor sinner.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  See <i>ante</i>, Tale LXV., note i.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess, wishing to learn what it meant, went up to her and said,
+      &ldquo;Dear heart, what ails you, and whence do you come, and what brings you to
+      this place?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor nun, who did not know her, replied, &ldquo;Ah, sweet, my woe is such
+      that I have no help but in God; and I pray that He may bring me to speak
+      with the Duchess of Alençon. To her alone will I tell the matter, for I am
+      sure that, if it be possible, she will set it right.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dear heart,&rdquo; then said the Duchess, &ldquo;you may speak to me as you would to
+      her, for I am one of her nearest friends.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Forgive me,&rdquo; said the nun; &ldquo;she alone must know my secret.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the Duchess told her that she might speak freely, since she had
+      indeed found her whom she sought. Forthwith the poor woman threw herself
+      at her feet, and, after she had wept, related what you have heard
+      concerning her hapless fortune. The Duchess consoled her so well, that
+      whilst she took not from her everlasting repentance for her sin, she put
+      from her mind the journeying to Rome, and then sent her back to her priory
+      with letters to the Bishop of the place to have that shameful monk turned
+      away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have this story from the Duchess herself, and from it you may see,
+      ladies, that Nomerfide&rsquo;s prescription is not good for all, since these
+      persons fell into lewdness even while touching and laying out the dead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Twas a device,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that methinks no man ever used before, to
+      talk of death and engage in the deeds of life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis no deed of life,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;to sin, for it is well known that
+      sin begets death.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You may be sure,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;that these poor folk gave no thought
+      to any such theology; but just as the daughters of Lot made their father
+      drunk so that the human race might be preserved, so these persons wished
+      to repair what death had spoiled, and to replace the dead body by a new
+      one. I therefore can see no harm in the matter except the tears of the
+      poor nun, who was always weeping and always returning to the cause of her
+      tears.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have known many of the same kind,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;who wept for their
+      sins and laughed at their pleasures both together.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think I know whom you mean,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;and their laughter has
+      lasted so great a while that &lsquo;twere time the tears should begin.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hush!&rdquo; said Hircan. &ldquo;The tragedy that has begun with laughter is not
+      ended yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To change the subject,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;it seems to me that Dagoucin
+      departed from our purpose. We were to tell only merry tales, and his was
+      very piteous.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You said,&rdquo; replied Dagoucin, &ldquo;that you would only tell of follies, and I
+      think that herein I have not been lacking. But, that we may hear a more
+      pleasant story, I give my vote to Nomerfide, in the hope that she will
+      make amends for my error.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have indeed,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;a story ready which is worthy to follow
+      yours; for it speaks of monks and death. So I pray you give good heed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Here end the Tales and Novels of the late Queen of Navarre, that is,
+      all that can be recovered of them</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0068" id="linkimage-0068">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/232.jpg" width="100%" alt="232.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_APPE" id="link2H_APPE">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      APPENDIX.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0035" id="link2H_4_0035">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE SUPPOSED NARRATORS OF THE <i>HEPTAMERON</i> TALES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In his introductory essay to this translation of the <i>Heptameron</i>,
+      Mr. George Saintsbury has called attention to the researches of various
+      commentators who have laboured to identify the supposed narrators of Queen
+      Margaret&rsquo;s tales. As it may be fairly assumed that the setting of the work
+      is pure invention on the Queen&rsquo;s part, the researches in question can
+      scarcely serve any useful purpose. Still they appear to have had
+      considerable attraction for several erudite editors, whose opinions,
+      occasionally alluded to in our notes, we will here briefly summarise for
+      the information of those whom the matter may interest:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      OISILLE, a widow lady of long experience, is supposed by Messrs. de Lincy,
+      Lacroix, Génin, Frank, de Montaiglon and Miss Mary Robinson to be Louise
+      of Savoy. In some MSS. the name is written Osyle, the anagram of <i>Loyse</i>,
+      in which fashion Louise was spelt in old French. It may be pointed out, <i>en
+      passant</i>, that Brantôme&rsquo;s grandmother, the Sénéchale of Poitou, whose
+      connection with the <i>Heptameron</i> is recorded, was also named Louise
+      (see ante, vol. i. p. lxxxii.).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      PARLAMENTE, wife of Hircan, is supposed by the same commentators to be
+      Queen Margaret herself; this is assumed mainly because the views which
+      Parlamente expresses on religion, philosophy, men and women, are generally
+      in accord with those which the Queen is known to have professed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      HIRCAN, in M. de Lincy&rsquo;s opinion, might be the Duke of Alençon, Margaret&rsquo;s
+      first husband. Messrs. Frank and Mont-aiglon, following M. Lacroix, prefer
+      to identify him as Henry d&rsquo;Albret, King of Navarre. They conjecture the
+      name of Hircan to be derived from Ilanricus, a not uncommon fashion of
+      spelling Henricus. It might, however, simply come from <i>hircus</i>, a
+      he-goat, for Hircan is a man of gross, sensual tastes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      LONGARINE, a young widow, is supposed by M. de Lincy to be Blanche de
+      Chastillon, <i>née</i> de Tournon (concerning whom see <i>ante</i>, vol.
+      i. p. 84, n. 7, and p. 120 <i>et seq</i>.; vol. iv. p. 144, n. 2; and vol.
+      v. p. 25, n. 2). M. Frank, however, thinks she is Aimée Motier de la
+      Fayette, lady of <i>Longray</i>, widow of Francis de Silly, Bailiff of
+      Caen, and <i>gouvernante</i> to Queen Margaret&rsquo;s daughter, Jane of
+      Navarre. Miss Robinson shares this opinion, but M. de Montaiglon thinks
+      that <i>Longarine</i> would rather be Aimée Motier de la Fayette&rsquo;s
+      daughter Frances, married to Frederic d&rsquo;Almenesches, of one of the
+      branches of the house of Foix.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      SIMONTAULT (occasionally <i>Symontaut</i>), a young knight, is thought by
+      M. de Lincy to be Henry d&rsquo;Albret, Margaret&rsquo;s second husband, who was of an
+      extremely amorous disposition, and much younger than herself. Messrs.
+      Frank and de Montaiglon, however, fancy <i>Simontault</i> to have been
+      Francis, Baron de Bourdeilles, father of Brantôme. It is admitted,
+      however, that if this be the case, it is curious that Brantôme should not
+      have alluded to it in any of his writings, whereas he does speak both of
+      his mother and of his grandmother in connection with the <i>Heptameron</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      ENNASUITE (occasionally <i>Ennasuitte</i> or <i>Ennasuicte</i>, and in
+      some MSS. <i>Emarsuite</i>), is supposed by Messrs. de Lincy, Frank, and
+      de Montaiglon to be Anne de Vivonne, wife of Francis de Bourdeilles and
+      mother of Brantôme (see ante, vol. iv. p. 144, n. 2). It is pointed out
+      that the name may be transformed into the three words <i>Anne et suite</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      DAGOUCIN, a young gentleman, is thought by M. Frank to be Nicholas Dangu
+      (see ante, vol. i. p. 20, n. 4, and p. 40, n. 3), who became Chancellor to
+      the King of Navarre. M. Lacroix, however, fancies this personage to be a
+      Count d&rsquo;Agoust.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      GEBURON, apparently an elderly man, would in M. Frank&rsquo;s opinion be the
+      Seigneur de Burye, a captain of the Italian wars to whom Brantôme (his
+      cousin-german) alludes in his writings. The name of de Burye is also found
+      in a list of the personages present at Queen Margaret&rsquo;s funeral. M. de
+      Montaiglon shares M. Frank&rsquo;s views.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      NOMERFIDE, so M. de Lincy suggests, may have been the famous Frances de
+      Foix, Countess of Chateaubriand; but M. Frank opines that she is a
+      Demoiselle de Fimarcon or Fiédmarcon (Lat. <i>Feudimarco</i>), who in 1525
+      married John de Montpczat, called &ldquo;Captain Carbon,&rdquo; one of the exquisites
+      of the famous Field of the cloth of gold. Miss Robinson, however, fancies
+      that Nomerfide is Isabel d&rsquo;Albret, sister of Margaret&rsquo;s second husband,
+      and wife of René de Rohan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      SAFFREDENT, so M. de Lincy thinks, may be Admiral de Bonnivet; M. Frank
+      suggests John de Montpezat; and Miss Robinson René de Rohan, who, after
+      his father Peter de Rohan-Gié (husband of Rolandine, see <i>ante</i>, vol.
+      iii., Tale XXI, notes 2 and 15), had been killed at Pavia, was for some
+      years entrusted to Queen Margaret&rsquo;s care. As Miss Robinson points out, <i>Saffredent</i>
+      literally means greedy tooth or sweet tooth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Those who may be desirous of studying and comparing these various attempts
+      at identification, will find all the evidence and arguments of any value
+      set forth in the writings of M. Frank, M. de Montaiglon and Miss Robinson,
+      which are specified in the Bibliography annexed to this appendix.&mdash;Ed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_BIBL" id="link2H_BIBL">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BIBLIOGRAPHY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Fourteen MS. copies of the <i>Heptameron</i> are known to exist. Twelve of
+      these are at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, one is at the town library
+      of Orleans, and one in the Vatican library. We also have some record of
+      four other copies which were in private libraries at the end of the last
+      century.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The twelve MSS. at the Bibliothèque Nationale are the following:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I. (No. 1511 in the catalogue). A folio volume bound in red morocco,
+      bearing the Béthune arms. This MS. is on ruled paper, and only one leaf,
+      the last, is missing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      II. (No. 1512). A small folio, calf gilt, 350 leaves, from Colbert&rsquo;s
+      library. The handwriting is that of the middle of the sixteeenth century,
+      and is the same throughout; the last page bearing the signature &ldquo;Doulcet.&rdquo;
+       This supplied the text followed in the present translation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      III. (No. 1513). A small folio, half-bound in red morocco, stamped with
+      King Louis Philippe&rsquo;s monogram. It contains only twenty-eight of the
+      tales.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      IV. (No. 1514). A large quarto, calf, from the De Mesmes library. Contains
+      only thirty-four of the tales.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      V. (No. 1515). A small folio from Colbert&rsquo;s library, bound in calf, in
+      Groslier&rsquo;s style. The text is complete, but there are numerous interlinear
+      and marginal corrections and additions, in the same handwriting as MS.
+      VII.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      VI. (Nos. 1516 to 1519). Four quarto vols., red morocco, Béthune arms. The
+      first prologue is deficient, as is also the last leaf of tale lxxi.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      VII. (No. 1520). A folio vol., calf and red morocco, stamped with
+      fleurs-de-lys and the monogram of Louis XVIII. This MS. on stout ruled
+      paper, in a beautiful italic handwriting of the end of the sixteenth
+      century, is complete. Unfortunately Queen Margaret&rsquo;s phraseology has been
+      considerably modified, though, on the other hand, the copyist has inserted
+      a large number of different readings, as marginal notes, which render his
+      work of great value. It is frequently quoted in the present translation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      VIII. (No. 1523). A folio vol., calf, from the De La Marre library. The
+      first two leaves are deficient, and the text ends with the fifth tale of
+      Day IV.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      IX. (No. 1522). A small folio, bound in parchment, from the De La Marre
+      library. Only the tales of the first four days are complete, and on folio
+      259 begins a long poem called Les Prisons, the work probably of William
+      Filandrier, whom Queen Margaret protected. On the first folio of the
+      volume is the inscription, in sixteenth-century handwriting: <i>Pour ma
+      sour Marie Philander</i>. The poem <i>Les Prisons</i> is quoted on pp.
+      xxxviii.-ix. vol. i. of the present work. It concludes with an epitaph on
+      Margaret, dated 1549.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      X. (No. 1524). A folio vol. from Colbert&rsquo;s library, bound in red and
+      yellow morocco, on which is painted, on a blue ground, a vine laden with
+      grapes twining round the trunk of a tree. On either side and in gold
+      letters is the device, <i>Sin e doppo la morte</i> (until and after
+      death). Following the title-page, on which the work is called &ldquo;The
+      Decameron of the most high and most illustrious Princess, Madame Margaret
+      of France,&rdquo; is a curious preface signed &ldquo;Adrian de Thou,&rdquo; and dated
+      &ldquo;Paris, August 8, 1553.&rdquo; This Adrian de Thou, Lord of Hierville and canon
+      of Notre Dame de Paris, counsellor and clerk of the Paris Parliament, was
+      the fourth son of Augustine de Thou and uncle to James Augustus de Thou,
+      the historian. He died in October 1570. His MS. of the <i>Heptameron</i>,
+      a most beautiful specimen of caligraphy, contains a long table of various
+      readings and obscure passages; this was consulted in preparing the text
+      for the present translation. The titles to the tales have also been
+      borrowed from this MS.; they were composed by De Thou himself, and figure
+      in no other MS. copy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XI. (No. 1525). A small folio, calf, from Colbert&rsquo;s library, very
+      incomplete and badly written, but containing the <i>Miroir de Jésu Crist
+      crucifié</i>, the last poem Queen Margaret composed (see <i>ante</i>, vol.
+      i. p. lxxxvi.).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XII. (No. 2155). A small quarto, red morocco, from the library of Mazarin,
+      whose escutcheon has been cut off. The text, which is complete and
+      correct, excepting that a portion of the prologue has been accidentally
+      transposed, is followed by an epitaph on the Queen. The handwriting
+      throughout is that of the end of the sixteenth century.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The other MSS. of the <i>Heptameron</i> are the following:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XIII. (Orleans town library, No. 352). A folio vol. of 440 pp. It is
+      doubtful whether this MS. is of the sixteenth or seventeenth century. It
+      bears the title <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron des Nouvelles, &amp;c</i>. There are
+      numerous deficiencies in the text.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XIV. (Vatican library, No. 929; from the library of Queen Christina of
+      Sweden). A folio vol., calf, 95 leaves, handwriting of the end of the
+      sixteenth century. This only contains fifteen of the stories.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XV. (present possessor unknown). A folio vol., red morocco; text (ending
+      with tale lxix. ) in sixteenth-century handwriting, with illuminated
+      initial letters to each tale. <i>Catalogue des livres de feue Mme. la
+      Comtesse de Verrue</i>, Paris, G. Martin, 1737.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XVI. (possessor unknown). MS. supposed to be the original, a large folio,
+      handwriting of the period, antique binding, containing the seventy-two
+      tales. <i>Catalogue des livres, &amp;c., du cabinet de M. Filheul, &amp;c.</i>,
+      Paris, Chardin, 1779, pp. xxi. and 280.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XVII. (possessor unknown). A folio vol., blue morocco, gilt. No. 1493 in
+      the catalogue of the <i>Bibliothèque de Simon Bernard, chez Barrois</i>,
+      Paris, 1734; and No. 213 in a <i>Catalogue de manuscrits intéressants qui
+      seront vendus... en la maison de M. Gueret, notaire</i>, Paris, Debure
+      fils jeune, 1776.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XVIII. (possessor unknown). A folio vol., blue morocco, gilt, stamped with
+      the arms of France, from the Randon de Boisset library; the seventy-two
+      tales complete, a very fine copy. <i>Catalogue des livres de la
+      bibliothèqzie de l&rsquo;Abbé Rive</i>, Marseilles, 1793. (This MS. should not
+      be confounded with No. xvii. See L. J. Hubaud&rsquo;s <i>Dissertation sur les
+      Contes de la Reine de Navarre</i>, Marseilles, 1850.)
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following are the editions of Queen Margaret&rsquo;s tales issued from the
+      press from the sixteenth century to the present time. The list has been
+      prepared with great care, and we believe it to be as complete a one as can
+      be furnished; it includes several editions not mentioned in Brunet&rsquo;s
+      Manual:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I. <i>Histoires des Amans Fortunez dédiées à très illustre princesse, Mme.
+      Marguerite de Bourbon, etc., par Pierre Boaistuau, dit Launoy</i>, Paris,
+      1558, 40. The authorisation to print and publish was accorded to Vincent
+      Sertenas, and the work was issued by three different booksellers; some
+      copies bearing the name of Gilles Robinot, others that of Jean Cavyller,
+      and others that of Gilles Gilles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This, the first edition of the Queen&rsquo;s work, contains only sixty-seven of
+      the tales, which are not divided into days or printed in their proper
+      sequence; the prologues, moreover, are deficient, and all the bold
+      passages on religious and philosophical questions, &amp;c, in the
+      conversational matter following the stories, are suppressed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      II. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron des Nouvelles de tris illustre et très excellente
+      Princesse Marguerite de Valois, Royne de Navarre, &amp;c., dédié à très
+      illustre et très vertueuse Princesse Jeanne, Royne de Navarre, par Claude
+      Gruget, parisien</i>, Paris, Vincent Certena, or Jean Caveillier, 1559.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This contains all the Queen&rsquo;s tales excepting Nos. xi., xliv., and xlvi.,
+      which Gruget replaced by others, probably written by himself. The other
+      stories are placed in their proper order, but none of the names and
+      passages suppressed by Boaistuau are restored. The phraseology of the
+      MSS., moreover, is still further modified and polished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The text adopted by Boaistuau and Gruget was followed, with a few
+      additional modifications, in all the editions issued during the later
+      years of the sixteenth century. Most of these are badly printed and
+      contain numerous typographical errors:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      III. <i>L&rsquo;Heptamêron des Nouvelles, &amp;c</i>. Reprint of Gruget&rsquo;s
+      edition, sold by Vincent Sertenas, Gilles Robinot &amp; Gilles Gille, and
+      printed by Benoist Prévost, Paris, 1560.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      IV. <i>L&rsquo;Heptamêron des Nouvelles, &amp;c</i>., 1560, 16mo. (No
+      bookseller&rsquo;s or printer&rsquo;s name appears in this edition. )
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      V. <i>L&rsquo;Heptamêron, &amp;c</i>. (Gruget). Guill. Rouillé, Lyons, 1561,
+      small 12mo; Gilles Gilles, Paris, 1561, 16mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      VI. The same. Norment &amp; Bruneau, and Gilles Gilles, Paris, 1567, 16mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      VII. The same. Louys Cloquemin, Lyons, 1572, 16mo (reprinted in 1578 and
+      1581).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      VIII. The same. Michel de Roigny, Paris, 1574, 16mo (round letters).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      IX. The same. Gab. Buon, Paris, 1581, 16mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      X. The same. Abel L&rsquo;Angelier, Paris, 1581, 18mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XI. The same. Jean Osmont, Rouen, 1598, 578 pp., sin. 12mo (good type).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XII. The same. Romain Beauvais, Rouen, 1598, 589 pp. 12mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the seventeenth century the <i>Heptameron</i> was frequently reprinted,
+      Gruget&rsquo;s text, with a few changes, being still followed until 1698, when
+      it occurred to some obscure literary man to put the tales into so-called
+      <i>beau langage</i>. At the same time the title of <i>Heptameron</i>,
+      devised by Gruget, was discarded (see post, No. XVI.).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XIII. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron</i>, &amp;c., printed by Ch. Chappellein, Paris,
+      1607, 18mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XIV. The same. <i>Sur Pimprimé à Paris</i>, J. Bessin (Holland), 1615, sm.
+      l2mo (reprinted in 1698, 2. vols. 12mo).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XV. The same. David du Petit-Val, Rouen, 1625, 12mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XVI. <i>Contes et Nouvelles de Marguerite de Valois, Reine de Navarre, mis
+      en beau langage</i>. Gallet, Amsterdam, 1698, 2 vols, sm. 8vo. This
+      edition is valued not for its <i>beau langage</i>, but for the copperplate
+      engravings illustrating it. These are coarsely executed, and are
+      attributed to Roman de Hooge, but do not bear his name. A reprint of the
+      edition appeared at Amsterdam in 1700.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XVII. The same. Gallet, Amsterdam, 1708, 2 vols. sm. 8vo. Virtually a
+      reprint, but with several of the Roman de Hooge plates deficient, and
+      replaced by others signed Harrewyn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XVIII. The same. La Haye (Chartres), 1733, 2 vols. sm. 12mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XIX. The same. Londres, 1744, 2 vols. 12mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XX. Heptaméron Français, ou les Nouvelles de Marguerite, Reine de Navarre;
+      chez la Nouvelle Société Typographique, Berne, 1780-1, 3 vols. 8vo. On
+      some copies the title is simply, Nouvelles de Marguerite, etc., Berne,
+      1781; on others Béat Louis Walthard is designated as the publisher.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For this edition were executed the copperplate engravings, designed by
+      Freudenberg and Dunker, which illustrate the present translation. It was
+      at first intended to issue the work in parts, but after parts i. and ii.
+      had been published (at 4 livres each) the project was abandoned. A few
+      copies of these two parts are in existence; they bear the date 1778.
+      Freudenberg began his designs in the previous year, and finished them in
+      1780.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This edition is greatly prized for its illustrations; the text, however,
+      largely modified by Jean Rodolphe de Sinner, is without value. The work
+      was reissued at Paris in 1784 (8 vols, in 8vo, some copies 18mo), at Berne
+      in 1792, and again in Paris in 1807 (8 vols. 18mo).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following new editions of the <i>Heptameron</i> have appeared during
+      the present century:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXI. <i>Contes et Nouvelles de Marguerite, &amp;c</i>. Dauthereau, Paris,
+      1828, 5 vols. 32mo. (Collection des romans français et étrangers.)
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXII. <i>L&rsquo;Heptamêron, ou Histoire des Amants fortunés, &amp;c, ancien
+      texte publié par C. Gruget.., revu, corrigé et publié avec des notes,
+      &amp;c., par le bibliophile Jacob</i>. Gosselin (Bibliothèque d&rsquo;Élite),
+      Paris, 1841, 12mo. In this edition the Bibliophile Jacob (M. P. Lacroix)
+      but slightly modified Gruget&rsquo;s text, and his annotation was comparatively
+      insignificant. His work was reproduced in a volume of the <i>Panthéon
+      Littéraire: Les vieux Conteurs français</i>, Paris, 1841, 1. 8vo. (double
+      cols.).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXIII. <i>Heptaméron des Nouvelles de... Margtierile d&rsquo;Angouléme...
+      publiée sur les manuscrits par la Société des Bibliophiles Français</i>
+      (Le Roux de Lincy, editor), Paris, 1853-4, 3 vols. sm. 18mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In this edition the real text of the tales was printed for the first time,
+      M. de Lincy having carefully examined the best MSS. for this purpose. The
+      present English translation is based upon his work. Copies of the
+      &ldquo;Bibliophiles Français&rdquo; edition, which contains a portrait of the Queen, a
+      facsimile of a miniature, and an engraving showing her arms and device,
+      cannot be purchased, when in fair condition, for less than £6 in Paris.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXIV. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron des Nouvelles, etc.... avec des notes et une notice
+      par P. L. Jacob, Bibliophile</i> (Paul Lacroix). Adolphe Delahays, <i>Bibliothèque
+      Gauloise</i>, Paris, 1858, 18mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In this edition M. Lacroix, following M. de Lincy&rsquo;s example, went to the
+      MSS. for his text, which he annotated with care and erudition. All his
+      notes of any importance are reproduced in the present translation. The
+      edition of 1858 was reprinted in 1875.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXV. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron, &amp;c</i>. Gamier frères, Paris, n.d., 1 vol. 18mo.
+      This was long the &ldquo;popular&rdquo; edition in France. The text, which is
+      considerably modernised, is of no value.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXVI. <i>Les sept Journées de la Reine de Navarre, suivies de la huitième</i>.
+      Paris, Librairie des Bibliophiles (Jouaust), 1872, 4 vols. l6mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In this edition Gruget&rsquo;s text is followed; the notes, &amp;c, are by M.
+      Lacroix. The work is prized for its illustrations (a portrait and eight
+      etchings) by Leopold Flameng. It was originally issued in eight parts. The
+      value of the copies varies according to the paper on which they are
+      printed. Those on India or Whatman paper, with a duplicate set of the
+      engravings, command high prices. The text has been reissued by the same
+      firm in two cr. 8vo vols, under the title of <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron des contes,
+      etc</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXVII. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron des Nouvelles, &amp;c</i>, preface, notes, &amp;c,
+      by Benjamin Pifteau, in the <i>Nouvelle Collection Jannet</i>, Alphonse
+      Lemerre, Paris, 1875, 2 vols. l6mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This, undoubtedly the best of all the cheap editions, has been reprinted
+      by Marpon &amp; Flammarion, Paris, n.d. The text is from the MSS.; the
+      notes are mainly abbreviated from those of MM. de Lincy and Lacroix. M.
+      Pifteau supplies an introduction and glossary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXVIII. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron, &amp;c., publié avec Introduction, Notes et
+      Glossaire par Félix Frank</i>. Liseux, Paris, 1879, 3 vols. 12mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This, from the literary point of view, is one of the most important of
+      modern editions. The text is not taken from the same MS. as was followed
+      by M. de Lincy. The tales are preceded by a lengthy introduction, in which
+      the editor discusses Queen Margaret&rsquo;s work and seeks to identify the
+      supposed narrators of her tales. He has frequently been quoted in the
+      notes to this translation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXIX. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron, &amp;c, avec notes, variantes et glossaire par F.
+      Dillaye et notice par A. France</i>. A. Lemerre, Paris, 1879.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A handy edition based on the MSS. The notes embody the substance of M. de
+      Lincy&rsquo;s and M. Lacroix&rsquo;s researches with additional particulars supplied
+      by M. Dillaye, who has been quoted in the course of the present work.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXX. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron, &amp;c., publié stir les manuscrits avec les notes
+      de MM. Le Poux de Lincy et Anatole de Montaiglon</i>. Auguste Eudes,
+      Paris, 1880, 8 vols. 1. 8vo and 4 vols. cr. 8vo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The edition in 8 vols, (two copies of which on parchment were issued at
+      £44 each; and twelve on Japanese paper at £20 each) is illustrated with
+      the Freudenberg plates; that in 4 vols, contains the text only. The text
+      is the same as that of No. XXIII.; but with additional notes, prefatory
+      matter, &amp;c. The copyright attaching to this edition was acquired for
+      the present work, in which all M. de Montaiglon&rsquo;s important notes are
+      reproduced.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the English translations of the <i>Heptameron</i> are the following:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Heptameron</i>, or the <i>History of the Fortunate Lovers</i>,
+      translated by R. Codrington, London, 1654, 12mo. (Dedicated to Thomas
+      Stanley, the translator of Anacreon and editor of Æschylus, and based on
+      Boaistuau&rsquo;s defective text.)
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The <i>Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre, nota first translated
+      from the original text, by Walter K. Kelly</i>. Bohn (extra volume),
+      London, 1855. This has been several times reprinted. The translation is a
+      very free rendering of M. de Lincy&rsquo;s text; many passages are deficient.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The <i>Heptameron, &amp;c., translated from the original French by Arthur
+      Machen</i>. Privately printed (G. Redway), London, 1886, 1 vol. 1. 8vo. A
+      scholarly translation, not annotated; illustrated with the etchings by
+      Flameng (see <i>ante</i>, edition xxv.).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>The Fortunate Lovers, twenty-seven novels of the Queen of Navarre,
+      translated by Arthur Machen, edited with notes and introduction by A. Mary
+      F. Robinson</i>. G. Redway, London, 1887, 8vo. Etched frontispiece by G.
+      P. Jacomb Hood. This only contains such of the tales as the lady-editor
+      considered unobjectionable. In her introduction she sketches the life of
+      Queen Margaret and discusses the identity of the supposed narrators of the
+      tales. Some of the notes are original, but the majority are based upon the
+      researches of French commentators.&mdash;Ed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+     <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto" cellpadding="4" border="3">
+      <tbody>
+        <tr>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17701/17701-h/17701-h.htm">Volume
+            I.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17702/17702-h/17702-h.htm">Volume
+            II.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17703/17703-h/17703-h.htm">Volume
+            III.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17704/17704-h/17704-h.htm">Volume
+            IV.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+      </tbody>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V.
+(of V.), by Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALES OF THE HEPTAMERON ***
+
+***** This file should be named 17705-h.htm or 17705-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
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+  </body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V. (of V.), by
+Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V. (of V.)
+
+Author: Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
+
+Illustrator: Freudenberg and Dunker
+
+Translator: George Saintsbury: From The Authentic Text
+Of M. Le Roux De Lincy With An Essay Upon The Heptameron by the Translator
+
+Release Date: February 7, 2006 [EBook #17705]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALES OF THE HEPTAMERON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+THE TALES OF
+
+THE HEPTAMERON
+
+OF
+
+Margaret, Queen of Navarre
+
+_Newly Translated into English from the Authentic Text_
+
+OF M. LE ROUX DE LINCY WITH
+
+AN ESSAY UPON THE HEPTAMERON
+
+BY
+
+GEORGE SAINTSBURY, M.A.
+
+Also the Original Seventy-three Full Page Engravings
+
+
+
+Designed by S. FREUDENBERG
+
+And One Hundred and Fifty Head and Tail Pieces
+
+By DUNKER
+
+_IN FIVE VOLUMES_
+
+VOLUME THE FIFTH
+
+LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY OF ENGLISH BIBLIOPHILISTS
+
+MDCCCXCIV
+
+
+[Illustration: Frontispiece]
+
+[Margaret, Queen of Navarre, from a crayon drawing by Clouet, preserved
+at the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris]
+
+[Illustration: Titlepage]
+
+
+
+CONTENTS OF VOLUME V.
+
+SIXTH DAY.
+
+
+
+Prologue
+
+Tale LI. Cruelty of the Duke of Urbino, who, contrary to the promise
+he had given to the Duchess, hanged a poor lady that had consented to
+convey letters to his son's sweetheart, the sister of the Abbot of Farse.
+
+Tale LII. Merry trick played by the varlet of an apothecary at Alencon
+on the Lord de la Tireliere and the lawyer Anthony Bachere, who,
+thinking to breakfast at his expense, find that they have stolen from
+him something very different to a loaf of sugar.
+
+Tale LIII. Story of the Lady of Neufchatel, a widow at the Court of
+Francis I., who, through not admitting that she has plighted her troth
+to the Lord des Cheriots, plays him an evil trick through the means of
+the Prince of Belhoste.
+
+Tale LIV. Merry adventure of a serving-woman and a gentleman named
+Thogas, whereof his wife has no suspicion.
+
+Tale LV. The widow of a merchant of Saragossa, not wishing to lose the
+value of a horse, the price of which her husband had ordered to be given
+to the poor, devises the plan of selling the horse for one ducat only,
+adding, however, to the bargain a cat at ninety-nine.
+
+Tale LVI. Notable deception practised by an old Grey Friar of Padua,
+who, being charged by a widow to find a husband for her daughter, did,
+for the sake of getting the dowry, cause her to marry a young Grey
+Friar, his comrade, whose condition, however, was before long discovered.
+
+Tale LVII. Singular behaviour of an English lord, who is content merely
+to keep and wear upon his doublet the glove of a lady whom he loves.
+
+Tale LVIII. A lady at the Court of Francis I., wishing to prove that
+she has no commerce with a certain gentleman who loves her, gives him a
+pretended tryst and causes him to pass for a thief.
+
+Tale LIX. Story of the same lady, who, learning that her husband is in
+love with her waiting-woman, contrives to surprise him and impose her
+own terms upon him.
+
+Tale LX. A man of Paris, thinking his wife to be well and duly deceased,
+marries again, but at the end of fifteen years is forced to take his
+first wife back, although she has been living meantime with one of the
+chanters of Louis XII.
+
+
+SEVENTH DAY.
+
+Prologue
+
+Tale LXI. Great kindness of a husband, who consents to take back his
+wife twice over, spite of her wanton love for a Canon of Autun.
+
+Tale LXII. How a lady, while telling a story as of another, let her
+tongue trip in such a way as to show that what she related had happened
+to herself.
+
+Tale LXIII. How the honourable behaviour of a young lord, who feigns
+sickness in order to be faithful to his wife, spoils a party in which he
+was to have made one with the King, and in this way saves the honour of
+three maidens of Paris.
+
+Tale LXIV. Story of a gentleman of Valencia in Spain, whom a lady drove
+to such despair that he became a monk, and whom afterwards she strove in
+vain to win back to herself.
+
+Tale LXV. Merry mistake of a worthy woman, who in the church of St. John
+of Lyons mistakes a sleeping soldier for one of the statues on a tomb,
+and sets a lighted candle on his forehead.
+
+Tale LXVI. How an old serving-woman, thinking to surprise a Prothonotary
+with a lady, finds herself insulting Anthony de Bourbon and his wife
+Jane d'Albret.
+
+Tale LXVII. How the Sire de Robertval, granting a traitor his life at
+the prayers of the man's wife, set them both down on a desert island,
+and how, after the husband's death, the wife was rescued and brought
+back to La Rochelle.
+
+Tale LXVIII. The wife of an apothecary at Pau, hearing her husband give
+some powder of cantharides to a woman who was godmother with himself,
+secretly administered to him such a dose of the same drug that he nearly
+died.
+
+Tale LXIX. How the wife of one of the King's Equerries surprised her
+husband muffled in the hood of their servant-maid, and bolting meal in
+her stead.
+
+Tale LXX. Of the love of a Duchess of Burgundy for a gentleman who
+rejects her advances, for which reason she accuses him to the Duke her
+husband, and the latter does not believe his oaths till assured by
+him that he loves the Lady du Vergier. Then the Duchess, having drawn
+knowledge of this amour from her husband, addresses to the Lady du
+Vergier in public, an allusion that causes the death of both lovers; and
+the Duke, in despair at his own lack of discretion, stabs the Duchess
+himself.
+
+
+EIGHTH DAY.
+
+Prologue
+
+Tale LXXI. The wife of a saddler of Amboise is saved on her deathbed
+through a fit of anger at seeing her husband fondle a servant-maid.
+
+Tale LXXII. Kindness of the Duchess of Alencon to a poor nun whom she
+meets at Lyons, on her way to Rome, there to confess to the Pope how a
+monk had wronged her, and to obtain his Holiness's pardon.
+
+Appendix (The Narrators of the Heptameron)
+
+Bibliography
+
+
+
+
+PAGE ENGRAVINGS CONTAINED IN VOLUME V.
+
+
+Tale LI. The Duke of Urbino sending the Maiden to Prison for carrying
+Messages between his Son and his Sweetheart.
+
+LII. The Gentleman and his Friend annoyed by The Smell of that which
+they Thought was Sugar.
+
+LIII. The Lord des Cheriots flying from the Prince's Servant.
+
+LIV. The Lady watching the Shadow Faces Kissing.
+
+LV. The Servant selling the Horse with the Cat.
+
+LVI. The Grey Friar introducing his Comrade to the Lady and her
+Daughter.
+
+LVII. The English Lord seizing the Lady's Glove.
+
+LVIII. The Gentleman Mocked by the Ladies When Returning From The False
+Tryst.
+
+LIX. The Lady discovering her Husband with the Waiting-woman.
+
+LX. The Chanter of Blois delivering his Mistress from the Grave.
+
+LXI. The Lady returning to her Lover, the Canon of Autun.
+
+LXII. The Gentleman's Spur catching in the Sheet.
+
+LXIII. The King asking the Young Lord to join his Banquet.
+
+LXIV. The Lady Swooning in the Arms of the Gentleman of Valencia who had
+become a Monk.
+
+LXV. The Old Woman startled by the Waking of the Soldier.
+
+LXVI. The Old Serving-woman explaining her Mistake to the Duke and
+Duchess of Vendome.
+
+LXVII. The Wife Reading to her Husband on the Desert Island.
+
+LXVIII. The Apothecary's Wife giving the Dose of Cantharides to her
+Husband.
+
+LXIX. The Wife discovering her Husband in the Hood of their
+Serving-maid.
+
+LXX. The Gentleman Killing Himself on the Death of his Mistress.
+
+LXXI. The Saddler's Wife Cured by the sight of her Husband Caressing the
+Serving-maid.
+
+LXXII. The Monk Conversing with the Nun while Shrouding a Dead Body.
+
+
+
+
+SIXTH DAY.
+
+_On the Sixth Day are related the deceits practised
+by Man on Woman, Woman on Man, or
+Woman on Woman, through
+greed, revenge, and
+wickedness_.
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE.
+
+In the morning the Lady Oisille went earlier than was her wont to make
+ready for her reading in the hall, but the company being advised of
+this, and eager to hearken to her excellent instruction, used such
+despatch in dressing themselves that she had not long to wait.
+Perceiving their fervour, she set about reading them the Epistle of St.
+John the Evangelist, which is full of naught but love, in the same wise
+as, on the foregoing days, she had expounded to them St. Paul's Epistle
+to the Romans. The company found this fare so much to their taste, that,
+although they tarried a half-hour longer than on the other days, it
+seemed to them as if they had not remained there a quarter of an hour
+altogether. From thence they proceeded to the contemplation of the mass,
+when one and all commended themselves to the Holy Ghost in order that
+they might that day be enabled to satisfy their merry audience; and,
+after they had broken their fast and taken a little rest, they set out
+to resume their accustomed diversion.
+
+And the Lady Oisille asking who should begin the day, Longarine made
+answer--
+
+"I give my vote to Madame Oisille; she has this day read to us so
+beauteous a lesson, that she can but tell us some story apt to crown the
+glory which she won this morning."
+
+"I am sorry," said Oisille, "that I cannot tell you aught so profitable
+this afternoon as I did in the morning. But at least the purport of my
+story shall not depart from the teaching of Holy Scripture, where it is
+written, 'Trust not in princes, nor in the sons of men, in whom is not
+our salvation.' (1) And that this truth may not be forgotten by you for
+lack of an example, I will tell you a tale which is quite true, and the
+memory of which is so fresh that the eyes of those that saw the piteous
+sight are scarcely yet dried."
+
+[Illustration: 005a.jpg The Duke of Urbino sending the Maiden to Prison for carrying
+Messages between his Son and his Sweetheart]
+
+[The Duke of Urbino sending the Maiden to Prison for carrying
+Messages between his Son and his Sweetheart]
+
+[Illustration: 005.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LI_.
+
+     _Because he would not have his son make a poor marriage, the
+     Duke of Urbino, contrary to the promise given to his wife,
+     hanged a young maiden by whom his son was wont to inform his
+     sweetheart of the love he bore her_.
+
+The Duke of Urbino, called the Prefect, (1) the same that married the
+sister of the first Duke of Mantua, had a son of between eighteen and
+twenty years of age, who was in love with a girl of an excellent and
+honourable house, sister to the Abbot of Farse. (2) And since, according
+to the custom of the country, he was not free to converse with her as
+he wished, he obtained the aid of a gentleman in his service, who was in
+love with a very beautiful and virtuous young damsel in the service of
+his mother. By means of this damsel he informed his sweetheart of the
+deep affection that he bore her; and the poor girl, thinking no harm,
+took pleasure in doing him service, believing his purpose to be so good
+and virtuous that she might honourably be the carrier of his intentions.
+But the Duke, who had more regard for the profit of his house than
+for any virtuous affection, was in such great fear lest these dealings
+should lead his son (3) into marriage, that he caused a strict watch
+to be kept; whereupon he was informed that the poor damsel had been
+concerned in carrying some letters from his son to the lady he loved. On
+hearing this he was in great wrath, and resolved to take the matter in
+hand.
+
+     1  This is Francesco Maria I., della Rovere, nephew to Pope
+     Julius II., by whom he was created Prefect of Rome. Brought
+     up at the French Court, he became one of the great captains
+     of the period, especially distinguishing himself in the
+     command of the Venetian forces during the earlier part of
+     his career. He married Leonora Ypolita Gonzaga, daughter of
+     Francesco II., fourth Marquis of Mantua, respecting whom see
+     _ante_, vol. iii., notes to Tale XIX. It was Leonora rather
+     than her husband who imparted lustre to the Court of Urbino
+     at this period by encouraging arts and letters. Among those
+     who flourished there were Raffaelle and Baldassare
+     Castiglione. Francesco Maria, born in March 1491, died in
+     1538 from the effects--so it is asserted by several
+     contemporary writers--of a poisonous lotion which a Mantuan
+     barber had dropped into his ear. His wife, who bore him two
+     sons (see post, note 3), died at the age of 72, in 1570.--L.
+     and Ed.
+
+     2  The French words are _Abbe de Farse_. Farse would appear
+     to be a locality, as abbots were then usually designated by
+     the names of their monasteries; still it may be intended for
+     the Abbot's surname, and some commentators, adopting this
+     view, have suggested that the proper reading would be
+     Farnese.--Ed.
+
+     3  The Duke's two sons were Federigo, born in March 1511,
+     and Guidobaldo, born in April 1514. The former according to
+     all authorities died when "young," and probably long before
+     reaching man's estate. Dennistoun, in his searching _Memoirs
+     of the Dukes of Urbino_ (London, 1851), clearly shows that
+     for many years prior to Francesco Maria's death his second
+     son Guidobaldo was the only child remaining to him. Already
+     in 1534, when but twenty years old, Guidobaldo was regarded
+     as his father's sole heir and successor. In that year
+     Francesco Maria forced the young man to marry Giulia Varana,
+     a child of eleven, in order that he might lay claim to her
+     father's state of Camerino and annex it to the duchy. There
+     is no record of Guidobaldo having ever engaged in any such
+     intrigue as related by Queen Margaret in the above tale,
+     still it must be to him that she refers, everything pointing
+     to the conclusion that his brother Federigo died in
+     childhood. Guidobaldo became Duke of Urbino on his father's
+     death.--Ed.
+
+He could not, however, conceal his anger so well that the maiden was
+not advised of it, and knowing his wickedness, which was in her eyes
+as great as his conscience was small, she felt a wondrous dread. Going
+therefore to the Duchess, she craved leave to retire somewhere out of
+the Duke's sight until his passion should be past; but her mistress
+replied that, before giving her leave to do so, she would try to find
+out her husband's will in the matter.
+
+Very soon, however, the Duchess heard the Duke's evil words concerning
+the affair, and, knowing his temper, she not only gave the maiden leave,
+but advised her to retire into a convent until the storm was over. This
+she did as secretly as she could, yet not so stealthily but that the
+Duke was advised of it. Thereupon, with pretended cheerfulness of
+countenance, he asked his wife where the maiden was, and she, believing
+him to be well aware of the truth, confessed it to him. He feigned to
+be vexed thereat, saying that the girl had no need to behave in that
+fashion, and that for his part he desired her no harm. And he requested
+his wife to cause her to come back again, since it was by no means well
+to have such matters noised abroad.
+
+The Duchess replied that, if the poor girl was so unfortunate as to have
+lost his favour, it were better for a time that she should not come
+into his presence; however, he would not hearken to her reasonings, but
+commanded her to bid the maiden return.
+
+The Duchess failed not to make the Duke's will known to the maiden; but
+the latter, who could not but feel afraid, entreated her mistress that
+she might not be compelled to run this risk, saying that she knew the
+Duke was not so ready to forgive her as he feigned to be. Nevertheless,
+the Duchess assured her that she should take no hurt, and pledged her
+own life and honour for her safety.
+
+The girl, who well knew that her mistress loved her, and would not
+lightly deceive her, trusted in her promise, believing that the Duke
+would never break a pledge when his wife's honour was its warranty. And
+accordingly she returned to the Duchess.
+
+As soon as the Duke knew this, he failed not to repair to his wife's
+apartment. There, as soon as he saw the maiden, he said to his wife,
+"So such-a-one has returned," and turning to his gentlemen, he commanded
+them to arrest her and lead her to prison.
+
+At this the poor Duchess, who by the pledging of her word had drawn the
+maiden from her refuge, was in such despair that, falling upon her knees
+before her husband, she prayed that for love of herself and of his
+house he would not do so foul a deed, seeing that it was in obedience to
+himself that she had drawn the maiden from her place of safety.
+
+But no prayer that she could utter availed to soften his hard heart, or
+to overcome his stern resolve to be avenged. Without making any reply,
+he withdrew as speedily as possible, and, foregoing all manner of trial,
+and forgetting God and the honour of his house, he cruelly caused the
+hapless maiden to be hanged.
+
+I cannot undertake to recount to you the grief of the Duchess; it was
+such as beseemed a lady of honour and a tender heart on beholding one,
+whom she would fain have saved, perish through trust in her own plighted
+faith. Still less is it possible to describe the deep affliction of the
+unhappy gentleman, the maiden's lover, who failed not to do all that
+in him lay to save his sweetheart's life, offering to give his own for
+hers; but no feeling of pity moved the heart of this Duke, whose only
+happiness was that of avenging himself on those whom he hated. (4)
+
+     4  That Francesco-Maria was a man of a hasty, violent
+     temperament is certain. Much that Guicciardini relates of
+     him was doubtless penned in a spirit of resentment, for
+     during the time the historian lived at Urbino the Duke
+     repeatedly struck him, and on one occasion felled him to the
+     ground, with the sneering remark, "Your business is to
+     confer with pedants." On the other hand, however, there is
+     independent documentary evidence in existence--notably
+     among the Urbino MSS. in the Vatican library--which shows
+     that Francesco-Maria in no wise recoiled from shedding
+     blood. He was yet in his teens when it was reported to him
+     that his sister--the widow of Venanzio of Camerino, killed
+     by Caesar Borgia--had secretly married a certain Giovanni
+     Andrea of Verona and borne him a son. Watching his
+     opportunity, Francesco-Maria set upon the unfortunate Andrea
+     one day in the ducal chamber and then and there killed him,
+     though not without resistance, for Andrea only succumbed
+     after receiving _four-and-twenty_ stabs with his murderer's
+     poignard (Urbino MSS. Vat. No. 904). A few years later, in
+     1511, Francesco-Maria assassinated the Papal Legate
+     Alidosio, Cardinal Archbishop of Pavia, whom he encountered
+     in the environs of Bologna riding his mule and followed by a
+     hundred light horse. Nevertheless Urbino, with only a small
+     retinue, galloped up to him, plunged a dagger into his
+     stomach and fled before the soldiery could intervene. From
+     these examples it will be seen that, although history has
+     preserved no record of the affair related by Queen Margaret,
+     her narrative may well be a true one.--Ed.
+
+Thus, in spite of every law of honour, was the innocent maiden put to
+death by this cruel Duke, to the exceeding sorrow of all that knew her.
+
+"See, ladies, what are the effects of wickedness when this is combined
+with power."
+
+"I had indeed heard," said Longarine, "that the Italians were prone to
+three especial vices; but I should not have thought that vengeance and
+cruelty would have gone so far as to deal a cruel death for so slight a
+cause."
+
+"Longarine," said Saffredent, laughing, "you have told us one of the
+three vices, but we must also know the other two."
+
+"If you did not know them," she replied, "I would inform you, but I am
+sure that you know them all."
+
+"From your words," said Saffredent, "it seems that you deem me very
+vicious."
+
+"Not so," said Longarine, "but you so well know the ugliness of vice
+that, better than any other, you are able to avoid it."
+
+"Do not be amazed," said Simontault, "at this act of cruelty. Those who
+have passed through Italy have seen such incredible instances, that this
+one is in comparison but a trifling peccadillo."
+
+"Ay, truly," said Geburon. "When Rivolta was taken by the French, (5)
+there was an Italian captain who was esteemed a knightly comrade, but
+on seeing the dead body of a man who was only his enemy in that being a
+Guelph he was opposed to the Ghibellines, he tore out his heart, broiled
+it on the coals and devoured it. And when some asked him how he liked
+it, he replied that he had never eaten so savoury or dainty a morsel.
+Not content with this fine deed, he killed the dead man's wife, and
+tearing out the fruit of her womb, dashed it against a wall. Then he
+filled the bodies both of husband and wife with oats and made his horses
+eat from them. Think you that such a man as that would not surely have
+put to death a girl whom he suspected of offending him?"
+
+     5  Rivolta or Rivoli was captured by the French under Louis
+     XII. in 1509. An instance of savagery identical in character
+     with that mentioned by "Geburon" had already occurred at the
+     time of Charles VIII.'s expedition to Naples, when the
+     culprit, a young Italian of good birth, was seized and
+     publicly executed.--Ed.
+
+"It must be acknowledged," said Ennasuite, "that this Duke of Urbino
+was more afraid that his son might make a poor marriage than desirous of
+giving him a wife to his liking."
+
+"I think you can have no doubt," replied Simon-tault, "that it is the
+Italian nature to love unnaturally that which has been created only for
+nature's service."
+
+"Worse than that," said Hircan, "they make a god of things that are
+contrary to nature."
+
+"And there," said Longarine, "you have another one of the sins that
+I meant; for we know that to love money, excepting so far as it be
+necessary, is idolatry."
+
+Parlamente then said that St. Paul had not forgotten the vices of the
+Italians, and of all those who believe that they exceed and surpass
+others in honour, prudence and human reason, and who trust so strongly
+to this last as to withhold from God the glory that is His due.
+Wherefore the Almighty, jealous of His honour, renders' those who
+believe themselves possessed of more understanding than other men,
+more insensate even than wild the beasts, causing them to show by their
+unnatural deeds that their sense is reprobate.
+
+Longarine here interrupted Parlamente to say that this was indeed the
+third sin to which the Italians were prone.
+
+"By my faith," said Nomerfide, "this discourse is very pleasing to
+me, for, since those that possess the best trained and acutest
+understandings are punished by being made more witless even than wild
+beasts, it must follow that such as are humble, and low, and of little
+reach, like myself, are filled with the wisdom of angels."
+
+"I protest to you," said Oisille, "that I am not far from your opinion,
+for none is more ignorant than he who thinks he knows."
+
+"I have never seen a mocker," said Geburon, "that was not mocked, a
+deceiver that was not deceived, or a boaster that was not humbled."
+
+"You remind me," said Simontault, "of a deceit which, had it been of a
+seemly sort, I would willingly have related."
+
+"Well," said Oisille, "since we are here to utter truth, I give you my
+vote that you may tell it to us whatsoever its nature may be."
+
+"Since you give place to me," said Simontault, "I will tell it you."
+
+
+[Illustration: 014.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 015a.jpg The Gentleman and his Friend annoyed by The Smell of that which they Thought was Sugar]
+
+[The Gentleman and his Friend annoyed by The Smell of that which they Thought was Sugar]
+
+[Illustration: 015.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LII_.
+
+     _An apothecary s man, espying behind him an advocate who was
+     to plague him, and on whom he desired to be revenged,
+     dropped from his sleeve a lump of frozen ordure, wrapped in
+     paper like a sugar-loaf, which a gentleman who was with the
+     advocate picked up and hid in his bosom, and then went to
+     breakfast at a tavern, whence he came forth with all the
+     cost and shame that he had thought to bring upon the poor
+     varlet_.
+
+Near the town of Alencon there lived a gentleman called the Lord of La
+Tireliere, who one morning came from his house to the town afoot, both
+because the distance was not great and because it was freezing hard. (1)
+When he had done his business, he sought out a crony of his, an advocate
+named Anthony Bachere, and, after speaking with him of his affairs, he
+told him that he should much like to meet with a good breakfast, but at
+somebody else's expense. While thus discussing, they sat themselves down
+in front of an apothecary's shop, where there was a varlet who listened
+to them, and who forthwith resolved to give them their breakfast.
+
+     1  The phraseology of this story varies considerably in the
+     different MSS. of the _Heptameron_. In No. 1520, for
+     instance, the tale begins as follows: "In the town of
+     Alencon, in the time of the last Duke Charles, there was an
+     advocate, a merry companion, fond of breakfasting o'
+     mornings. One day, whilst he sat at his door, he saw pass a
+     gentleman called the Lord of La Tilleriere, who, by reason
+     of the extreme cold, had come on foot from his house to the
+     town in order to attend to certain business there, and in
+     doing so had not forgotten to put on his great robe, lined
+     with fox-skin. And when he saw the advocate, who was much
+     such a man as himself, he told him that he had completed his
+     business, and had nothing further to do, except it were to
+     find a good breakfast. The advocate made answer that they
+     could find breakfasts enough and to spare, provided they had
+     some one to defray the cost, and, taking the other under the
+     arm, he said to him, 'Come, gossip, we may perhaps find some
+     fool who will pay the reckoning for us both.' Now behind
+     them was an apothecary's man, an artful and inventive
+     fellow, whom this advocate was always plaguing," &c.--L.
+
+He went out from his shop into a street whither all repaired on needful
+occasions, (2) and there found a large lump of ordure standing on end,
+and so well frozen that it looked like a small loaf of fine sugar.
+Forthwith he wrapped it in handsome white paper, in the manner he was
+wont to use for the attraction of customers, and hid it in his sleeve.
+
+     2  In olden time, as shown in the _Memoires de l'Academie de
+     Troyes_, there were in most French towns streets specially
+     set aside for the purpose referred to. At Alencon, in Queen
+     Margaret's time, there was a street called the Rue des
+     Fumiers, as appears from a report dated March 8, 1564
+     (Archives of the Orne, Series A). Probably it is to this
+     street that she alludes. (Communicated by M. L. Duval,
+     archivist of the department of the Orne).--M.
+
+Afterwards he came and passed in front of the gentleman and the
+advocate, and, letting the sugar-loaf (3) fall near them, as if by
+mischance, went into a house whither he had pretended to be carrying it.
+
+The Lord of La Tireliere (4) hastened back with all speed to pick up
+what he thought to be a sugar-loaf, and just as he had done so the
+apothecary's man also came back looking and asking for his sugar
+everywhere.
+
+     3  M. Duval, archivist of the Orne, states that La
+     Tireliere, which is situated near St. Germain-du-Corbois,
+     within three miles of Alencon, is an old _gentilhommiere_ or
+     manor-house, surrounded by a moat. It was originally a
+     simple _vavassonrie_ held in fief from the Counts and Dukes
+     of Alencon by the Pantolf and Crouches families, and in the
+     seventeenth century was merged into the marquisate of
+     L'Isle.--M.
+
+     4  Sugar was at this period sold by apothecaries, and was a
+     rare and costly luxury. There were loaves of various sizes,
+     but none so large as those of the present time.--M.
+
+The gentleman, thinking that he had cleverly tricked him, then went in
+haste to a tavern with his crony, to whom he said--
+
+"Our breakfast has been paid for at the cost of that varlet."
+
+When he was come to the tavern he called for good bread, good wine and
+good meat, for he thought that he had wherewith to pay. But whilst he
+was eating, as he began to grow warm, his sugar-loaf in its turn began
+to thaw and melt, and filled the whole room with the smell peculiar
+to it, whereupon he, who carried it in his bosom, grew wroth with the
+waiting-woman, and said to her--
+
+"You are the filthiest folks that ever I knew in this town, for either
+you or your children have strewn all this room with filth."
+
+"By St. Peter!" replied the woman, "there is no filth here unless you
+have brought it in yourselves."
+
+Thereupon they rose, by reason of the great stench that they smelt,
+and went up to the fire, where the gentleman drew out of his bosom a
+handkerchief all dyed with the melted sugar, and on opening his robe,
+lined with fox-skin, found it to be quite spoiled.
+
+And all that he was able to say to his crony was this--
+
+"The rogue whom we thought to deceive has deceived us instead."
+
+Then they paid their reckoning and went away as vexed as they had
+been merry on their arrival, when they fancied they had tricked the
+apothecary's varlet. (5)
+
+     5  In MS. 1520, this tale ends in the following manner:--
+     "They were no sooner in the street than they perceived the
+     apothecary's man going about and making inquiry of every one
+     whether they had not seen a loaf of sugar wrapped in paper.
+     They [the advocate and his companion] sought to avoid him,
+     but he called aloud to the advocate, 'If you have my loaf of
+     sugar, sir, I beg that you will give it back to me, for 'tis
+     a double sin to rob a poor servant.' His shouts brought to
+     the spot many people curious to witness the dispute, and the
+     true circumstances of the case were so well proven, that the
+     apothecary's man was as glad to have been robbed as the
+     others were vexed at having committed such a nasty theft.
+     However, they comforted themselves with the hope that they
+     might some day give him tit for tat."--Ed.
+
+"Often, ladies, do we see the like befall those who delight in using
+such cunning. If the gentleman had not sought to eat at another's
+expense, he would not have drunk so vile a beverage at his own. It is
+true, ladies, that my story is not a very clean one, but you gave me
+license to speak the truth, and I have done so in order to show you that
+no one is sorry when a deceiver is deceived."
+
+"It is commonly said," replied Hircan, "that words have no stink, yet
+those for whom they are intended do not easily escape smelling them."
+
+"It is true," said Oisille, "that such words do not stink, but there are
+others which are spoken of as nasty, and which are of such evil odour
+that they disgust the soul even more than the body is disgusted when it
+smells such a sugar-loaf as you described in the tale."
+
+"I pray you," said Hircan, "tell me what words you know of so foul as to
+sicken both the heart and soul of a virtuous woman."
+
+"It would indeed be seemly," replied Oisille, "that I should tell you
+words which I counsel no woman to utter."
+
+"By that," said Saffredent, "I quite understand what those terms are.
+They are such as women desirous of being held discreet do not commonly
+employ. But I would ask all the ladies present why, when they dare not
+utter them, they are so ready to laugh at them when they are used in
+their presence."
+
+Then said Parlamente--
+
+"We do not laugh because we hear such pretty expressions, though it
+is indeed true that every one is disposed to laugh on seeing anybody
+stumble or on hearing any one utter an unfitting word, as often happens.
+The tongue will trip and cause one word to be used for another, even
+by the discreetest and most excellent speakers. But when you men talk
+viciously, not from ignorance, but by reason of your own wickedness,
+I know of no virtuous woman who does not feel a loathing for such
+speakers, and who would not merely refuse to hearken to them, but even
+to remain in their company."
+
+"That is very true," responded Geburon. "I have frequently seen women
+make the sign of the cross on hearing certain words spoken, and cease
+not in doing so after these words had been uttered a second time."
+
+"But how many times," said Simontault, "have they put on their masks (6)
+in order to laugh as freely as they pretended to be angry?"
+
+"Yet it were better to do this," said Parlamente, "than to let it be
+seen that the talk pleased them."
+
+"Then," said Dagoucin, "you praise a lady's hypocrisy no less than her
+virtue?"
+
+"Virtue would be far better," said Longarine, "but, when it is lacking,
+recourse must be had to hypocrisy, just as we use our slippers (7) to
+disguise our littleness. And it is no small matter to be able to conceal
+our imperfections."
+
+     8  _Tourets-de-nez_. _See ante_, vol. iii. p. 27, note 5.--Ed.
+
+     7  High-heeled slippers or _mules_ were then worn.--B. J.
+
+"By my word," said Hircan, "it were better sometimes to show some slight
+imperfection than to cover it so closely with the cloak of virtue."
+
+"It is true," said Ennasuitc, "that a borrowed garment brings the
+borrower as much dishonour when he is constrained to return it as it
+brought him honour whilst it was being worn, and there is a lady now
+living who, by being too eager to conceal a small error, fell into a
+greater."
+
+"I think," said Hircan, "that I know whom you mean; in any case,
+however, do not pronounce her name."
+
+"Ho! ho!" said Geburon [to Ennasuite], "I give you my vote on condition
+that when you have related the story you will tell us the names. We will
+swear never to mention them."
+
+"I promise it," said Knnasuite, "for there is nothing that may not be
+told in all honour."
+
+
+[Illustration: 022.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 023a.jpg The Lord des Cheriots flying from the Prince's Servant]
+
+[The Lord des Cheriots flying from the Prince's Servant]
+
+[Illustration: 023.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LIII_.
+
+     _By her dissimulation the Lady of Neufchastel caused the
+     Prince of Belhoste to put her to such proof that it turned
+     to her dishonour_.
+
+King Francis the First was once at a handsome and pleasant castle,
+whither he had gone with a small following, both for the purpose of
+hunting and in order to take some repose. With him in his train was a
+certain Prince of Belhoste, (1) as worshipful, virtuous, discreet and
+handsome a Prince as any at Court. The wife he had married did not
+belong to a family of high rank, yet he loved her as dearly and treated
+her as well as it were possible for a husband to do, and also trusted
+in her. And when he was in love with anybody he never concealed it from
+her, knowing that she had no other will than his own.
+
+     1  The Bibliophile Jacob surmises that this personage may be
+     one of the Italian grandees at that period in the service of
+     France, in which case the allusion may be to John
+     Caraccioli, Prince of Melphes, created a marshal of France
+     in 1544. Queen Margaret, however, makes no mention of her
+     Prince being a foreigner. "Belhoste" is of course a
+     fictitious name invented to replace that which the Prince
+     really bore, and admits of so many interpretations that its
+     meaning in the present instance cannot well be determined.
+     From the circumstance, however, that the Prince's wife was
+     of inferior birth to himself, it is not impossible that the
+     personage referred to may be either Charles de Bourbon,
+     Prince of La Roche-sur-Yonne and Duke of Beaupreau, or John
+     VIII., Lord of Crequi, Canaples and Pontdormi, and Prince of
+     Poix. The former, who married Philippa de Montespedon, widow
+     of Rene de Montejan, and a lady of honour to Catherine de'
+     Medici when Dauphiness, took a prominent part in the last
+     wars of Francis I.'s reign, and survived till 1565. The
+     latter, generally known at Court by the name of Canaples,
+     was a gentleman of the chamber and an especial favourite of
+     Francis I. Brantome says of him in his _Homines Illustres_
+     that he was "a valiant lord and the strongest man of arms
+     that in those days existed in all Christendom, for he broke
+     a lance, no matter its strength, as easily as though it were
+     a mere switch, and few were able to withstand him." In 1525
+     the Prince of Poix married a Demoiselle d'Acigne or Assigny,
+     of _petite noblesse_, who in 1532 became a lady of honour to
+     Queen Eleanor. She died in 1558, surviving her husband by
+     three years. See Rouard's rare _Notice dun Recueil de
+     Crayons a la Bibliotheque Mejanes d'Aix_, Paris, 1863.--Ed.
+
+Now this Prince conceived a deep affection for a widow lady called
+Madame de Neufchastel, (2) who was reputed the most beautiful woman it
+were possible to see; and if the Prince of Bel-hoste loved her well, his
+wife loved her no less, and would often send and bid her to dinner,
+for she deemed her so discreet and honourable, that, instead of being
+grieved by her husband's love for her, she rejoiced to see him address
+his attentions to one so full of honour and virtue.
+
+     2  M. Lacroix thinks that this lady may be Jane de Hochberg,
+     only daughter of Philip, sovereign Count of Neufchatel.
+     According to the custom of the time, she was commonly called
+     Madame de Neufchatel, despite her marriage with Louis
+     d'Orleans, Duke of Longueville. She died in 1543, after a
+     lengthy widowhood. We consider the accuracy of M. Lacroix's
+     surmise to be extremely doubtful, for the names of both the
+     men figuring in the story are obviously altered so as to
+     conceal their identity, and it is therefore not likely that
+     Queen Margaret would designate the lady by her real name,
+     and thus publish her shame to the world. The Madame de
+     Neufchatel she speaks of may really have been a Madame de
+     Chateauneuf, Chateauvieux or Maisonneuve; or we may again be
+     in presence of Margaret's lady of honour, the widowed
+     Blanche de Chastillon, _nee_ de Tournon, to whom frequent
+     reference has been made.--Ed.
+
+This affection lasted for a great while, the Prince of Belhoste caring
+for all the lady's affairs as though they were his own, and his wife
+doing no less. By reason, however, of her beauty many great lords and
+gentlemen earnestly sought the lady's favour, some only for love's sake,
+others for sake of the ring, for, besides being beautiful, she was also
+very rich.
+
+Among the rest was a young gentleman, called the Lord des Cheriots, (3)
+who wooed her so ardently that he was never absent from her levee and
+couchee, and was also with her as much as possible during the day. This
+did not please the Prince of Belhoste, who thought that a man of such
+poor estate, and so lacking in grace, did not deserve an honourable
+and gracious reception, and he often made remonstrances about it to the
+lady. She, however, being one of Eve's daughters, (4) excused herself
+by saying that she spoke with every one in general, and that their own
+affection was the better concealed, since she never spoke more with one
+than with another.
+
+     3  "Des Cheriots" (occasionally Des Cheriotz in the MS.) may
+     be a play upon the name of D'Escars, sometimes written Des
+     Cars. According to La Curne de Ste. Palaye _car_ as well as
+     _char_ signified chariot. The D'Escars dukedom is modern,
+     dating from 1815, and in the time of Francis I. the family
+     was of small estate. Some members of it may well have filled
+     inferior offices about the court, as in 1536 a Demoiselle
+     Suzanne d'Escars married Geoffrey de Pompadour, who was both
+     a prothonotary and cupbearer to Francis I., and lived to
+     become Governor of the Limousin under Charles IX.--M. and
+     Ed.
+
+     4  We take this expression from MS. 1520. Ours says, "a
+     daughter of the Duke," which is evidently an error.--L.
+
+Albeit, after some time, this Lord des Cheriots so pressed her that,
+more through his importunity than through love, she promised to marry
+him, begging him, however, not to urge her to reveal the marriage until
+her daughters were wedded. After this the gentleman was wont to go with
+untroubled conscience to her chamber at whatsoever hour he chose, and
+none but a waiting-woman and a serving-man had knowledge of the matter.
+
+When the Prince perceived that the gentleman was growing more and more
+familiar in the house of her whom he so dearly loved, he took it in
+ill-part, and could not refrain from saying to the lady--
+
+"I have always prized your honour like that of my own sister, and you
+are aware of the honourable manner in which I have addressed you, and
+the happiness that I have in loving a lady as discreet and virtuous as
+yourself; but did I think that another who deserves it not could win by
+importunity that which I am not willing to crave, contrary to your
+own desire, this would be unendurable to me, and in the like degree
+dishonouring to you. I tell you this because you are beautiful and
+young, and although hitherto of good repute, are now beginning to gain
+a very evil fame. Even though he be not your equal in birth or fortune,
+and have less influence, knowledge and address, yet it were better to
+have married him than to give all men matter for suspicion. I pray you,
+therefore, tell me whether you are resolved to love him, for I will not
+have him as fellow of mine. I would rather leave you altogether to him,
+and put away from me the feelings that I have hitherto borne you."
+
+The poor lady, fearful of losing his affection, thereupon began to weep,
+and vowed to him that she would rather die than wed the gentleman of
+whom he had spoken, but (she added) he was so importunate that she could
+not help his entering her chamber at a time when every one else did so.
+
+"Of such times as those," said the Prince, "I do not speak, for I can go
+as well as he, and see all what you are doing. But I have been told that
+he goes after you are in bed, and this I look upon as so extraordinary
+that, if you should continue in this mode of life without declaring him
+to be your husband, you will be disgraced more than any woman that ever
+lived."
+
+She swore to him with all the oaths she could utter that the other was
+neither her husband nor her lover, but only as importunate a gentleman
+as there well could be.
+
+"Since he is troublesome to you," said the Prince, "I promise you that I
+will rid you of him."
+
+"What!" asked the lady. "Would you kill him?"
+
+"No, no," said the Prince, "but I will give him to understood that it
+is not in such a place as this, not in such a house as the King's, that
+ladies are to be put to shame. And I swear to you by the faith of the
+lover that I am, that if, after I have spoken with him, he does not
+correct himself, I will correct him in such a manner as to make him a
+warning to others."
+
+So saying he went away, and on leaving the room failed not to meet the
+Lord des Cheriots on his way in. To him he spoke after the fashion that
+you have heard, assuring him that the first time he was found there
+after an hour at which gentlemen might reasonably visit the ladies, he
+would give him such a fright as he would ever remember. And he added
+that the lady was of too noble a house to be trifled with after such a
+fashion.
+
+The gentleman protested that he had never been in the room except in the
+same manner as the rest, and, if the Prince should find him there, he
+gave him full leave to do his worst.
+
+One day afterwards, when the gentleman believed the Prince's words
+to have been forgotten, he went to see his lady in the evening, and
+remained sufficiently late.
+
+The Prince [that same evening] told his wife that Madame de Neufchastel
+had a severe cold, upon hearing which the worthy lady begged that he
+would visit her on behalf of them both, and make excuse for herself,
+since she could not go by reason of a certain matter that she must needs
+attend to in her room.
+
+The Prince waited until the King was in bed, and then went to give
+the lady good-evening, but as he was going up a stairway he met a
+serving-man coming down, who, on being asked how his mistress did, swore
+that she was in bed and asleep.
+
+The Prince went down the stairway, but, suspecting that the servant
+had lied, looked behind and saw him going back again with all speed.
+He walked about the courtyard in front of the door to see whether the
+servant would return. A quarter of an hour later he perceived him come
+down again and look all about to see who was in the courtyard.
+
+Forthwith the Prince was convinced that the Lord des Cheriots was in the
+lady's chamber, but through fear of himself durst not come down, and he
+therefore again walked about for a long-while.
+
+At last, observing that the lady's room had a casement which was not at
+all high up, and which looked upon a little garden, he remembered the
+proverb which says, "When the door fails the window avails," and he
+thereupon called a servant of his own, and said to him--
+
+"Go into the garden there behind, and, if you see a gentleman come down
+from the window, draw your sword as soon as he reaches the ground, clash
+it against the wall, and cry out, 'Slay! slay!' Be careful, however,
+that you do not touch him."
+
+The servant went whither his master had sent him, and the Prince walked
+about until three hours after midnight.
+
+When the Lord des Cheriots heard that the Prince was still in the yard,
+he resolved to descend by the window, and, having first thrown clown his
+cloak, he then, by the help of his good friends, leapt into the garden.
+As soon as the servant saw him, he failed not to make a noise with
+his sword, at the same time crying, "Slay! slay!" Upon this the poor
+gentleman, believing it was his [the servant's] master, was in such
+great fear that, without thinking of his cloak, he fled as quickly as he
+was able.
+
+He met the archers of the watch, who wondered greatly to see him running
+in this fashion, but he durst say nothing to them, except to beg them to
+open him the gate [of the castle], or else to lodge him with themselves
+until morning. And this, as they had not the keys, they did.
+
+Then the Prince went to bed, and, finding his wife asleep, awoke her
+saying--
+
+"Guess, my wife, what hour it is.''
+
+"I have not heard the clock strike since I went to bed," she replied.
+
+"It is three hours after midnight," said he.
+
+"If that be so," said his wife, "where have you been all this time? I
+greatly fear that your health will be the worse for it."
+
+"Sweetheart," said the Prince, "watching will never make me ill when
+I am engaged in preventing those who try to deceive me from going to
+sleep."
+
+So saying, he began to laugh so heartily that his wife begged him to
+tell her of the matter. This he did at length, showing her the wolf's
+skin (4) which his servant had brought him. After making merry at
+the expense of the hapless lovers, they went to sleep in gentle
+tranquillity, while the other two passed the night in torment, fearing
+and dreading lest the affair should be revealed.
+
+However, the gentleman, knowing right well that he could not use
+concealment with the Prince, came to him in the morning when he was
+dressing to beg that he would not expose him, and would give orders for
+the return of his cloak.
+
+The Prince pretended that he knew nothing of the matter, and put such a
+face on it that the gentleman was wholly at a loss what to think. But
+in the end he received a rating that he had not expected, for the Prince
+assured him that, if ever he went to the lady's room again, he would
+tell the King of it, and have him banished the Court.
+
+"I pray you, ladies, judge whether it had not been better for this poor
+lady to have spoken freely to him who did her the honour of loving and
+esteeming her, instead of leading him by her dissimulation to prove her
+in a way that brought her so much shame."
+
+"She knew," said Geburon, "that if she confessed the truth she would
+wholly lose his favour, and this she on no account desired to do."
+
+"It seems to me," said Longarine, "that when she had chosen a husband
+to her liking, she ought not to have feared the loss of any other man's
+affection."
+
+"I am sure," said Parlamente, "that if she had dared to reveal her
+marriage, she would have been quite content with her husband; but she
+wished to hide it until her daughters were wed, and so she would not
+abandon so good a means of concealment."
+
+"It was not for that reason," said Saffredent, "but because the ambition
+of women is so great that they are never satisfied with having only
+one lover. I have heard that the discreetest of them are glad to have
+three--one, namely, for honour, one for profit, and one for delight.
+Each of the three thinks himself loved the best, but the first two are
+as servants to the last."
+
+"You speak," said Oisille, "of such women as have neither love nor
+honour."
+
+"Madam," said Saffredent, "there are some of the kind that I describe,
+whom you reckon among the most honourable in the land."
+
+"You may be sure," said Hircan, "that a crafty woman will be able to
+live where all others die of hunger."
+
+"And," said Longarine, "when their craftiness is discerned, 'tis death."
+
+"Nay, 'tis life," said Simontault, "for they deem it no small glory
+to be reputed more crafty than their fellows. And the reputation of
+'crafty,' gained thus at their own expense, brings lovers more readily
+under subjection to them than does their beauty, for one of the greatest
+delights shared by those who are in love is to conduct the affair
+slyly."
+
+"You speak," said Ennasuite, "of wanton love, for the honourable has no
+need of concealment."
+
+"Ah!" said Dagoucin, "I pray you put that thought out of your head.
+The more precious the drug, the less should it be exposed to the air,
+because of the perverseness of those who trust only to outward signs.
+These are not different in the case of honourable and faithful affection
+than in any other case, so they must none the less be hidden when the
+love is virtuous than when it is the opposite, if one would avoid the
+evil opinion of those who cannot believe that a man may love a lady in
+all honour, and who, being themselves slaves to pleasure, think every
+one else the same. If we were all of good faith, look and speech would
+be without concealment, at least toward those who would rather die than
+take them in an evil sense."
+
+"I protest to you, Dagoucin," said Hircan, "that your philosophy is too
+deep for any man here to understand or believe. You would have us think
+that men are angels, or stones, or devils."
+
+"I am well aware," said Dagoucin, "that men are men and subject to every
+passion, but there are some, nevertheless, who would rather die than
+that their mistresses should, for their delight, do aught against their
+consciences."
+
+"To die means a great deal," said Geburon. "I would not believe that of
+them were it uttered by the lips of the austerest monk alive."
+
+"Nay, I believe," said Hircan, "that there is none but desires the very
+opposite. But they make pretence of disliking the grapes when these hang
+too high to be gathered."
+
+"Still," said Nomcrfide, "I am sure that the Prince's wife was very glad
+to find that her husband was learning to know women."
+
+"I assure you it was not so," said Ennasuite. "She was very sorry on
+account of the love that she bore the lady."
+
+"I would as soon," said Saffredent, "have the lady who laughed when her
+husband kissed her maid."
+
+"In sooth," said Ennasuite, "you shall tell us the story. I give place
+to you."
+
+"Although the story is very short," said Saffredent, "I will still
+relate it, for I would rather make you laugh than speak myself at
+length."
+
+
+[Illustration: 036.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 037a.jpg The Lady watching the Shadow Faces Kissing]
+
+[The Lady watching the Shadow Faces Kissing]
+
+[Illustration: 037.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LIV_.
+
+     _Thogas's wife, believing that her husband loved none but
+     herself, was pleased that her serving-woman should amuse
+     him, and laughed when in her presence he kissed the girl
+     before her eyes, and with her knowledge_.
+
+Between the Pyrenees Mountains and the Alps, there dwelt a gentleman
+named Thogas, (1) who had a wife and children, with a very beautiful
+house, and so much wealth and pleasure at his hand, that there was
+reason he should live in contentment, had it not been that he was
+subject to great pain beneath the roots of the hair, in such wise that
+the doctors advised him to sleep no longer with his wife. She, whose
+chief thought was for her husband's life and health, readily consented,
+and caused her bed to be set in another corner of the room directly
+opposite her husband's, so that they could neither of them put out their
+heads without seeing each other.
+
+     1  We are unable to trace any family named Thogas, which is
+     probably a fictitious appellation. Read backwards with the
+     letter h omitted it forms Sagot, whilst if the syllables be
+     transposed it suggests Guasto, a well-known Basque or
+     Navarrese name.--Ed.
+
+This lady had two serving-women, and often when the lord and his lady
+were in bed, they would each take some diverting book to read, whilst
+the serving-women held candles, the younger, that is, for the gentleman,
+and the other for his wife.
+
+The gentleman, finding that the maid was younger and handsomer than her
+mistress, took such great pleasure in observing her that he would break
+off his reading in order to converse with her. His wife could hear this
+very plainly, but believing that her husband loved none but herself, she
+was well pleased that her servants should amuse him.
+
+It happened one evening, however, when they had read longer than was
+their wont, that the lady looked towards her husband's bed where was the
+young serving-maid holding the candle. Of her she could see nothing but
+her back, and of her husband nothing at all excepting on the side of
+the chimney, which jutted out in front of his bed, and the white wall of
+which was bright with the light from the candle. And upon this wall
+she could plainly see the shadows both of her husband and of her maid;
+whether they drew apart, or came near together or laughed, it was all as
+clear to her as though she had veritably beheld them.
+
+The gentleman, using no precaution since he felt sure that his wife
+could not see them, kissed her maid, and on the first occasion his wife
+suffered this to pass without uttering a word. But when she saw that the
+shadows frequently returned to this fellowship, she feared that there
+might be some reality beneath it all, and burst into a loud laugh,
+whereat the shadows were alarmed and separated.
+
+The gentleman then asked his wife why she was laughing so heartily, so
+that he might have a share in her merriment.
+
+"Husband," she replied, "I am so foolish that I laugh at my own shadow."
+
+Inquire as he might, she would never acknowledge any other reason, but,
+nevertheless, he thenceforward refrained from kissing such shadow-faces.
+
+"That is the story of which I was reminded when I spoke of the lady who
+loved her husband's sweetheart."
+
+"By my faith," said Ennasuite, "if my maid had treated me in that
+fashion, I should have risen and extinguished the candle upon her nose."
+
+"You are indeed terrible," said Hircan, "but it had been well done
+if your husband and the maid had both turned upon you and beaten you
+soundly. There should not be so much ado for a kiss; and 'twould have
+been better if his wife had said nothing about it, and had suffered him
+to take his pastime, which might perchance have cured his complaint."
+
+"Nay," said Parlamente, "she was afraid that the end of the pastime
+would make him worse."
+
+"She was not one of those," said Oisille, "against whom our Lord says,
+'We have mourned to you and ye have not lamented, we have sung to you
+and ye have not danced,' (2) for when her husband was ill, she wept, and
+when he was merry, she laughed. In the same fashion every virtuous
+woman ought to share the good and evil, the joy and the sadness of her
+husband, and serve and obey him as the Church does Jesus Christ."
+
+     2  "They are like unto children sitting in the market-place,
+     and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto
+     you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye
+     have not wept."--_St. Luke_ vii. 32.--M.
+
+"Then, ladies," said Parlamente, "our husbands should be to us what
+Christ is to the Church."
+
+"So are we," said Saffredent, "and, if it were possible, something more;
+for Christ died but once for His Church, whereas we die daily for our
+wives."
+
+"Die!" said Longarine. "Methinks that you and the others here present
+are now worth more crowns than you were worth pence before you were
+wed."
+
+"And I know why," said Saffredent; "it is because our worth is often
+tried. Still our shoulders are sensible of having worn the cuirass so
+long."
+
+"If," said Ennasuite, "you had been obliged to wear harness for a month
+and lie on the hard ground, you would greatly long to regain the bed of
+your excellent wife, and wear the cuirass of which you now complain.
+But it is said that everything can be endured except ease, and that
+none know what rest is until they have lost it. This foolish woman, who
+laughed when her husband was merry, was fond of taking her rest under
+any circumstances."
+
+"I am sure," said Longarine, "that she loved her rest better than her
+husband, since she took nothing that he did to heart."
+
+"She did take to heart," said Parlamente, "those things which might have
+been hurtful to his conscience and his health, but she would not dwell
+upon trifles."
+
+"When you speak of conscience," said Simontault "you make me laugh. 'Tis
+a thing to which I would have no woman give heed."
+
+"It would be a good thing," said Nomerfide, "if you had a wife like one
+who, after her husband's death, proved that she loved her money better
+than her conscience."
+
+"I pray you," said Saffredent, "tell us that tale. I give you my vote."
+
+"I had not intended," said Nomcrfide, "to relate so short a story, but,
+since it is suited to the occasion, I will do so."
+
+
+[Illustration: 042.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 043a.jpg The Servant selling the Horse with the Cat]
+
+[The Servant selling the Horse with the Cat]
+
+[Illustration: 043.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LV_.
+
+     _A merchant's widow, whilst carrying out her husband's will,
+     interpreted its purport to the advantage of herself and her
+     children_. (1)
+
+In the town of Safagossa there lived a rich merchant, who, finding his
+death draw nigh, and himself no longer able to retain possession of his
+goods---which he had perchance gathered together by evil means--thought
+that if he made a little present to God, he might thus after his death
+make part atonement for his sins, just as though God sold His pardon for
+money. Accordingly, when he had settled matters in respect of his house,
+he declared it to be his desire that a fine Spanish horse which he
+possessed should be sold for as much as it would bring, and the money
+obtained for it be distributed among the poor. And he begged his wife
+that she would in no wise fail to sell the horse as soon as he was dead,
+and distribute the money in the manner he had commanded.
+
+     1  Whether the incidents here related be true or not, it is
+     probable that this was a story told to Queen Margaret at the
+     time of her journey to Spain in 1525. It will have been
+     observed (_ante_, pp. 36 and 42) that both the previous tale
+     and this one are introduced into the _Heptameron_ in a semi-
+     apologetic fashion, as though the Queen had not originally
+     intended that her work should include such short, slight
+     anecdotes. However, already at this stage--the fifty-fifth
+     only of the hundred tales which she proposed writing--she
+     probably found fewer materials at her disposal than she had
+     anticipated, and harked back to incidents of her earlier
+     years, which she had at first thought too trifling to
+     record. Still, slight as this story may be, it is not
+     without point. The example set by the wife of the Saragossa
+     merchant has been followed in modern times in more ways than
+     one.--Ed.
+
+When the burial was over and the first tears were shed, the wife, who
+was no more of a fool than Spanish women are used to be, went to the
+servant who with herself had heard his master declare his desire, and
+said to him--
+
+"Methinks I have lost enough in the person of a husband I loved so
+dearly, without afterwards losing his possessions. Yet would I not
+disobey his word, but rather better his intention; for the poor man, led
+astray by the greed of the priests, thought to make a great sacrifice to
+God in bestowing after his death a sum of money, not a crown of which,
+as you well know, he would have given in his lifetime to relieve even
+the sorest need. I have therefore bethought me that we will do what
+he commanded at his death, and in still better fashion than he himself
+would have done if had he lived a fortnight longer. But no living person
+must know aught of the matter."
+
+When she had received the servant's promise to keep it secret, she said
+to him--
+
+"You will go and sell the horse, and when you are asked, 'How much?'
+you will reply, 'A ducat.' I have, however, a very fine cat which I also
+wish to dispose of, and you will sell it with the horse for ninety-nine
+ducats, so that cat and horse together will bring in the hundred ducats
+for which my husband wished to sell the horse alone."
+
+The servant readily fulfilled his mistress's command. While he was
+walking the horse about the market-place, and holding the cat in his
+arms, a gentleman, who had seen the horse before, and was desirous of
+possessing it, asked the servant what price he sought.
+
+"A ducat," replied the man.
+
+"I pray you," said the gentleman, "do not mock me."
+
+"I assure you, sir," said the servant, "that it will cost you only a
+ducat. It is true that the cat must be bought at the same time, and for
+the cat I must have nine and ninety ducats."
+
+Forthwith, the gentleman, thinking the bargain a reasonable one, paid
+him one ducat for the horse, and the remainder as was desired of him,
+and took his goods away.
+
+The servant, on his part, went off with the money, with which his
+mistress was right well pleased, and she failed not to give the ducat
+that the horse had brought to the poor Mendicants, (2) as her husband
+had commanded, and the remainder she kept for the needs of herself and
+her children. (3)
+
+     2  The allusion is not to the ordinary beggars who then, as
+     now, swarmed in Spain, but to the Mendicant friars.--Ed.
+
+     3  In Boaistuau's and Gruget's editions of the _Heptameron_
+     the dialogue following this tale is replaced by matter of
+     their own invention. They did not dare to reproduce Queen
+     Margaret's bold opinions respecting the clergy, the monastic
+     orders, &c., at a time when scores of people, including even
+     Counsellors of Parliament, were being burnt at the stake for
+     heresy.--L. and Ed.
+
+"What think you? Was she not far more prudent than her husband, and
+did she not think less of her conscience than of the advantage of her
+household?"
+
+"I think," said Parlamente, "that she did love her husband; but, seeing
+that most men wander in their wits when at the point of death, and
+knowing his intentions, she tried to interpret them to her children's
+advantage. And therein I hold her to have been very prudent."
+
+"What!" said Geburon. "Do you not hold it a great wrong not to carry out
+the last wishes of departed friends?"
+
+"Assuredly I do," said Parlamente; "that is to say if the testator be in
+his right mind, and not raving."
+
+"Do you call it raving to give one's goods to the Church and the poor
+Mendicants?"
+
+"I do not call it raving," said Parlamente, "if a man distribute what
+God has given into his hands among the poor; but to make alms of another
+person's goods is, in my opinion, no great wisdom. You will commonly see
+the greatest usurers build the handsomest and most magnificent chapels
+imaginable, thinking they may appease God with ten thousand ducats'
+worth of building for a hundred thousand ducats' worth of robbery, just
+as though God did not know how to count."
+
+"In sooth," said Oisille, "I have many a time wondered how they can
+think to appease God for things which He Himself rebuked when He was on
+earth, such as great buildings, gildings, pictures and paint. If they
+really understood the passage in which God says to us that the only
+offering He requires from us is a contrite and humble heart, (4) and
+the other in which St. Paul says we are the temples of God wherein He
+desires to dwell, (5) they would be at pains to adorn their consciences
+while yet alive, and would not wait for the hour when man can do nothing
+more, whether good or evil, nor (what is worse) charge those who remain
+on earth to give their alms to folk upon whom, during their lifetime,
+they did not deign to look. But He who knows the heart cannot be
+deceived, and will judge them not according to their works, but
+according to their faith and charity towards Himself."
+
+     4  "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and
+     a contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise."--_Psalm_
+     li. 17.--Ed.
+
+     5  "For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath
+     said, I will dwell in them and walk in them," &c.--2
+     _Corinthians_ vi. 16.--Ed.
+
+"Why is it, then," said Geburon, "that these Grey Friars and Mendicants
+talk to us at our death of nothing but bestowing great benefits upon
+their monasteries, assuring us that they will put us into Paradise
+whether we will or not?"
+
+"How now, Geburon?" said Hircan. "Have you forgotten the wickedness you
+related to us of the Grey Friars, that you ask how such folk find it
+possible to lie? I declare to you that I do not think that there can
+be greater lies than theirs. Those, indeed, who speak on behalf of the
+whole community are not to be blamed, but there are some among them who
+forget their vows of poverty in order to satisfy their own greed."
+
+"Methinks, Hircan," said Nomerfide, "you must know some such tale, and
+if it be worthy of this company, I pray you tell it us."
+
+"I will," said Hircan, "although it irks me to speak of such folk.
+Methinks they are of the number of those of whom Virgil says to Dante,
+'Pass on and heed them not.' (6) Still, to show you that they have not
+laid aside their passions with their worldly garments, I will tell you
+of something that once came to pass."
+
+     6  _Non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa_ (Dante's
+     _Purgatorio_, iii. 51). The allusion is to the souls of
+     those who led useless and idle lives on earth, supporting
+     neither the Divinity by the observance of virtue, nor the
+     spirit of evil by the practice of vice. They are thus cast
+     out both from heaven and hell.--Ed.
+
+
+[Illustration: 049.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 051a.jpg The Grey Friar introducing his Comrade to the
+Lady and her Daughter]
+
+[The Grey Friar introducing his Comrade to the Lady and her
+Daughter]
+
+[Illustration: 051.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LVI_.
+
+     _A pious lady had recourse to a Grey Friar for his advice in
+     providing her daughter with a good husband, for whom she
+     proposed making it so profitable a match that the worthy
+     father, hoping to get the money she intended for her son-in-
+     law, married her daughter to a young comrade of his own. The
+     latter came every evening to sup and lie with his wife, and
+     in the morning returned in the garb of a scholar to his
+     convent. But one day while he was chanting mass, his wife
+     perceived him and pointed him out to her mother; who,
+     however, could not believe that it was he until she had
+     pulled off his coif while he was in bed, and from his tonsure
+     learned the whole truth, and the deceit used by her father
+     confessor_.
+
+A French lady, whilst sojourning at Padua, was informed that there was
+a Grey Friar in the Bishop's prison there, and finding that every one
+spoke jestingly about him, she inquired the reason. She was told that
+this Grey Friar, who was an old man, had been confessor to a very
+honourable and pious widow lady, mother of only one daughter, whom she
+loved so dearly as to be at all pains to amass riches for her, and to
+find her a good husband. Now, seeing that her daughter was grown up, she
+was unceasingly anxious to find her a husband who might live with them
+in peace and quiet, a man, that is, of a good conscience, such as she
+deemed herself to possess. And since she had heard some foolish preacher
+say that it were better to do evil by the counsel of theologians than
+to do well through belief in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, she
+had recourse to her father confessor, a man already old, a doctor of
+theology and one who was held to lead a holy life by the whole town,
+for she felt sure that, with his counsel and good prayers, she could not
+fail to find peace both for herself and for her daughter. After she had
+earnestly begged him to choose for her daughter such a husband as he
+knew a woman that loved God and her honour ought to desire, he replied
+that first of all it was needful to implore the grace of the Holy Spirit
+with prayer and fasting, and then, God guiding his judgment, he hoped to
+find what she required.
+
+So the Friar retired to think over the matter; and whereas he had heard
+from the lady that she had got five hundred ducats together to give to
+her daughter's husband, and that she would take upon herself the charge
+of maintaining both husband and wife with lodgment, furniture and
+clothes, he bethought himself that he had a young comrade of handsome
+figure and pleasing countenance, to whom he might give the fair maiden,
+the house, the furniture, maintenance and food, whilst he himself kept
+the five hundred ducats to gratify his burning greed. And when he spoke
+to his comrade of the matter, he found that they were both of one mind
+upon it.
+
+He therefore returned to the lady and said--"I verily believe that God
+has sent his angel Raphael to me as he did to Tobit, to enable me to
+find a perfect husband for your daughter. I have in my house the most
+honourable gentleman in Italy, who has sometimes seen your daughter and
+is deeply in love with her. And so to-day, whilst I was at prayer,
+God sent him to me, and he told me of his desire for the marriage,
+whereupon, knowing his lineage and kindred and notable descent, I
+promised him to speak to you on the matter. There is, indeed, one defect
+in him, of which I alone have knowledge, and it is this. Wishing to save
+one of his friends whom another man was striving to slay, he drew his
+sword in order to separate them; but it chanced that his friend slew the
+other, and thus, although he himself had not dealt a blow, yet inasmuch
+as he had been present at a murder and had drawn his sword, he became
+a fugitive from his native town. By the advice of his kinsfolk he came
+hither in the garb of a scholar, and he dwells here unknown until his
+kinsfolk shall have ended the matter; and this he hopes will shortly
+be done. For this reason, then, it would be needful that the marriage
+should be performed in secret, and that you should suffer him to go in
+the daytime to the public lectures and return home every evening to sup
+and sleep."
+
+"Sir," replied the worthy woman, "I look upon what you tell me as of
+great advantage to myself, for I shall at least have by me what I most
+desire in the world."
+
+Thereupon the Grey Friar brought his comrade, bravely attired with a
+crimson satin doublet, and the lady was well pleased with him. And as
+soon as he was come the betrothal took place, and, immediately after
+midnight, a mass was said and they were married. Then they went to
+bed together until daybreak, when the bridegroom told his wife that to
+escape discovery he must needs return to the college.
+
+After putting on his crimson satin doublet and his long robe, without
+forgetting his coif of black silk, he bade his wife, who was still in
+bed, good-bye, promising that he would come every evening to sup with
+her, but that at dinner they must not wait for him. So he went away and
+left his wife, who esteemed herself the happiest woman alive to have
+found so excellent a match. And the young wedded Friar returned to the
+old father and brought him the five hundred ducats, as had been agreed
+between them when arranging the marriage.
+
+In the evening he failed not to return and sup with her, who believed
+him to be her husband, and so well did he make himself liked by her and
+by his mother-in-law, that they would not have exchanged him for the
+greatest Prince alive.
+
+This manner of life continued for some time, but God in His kindness
+takes pity upon those that are deceived without fault of their own, and
+so in His mercy and goodness it came to pass that one morning the lady
+and her daughter felt a great desire to go and hear mass at St. Francis,
+(1) and visit their good father confessor through whose means they
+deemed themselves so well provided, the one with a son-in-law and the
+other with a husband.
+
+     1  The church of the Grey Friars' monastery, St Francis
+     being their patron.--B. J.
+
+It chanced that they did not find the confessor aforesaid nor any other
+that they knew, and, while waiting to see whether the father would
+come, they were pleased to hear high mass, which was just beginning. And
+whilst the young wife was giving close heed to the divine service and
+its mystery, she was stricken with astonishment on seeing the Priest
+turn himself about to pronounce the _Dominus vobiscum_, for it seemed
+to her that it was her husband or else his very fellow. She uttered,
+however, not a word, but waited till he should turn round again, when,
+looking still more carefully at him, she had no doubt that it was indeed
+he. Then she twitched her mother, who was deep in contemplation, and
+said--
+
+"Alas! madam, what is it that I see?"
+
+"What is it?" said her mother.
+
+"That is my husband," she replied, "who is singing mass, or else 'tis
+one as like him as can be."
+
+"I pray you, my daughter," replied the mother, who had not carefully
+observed him, "do not take such a thought into your head. It is
+impossible that men who are so holy should have practised such deceit.
+You would sin grievously against God if you believed such a thing."
+
+Nevertheless the mother did not cease looking at him, and when it came
+to the _Ite missa est_ she indeed perceived that no two sons of the same
+mother were ever so much alike. Yet she was so simple that she would
+fain have said, "O God, save me from believing what I see." Since her
+daughter was concerned in the matter, however, she would not suffer it
+to remain in uncertainty, and resolved to learn the truth.
+
+When evening was come, and the husband (who had perceived nothing of
+them) was about to return, the mother said to her daughter--
+
+"We shall now, if you are willing, find out the truth concerning your
+husband. When he is in bed I will go to him, and then, while he is not
+thinking, you will pluck off his coif from behind, and we shall see
+whether he be tonsured like the Friar who said mass."
+
+As it was proposed, so was it done. As soon as the wicked husband was in
+bed, the old lady came and took both his hands as though in sport--her
+daughter took off his coif, and there he was with his fine tonsure. At
+this both mother and daughter were as greatly astonished as might be,
+and forthwith they called their servants to seize him and bind him fast
+till the morning, nor did any of his excuses or fine speeches avail him
+aught.
+
+When day was come, the lady sent for her confessor, making as though she
+had some great secret to tell him, whereupon he came with all speed, and
+then, reproaching him for the deceit that he had practised on her, she
+had him seized like the other. Afterwards she sent for the officers of
+justice, in whose hands she placed them both. It is to be supposed that
+if the judges were honest men they did not suffer the offence to go
+unpunished. (2)
+
+     2  There is some little resemblance between this tale and
+     the 36th of Morlini's _Novello, De monacho qui duxit
+     uxorem_.--M.
+
+"From this story, ladies, you will see that those who have taken vows of
+poverty are not free from the temptation of covetousness, which is the
+cause of so many ills."
+
+"Nay, of so many blessings," said Saffredent, "for with the five hundred
+ducats that the old woman would have stored up there was made much good
+cheer, while the poor maiden, who had been longing for a husband, was
+thus enabled to have two, and to speak with more knowledge as to the
+truth of all hierarchies."
+
+"You always hold the falsest opinions," said Oisille, "that ever I knew.
+You think that all women are of your own temper."
+
+"Not so, madam, with your good leave," said Saffredent. "I would give
+much that they were as easily satisfied as we are."
+
+"That is a wicked speech," said Oisille, "and there is not one present
+but knows the contrary, and that what you say is untrue. The story that
+has just been told proves the ignorance of poor women and the wickedness
+of those whom we regard as better than the rest of your sex; for neither
+mother nor daughter would do aught according to their own fancy, but
+subjected desire to good advice."
+
+"Some women are so difficult," said Longarine, "that they think they
+ought to have angels instead of men."
+
+"And for that reason," said Simontault, "they often meet with devils,
+more especially those who, instead of trusting to God's grace, think
+by their own good sense, or that of others, that they may in this world
+find some happiness, though this is granted by none save God, from whom
+alone it can come."
+
+"How now, Simontault!" said Oisille. "I did not think that you knew so
+much good."
+
+"Madam," said Simontault, "'tis a pity that I have not been proved, for
+I see that through lack of knowledge you have already judged ill of me.
+Yet I may well practise a Grey Friar's trade, since a Grey Friar has
+meddled with mine."
+
+"So you call it your trade," said Parlamente, "to deceive women? Thus
+out of your mouth are you judged."
+
+"Had I deceived a hundred thousand," said Simontault, "I should yet not
+have avenged the woes that I have endured for the sake of one alone."
+
+"I know," said Parlamente, "how often you complain of women; yet,
+for all that, we see you so merry and hearty that it is impossible
+to believe that you have endured all the woes you speak of. But the
+'Compassionless Fair One' (3) replies that--
+
+     "'Tis as well to say as much
+     To draw some comfort thence.'"
+
+     3  _La belle Dame sans mercy_, by Alain Chartier.--Ed.
+
+"You quote a truly notable theologian," said Simontault, "one who is
+not only froward himself, but makes all the ladies so, who have read and
+followed his teaching."
+
+"Yet his teaching," said Parlamente, "is as profitable for youthful
+dames as any that I know."
+
+"If it were indeed true," said Simontault, "that the ladies were without
+compassion, we might as well let our horses rest and our armour grow
+rusty until the next war, and think of nothing but household affairs.
+And, I pray you, tell me whether it is an excellence in a lady to have
+the reputation of being without pity, or charity, or love, or mercy."
+
+"Without charity or love," said Parlamente, "they should not be, but the
+word 'mercy' sounds so ill among women that they cannot use it without
+wounding their honour; for properly speaking 'mercy' means to grant a
+favour sought, and we well know what the favour is that men desire."
+
+"May it please you, madam," said Simontault, "there are some men who are
+so reasonable that they crave nought but speech."
+
+"You remind me," said Parlamente, "of one who was content with a glove."
+
+"We must know who this easy lover was," said Hircan, "and so this time I
+give my vote to you."
+
+"It will give me pleasure to tell the tale," said Parlamente, "for it is
+full of virtue."
+
+
+[Illustration: 061.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 063a.jpg The English Lord seizing the Lady's Glove]
+
+[The English Lord seizing the Lady's Glove]
+
+[Illustration: 063.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LVII_.
+
+     _An English lord for seven years loved a lady without ever
+     venturing to let her know of it, until one day, when
+     observing her in a meadow, he lost all colour and control of
+     feature through a sudden throbbing of the heart that came
+     upon him. Then she, showing her compassion, at his request
+     placed her gloved hand upon his heart, whereupon he pressed
+     it so closely, whilst declaring to her the love he had so
+     long borne her, that she withdrew it, leaving in its place
+     her glove. And this glove he afterwards enriched with gems
+     and fastened upon his doublet above his heart, and showed
+     himself so graceful and virtuous a lover that he never
+     sought any more intimate favour of her_.
+
+King Louis the Eleventh (1) sent the Lord de Montmorency to England as
+his ambassador, and so welcome was the latter in that country that the
+King and all the Princes greatly esteemed and loved him, and even
+made divers of their private affairs known to him in order to have his
+counsel upon them.
+
+     1  Some of the MS. say Louis XII., but we cannot find that
+     either the eleventh or twelfth Louis sent any Montmorency as
+     ambassador to England. Ripault-Desormeaux states, however,
+     in his history of this famous French family, that William de
+     Montmorency, who, after fighting in Italy under Charles
+     VIII. and Louis XII., became, governor of the Orleanais and
+     _chevalier d'honneur_ to Louise of Savoy was one of the
+     signatories of the treaty concluded with Henry VIII. of
+     England, after the-battle of Pavia in 1525. We know that
+     Louise, as Regent of France, at that time sent John Brinon
+     and John Joachim de Passano as ambassadors to England, and
+     possibly William de Montmorency accompanied them, since
+     Desormeaux expressly states that he guaranteed the loyal
+     observance of the treaty then negotiated. William was the
+     father of Anne, the famous Constable of France, and died May
+     24, 1531. "Geburon," in the dialogue following the above
+     tale, mentions that he had well known the Montmorency
+     referred to, and speaks of him as of a person dead and gone.
+     It is therefore scarcely likely that Queen Margaret alludes
+     to Francis de Montmorency, Lord of La Rochepot, who was only
+     sent on a mission to England in 1546, and survived her by
+     many years.--L. and Ed.
+
+One day, at a banquet that the King gave to him, he was seated beside a
+lord (2) of high lineage, who had on his doublet a little glove, such
+as women wear, fastened with hooks of gold and so adorned upon the
+finger-seams with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls, that it was
+indeed a glove of great price.
+
+     2  The French word is _Millor (Milord)_ and this is probably
+     one of the earliest instances of its employment to designate
+     a member of the English aristocracy. In such of the _Cent
+     Nouvelles Nouvelles_ in which English nobles figure, the
+     latter are invariably called _seigneurs_ or _chevaliers_,
+     and addressed as _Monseigneur_, Later on, when Brantome
+     wrote, the term _un milord anglais_ had become quite common,
+     and he frequently makes use of it in his various works.
+     English critics have often sneered at modern French writers
+     for employing the expression, but it will be seen from this
+     that they have simply followed a very old tradition.--Ed.
+
+The Lord de Montmorency looked at it so often that the English lord
+perceived he was minded to inquire why it was so choicely ordered; so,
+deeming its story to be greatly to his own honour, he thus began--
+
+"I can see that you think it strange I should have so magnificently
+arrayed a simple glove, and on my part I am still more ready to tell you
+the reason, for I deem you an honest gentleman and one who knows what
+manner of passion love is, so that if I did well in the matter you will
+praise me for it, and if not, make excuse for me, knowing that every
+honourable heart must obey the behests of love. You must know, then,
+that I have all my life long loved a lady whom I love still, and shall
+love even when I am dead, but, as my heart was bolder to fix itself
+worthily than were my lips to speak, I remained for seven years without
+venturing to make her any sign, through fear that, if she perceived
+the truth, I should lose the opportunities I had of often being in her
+company; and this I dreaded more than death. However, one day, while I
+was observing her in a meadow, a great throbbing of the heart came upon
+me, so that I lost all colour and control of feature. Perceiving
+this, she asked me what the matter was, and I told her that I felt
+an intolerable pain of the heart. She, believing it to be caused by a
+different sickness than love, showed herself pitiful towards me, which
+prompted me to beg her to lay her hand upon my heart and see how it was
+beating. This, more from charity than from any other affection, she did,
+and while I held her gloved hand against my heart, it began to beat and
+strain in such wise, that she felt that I was speaking the truth. Then I
+pressed her hand to my breast, saying--
+
+"'Alas, madam, receive the heart which would fain break forth from my
+breast to leap into the hand of her from whom I look for indulgence,
+life and pity, and which now constrains me to make known to you the
+love that I have so long concealed, for neither my heart nor I can now
+control this potent God.'
+
+"When she heard those words, she deemed them very strange. She wished
+to withdraw her hand, but I held it fast, and the glove remained in her
+cruel hand's place; and having neither before nor since had any more
+intimate favour from her, I have fastened this glove upon my heart as
+the best plaster I could give it. And I have adorned it with the
+richest rings I have, though the glove itself is wealth that I would not
+exchange for the kingdom of England, for I deem no happiness on earth so
+great as to feel it on my breast."
+
+The Lord de Montmorency, who would have rather had a lady's hand than
+her glove, praised his very honourable behaviour, telling him that
+he was the truest lover he had ever known, and was worthy of better
+treatment, since he set so much value upon so slight a thing; though
+perchance, if he had obtained aught better than the glove, the greatness
+of his love might have made him die of joy. With this the English lord
+agreed, not suspecting that the Lord de Montmorency was mocking him. (3)
+
+     3  Alluding to this story, Brantome writes as follows in his
+     _Dames Galantes_: "You have that English _Milord_ in the
+     Hundred Tales of the Queen of Navarre, who wore his
+     mistress's glove at his side, beautifully adorned. I myself
+     have known many gentlemen who, before wearing their silken
+     hose, would beg their ladies and mistresses to try them on
+     and wear them for some eight or ten days, rather more than
+     less, and who would then themselves wear them in extreme
+     veneration and contentment, both of mind and body."--
+     Lalanne's _OEuvres de Brantome_, vol. ix. p. 309.--L.
+
+"If all men were so honourable as this one, the ladies might well trust
+them, since the cost would be merely a glove."
+
+"I knew the Lord de Montmorency well," said Geburon, "and I am sure that
+he would not have cared to fare after the English fashion. Had he been
+contented with so little, he would not have been so successful in love
+as he was, for the old song says--
+
+     'Of a cowardly lover
+     No good is e'er heard.'"
+
+"You may be sure," said Saffredent, "that the poor lady withdrew her
+hand with all speed, when she felt the beating of his heart, because she
+thought that he was about to die, and people say that there is nothing
+women loathe more than to touch dead bodies." (4)
+
+     4  Most of this sentence, deficient in our MS., is taken
+     from MS. No. 1520.--L.
+
+"If you had spent as much time in hospitals as in taverns," said
+Ennasuite, "you would not speak in that way, for you would have seen
+women shrouding dead bodies, which men, bold as they are, often fear to
+touch."
+
+"It is true," said Saffredent, "that there is none upon whom penance has
+been laid but does the opposite of that wherein he formerly had delight,
+like a lady I once saw in a notable house, who, to atone for her delight
+in kissing one she loved, was found at four o'clock in the morning
+kissing the corpse of a gentleman who had been killed the day before,
+and whom she had never liked more than any other. Then every one knew
+that this was a penance for past delights. But as all the good deeds
+done by women are judged ill by men, I am of opinion that, dead or
+alive, there should be no kissing except after the fashion that God
+commands."
+
+"For my part," said Hircan, "I care so little about kissing women,
+except my own wife, that I will assent to any law you please, yet I
+pity the young folk whom you deprive of this trifling happiness, thus
+annulling the command of St. Paul, who bids us kiss _in osculo sancto._"
+(5)
+
+     5  _Romans_ xvi. 16; 1 _Corinthians_ xvi. 20; 2
+     _Corinthians_ xiii. 12; I _Thessalonians_ v. 26. Also 1
+     _Peter_ v. 14.--M.
+
+"If St. Paul had been such a man as you are," said Nomerfide, "we should
+indeed have required proof of the Spirit of God that spoke in him."
+
+"In the end," said Geburon, "you will doubt Holy Scripture rather than
+give up one of your petty affectations."
+
+"God forbid," said Oisille, "that we should doubt Holy Scripture, but
+we put small faith in your lies. There is no woman but knows what her
+belief should be, namely, never to doubt the Word of God or believe the
+word of man."
+
+"Yet," said Simontauit, "I believe that there are more men deceived by
+women than [women] by men. The slenderness of women's love towards us
+keeps them from believing our truths, whilst our exceeding love towards
+them makes us trust so completely in their falsehoods, that we are
+deceived before we suspect such a thing to be possible."
+
+"Methinks," said Parlamente, "you have been hearing some fool complain
+of being duped by a wanton woman, for your words carry but little
+weight, and need the support of an example. If, therefore, you know of
+one, I give you my place that you may tell it to us. I do not say that
+we are bound to believe you on your mere word, but it will assuredly not
+make our ears tingle to hear you speak ill of us, since we know what is
+the truth."
+
+"Well, since it is for me to speak," said Dagoucin, "'tis I who will
+tell you the tale."
+
+
+[Illustration: 070.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 071a. The Gentleman Mocked by the Ladies When Returning From The False
+Tryst]
+
+[The Gentleman Mocked by the Ladies When Returning From The False Tryst]
+
+[Illustration: 071.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LVIII._
+
+     _A gentleman, through putting too much trust in the
+     truthfulness of a lady whom he had offended by forsaking her
+     for others just when she was most in love with him, was, by
+     a false tryst, deceived by her, and bemocked by the whole
+     Court_.
+
+At the Court of King Francis the First there was a lady (1) of excellent
+wit, who, by her grace, virtue and pleasantness of speech, had won the
+hearts of several lovers. With these she right well knew how to pass
+the time, but without hurt to her honour, conversing with them in such
+pleasant fashion that they knew not what to think, for those who were
+the most confident were reduced to despair, whilst those that despaired
+the most became hopeful. Nevertheless, while fooling most of them, she
+could not help greatly loving one whom she called her cousin, a name
+which furnished a pretext for closer fellowship.
+
+     1  M. de Lincy surmises that Margaret is referring to
+     herself both here and in the following tale, which concerns
+     the same lady. His only reason for the supposition, however,
+     is that the lady's views on certain love matters are akin to
+     those which the Queen herself professed.--Ed.
+
+However, as there is nothing in this world of firm continuance, their
+friendship often turned to anger and then was renewed in stronger sort
+than ever, so that the whole Court could not but be aware of it.
+
+One day the lady, both to let it be seen that she was wholly void
+of passion, and to vex him, for love of whom she had endured much
+annoyance, showed him a fairer countenance than ever she had done
+before. Thereupon the gentleman, who lacked boldness neither in love nor
+in war, began hotly to press the suit that he many a time previously had
+addressed to her.
+
+She, pretending to be wholly vanquished by pity, promised to grant his
+request, and told him that she would with this intent go into her room,
+which was on a garret floor, where she knew there was nobody. And as
+soon as he should see that she was gone he was to follow her without
+fail, for he would find her ready to give proof of the good-will that
+she bore him.
+
+The gentleman, believing what she said, was exceedingly well pleased,
+and began to amuse himself with the other ladies until he should see
+her gone, and might quickly follow her. But she, who lacked naught of
+woman's craftiness, betook herself to my Lady Margaret, daughter of the
+King, and to the Duchess of Montpensier, (2) to whom she said--
+
+"I will if you are willing, show you the fairest diversion you have ever
+seen."
+
+     2  The former is Margaret of France, Duchess of Savoy and
+     Berry. Born in June 1523, she died in September 1574.--
+     Queen Margaret was her godmother. When only three years old,
+     she was promised in marriage to Louis of Savoy, eldest son
+     of Duke Charles III., and he dying, she espoused his younger
+     brother, Emmanuel Philibert, in July 1549. Graceful and
+     pretty as a child (see _ante_, vol. i. p. xlviii.), she
+     became, thanks to the instruction of the famous Michael de
+     l' Hopital, one of the most accomplished women of her time,
+     and Brantome devotes an article to her in his _Dames
+     Illustres_ (Lalanne, v. viii. pp. 328-37). See also Hilarion
+     de Coste's _Eloges et Vies des Reines, Princesses, &c_.,
+     Paris, 1647, vol. ii. p. 278.
+
+     The Duchess of Montpensier, also referred to above, is
+     Jacqueline de Longwick (now Longwy), Countess of Bar-sur-
+     Seine, daughter of J. Ch. de Longwick, Lord of Givry, and of
+     Jane, _batarde_ of Angouleme. In 1538 Jacqueline was
+     married to Louis II. de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier. She
+     gained great influence at the French Court, both under
+     Francis I. and afterwards, and De Thou says of her that she
+     was possessed of great wit and wisdom, far superior to the
+     century in which she lived. She died in August 1561, and was
+     the mother of Francis I., Duke of Montpensier, sometimes
+     called the Dauphin of Auvergne, who fought at Jarnac,
+     Moncontour, Arques, and Ivry, against Henry of Navarre.--L.,
+     B. J. and Ed.
+
+They, being by no means enamoured of melancholy, begged that she would
+tell them what it was.
+
+"You know such a one," she replied, "as worthy a gentleman as lives, and
+as bold. You are aware how many ill turns he has done me, and that, just
+when I loved him most, he fell in love with others, and so caused me
+more grief than I have ever suffered to be seen. Well, God has now
+afforded me the means of taking revenge upon him.
+
+"I am forthwith going to my own room, which is overhead, and immediately
+afterwards, if it pleases you to keep watch, you will see him follow me.
+When he has passed the galleries, and is about to go up the stairs, I
+pray you come both to the window and help me to cry 'Thief!' You will
+then see his rage, which, I am sure, will not become him badly, and,
+even if he does not revile me aloud, I am sure he will none the less do
+so in his heart."
+
+This plan was not agreed to without laughter, for there was no gentleman
+that tormented the ladies more than he did, whilst he was so greatly
+liked and esteemed by all, that for nothing in the world would any one
+have run the risk of his raillery.
+
+It seemed, moreover, to the two Princesses that they would themselves
+share in the glory which the other lady looked to win over this
+gentleman.
+
+Accordingly, as soon as they saw the deviser of the plot go out, they
+set themselves to observe the gentleman's demeanour. But little time
+went by before he shifted his quarters, and, as soon as he had passed
+the door, the ladies went out into the gallery, in order that they might
+not lose sight of him.
+
+Suspecting nothing, he wrapped his cloak about his neck, so as to hide
+his face, and went down the stairway to the court, but, seeing some one
+whom he did not desire to have for witness, he came back by another
+way, and then went down into the court a second time. The ladies saw
+everything without being perceived by him, and when he reached the
+stairway, by which he thought he might safely reach his sweetheart's
+chamber, they went to the window, whence they immediately perceived
+the other lady, who began crying out 'Thief!' at the top of her voice;
+whereupon the two ladies below answered her so loudly that their voices
+were heard all over the castle.
+
+I leave you to imagine with what vexation the gentleman fled to his
+lodgings. He was not so well muffled as not to be known by those who
+were in the mystery, and they often twitted him with it, as did even
+the lady who had done him this ill turn, saying that she had been well
+revenged upon him.
+
+It happened, however, that he was so ready with his replies and evasions
+as to make them believe that he had quite suspected the plan, and had
+only consented to visit the lady in order to furnish them with some
+diversion, for, said he, he would not have taken so much trouble for
+her sake, seeing that his love for her had long since flown. The ladies
+would not admit the truth of this, so that the point is still in doubt;
+nevertheless, it is probable that he believed the lady. And since he
+was so wary and so bold that few men of his age and time could match
+and none could surpass him (as has been proved by his very brave and
+knightly death), (3) you must, it seems to me, confess that men of
+honour love in such wise as to be often duped, by placing too much trust
+in the truthfulness of the ladies.
+
+     3  This naturally brings Bonnivet to mind, though of course
+     the gay, rash admiral was not the only Frenchman of the time
+     who spent his life in making love and waging war.--Ed.
+
+"In good faith," said Ennasuite, "I commend this lady for the trick she
+played; for when a man is loved by a lady and forsakes her for another,
+her vengeance cannot be too severe."
+
+"Yes," said Parlamente, "if she is loved by him; but there are some who
+love men without being certain that they are loved in return, and when
+they find that their sweethearts love elsewhere, they call them fickle.
+It therefore happens that discreet women are never deceived by such
+talk, for they give no heed or belief even to those people who speak
+truly, lest they should prove to be liars, seeing that the true and the
+false speak but one tongue."
+
+"If all women were of your opinion," said Simon-tault, "the gentlemen
+might pack up their prayers at once; but, for all that you and those
+like you may say, we shall never believe that women are as unbelieving
+as they are fair. And in this wise we shall live as content as you would
+fain render us uneasy by your maxims."
+
+"Truly," said Longarine, "knowing as I well do who the lady is that
+played that fine trick upon the gentleman, it is impossible for me not
+to believe in any craftiness on her part. Since she did not spare her
+husband, 'twere fitting she should not spare her lover."
+
+"Her husband, say you?" said Simontault. "You know, then, more than I
+do, and so, since you wish it, I give you my place that you may tell us
+your opinion of the matter."
+
+"And since you wish it," said Longarine, "I will do so."
+
+
+[Illustration: 078.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 079a. The Lady discovering her Husband with the Waiting-woman]
+
+[The Lady discovering her Husband with the Waiting-woman]
+
+[Illustration: 079.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LIX_.
+
+     _This same lady, finding that her husband took it ill that
+     she should have lovers with whom she amused herself without
+     hurt to her honour, kept close watch upon him, and so
+     discovered how pleasantly he addressed himself to one of her
+     waiting-women. This woman she gained upon, made her consent
+     to what her husband solicited, and then surprised him in
+     such error that to atone for it, he was forced to confess
+     that he deserved greater punishment than herself; by which
+     means she was afterwards able to live as her fancy listed_.
+
+The lady of your story was wedded to a rich gentleman of high and
+ancient lineage, and had married him on account of the great affection
+that they bore to one another.
+
+Being a woman most pleasant of speech, she by no means concealed from
+her husband that she had lovers whom she made game of for her pastime,
+and, at first, her husband shared in her pleasure. But at last this
+manner of life became irksome to him, for on the one part he took it ill
+that she should hold so much converse with those that were no kinsfolk
+or friends of his own, and on the other, he was greatly vexed by the
+expense to which he was put in sustaining her magnificence and in
+following the Court.
+
+He therefore withdrew to his own house as often as he was able, but so
+much company came thither to see him that the expenses of his household
+became scarcely any less, for, wherever his wife might be, she always
+found means to pass her time in sports, dances, and all such matters as
+youthful dames may use with honour. And when sometimes her husband told
+her, laughing, that their expenses were too great, she would reply that
+she promised never to make him a "coqu" or cuckold, but only a "coquin,"
+that is, a beggar; for she was so exceedingly fond of dress, that she
+must needs have the bravest and richest at the Court. (1) Her husband
+took her thither as seldom as possible, but she did all in her power
+to go, and to this end behaved in a most loving fashion towards her
+husband, who would not willingly have refused her a much harder request.
+
+     1  As Queen Margaret was by no means over fond of gorgeous
+     apparel and display, this passage is in contradiction with
+     M. de Lincy's surmise that the lady of this and the
+     preceding tale may be herself. In any case the narrative
+     could only apply to the period of her first marriage, and
+     this was in no wise a love-match. Yet we are told at the
+     outset of the above story that the lady and gentleman had
+     married on account of the great affection between them. On
+     the other hand, these details may have been introduced the
+     better to conceal the identity of the persons referred to.--
+     Ed.
+
+Now one day, when she had found that all her devices could not induce
+him to make this journey to the Court, she perceived that he was very
+pleasant in manner with a chamber-woman (2) she had, and thereupon
+thought she might turn the matter to her own advantage. Taking the girl
+apart, she questioned her cleverly, using both wiles and threats, in
+such wise that the girl confessed that, ever since she had been in the
+house, not a day had passed on which her master had not sought her love;
+but (she added) she would rather die than do aught against God and her
+honour, more especially after the honour which the lady had done her in
+taking her into her service, for this would make such wickedness twice
+as great.
+
+     2  The French expression here is _femme de chambre a
+     chaperon_. The _chaperon_ in this instance was a cap with a
+     band of velvet worn across it as a sign of gentle and even
+     noble birth. The attendant referred to above would therefore
+     probably be a young woman of good descent, constrained by
+     circumstances to enter domestic service.--B. J. and Ed.
+
+On hearing of her husband's unfaithfulness, the lady immediately felt
+both grief and joy. Her grief was that her husband, despite all his show
+of loving her, should be secretly striving to put her to so much shame
+in her own household, and this when she believed herself far more
+beautiful and graceful than the woman whom he sought in her stead.
+But she rejoiced to think that she might surprise her husband in such
+manifest error that he would no longer be able to reproach her with her
+lovers, nor with her desire to dwell at Court; and, to bring this about,
+she begged the girl gradually to grant her husband what he sought upon
+certain conditions that she made known to her.
+
+The girl was minded to make some difficulty, but when her mistress
+warranted the safety both of her life and of her honour, she consented
+to do whatever might be her pleasure.
+
+The gentleman, on continuing his pursuit of the girl, found her
+countenance quite changed towards him, and therefore urged his suit more
+eagerly than had been his wont; but she, knowing by heart the part
+she had to play, made objection of her poverty, and said that, if she
+complied with his desire, she would be turned away by her mistress, in
+whose service she looked to gain a good husband.
+
+The gentleman forthwith replied that she need give no thought to any
+such matters, since he would bestow her in marriage more profitably than
+her mistress would be able to do, and further, would contrive the matter
+so secretly that none would know of it.
+
+Upon this they came to an agreement, and, on considering what place
+would be most suited for such a fine business, the girl said that she
+knew of none better or more remote from suspicion than a cottage in the
+park, where there was a chamber and a bed suitable for the occasion.
+
+The gentleman, who would not have thought any place unsuitable, was
+content with the one she named, and was very impatient for the appointed
+day and hour to come.
+
+The girl kept her word to her mistress, and told her in full the whole
+story of the plan, and how it was to be put into execution on the morrow
+after dinner. She would not fail, said she, to give a sign when the time
+came to go to the cottage, and she begged her mistress to be watchful,
+and in no wise fail to be present at the appointed hour, in order to
+save her from the danger into which her obedience was leading her.
+
+This her mistress swore, begging her to be without fear, and promising
+that she would never forsake her, but would protect her from her
+husband's wrath.
+
+When the morrow was come and dinner was over, the gentleman was more
+pleasant with his wife than ever, and although this was not very
+agreeable to her, she dissembled so well that he did not perceive the
+truth.
+
+After dinner she asked him how he was minded to pass away the time, and
+he answered that he knew of nothing better than to play at "cent." (3)
+Forthwith everything was made ready for the game, but the lady pretended
+that she did not care to take part in it, and would find diversion
+enough in looking at the players.
+
+     3  This is probably a reference to the card game now called
+     piquet, usually played for a hundred points. It is one of
+     the oldest of its kind. See Rabelais' _Gargantua_, book i.
+     chap, xxii.--L.
+
+Just before he sat down to play, the gentleman failed not to ask the
+girl to remember her promise to him, and while he was playing she passed
+through the room, making a sign to her mistress which signified that
+she was about to set out on the pilgrimage she had to make. The sign was
+clearly seen by the lady, but her husband perceived nothing of it.
+
+An hour later, however, one of his servants made him a sign from a
+distance, whereupon he told his wife that his head ached somewhat, and
+that he must needs rest and take the air. She, knowing the nature of his
+sickness as well as he did himself, asked him whether she should play
+in his stead, and he consented, saying that he would very soon return.
+However, she assured him that she could take his place for a couple of
+hours without weariness.
+
+So the gentleman withdrew to his room, and thence by an alley into his
+park.
+
+The lady, who knew another and shorter way, waited for a little while,
+and then, suddenly feigning to be seized with colic, gave her hand at
+play to another.
+
+As soon as she was out of the room, she put off her high-heeled shoes
+and ran as quickly as she could to the place, where she had no desire
+that the bargain should be struck without her. And so speedily did she
+arrive, that, when she entered the room by another door, her husband was
+but just come in. Then, hiding herself behind the door, she listened to
+the fair and honest discourse that he held to her maid. But when she
+saw that he was coming near to the criminal point, she seized him from
+behind, saying--
+
+"Nay, I am too near that you should take another."
+
+It is needless to ask whether the gentleman was in extreme wrath, both
+at being balked of the delight he had looked to obtain, and at having
+his wife, whose affection he now greatly feared to lose for ever, know
+more of him than he desired. He thought, however, that the plot had been
+contrived by the girl, and (without speaking to his wife) he ran after
+her with such fury that, had not his wife rescued her from his hands,
+he would have killed her. He declared that she was the wickedest jade
+he had ever known, and that, if his wife had waited to see the end, she
+would have found that he was only mocking her, for, instead of doing
+what she expected, he would have chastised her with rods.
+
+But his wife, knowing what words of the sort were worth, set no value
+upon them, and addressed such reproaches to him that he was in great
+fear lest she should leave him. He promised her all that she asked,
+and, after her sage reproaches, confessed that it was wrong of him to
+complain that she had lovers; since a fair and honourable woman is none
+the less virtuous for being loved, provided that she do or say nothing
+contrary to her honour; whereas a man deserves heavy punishment when he
+is at pains to pursue a woman that loves him not, to the wronging of
+his wife and his own conscience. He would therefore, said he, never more
+prevent his wife from going to Court, nor take it ill that she should
+have lovers, for he knew that she spoke with them more in jest than in
+affection.
+
+This talk was not displeasing to the lady, for it seemed to her that
+she had gained an important point. Nevertheless she spoke quite to the
+contrary, pretending that she had no delight in going to Court, since
+she no longer possessed his love, without which all assemblies were
+displeasing to her; and saying that a woman who was truly loved by her
+husband, and who loved him in return, as she did, carried with her a
+safe-conduct that permitted her to speak with one and all, and to be
+derided by none.
+
+The poor gentleman was at so much pains to assure her of the love he
+bore her, that at last they left the place good friends. That they might
+not again fall into such trouble, he begged her to turn away the girl
+through whom he had undergone so much distress. This she did, but did it
+by bestowing her well and honourably in marriage, and at her husband's
+expense.
+
+And, to make the lady altogether forget his folly, the gentleman soon
+took her to Court, in such style and so magnificently arrayed that she
+had good reason to be content.
+
+"This, ladies, was what made me say I did not find the trick she played
+upon one of her lovers a strange one, knowing, as I did, the trick she
+had played upon her husband."
+
+"You have described to us a very cunning wife and a very stupid
+husband," said Hircan. "Having advanced so far, he ought not to have
+come to a standstill and stopped on so fair a road."
+
+"And what should he have done?" said Longarine.
+
+"What he had taken in hand to do," said Hircan, "for his wife was no
+less wrathful with him for his intention to do evil than she would have
+been had he carried the evil into execution. Perchance, indeed, she
+would have respected him more if she had seen that he was a bolder
+gallant."
+
+"That is all very well," said Ennasuite, "but where will you find a man
+to face two women at once? His wife would have defended her rights and
+the girl her virginity."
+
+"True," said Hircan, "but a strong bold man does not fear to assail two
+that are weak, nor will he ever fail to vanquish them."
+
+"I readily understand," said Ennasuite, "that if he had drawn his sword
+he might have killed them both, but otherwise I cannot see that he had
+any means of escape. I pray you, therefore, tell us what you would have
+done?"
+
+"I should have taken my wife in my arms," said Hircan, "and have carried
+her out. Then I should have had my own way with her maid by love or by
+force."
+
+"'Tis enough, Hircan," said Parlamente, "that you know how to do evil."
+
+"I am sure, Parlamente," he replied, "that I do not scandalise the
+innocence in whose presence I speak, and by what I have said I do not
+mean that I support a wicked deed. But I wonder at the attempt, which
+was in itself worthless, and at the attempter, who, for fear rather than
+for love of his wife, failed to complete it. I praise a man who loves
+his wife as God ordains; but when he does not love her, I think little
+of him for fearing her."
+
+"Truly," replied Parlamente, "if love did not render you a good husband,
+I should make small account of what you might do through fear."
+
+"You are quite safe, Parlamente," said Hircan, "for the love I bear you
+makes me more obedient than could the fear of either death or hell."
+
+"You may say what you please," said Parlamente, "but I have reason to be
+content with what I have seen and known of you. As for what I have not
+seen, I have never wished to make guess or still less inquiry."
+
+"I think it great folly," said Nomerfide, "for women to inquire so
+curiously concerning their husbands, or husbands concerning their wives.
+Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, without giving so much heed
+to the morrow."
+
+"Yet it is sometimes needful," said Oisille, "to inquire into matters
+that may touch the honour of a house in order to set them right, though
+not to pass evil judgment upon persons, seeing that there is none who
+does not fail."
+
+"Many," said Geburon, "have at divers times fallen into trouble for lack
+of well and carefully inquiring into the errors of their wives."
+
+"I pray you," said Longarine, "if you know any such instance, do not
+keep it from us."
+
+"I do indeed know one," said Geburon, "and since you so desire, I will
+relate it."
+
+
+[Illustration: 090.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 091a. The Chanter of Blois delivering his Mistress from the Grave]
+
+[The Chanter of Blois delivering his Mistress from the Grave]
+
+[Illustration: 091.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LX_.
+
+     _A man of Paris, through not making good inquiry concerning
+     his wife, whom he believed dead, though she was indeed
+     making good cheer with a chanter to the King, married a
+     second wife, whom, after having several children by her and
+     consorting with her for fourteen or fifteen years, he was
+     constrained to leave, in order to take his first wife back
+     again_.
+
+In the city of Paris there was a man who was so good-natured that he
+would have scrupled to believe a man abed with his wife, even if he had
+seen him with his own eyes. This poor man married a woman whose conduct
+was as bad as could be; nevertheless he perceived nothing of it, and
+treated her as though she were the most virtuous woman alive. One
+day, however, when King Louis XII. came to Paris, his wife surrendered
+herself to one of the choir-men of the aforesaid sovereign, and when she
+found that the King was leaving Paris and that she would no longer
+be able to see the singer, she resolved to follow him and forsake her
+husband. To this the chanter agreed, and brought her to a house that he
+had near Blois, (1) where for a long while they lived together. The poor
+husband, finding that he had lost his wife, sought her everywhere; and
+at last it was told him that she was gone away with the chanter.
+
+Wishing to recover the lost ewe which he had so badly watched, he wrote
+many letters to her begging her to return to him, and saying that he
+would take her back if she were willing to be a virtuous woman. But she
+took such great delight in listening to the songs of the chanter, that
+she had forgotten her husband's voice, and gave no heed to all his
+excellent words, but mocked at them.
+
+Therefore the husband, in great wrath, gave her to know that, since
+she would return to him in no other way, he would demand her in legal
+fashion of the Church. (2) The wife, dreading that if the law should
+take the matter in hand she and her chanter would fare badly, devised a
+stratagem worthy of such a woman as herself. Feigning sickness, she sent
+for some honourable women of the town to come and see her, and this they
+willingly did, hoping that her illness might be a means of withdrawing
+her from her evil life, with which purpose they addressed the sagest
+admonitions to her. Thereupon she, whilst pretending to be grievously
+sick, made a show of weeping and acknowledging her sinfulness in such
+sort that she gained the pity of the whole company, who quite believed
+that she was speaking from the bottom of her heart. And, finding her
+thus subdued and sorry, they began to comfort her, telling her that God
+was in no wise so terrible as many preachers represented Him, and that
+He would never refuse to show her mercy.
+
+     1  Louis XII.'s favourite place of residence.--Ed.
+
+     2  Implying the Officialite or episcopal court.--B. J.
+
+After this excellent discourse, they sent for a virtuous man to come
+and confess her, and on the morrow the priest of the parish came to
+administer the Holy Sacrament. This she received so piously, that
+all the virtuous women of the town who were present wept to see her
+devoutness, praising God, who of His goodness had in this wise shown
+compassion upon this poor creature.
+
+Afterwards she pretended that she could no longer take food, whereupon
+the extreme unction was brought by the priest and received by her with
+many pious signs; for (as they thought) she was scarcely able to speak.
+She continued thus for a great while, and it seemed as though she were
+gradually losing her sight, hearing and other senses, whereat there came
+from all a cry of "Jesus!" As night was at hand and the ladies were far
+from home, they all withdrew; and just as they were leaving the house it
+was told them that she was dead, whereupon, saying their _De profundis_
+for her, they returned to their houses.
+
+The priest asked the chanter where he would have her buried, and the
+other replied that she had desired to be buried in the cemetery,
+and that it would be well to bring her there at night. So the poor
+unfortunate was shrouded by a serving-woman, who was careful not to hurt
+her, and then by brave torchlight she was carried to the grave that the
+chanter had caused to be made.
+
+When the body passed in front of the houses of those who had been
+present when she received the extreme unction, they all came forth
+and followed her to the tomb; and there she was soon left by women and
+priests alike. The chanter, however, did not go away, but, as soon as he
+saw the company some distance off, he and the serving-woman opened the
+grave wherein was his sweetheart more alive than ever, and he sent her
+secretly to his house, where for a long time he kept her concealed.
+
+The husband, who was in pursuit of her, came as far as Blois to demand
+justice, when he found that she was dead and buried according to the
+testimony of all the ladies of Blois. They told him, too, what a good
+end she had made, and the worthy man was rejoiced to think that his
+wife's soul was in Paradise, and himself rid of her wicked body.
+
+In this wise well content, he betook himself back to Paris, where he
+married a beautiful and virtuous young woman, and a good housewife, by
+whom he had several children, and with whom he lived for fourteen or
+fifteen years. But at last rumour, which can keep nothing hid, advised
+him that his wife was not dead, but was still dwelling with the wicked
+chanter. The poor man concealed the matter as well as he was able,
+pretending to know nothing about it, and hoping that it was a lie. But
+his wife, who was a discreet woman, was told of it, and such was her
+anguish at the tidings that she was like to die of grief. Had it been
+possible without offence to her conscience, she would gladly have
+concealed her misfortune, but it was not possible. The Church
+immediately took the affair in hand, and first of all separated them
+from each other until the truth of the matter should be known.
+
+Then was this poor man obliged to leave the good and go after the bad,
+and in this wise he came to Blois shortly after Francis the First had
+become king. Here he found Queen Claude and my Lady the Regent, (3) to
+whom he made his complaint, asking for her whom he would gladly not have
+found, but whom, to the great compassion of the whole company, he was
+now obliged to see.
+
+     3  This shows that the incidents of the tale occurred in the
+     summer or autumn of 1515, when Francis I. was absent in
+     Italy conducting the campaign which resulted in the victory
+     of Marignano and the surrender of Milan.--Ed.
+
+When his wife was brought before him, she strove for a long while to
+maintain that he was not her husband, which he would willingly have
+believed had he been able. More disappointed than abashed, she told him
+that she would rather die than go back with him, and at this he was well
+pleased; but the ladies in whose presence she spoke in this unseemly
+fashion condemned her to return, and so rated the chanter with many a
+threat, that he was obliged to tell his ugly sweetheart to go back with
+her husband, and to declare that he himself would never see her more.
+
+Rejected thus on all sides, the poor unfortunate withdrew to a home in
+which she was fated to meet with better treatment from her husband than
+she had deserved.
+
+"You see, ladies, why I say that if the poor husband had been more
+watchful over his wife, he would not thus have lost her. A thing that is
+well guarded is difficult to lose, but heedlessness makes the thief."
+
+"'Tis a strange thing," said Hircan, "how strong love is just where it
+seems most unreasonable."
+
+"I have heard," said Simontault, "that it were easier to break two
+marriages than to sunder the love of a priest and his serving-maid."
+
+"I believe it," said Ennasuite; "for those who bind others together in
+marriage, are so well able to tie the knot that nought but death can
+destroy it. Theologians, moreover, hold that spiritual language is of
+more effect than any other, and in consequence spiritual love surpasses
+any other kind."
+
+"It is a thing that I cannot forgive in ladies," said Dagoucin, "when
+they forsake an honourable husband or a lover for a priest, however
+handsome and worthy the latter may be."
+
+"I pray you, Dagoucin," said Hircan, "intermeddle not with our Holy
+Mother Church. Be assured that 'tis a great delight for timorous and
+secret-loving women to sin with those who can absolve them; for there
+are some who are more ashamed to confess a thing than to do it."
+
+"You speak," said Oisille, "of those who have no knowledge of God, and
+who think not that secret matters are one day revealed in presence of
+the Company of Heaven. But I think that it is not for confession's sake
+that they go after confessors; for the Enemy has so blinded them that
+they are more concerned to attach themselves where they think there is
+most concealment and security, than anxious to obtain absolution for the
+wickedness of which they do not repent."
+
+"Repent, say you?" said Saffredent. "Nay, they deem themselves holier
+than other women. I am sure that there are some who deem it honourable
+in themselves that they are constant in such love."
+
+"You speak in such a manner," said Oisille to Saffredent, "that I think
+you know of some one of that kind. I pray you, therefore, begin the Day
+tomorrow by telling us what you know. But now the last bell for vespers
+is already ringing; for our friends the monks went off as soon as they
+had heard the tenth tale, and left us to finish our discussions among
+ourselves."
+
+At these words they all rose and came to the church, where they found
+the monks awaiting them. Then, after hearing vespers, they all supped
+together, talking the while of many excellent stories. After supper they
+went, according to their wont, to disport themselves somewhat in the
+meadow, and then retired to rest, in order that their memories might be
+the sounder on the morrow.
+
+
+[Illustration: 099.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+
+
+
+SEVENTH DAY.
+
+_On the Seventh Day relation is made of such as have done quite contrary
+to their duty or desire_.
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE.
+
+In the morning the Lady Oisille failed not to administer to them
+wholesome nutriment, which she did by reading of the acts and virtuous
+deeds of the glorious knights and apostles of Jesus Christ, as related
+by St. Luke, telling them withal that these relations should suffice to
+make them long for the return of such a time, and to make them weep
+for the uncomeliness of this age as compared with that. When she had
+sufficiently read and expounded to them the beginning of this excellent
+book, she begged them to go to the church in such union as that in which
+the Apostles were wont to pray, seeking of God the mercy which is never
+refused to those who ask for it in faith. Her counsel was approved by
+all, and they came to the church just as the Mass of the Holy Spirit
+was beginning; this seemed to them very apt to the occasion, and they
+hearkened to the service in great devotion.
+
+Afterwards they went to dinner, where they called to mind the apostolic
+life, and took such great delight in it that it was as though their
+undertaking had been forgotten. But Nomerfide, who was the youngest,
+noticed this, and said, "The Lady Oisille has made us so devout that we
+are letting slip the hour at which we are wont to withdraw, in order to
+make ready for the relating of our tales."
+
+Her words caused the whole company to rise, and, after they had been for
+a while in their rooms, they failed not to repair to the meadow as on
+the day before. When they were seated at their ease, the Lady Oisille
+said to Saffredent, "Although I am certain that you will say nothing to
+the advantage of women, yet I must call upon you to tell the tale that
+you had in readiness yester evening."
+
+"I protest, madam," replied Saffredent, "against winning the repute of
+a slanderer through telling the truth, or losing the favour of virtuous
+ladies through relating the deeds of the wanton. I have felt what it is
+to lack their presence, and had I equally lacked their fair favours, I
+had not been alive to-day."
+
+So saying, he turned his eyes away from her who was the cause of his
+happiness and of his woe; and, looking upon Ennasuite, caused her to
+blush as deeply as though his words had been directed to her. Yet was he
+none the less understood by her whom he desired should understand him.
+The Lady Oisille then assured him that he might freely speak the truth
+at the cost of any person concerned; whereupon he thus began:--
+
+
+[Illustration: 105a. The Lady returning to her Lover, the Canon of Autun]
+
+[The Lady returning to her Lover, the Canon of Autun]
+
+[Illustration: 105.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXI_.
+
+     _A husband is reconciled with his wife after she had lived
+     during fourteen or fifteen years with a Canon of Autun_.
+
+Near the town of Autun there lived a very beautiful woman, who was
+tall, fair, and as handsome of feature as any I have ever seen. She was
+married to an honest man who seemed somewhat younger than herself, and
+who loved and treated her well enough to give her reason for content.
+
+A little while after they were married, he took her to the town of
+Autun, where he had business; and while he was engaged with the law, his
+wife would go to the church to pray God for him.
+
+She repaired so often to this holy place that a very rich Canon fell in
+love with her, and wooed her so urgently that the unhappy creature gave
+herself up to him. Her husband had no suspicion of this, however, for he
+gave more thought to the guarding of his property than of his wife.
+
+When the time for departure was come, and they must needs return to
+their home, which was full seven leagues from the town, great was the
+woman's sorrow. But the Canon promised that he would often go and see
+her, and this he did, pretending to be making some journey which led
+him past the house. The gentleman, however, was not so foolish as not to
+perceive the truth, and he so skilfully contrived matters, that when the
+Canon came thither he no longer met the wife, who was too well hidden
+by her husband to allow of his having any speech with her. The wife,
+knowing her husband's jealousy, gave no sign that this was displeasing
+to her; nevertheless, she resolved to set things to rights, for she felt
+herself as it were in hell, deprived as she was of the sight of her God.
+
+One day, when her husband was abroad, she found a means to occupy her
+servants, both men and women, after such a fashion that she was left
+alone in the house. Immediately, she took what was needful, and, with no
+company save that of the wanton love she carried with her, she repaired
+on foot to Autun. Here she arrived none too late to be recognised by her
+Canon, who kept her shut up in hiding for more than a year, and this in
+spite of the monitions and excommunications that were procured against
+him by her husband.
+
+The latter, finding that he had no other remedy, at last complained to
+the Bishop, who had an Archdeacon, as worthy a man as any at that time
+in France. This Archdeacon himself searched with great diligence through
+all the Canon's houses, until he discovered the one in which the woman
+was being kept in concealment, whereupon he cast her into prison, and
+laid heavy penance upon the Canon.
+
+The husband, knowing that his wife had been recovered by the counsels of
+the Archdeacon and divers other excellent persons, was content to take
+her back on her swearing to him that she would live for the future as
+beseemed a virtuous woman.
+
+This the worthy man in his deep love for her readily believed, and,
+bringing her back to his house, he treated her as honourably as before,
+except that he gave her two old serving-women who never left her, one or
+other of them being at all times with her.
+
+But, however kindly her husband might use her, the wicked love she bore
+towards the Canon caused her to regard all rest as torment. And although
+she was a very beautiful woman and her husband a man of excellent
+constitution, vigorous and strong, she never had any children by him,
+her heart being always seven leagues away from her body; this, however,
+she concealed so well that it seemed to her husband that, like himself,
+she had wholly forgotten the past.
+
+But in her great wickedness she was not so minded; for, just when she
+saw her husband most in love with her and having least suspicion, she
+pretended to fall ill, and continued in this pretence until her husband
+was in wondrous distress, and anxious to spare nought that might relieve
+her.
+
+However, she played her part so exceedingly well that he, and all in the
+house, thought that she was sick unto death, and was growing by degrees
+weaker and weaker. Finding that her husband was no less grieved than he
+should have been glad, she begged of him that he would authorise her to
+make her will, and this with tears he did.
+
+Having power of bequest, although she had no children, she gave to her
+husband what she could, craving at the same time his forgiveness for
+her wrong-doing towards him. Then she sent for the priest, confessed
+herself, and received the Holy Sacrament of the Altar with such
+devoutness, that all wept to see so glorious an end.
+
+When the evening was come, she begged her husband to send for the
+extreme unction, saying that, as she was growing very weak, she was in
+fear lest she might not live to receive it. Her husband in all haste
+caused it to be brought by the priest, and she, by receiving it with
+very great humility, prompted every one to praise her.
+
+After she had got through her brave mysteries, she told her husband
+that, having through God's grace received all that the Church commands,
+she felt great peace of conscience, and would fain take some rest; and
+she begged him to do the like, seeing that he had great need of it after
+all his weeping and watching with her.
+
+When her husband was gone, and all his servants with him, the poor old
+women, who had so long watched her in health and now had no fear of
+losing her except by death, went contentedly and comfortably to bed. As
+soon as she heard them asleep and loudly snoring, she rose in nothing
+but her shift, and went out of the room, listening to hear if any one
+was yet astir in the house. Taking every precaution, she then (as she
+well knew how) let herself out through a little garden-gate that was not
+shut, and, barefooted and in her shift, journeyed all night long towards
+Autun and the saint, who had preserved her from death.
+
+It happened, however, that as the distance was great, she could not
+accomplish the whole of it before daylight overtook her. Looking then
+all along the road, she perceived two horsemen who were galloping at
+full speed, and thinking that it might be her husband in search of her,
+she hid herself entirely in a marsh, with her head among the reeds.
+As her husband (for he it was) passed close beside her, he spoke to a
+servant who was with him, in tones of deep despair, saying--
+
+"Ah, the wicked woman! Who could have thought that so foul and
+abominable a deed could be hidden under cloak of the holy sacraments of
+the Church."
+
+"If Judas," replied the servant, "feared not to betray his Master when
+he was receiving the like, a woman's treachery is but small matter for
+wonder."
+
+At this point the husband passed on, and his wife remained among the
+rushes, in greater gladness at having deceived and escaped him than she
+had ever felt at home in a good bed but in subjection.
+
+The poor husband sought her through all the town of Autun, but learning
+for certain that she had not entered it, he retraced his steps,
+complaining unceasingly of her and of his loss, and threatening her with
+nothing short of death if he should find her. Of this she had as little
+fear in her mind as she had of cold in her body, although the place and
+season might well have caused her to repent of her evil journey. And any
+one who did not know how the fire of hell inflames those that are filled
+with it, must needs wonder how it was that this unhappy woman could so
+leave a warm bed and continue for a whole day in the piercing cold.
+
+Yet she neither lost courage nor gave up the journey, but, as soon as
+night was come, went forward once more. Just as the gate at Autun was
+being closed, this pilgrim arrived thither and repaired straight to the
+shrine of her saint, who was in great wonder at her coming, and could
+scarcely believe that it was indeed she. But when he had carefully
+looked at her and examined her at all points, he found that, unlike
+a spirit, she was really possessed of bone and flesh, and so became
+convinced that she was no ghost.
+
+And thenceforward they agreed so well together that she dwelt with the
+Canon for fourteen or fifteen years.
+
+Although for a time she lived in concealment, in the end she lost all
+fear, and (what is worse) became so exceedingly proud of her lover that
+at church she would set herself before most of the honourable women of
+the town, wives of officials and others. Moreover, she had children
+by the Canon, and among others a daughter who was married to a rich
+merchant, and who had so magnificent a wedding that all the women of
+the town murmured exceedingly, yet were powerless to set the affair to
+rights.
+
+Now it happened that at this time Queen Claude, wife of King Francis,
+passed through the town of Autun, having with her my Lady the Regent,
+mother of the King aforesaid, and the Duchess of Alencon, her daughter.
+(1) One of the Queen's waiting-women, named Perrette, came to the
+Duchess and said--
+
+"Madam, I pray you listen to me, and you will do a better deed than if
+you went to hear the whole day's service at the church."
+
+     1  This would have occurred in the late autumn of 1515, when
+     the Court journeyed southward to meet Francis I. on his
+     return from the Marignano campaign.--Ed.
+
+The Duchess gave ready heed, knowing that nought but good counsel could
+come from her. Then Perrette forthwith told her how she had taken a
+young girl to help her in washing the Queen's linen, and how, on asking
+the news of the town, she had heard from her the vexation which all the
+honourable women endured at seeing the Canon's mistress go before them,
+together with some of the history of the wicked woman's life.
+
+The Duchess went immediately to the Queen and my Lady the Regent, and
+told them the story; and they, without any form of law, sent for the
+unhappy woman. The latter sought no concealment, for her shame was
+turned to pride at being mistress in the household of so rich a man; and
+hence, with no feeling of confusion or disgrace, she presented herself
+before the ladies aforesaid, who were so abashed by her hardihood that
+at first they knew not what to say. After a time, however, my Lady the
+Regent rebuked her in a fashion which would have made a right-thinking
+woman weep, though this unhappy creature did not do so, but with great
+boldness said--
+
+"I pray you, ladies, let my honour go unscathed, for, God be praised,
+I have lived so well and virtuously with the Canon that no person alive
+can say aught against me. And let it not be thought that I am living in
+opposition to the will of God, since, for three years past, the Canon
+has not come near me, and we live together as chastely and as lovingly
+as two little angels, without any speech or wish between us to the
+contrary. And any one separating us will commit a great sin, for the
+worthy man, who is nigh eighty years old, will not live long without me,
+who am forty-five."
+
+You may imagine how the ladies then comported themselves, and what
+remonstrance they all made with her; but, in spite of the words that
+were spoken, and her own age, and the honourable indignation of those
+present, her obstinacy was not softened. That she might be the more
+effectually humbled, they sent for the good Archdeacon of Autun, and he
+condemned her to lie in prison for a year, faring on bread and water.
+The ladies further sent for her husband, and he, after hearing their
+excellent exhortations, was content to take her back again after she
+should have performed her penance.
+
+But when she found that she was a prisoner, and that the Canon was
+resolved to have her back no more, she thanked the ladies for having
+taken a devil off her shoulders, and showed such deep and perfect
+contrition that her husband, instead of waiting until the year should
+have expired, came and asked her of the Archdeacon before a fortnight
+was over; and since then they have lived together in all peace and
+affection.
+
+"You see, ladies, how the chains of St. Peter are by wicked ministers
+converted into those of Satan, which it is so hard to break that even
+the sacraments, which cast out devils from the body, are here the means
+of making them abide longer in the conscience; for the best things, when
+abused, bring about most evil."
+
+"Truly," said Oisille, "this woman was a very wicked one, but at the
+same time she was well punished by her appearance before such judges as
+the ladies you have named. The mere glance of the Lady Regent had such
+power that never was there a woman, however virtuous, that did not dread
+being found unworthy in her sight. Those who were looked upon kindly by
+her deemed that they had earned a high honour, knowing as they did that
+none but virtuous women were favoured by her." (2)
+
+     2  We are asked to believe that Oisille is none other than
+     the Lady Regent (Louise of Savoy), but is it likely she
+     would thus speak of herself? We can scarcely conceive Queen
+     Margaret perpetrating such a flagrant anachronism.--Ed.
+
+"It were indeed a fine thing," said Hircan, "that there should be
+greater dread of a woman's eyes than of the Holy Sacrament, which, if it
+be not received in faith and charity, brings with it eternal damnation."
+
+"Those," said Parlamente, "who are not inspired by God are, I promise
+you, in greater dread of the temporal than of the spiritual powers. And
+I believe that the poor creature was brought to mend her ways rather by
+her imprisonment and the thought of seeing her Canon no more, than by
+any remonstrance that might have been made to her."
+
+"Nay," said Simontault, "you have forgotten the chief cause of her
+return to her husband, which was that the Canon was eighty years old,
+whilst her husband was younger than herself; so the worthy lady had the
+best of all her bargains. Had the Canon been young, she would not have
+been willing to forsake him, and the admonitions of the ladies would
+have been as ineffectual as the sacraments."
+
+"Further," said Nomerfide, "I think she did well not to confess her sin
+so readily; such an offence ought to be humbly acknowledged to God, but
+stoutly denied before men. Even though it be true, still, by deception
+and swearing, doubt may be cast upon it."
+
+"Not so," said Longarine. "A sin can scarcely be so secret that it will
+not become revealed, unless God in His pity conceal it, as in the case
+of those who for love of Himself have truly repented."
+
+"And what," said Hircan, "will you say of those women who have no sooner
+done a deed of folly than they tell some one about it?"
+
+"I think that a strange thing," answered Longarine, "and a sign that sin
+is not displeasing to them. If, as I said, a sin is not covered by
+the mercy of God, it cannot be denied before men; there are many who,
+delighting in such talk, glory to make their vices known, whilst others
+who contradict themselves in this way become their own accusers."
+
+"If you know any such instance," said Saffredent, "I give you my place
+and beg you to tell it us."
+
+"Listen then," said Longarine.
+
+
+[Illustration: 117.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 119a. The Gentleman's Spur catching in the Sheet]
+
+[The Gentleman's Spur catching in the Sheet]
+
+[Illustration: 119.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXII_.
+
+     _A lady's tongue tripped so awkwardly whilst she was telling
+     a story, as if of another, to a dame of high degree, that
+     her honour thenceforward bore a stain which she could never
+     remove_.
+
+In the time of King Francis the First there lived a lady of the blood
+royal, who was endowed with honour, virtue and beauty, and well knew how
+to tell a story with grace and to laugh at such as might be told to
+her. (1) This lady being at one of her houses, all her subjects and
+neighbours came to see her; for she was as much liked as it were
+possible for woman to be.
+
+     1  M. de Lincy thinks that this lady may be Louise of Savoy,
+     who was very fond of listening to stories of an equivocal
+     character. This, it may be pointed out, is one of the
+     reasons why the commentators of the _Heptameron_ suppose her
+     to be Oisille, though the latter in the conversational
+     passages following the tales displays considerable prudery
+     and devoutness. That Louise was a woman of extremely amorous
+     tendency is well known; we need, indeed, no better proof of
+     it than her unseemly passion for the Constable de Bourbon
+     when she was five-and-forty years of age. If she be the lady
+     of royal blood spoken of above, the incidents of the tale
+     may have occurred in the Bourbonnais, a considerable portion
+     of which passed into her hands after the flight of the
+     Constable from France. It will be noted that allusion is
+     made to the lady's subjects, showing that she exercised a
+     feudal sway. As one of the commentators of the _Heptameron_
+     has pointed out, Queen Margaret always saw her mother--that
+     "donna terribilissima!" as De Lussy called her--in such an
+     ideal light that M. de Lincy's surmise may well be a correct
+     one despite the attributes of honour, virtue and beauty
+     bestowed on the lady whom she speaks of.--Ed.
+
+Among others there came a lady who hearkened whilst the rest told every
+story they could think of in order to amuse the Princess. This lady then
+resolved that she would not be behind the others, and accordingly said--
+
+"Madam, I will tell you a fine story, but you must promise me not to
+speak of it."
+
+Then she forthwith continued--
+
+"The story, madam, is on my conscience a perfectly true one, and
+concerns a married lady who lived in all honour with her husband,
+although he was old and she was young. A gentleman who was her
+neighbour, seeing her married to this old man, fell in love with her,
+and importuned her for several years; but never received of her any
+reply save such as a virtuous woman should make. One day the gentleman
+bethought him that if he could take her at a disadvantage she might
+perchance be less harsh towards him, and, after he had for a long while
+weighed the danger that he might run, his love for the lady wholly
+banished his fears, and he resolved to find a time and place. He kept
+excellent watch, and so one morning, when the lady's husband was going
+to another of his houses, and leaving at daybreak by reason of the heat,
+the young gallant came to the house, where he found the lady asleep in
+her bed, and perceived that the serving-women were gone out of the room.
+
+"Then, without having sense enough to fasten the door, he got into the
+lady's bed all booted and spurred as he was, and when she awoke, she was
+as distressed as she could possibly be. But in spite of any remonstrance
+that she could make to him, he took her by force, saying that if she
+should make the matter known he would tell every one that she had sent
+for him; and at this the lady was so greatly afraid that she durst not
+cry out. Afterwards, on some of her women coming in, he rose in haste
+and would have been perceived by none if his spur, which had become
+fastened in the upper sheet, had not drawn it right off, leaving the
+lady quite naked in her bed."
+
+So far the lady had told the story as if of another, but at the end she
+involuntarily said--
+
+"Never was a woman so confounded as I was, when I found myself lying
+quite naked."
+
+At these last words the lady, who had hitherto hearkened to the story
+without laughing, could not refrain from doing so, and said--
+
+"By what I can see, you are well qualified to tell the tale."
+
+The poor lady tried in every possible way to clear her honour, but it
+was already flown so far away that she was never able to recall it.
+
+"I assure you, ladies, that had she felt any deep displeasure in doing
+such a deed, she would have desired to forget it. But, as I have told
+you, sin will of itself be discovered before it could otherwise be
+known, unless it be hidden by the mantle which, as David says, makes man
+blessed."
+
+"In good sooth," said Ennasuite, "she was the greatest fool I have ever
+heard of, to make the others laugh at her own expense."
+
+"I do not deem it strange," said Parlamente, "that the word should
+follow the deed, for it is easier to say than to do."
+
+"Why," said Geburon, "what sin had she committed? She was asleep in her
+bed, he threatened her with shame and death; Lucrece, who is so highly
+praised, did just the same."
+
+"That is true," said Parlamente, "and I confess that there is none too
+righteous to fall. But when one has felt great offence in the deed, the
+same holds good of the recollection; and whereas Lucrece to efface the
+latter killed herself, this foolish woman tried to make others laugh."
+
+"Nevertheless," said Nomerfide, "it seems that she was a virtuous woman,
+seeing that she had been many times entreated but would never consent,
+so that the gentleman must needs resort to treachery and force in order
+to wrong her."
+
+"What!" said Parlamente. "Do you think that a woman has answered for
+her honour, when she gives herself up after refusing two or three times?
+There would then be many virtuous women among those that are deemed the
+opposite, for many of them have been known to refuse for a long while
+those to whom their hearts had been given, some doing this through fear
+for their honour, and others in order to make themselves still more
+ardently loved and esteemed. No account, therefore, should be made of a
+woman unless she stands firm to the end. But if a man refuse a beautiful
+girl, do you regard that as great virtue?"
+
+"Truly," said Oisille, "if a young and lusty man so refused, I should
+hold it worthy of high praise, but none the less difficult of belief."
+
+"Yet," said Dagoucin, "I know one who refused to partake in amours that
+were sought after by all his comrades."
+
+"I pray you," said Longarine, "take my place and tell us the tale, yet
+remember that you must here utter the truth."
+
+"I promise you," said Dagoucin, "that I will tell it in all its
+simplicity, without any colouring or disguise."
+
+
+[Illustration: 124.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 125a. The King asking the Young Lord to join his Banquet]
+
+[The King asking the Young Lord to join his Banquet]
+
+[Illustration: 125.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXIII_.
+
+     _A gentleman's refusal of an amour that was sought after by
+     all his comrades, was imputed to him as great virtue, and
+     his wife loved him and esteemed him in consequence far more
+     than before_. (1)
+
+In the city of Paris there lived four girls, of whom two were sisters,
+and such was their beauty, youth and freshness, that they were run after
+by all the gallants. A gentleman, however, who at that time held the
+office of Provost of Paris (2) from the King, seeing that his master was
+young, of an age to desire such company, so cleverly contrived matters
+with all four of the damsels that each, thinking herself intended for
+the King, agreed to what the aforesaid Provost desired. This was that
+they should all of them be present at a feast to which he invited his
+master.
+
+     1  This story, omitted by Boaistuau, was included in
+     Gruget's edition of the _Heptameron_.--L.
+
+     2  This is John de la Barre, already alluded to in Tale I.
+     The _Journal d'un Bourgeois de Paris_ tells us that he was
+     born in Paris of poor parents, and became a favourite of
+     Francis I., who appointed him Bailiff of the capital,
+     without requiring him to pay any of the dues attaching to
+     the office. From the roll of the royal household for 1522,
+     we also find that he was then a gentleman of the bed chamber
+     with 1200 _livres_ salary, master of the wardrobe (a post
+     worth 200 _livres_) and governor of the pages, for the board
+     and clothing of whom he received 5000 _livres_ annually. In
+     1526 he became Provost as well as Bailiff of Paris, the two
+     offices then being amalgamated. He was further created Count
+     of Etampes, and acquired the lordship of Veretz, best
+     remembered by its associations with the murder of Paul Louis
+     Courier. La Barre fought at Pavia, was taken prisoner with
+     the King, and remained his constant companion during his
+     captivity. Several letters of his, dating from this period
+     and of great historical interest, are still extant; some of
+     them have been published by Champollion-Figeac (_Captivite
+     de Francois Ier_) and Genin (_Lettres de Marguerite, &c_).
+     Under date 1533 (o. s.) the "Bourgeois de Paris" writes in
+     his _Journal_: "At the beginning of March there died in
+     Paris, at the house of Monsieur Poncher, Monsieur le Prevost
+     de Paris, named de La Barre.... The King was then in Paris,
+     at his chateau of the Louvre, and there was great pomp at
+     the obsequies; and he was borne to his lordship of Veretz,
+     near Tours, that he might be buried there." Numerous
+     particulars concerning La Barre will also be found in M. de
+     Laborde's _Comptes des Batiments du Roi au XVIeme Siecle_.--
+     L. and Ed.
+
+He told the latter his plan, which was approved both by the Prince and
+by two other great personages of the Court, all three agreeing together
+to share in the spoil.
+
+While they were looking for a fourth comrade, there arrived a handsome
+and honourable lord who was ten years younger than the others. He
+was invited to the banquet, but although he accepted with a cheerful
+countenance, in his heart he had no desire for it. For on the one part
+he had a wife who was the mother of handsome children, and with whom he
+lived in great happiness, and in such peacefulness that on no account
+would he have had her suspect evil of him. And on the other hand he was
+the lover of one of the handsomest ladies of her time in France, whom
+he loved and esteemed so greatly that all other women seemed to him ugly
+beside her.
+
+In his early youth, before he was married, he had found it impossible to
+gaze upon and associate with other women, however beautiful they might
+be; for he took more delight in gazing upon his sweetheart, and in
+perfectly loving her, than in having all that another might have given
+him.
+
+This lord, then, went to his wife and told her secretly of the
+enterprise that his master had in hand, saying that he would rather die
+than do what he had promised. For (he told her) just as there was no
+living man whom he would not venture to attack in anger, although he
+would rather die than commit a causeless and wilful murder unless his
+honour compelled him to it; even so, unless driven by extreme love, such
+as may serve to blind virtuous men, he would rather die than break his
+marriage vow to gratify another.
+
+On hearing these words of his, and finding that so much honour dwelt
+in one so young, his wife loved and esteemed him more than she had ever
+done before, and inquired how he thought he might best excuse himself,
+since Princes often frown on those who do not praise what they like.
+
+"I have always heard," he replied, "that a wise man has a journey or
+a sickness in his sleeve for use in time of need. I have therefore
+resolved that I will feign a grievous sickness four or five days
+beforehand, and in this matter your countenance may render me true
+service."
+
+"Tis a worthy and holy hypocrisy," said his wife, "and I will not fail
+to serve you with the saddest face I can command; for he who can avoid
+offending God and angering the Prince is fortunate indeed."
+
+As it was resolved, so was it done, and the King was very sorry to hear
+from the wife of her husband's sickness. This, however, lasted no
+long time; for, on account of certain business which arose, the King
+disregarded his pleasure to attend to his duty, and betook himself away
+from Paris.
+
+However, one day, remembering their unfinished undertaking, he said to
+the young lord:--
+
+"We were very foolish to leave so suddenly without seeing the four girls
+who are declared to be the fairest in my kingdom."
+
+"I am very glad," replied the young lord, "that you failed in the
+matter, for I was in great fear that, by reason of my sickness, I should
+be the only one to miss so pleasant an adventure."
+
+By reason of this answer the King never suspected the dissimulation of
+the young lord, who was thenceforward loved by his wife more dearly than
+he had ever been before.
+
+Hereupon Parlamente began to laugh, and could not hold from saying--
+
+"He would have loved his wife better if he had done this for love of her
+alone. But in any case he is worthy of great praise."
+
+"It seems to me," said Hircan, "that it is no great merit in a man
+to keep his chastity for love of his wife, inasmuch as there are many
+reasons which in a manner compel him to do so. In the first place, God
+commands it; his marriage vow binds him to it, and, further, surfeited
+nature is not liable to temptation or desire as necessity is. But when
+the unfettered love that a man bears towards a mistress of whom he has
+no delight, and no other happiness save that of seeing her and speaking
+with her, and from whom he often receives harsh replies--when this love
+is so loyal and steadfast that nothing can ever make it change, I say
+that such chastity is not simply praiseworthy but miraculous."
+
+"'Tis no miracle in my opinion," said Oisille, "for when the heart is
+plighted, nothing is impossible to the body."
+
+"True," said Hircan; "to bodies which have become those of angels."
+
+"I do not speak only of those," said Oisille, "who by the grace of God
+are wholly transformed into Himself, but of the grosser spirits that
+we see here below among men. And, if you give heed, you will find that
+those who have set their hearts and affections upon seeking after the
+perfection of the sciences, have forgotten not only the lust of the
+flesh, but even the most needful matters, such as food and drink; for
+so long as the soul is stirred within the body, so long does the flesh
+continue as though insensible. Thence comes it that those who love
+handsome, honourable and virtuous women have such happiness of spirit in
+seeing them and speaking with them, that the flesh is lulled in all its
+desires. Those who cannot feel this happiness are the carnally-minded,
+who, wrapped in their exceeding fatness, cannot tell whether they have a
+soul or not. But, when the body is in subjection to the spirit, it is
+as though heedless of the failings of the flesh, and the beliefs of such
+persons may render them insensible of the same. I knew a gentleman who,
+to show that he loved his mistress more dearly than did any other man,
+proved it to all his comrades by holding his bare fingers in the
+flame of a candle. And then, with his eyes fixed upon his mistress, he
+remained firm until he had burned himself to the bone, and yet said that
+he had felt no hurt."
+
+"Methinks," said Geburon, "that the devil whose martyr he was ought to
+have made a St. Lawrence of him; for there are few whose love-flame is
+hot enough to keep them from fearing that of the smallest taper. But
+if a lady had suffered me to endure so much hurt for her sake, I should
+either have sought a rich reward or else have taken my love away from
+her."
+
+"So," said Parlamente, "you would have your hour after the lady had
+had hers? That was what was done by a gentleman of the neighbourhood
+of Valencia in Spain, whose story was told to me by a captain, a right
+worthy man."
+
+"I pray you, madam," said Dagoucin, "take my place and tell it us, for I
+am sure that it must be a good one."
+
+"This story, ladies," said Parlamente, "will teach you both to think
+twice when you are inclined to give a refusal and to lay aside the
+thought that the present will always continue; and so, knowing that it
+is subject to mutation, you will have a care for the time to come."
+
+
+[Illustration: 132.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 133a. The Lady Swooning in the Arms of the Gentleman of
+Valencia who had become a Monk]
+
+[The Lady Swooning in the Arms of the Gentleman of Valencia who had
+become a Monk]
+
+[Illustration: 133.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXIV_.
+
+     _After a lady had for the space of five or six years made
+     trial of the love that a certain gentleman bore her, she
+     desired to have a still stronger proof of it, and reduced
+     him to such despair that he turned monk, on which account
+     she was not able to win him back again when she would fain
+     have done so_.
+
+In the city of Valencia there lived a gentleman, who for the space of
+five or six years had loved a lady so perfectly that the honour and
+conscience of neither of them had taken any hurt; for his intent was
+to have her as his wife, and this was reasonable, seeing that he was
+handsome, rich and of good descent. But, before he became her lover, he
+first inquired concerning her own mind, whereupon she declared herself
+willing to marry according to the counsels of her kinsfolk. The
+latter, being come together for the purpose, deemed the marriage a very
+reasonable one provided that the maiden was herself disposed to it; but
+she--whether because she thought to do better or because she wished to
+hide her love for him---made some difficulty, and the company separated,
+not without regret at having failed to conclude a match so well suited
+to both parties.
+
+The most grieved of all was the poor gentleman, who would have borne
+his misfortune with patience had he thought that the fault lay with the
+kinsfolk and not with her; but he knew the truth, and the knowledge was
+to him worse than death. So, without speaking to his sweetheart or to
+any other person, he withdrew to his own house, and, after setting his
+affairs in order, betook himself to a solitary spot, where he strove to
+forget his love and change it wholly to that love of our Lord which were
+truly a higher duty than the other.
+
+During this time he received no tidings of his mistress or her kindred,
+and he therefore resolved that, since he had failed to obtain the
+happiest life he could hope for, he would choose the most austere and
+disagreeable that he could imagine. With this sad intent, which
+might well have been called despair, he went and became a monk in the
+monastery of St. Francis. This monastery was not far from the dwellings
+of divers of his kinsfolk, who, on hearing of his desperate condition,
+did all that in them lay to hinder his purpose; but this was so firmly
+rooted in his heart that it was not possible to turn him from it.
+
+Nevertheless, as the source of his distemper was known to them, they
+determined to seek the cure, and so repaired to her who was the cause
+of his sudden devoutness. She was greatly astonished and grieved by this
+mischance, for, in refusing for a time, she had thought only to test his
+affection, not to lose it for ever. Seeing now the evident risk that she
+ran of doing this last, she sent him a letter, which, ill-translated,
+was as follows:--
+
+     "Since love, if tested not full needfully,
+     Steadfast and faithful is not shown to be,
+     By length of time my heart would that assay
+     Whereon itself was set to love alway--
+     To wit, a husband with that true love filled
+     Such as no lapsing time has ever killed.
+     This, then, was the sole reason that I drew
+     My kin to hinder for a year or two
+     That closest tie which lasts till life is not,
+     And whereby woe is oftentimes begot.
+     Yet sought I not to have you wholly sent
+     Away; such was in no wise my intent,
+     For none save you could I have e'er adored
+     Or looked to as my husband and my lord.
+     But woe is me, what tidings reach mine ear!
+     That you, to lead the cloistered life austere,
+     Are gone with speech to none; whereat the pain
+     That ever holds me, now can brook no rein,
+     But forces me mine own estate to slight
+     For that which yours aforetime was of right;
+     To seek him out who once sought me alone,
+     And win him who myself has sometimes won.
+     Nay then, my love, life of the life in me,
+     For loss of whom I fain would cease to be,
+     Turn hither, graciously, those eyes of pain
+     And trace those wandering footsteps back again.
+     Leave the grey robe and its austerity,
+     Come back and taste of that felicity
+     Which often you desired, and which to-day
+     Time has nor slain, nor swept away.
+     For you alone I've kept myself; and I,
+     Lacking your presence, cannot choose but die.
+     Come back then; in your sweetheart have belief,
+     And for past memories find cool relief
+     In holy marriage-ties. Ah! then, my dear,
+     To me, not to your pride give ready ear,
+     And rest of this assured, I had no thought
+     To give, sweetheart, to you offence in aught,
+     But only yearned your faithfulness to prove
+     And then to make you happy with my love.
+     But now that through this trial, free from scathe,
+     Are come your steadfastness and patient faith,
+     And all that loyal love to me is known,
+     Which at the last has made me yours alone,
+     Come, my beloved, take what is your due
+     And wholly yield to me, as I to you!"
+
+This letter, brought by a friend of hers with every remonstrance that it
+was possible to make, was received and read by the gentleman friar with
+such sadness of countenance, such sighs and such tears, that it seemed
+as though he would drown and burn the poor epistle. But he made no
+reply to it, except to tell the messenger that the mortification of his
+exceeding passion had cost him so dear as to have taken from him both
+the wish to live and the fear to die. He therefore requested her who
+had been the cause of this, that since she had not chosen to satisfy
+his passionate longings, she would, now that he was rid of them, abstain
+from tormenting him, and rest content with the evil which was past. For
+that evil he could find no remedy but the choice of an austere life,
+which by continual penance might bring him to forget his grief, and, by
+fasts and disciplines, subdue his body, till the thought of death should
+be to him but a sovereign consolation. Above all, he begged that he
+might never hear of her, since he found the mere remembrance of her name
+a purgatory not to be endured.
+
+The gentleman went back with this mournful reply, and reported it to the
+maiden who did not hear it without intolerable sorrow. But Love, which
+will not suffer the spirit utterly to fail, gave her the thought that,
+if she could see him, her words and presence might be of more effect
+than the writing. She therefore, with her father and the nearest of her
+kin, went to the monastery where he abode. She had left nothing in her
+box that might set off her beauty, for she felt sure that, could he but
+once look at her and hear her, the fire that had so long dwelt in both
+their hearts must of necessity be kindled again in greater strength than
+before.
+
+Coming thus into the monastery towards the end of vespers, she sent for
+him to come to her in a chapel that was in the cloister. He, knowing not
+who it was that sought him, went in all ignorance to the sternest battle
+in which he had ever been. When she saw him so pale and wan that she
+could hardly recognise him, yet filled with grace, in no whit less
+winning than of yore, Love made her stretch out her arms to embrace him,
+whilst her pity at seeing him in such a plight so enfeebled her heart,
+that she sank swooning to the floor.
+
+The poor monk, who was not void of brotherly charity, lifted her up and
+set her upon a seat in the chapel. Although he had no less need of
+aid than she had, he feigned to be unaware of her passion, and so
+strengthened his heart in the love of God against the opportunities now
+present with him, that, judging by his countenance, he seemed not to
+know what was actually before him. Having recovered from her weakness,
+she turned upon him her beautiful, piteous eyes, which were enough to
+soften a rock, and began to utter all such discourse as she believed apt
+to draw him from the place in which he now was. He replied as virtuously
+as he was able; but at last, finding that his heart was being softened
+by his sweetheart's abundant tears, and perceiving that Love, the cruel
+archer whose pains he long had known, was ready with his golden dart to
+deal him fresh and more deadly wounds, he fled both from Love and from
+his sweetheart, like one whose only resource lay, indeed, in flight.
+
+When he was shut up in his room, not desiring to let her go without some
+settlement of the matter, he wrote her a few words in Spanish, which
+seem to me so excellent in their matter that I would not by translating
+them mar their grace. These were brought to her by a little novice,
+who found her still in the chapel and in such despair that, had it been
+lawful, she too would have remained there and turned friar. But when she
+saw the words, which were these--
+
+     "Volvete don venesti, anima mia,
+     Que en las tristas vidas es la mia," (1)
+
+she knew that all hope was gone, and she resolved to follow the advice
+of him and her friends, and so returned home, there to lead a life as
+melancholy as that of her lover in his monastery was austere.
+
+     1  "Return whence thou earnest, my soul,
+     for among the sad lives is mine."'
+
+"You see, ladies, what vengeance the gentleman took upon his harsh
+sweetheart, who, thinking to try him, reduced him to such despair that,
+when she would have regained him, she could not do so."
+
+"I am sorry," said Nomerfide, "that he did not lay aside his gown and
+marry her. It would, I think, have been a perfect marriage."
+
+"In good sooth," said Simontault, "I think he was very wise. Anyone who
+well considers what marriage is will deem it no less grievous than
+a monkish life. Moreover, being so greatly weakened by fasts and
+abstinence, he feared to take upon him a burden of that kind which lasts
+all through life."
+
+"Methinks," said Hircan, "she wronged so feeble a man by tempting him
+to marriage, for 'tis too much for the strongest man alive; but had she
+spoken to him of love, free from any obligation but that of the will,
+there is no friar's cord that would not have been untied. However, since
+she sought to draw him out of purgatory by offering him hell, I think
+that he was quite right to refuse her, and to let her feel the pain that
+her own refusal had cost him."
+
+"By my word," said Ennasuite, "there are many who, thinking to do better
+than their fellows, do either worse or else the very opposite of what
+they desire."
+
+"Truly," said Geburon, "you remind me--though, indeed, the matter is
+not greatly to the point--of a woman who did the opposite of what she
+desired, and so caused a great uproar in the church of St. John of
+Lyons."
+
+"I pray you," said Parlamente, "take my place and tell us about it."
+
+"My story," said Geburon, "will not be so long or so piteous as the one
+we have heard from Parlamente."
+
+
+[Illustration: 141.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 143a. The Old Woman startled by the Waking of the Soldier]
+
+[The Old Woman startled by the Waking of the Soldier]
+
+[Illustration: 143.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXV_.
+
+     _Though the priests of St. John of Lyons would fain have
+     concealed it, the falsity of a miracle was brought to light
+     through an old woman's folly becoming known_. (1)
+
+In the church of St. John of Lyons there is a very dark chapel, and
+inside it a stone tomb with figures of great personages raised life-like
+upon it, whilst several men-at-arms lie all around it.
+
+     1  We believe that the incident here narrated occurred early
+     in 1525, when Margaret is known to have been at Lyons. She
+     and her husband (on his return from Pavia) resided there at
+     the house of the Obediencier de St. Just, and it was in the
+     church of St. Just that the Duke of Alencon was buried.
+     Doubtless it was during his illness that the _novena_
+     alluded to in the final tale of the _Heptameron_ was
+     performed by Queen Margaret at the church of St. John of
+     Lyons, where the two most important chapels, according to
+     Quincarnon's _Antiquites et la fondation de la Metropole
+     des Gaules, &c._, Lyons, 1673, were the Most Holy Eucharist,
+     or Bourbon chapel, built in 1449 by Charles de Bourbon,
+     Primate of Gaul, and the Holy Sepulchre, or Good Friday
+     chapel, erected at the beginning of the fifteenth century by
+     Philip de Turey, Archbishop of Lyons. Unfortunately the
+     church of St. John was in 1652 devastated by the Huguenots,
+     who in their insensate fury destroyed almost all the tombs.
+     It is therefore now impossible to identify the chapel and
+     tomb to which the Queen of Navarre refers in the above
+     story, though her allusion to the dimness of the light would
+     incline us to place the incident she recounts in the
+     Chapelle du St. Sepulcre.--L. and Ed.
+
+One day a soldier, walking in the church at the very height of summer,
+felt inclined to sleep, and, looking at this dark, cool chapel, resolved
+to go and guard the tomb in sleep like the rest; (2) and accordingly he
+lay down beside them. Now it chanced that a very pious old woman came
+in while his sleep was the soundest, and having performed her devotions,
+holding a lighted taper in her hand, she sought to fix this taper to the
+tomb. Finding that the sleeping man was nearest to her, she tried to set
+it upon his forehead, thinking that it was of stone; but the wax would
+not stick to such stone as this, whereupon the worthy dame, believing
+that the reason of it was the coldness of the statue, applied the flame
+to the sleeper's forehead, that she might the better fix the taper on
+it. At this, however, the statue, which was not without feeling, began
+to cry out.
+
+     2  Meaning the recumbent statues of the men-at-arms.--Ed.
+
+The good woman was then in exceeding fear, and set herself to shout, "A
+miracle! a miracle!" until all who were in the church ran, some to ring
+the bells, and the rest to view the miracle. The good woman forthwith
+took them to see the statue that had stirred, whereupon many found food
+for laughter; though the greater number were unable to feel any content,
+inasmuch as they had really determined to make profit out of the tomb,
+and to gain as much money by it as by the crucifix on their pulpit,
+which is said to have spoken. (3) But when the woman's folly became
+known the farce came to an end. If all knew of their follies, they would
+not be accounted holy nor their miracles true. And I would beg you,
+ladies, to see henceforward to what saints you offer your candles. (4)
+
+     3  The crucifix in the church of St. John was mainly of
+     silver, and, according to Quincarnon, at the time of a
+     Huguenot outbreak at Lyons it was thrown to the ground by a
+     Calvinist minister named Ruffy, who, after reducing it to
+     fragments, carried all the precious metal away with him.--M.
+
+     4  The latter portion of this story and all the dialogue
+     that follows it are omitted by Boaistuau in his edition.
+     Gruget inserted the dialogue, but he did not dare to print
+     the passage respecting the talking crucifix.--L.
+
+"'Tis notable," said Hircan, "that, whatever the matter in question may
+be, women always do wrong."
+
+"Is it wrong," asked Nomerfide, "to bring candles to a tomb?"
+
+"Yes," said Hircan, "if the flame be turned against a man's forehead;
+for nothing good should be called good if it be attended with evil. You
+may be sure that the poor woman thought she had made a fine gift to God
+with her little candle."
+
+"I look not to the gift," said Oisille, "but to the heart that offers
+it. Perhaps this worthy woman had more love for God than those who offer
+great torches; for, as the Gospel says, she gave of her need."
+
+"Still, I no not believe," said Saffredent, "that God, who is sovereign
+wisdom, can be pleased with the foolishness of women. Although
+simplicity is pleasing to Him, I see from the Scriptures that He
+despises the ignorant; and if He commands us to be as harmless as the
+dove, He none the less commands us to be wise like the serpent."
+
+"For my part," said Oisille, "I do not call the woman ignorant who
+brings her candle or burning taper into the presence of God, and makes
+amends for her wrongdoing on bended knees before her sovereign Lord,
+confessing her unworthiness and with steadfast hope seeking pity and
+salvation."
+
+"Would to God," said Dagoucin, "that all understood it in the same way
+as you; but I do not believe that these poor fools do it with the intent
+you say."
+
+"The women," said Oisille, "who are least able to speak are just those
+who are most sensible of the love and will of God; wherefore 'tis well
+to judge none but ourselves."
+
+Ennasuite laughed and said--"'Tis no wonderful thing to have frightened
+a sleeping varlet, since women of as lowly condition have frightened
+noble Princes, without putting fire to their foreheads."
+
+"I am sure," said Geburon, "that you know some such story, which you
+are willing to relate; wherefore, if it please you, you shall take my
+place."
+
+"The tale will not be a long one," said Ennasuite, "but, could I recount
+it just as it happened, you would have no desire to weep."
+
+
+[Illustration: 147.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 149a. The Old Serving-woman explaining her Mistake to
+the Duke and Duchess of Vendome]
+
+[The Old Serving-woman explaining her Mistake to the Duke and Duchess
+of Vendome]
+
+[Illustration: 149.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXVI_.
+
+     _The Duke of Vendome and the Princess of Navarre, whilst
+     resting together one afternoon, were surprised by an old
+     serving-woman, who took them for a prothonotary and a damsel
+     between whom she suspected some affection; and, through this
+     fine justicement, a matter, of which intimates were
+     ignorant, was made known to strangers_.
+
+In the year when the Duke of Vendome married the Princess of Navarre,
+(1) the King and Queen, their parents, after feasting at Vendome, went
+with them into Guienne, and, visiting a gentleman's house where there
+were many honourable and beautiful ladies, the newly married pair
+danced so long in this excellent company that they became weary, and,
+withdrawing to their chamber, lay down in their clothes upon the bed and
+fell asleep, doors and windows being shut and none remaining with them.
+
+     1  It was in October 1548, some eighteen months after Henry
+     II. had succeeded Francis I., that Anthony de Bourbon, Duke
+     of Vendome, who after the King's children held the first
+     rank in France, was married at Moulins to Margaret's
+     daughter Jane of Navarre. The Duke was then thirty and Jane
+     twenty years old. "I never saw so joyous a bride," wrote
+     Henry II. to Montmorency, "she never does anything but
+     laugh." She was indeed well pleased with the match, the
+     better so, perhaps, as her husband had settled 100,000
+     livres on her, a gift which was the more acceptable by
+     reason of her extravagant tastes and love of display. Ste.
+     Marthe, in his _Oraison Funebre_ on Queen Margaret, speaks
+     of her daughter's marriage as "a most fortunate
+     conjunction," and refers to her son-in-law as "the most
+     valiant and magnanimous Prince Anthony, Duke of Vendome,
+     whose admirable virtues have so inclined all France to love
+     and revere him, that princes and nobles, the populace, the
+     great and the humble alike, no sooner hear his name
+     mentioned than they forthwith wish him and beg God to bestow
+     on him all possible health and prosperity."--Ed
+
+Just, however, when their sleep was at its soundest, they were awakened
+by their door being opened from without, and the Duke drew the curtain
+and looked to see who it might be, suspecting indeed that it was one of
+his friends who was minded to surprise him. But he perceived a tall, old
+bed-chamber woman come in and walk straight up to their bed, where, for
+the darkness of the room, she could not recognise them. Seeing them,
+however, quite close together, she began to cry out--
+
+"Thou vile and naughty wanton! I have long suspected thee to be what
+thou art, yet for lack of proof spoke not of it to my mistress. But now
+thy vileness is so clearly shown that I shall in no sort conceal it; and
+thou, foul renegade, who hast wrought such shame in this house by the
+undoing of this poor wench, if it were not for the fear of God, I would
+e'en cudgel thee where thou liest. Get up, in the devil's name, get up,
+for methinks even now thou hast no shame."
+
+The Duke of Vendome and the Princess hid their faces against each other
+in order to have the talk last longer, and they laughed so heartily that
+they were not able to utter a word. Finding that for all her threats
+they were not willing to rise, the serving-woman came closer in order to
+pull them by the arms. Then she at once perceived both from their faces
+and from their dress that they were not those whom she sought, and,
+recognising them, she flung herself upon her knees, begging them to
+pardon her error in thus robbing them of their rest.
+
+But the Duke of Vendome was not content to know so little, and rising
+forthwith, he begged the old woman to say for whom she had taken them.
+This at first she was not willing to do; but at last, after he had sworn
+to her never to reveal it, she told him that there was a girl in the
+house with whom a prothonotary (2) was in love, and that she had long
+kept a watch on them, since it pleased her little to see her mistress
+trusting in a man who was working this shame towards her. She then left
+the Prince and Princess shut in as she had found them, and they laughed
+for a long while over their adventure. And, although they afterwards
+told the story they would never name any of the persons concerned.
+
+     2  The office of apostolic prothonotary was instituted by
+     Pope Clement I., there being at first twelve such officers,
+     whose duty was to write the lives of the saints and other
+     apostolic records. Gradually their number so increased, that
+     in the fifteenth century the title of prothonotary had come
+     to be merely an honorary dignity, conferred as a matter of
+     course on doctors of theology of noble family, or otherwise
+     of note. In the role of Francis I.'s household for 1522, we
+     find but one prothonotary mentioned, but in that for 1529
+     there are twelve. More than one of them might have been
+     called _un letrado que no tenia muchas letras_, as Brantome
+     wrote of Thomas de Lescun, Prothonotary of Foix and
+     afterwards Marshal of France. "In those days," adds the
+     author of _Les Grands Capitaines Francais_, "it was usual
+     for prothonotaries and even for those of good family not to
+     have much learning, but to enjoy themselves, hunt, make love
+     and seduce the wives of the poor gentlemen who were gone to
+     the wars."--_OEuvres completes de Brantome_, 8vo edit., vol.
+     ii. p. 144.--L. and Ed.
+
+"You see, ladies, how the worthy dame, whilst thinking to do a fine deed
+of justice, made known to strange princes a matter of which the servants
+of the house had never heard."
+
+"I think I know," said Parlamente, "in whose house it was, and who the
+prothonotary is; for he has governed many a lady's house, and when he
+cannot win the mistress's favour he never fails to have that of one of
+the maids. In other matters, however, he is an honourable and worthy
+man."
+
+"Why do you say 'in other matters'?" said Hircan. "Tis for that very
+behaviour that I deem him so worthy a man."
+
+"I can see," said Parlamente, "that you know the sickness and the
+sufferer, and that, if he needed excuse, you would not fail him as
+advocate. Yet I would not trust myself to a man who could not contrive
+his affairs without having them known to the serving-women."
+
+"And do you imagine," said Nomerfide, "that men care whether such a
+matter be known if only they can compass their end? You may be sure
+that, even if none spoke of it but themselves, it would still of
+necessity be known."
+
+"They have no need," said Hircan angrily, "to say all that they know."
+
+"Perhaps," she replied, blushing, "they would not say it to their own
+advantage."
+
+"Judging from your words," said Simontault, "it would seem that men
+delight in hearing evil spoken about women, and I am sure that you
+reckon me among men of that kind. I therefore greatly wish to speak well
+of one of your sex, in order that I may not be held a slanderer by all
+the rest."
+
+"I give you my place," said Ennasuite, "praying you withal to control
+your natural disposition, so that you may acquit yourself worthily in
+our honour."
+
+Forthwith Simontault began--
+
+"Tis no new thing, ladies, to hear of some virtuous act on your part
+which, methinks, should not be hidden but rather written in letters
+of gold, that it may serve women as an example, and give men cause for
+admiration at seeing in the weaker sex that from which weakness is prone
+to shrink. I am prompted, therefore, to relate something that I heard
+from Captain Robertval and divers of his company."
+
+
+[Illustration: 154.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 155a. The Wife Reading to her Husband on the Desert Island]
+
+[The Wife Reading to her Husband on the Desert Island]
+
+[Illustration: 155.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXVII_.
+
+     _A poor woman risked her own life to save that of her
+     husband, whom she forsook not until death_.
+
+The Captain Robertval aforesaid once made a voyage across the seas
+to the island of Canadas, (1) himself being chief in command by the
+appointment of the King, his master. And there, if the air of the
+country were good, he had resolved to dwell and to build towns and
+castles. With this work he made such a beginning as is known to all;
+and to people the country with Christians he took with him all kinds of
+artificers, among whom was a most wicked man, who betrayed his master
+and put him in danger of being captured by the natives. But God willed
+that his attempt should be discovered before any evil befell the
+Captain, who, seizing the wicked traitor, was minded to punish him as
+he deserved. And this he would have done but for the man's wife, who had
+followed her husband through the perils of the deep and would not now
+leave him to die, but with many tears so wrought upon the Captain and
+all his company that, for pity of her and for the sake of the services
+she had done them, her request was granted. In consequence, husband and
+wife were left together on a small island in the sea, inhabited only
+by wild beasts, and were suffered to take with them such things as were
+needful.
+
+     1  Canada had been discovered by Cabot in 1497; and in 1535
+     James Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence and, taking
+     possession of the country in the name of Francis I., called
+     it La Nouvelle France. Seven years later a gentleman of
+     Picardy, named John Francis de La Roque, Lord of Robertval,
+     accompanying Cartier, established a colony on the Isle
+     Royale, and subsequently built the fort of Charlebourg. One
+     of his pilots, named Alphonse of Saintonge, meanwhile
+     reconnoitred the coasts both of Canada and Labrador. About
+     this time (1542) the incidents related in the above tale
+     must have occurred.--L.
+
+The poor folk, finding themselves all alone and surrounded by wild and
+cruel beasts, had no recourse but to God, who had ever been this poor
+woman's steadfast hope; and, since she found all her consolation in Him,
+she carried the New Testament with her for safeguard, nourishment and
+consolation, and in it read unceasingly. Further, she laboured with her
+husband to make them a little dwelling as best they might, and when the
+lions (2) and other animals came near to devour them, the husband with
+his arquebuss and she with stones made so stout a defence that not only
+were the beasts afraid to approach, but often some were slain that were
+very good for food. And on this flesh and the herbs of the land, they
+lived for some time after their bread failed them.
+
+     2  This mention of lions on a small desert island in the
+     Canadian seas would be rather perplexing did we not know how
+     great at that time was the general ignorance on most matters
+     connected with natural history. Possibly the allusion may be
+     to the _lion marin_, as the French call the leonine seal.
+     This, however, is anything but an aggressive animal.
+     Curiously enough, Florimond de Remond, the sixteenth century
+     writer, speaks of a drawing of a "marine lion" given to him
+     "by that most illustrious lady Margaret Queen of Navarre, to
+     whom it had been presented by a Spanish gentleman, who was
+     taking a second copy of it to the Emperor Charles V., then
+     in Spain."--Ed.
+
+At last, however, the husband could no longer endure this nutriment,
+and by reason of the waters that they drank became so swollen that in
+a short while he died, and this without any service or consolation save
+from his wife, she being both his doctor and his confessor; and when
+he had joyously passed out of the desert into the heavenly country, the
+poor woman, left now in solitude, buried him in the earth as deeply as
+she was able. Nevertheless the beasts quickly knew of it, and came to
+eat the dead body; but the poor woman, firing with the arquebuss from
+her cabin, saved her husband's flesh from finding such a grave.
+
+Leading thus in regard to her body the life of a brute, and in regard
+to her soul the life of an angel, she passed her time in reading,
+meditations, prayers and orisons, having a glad and happy mind in a
+wasted and half-dead body. But He who never forsakes His own, and who
+manifests His power when others are in despair, did not suffer the
+virtue that he had put into this woman to be unknown by men, but willed
+that it should be made manifest to His own glory. He therefore brought
+things so to pass, that after some time, when one of the ships of the
+armament was passing by the island, those that were looking that way
+perceived some smoke, which reminded them of the persons who had been
+left there, and they resolved to go and see what God had done with them.
+
+The poor woman, seeing the ship draw nigh, dragged herself to the shore,
+and there they found her on their arrival. After giving praise to God,
+she brought them to her poor cottage and showed them on what she had
+lived during her abode in that place. This would have seemed to them
+impossible of belief, but for their knowledge that God is as powerful to
+feed His servants in a desert as at the greatest banquet in the world.
+As the poor woman could not continue in such a spot, they took her with
+them straight to La Rochelle, where, their voyage ended, they arrived.
+And when they had made known to the inhabitants the faithfulness and
+endurance of this woman, she was very honourably received by all the
+ladies, who gladly sent their daughters to her to learn to read and
+write. In this honest calling she maintained herself for the rest of
+her life, having no other desire save to admonish every one to love and
+trust Our Lord, and setting forth as an example the great compassion
+that He had shown towards her.
+
+"Now, ladies, you cannot say I do not praise the virtues which God
+has given you, and which show the more when possessed by one of lowly
+condition."
+
+"Why, we are not sorry," said Oisille, "to hear you praise the mercies
+of Our Lord, for in truth all virtue comes from Him; but we must confess
+that man assists in the work of God as little as women. Neither can by
+heart or will do more than plant. God alone giveth the increase."
+
+"If you have studied Scripture," said Saffredent, "you know that St.
+Paul says that Apollos planted and he himself watered; (3) but he does
+not speak of women as having set hand to the work of God."
+
+     3  The text is just the contrary: "I have planted, Apollos
+     watered; but God gave the increase."--I _Corinthians_ iii.
+     6.--Ed.
+
+"You would follow," said Parlamente, "the opinion of those wicked men
+who take a passage of Scripture that is in their favour and leave one
+that is against them. If you had read St. Paul to the end, you would
+have found that he commends himself to the ladies, who greatly laboured
+with him in the work of the Gospel."
+
+"However that may be," said Longarine, "the woman in the story is well
+worthy of praise both for the love she bore her husband, on whose behalf
+she risked her own life, and for the faith she had in God, who, as we
+see, did not forsake her."
+
+"I think," said Ennasuite, "as far as the first is concerned, that there
+is no woman present but would do as much to save her husband's life."
+
+"I think," said Parlamente, "that some husbands are such brutes that the
+women who live with them should not find it strange to live among their
+fellows."
+
+Ennasuite, who took these words to herself, could not refrain from
+saying--
+
+"Provided the beasts did not bite me, their company would be more
+pleasant to me than that of men, who are choleric and intolerable. But I
+abide by what I have said, that, if my husband were in a like danger, I
+should not leave him to die."
+
+"Beware," said Nomerfide, "of loving too fondly, for excess of love will
+deceive both him and you. There is a medium in all things, and through
+lack of knowledge love often gives birth to hate."
+
+"Methinks," said Simontault, "you have not carried your discourse so far
+without having an instance to confirm it. If, then, you know such a one,
+I give you my place that you may tell it to us."
+
+"Well," said Nomerfide, "the tale shall, as is my wont, be a short and a
+merry one."
+
+
+[Illustration: 161.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 163a. The Apothecary's Wife giving the Dose of Cantharides
+to her Husband]
+
+[The Apothecary's Wife giving the Dose of Cantharides to her Husband]
+
+[Illustration: 163.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXVIII_.
+
+     _An apothecary's wife, finding that her husband made no
+     great account of her, and wishing to be better loved by him,
+     followed the advice that he had given to a "commere" (1) of
+     his, whose sickness was of the same kind as her own; but she
+     prospered not so well as the other, and instead of love
+     reaped hate_.
+
+     1  Mr W. Kelly has pointed out (Bohn's _Heptameron_, p. 395)
+     that in France the godfather and godmother of a child are
+     called in reference to each other compere and commere, terms
+     implying mutual relations of an extremely friendly kind. "The
+     same usage exists in all Catholic countries," adds Mr Kelly,
+     "and one of the novels of the _Decameron_ is founded on a
+     very general opinion in Italy that an amorous connection
+     between a _compadre_ and his _commadre_ partook almost of
+     the nature of incest."
+
+In the town of Pau in Beam there was an apothecary whom men called
+Master Stephen. He had married a virtuous wife and a thrifty, with
+beauty enough to content him. But just as he was wont to taste different
+drugs, so did he also with women, that he might be the better able to
+speak of all kinds. His wife was greatly tormented by this, and at
+last lost all patience; for he made no account of her except by way of
+penance during Holy Week.
+
+One day when the apothecary was in his shop, and his wife had hidden
+herself behind him to listen to what he might say, a woman, who was
+"commere" to the apothecary, and was stricken with the same sickness as
+his own wife, came in, and, sighing, said to him--
+
+"Alas, good godfather, I am the most unhappy woman alive. I love my
+husband better than myself, and do nothing but think of how I may serve
+and obey him; but all my labour is wasted, for he prefers the wickedest,
+foulest, vilest woman in the town to me. So, godfather, if you know of
+any drug that will change his humour, prithee give it me, and, if I be
+well treated by him, I promise to reward you by all means in my power."
+
+The apothecary, to comfort her, said that he knew of a powder which, if
+she gave it to her husband with his broth or roast, after the fashion
+of Duke's powder, (2) would induce him to entertain her in the best
+possible manner. The poor woman, wishing to behold this miracle, asked
+him what the powder was, and whether she could have some of it. He
+declared that there was nothing like powder of cantharides, of which
+he had a goodly store; and before they parted she made him prepare
+this powder, and took as much of it as was needful for her purpose. And
+afterwards she often thanked the apothecary, for her husband, who was
+strong and lusty, and did not take too much, was none the worse for it.
+
+     2  Boaistuau and Gruget call this preparation _poudre de
+     Dun_, as enigmatical an appellation as _poudre de Duc_. As
+     for the specific supplied by the apothecary, the context
+     shows that this was the same aphrodisiac as the Marquis de
+     Sades put to such a detestable use at Marseilles in 1772,
+     when, after fleeing from justice, he was formally sentenced
+     to death, and broken, in effigy, upon the wheel. See P.
+     Lacroix's _Curiosites de l'histoire de France, IIeme Serie_,
+     Paris, 1858.--Ed.
+
+The apothecary's wife heard all this talk, and thought within herself
+that she had no less need of the recipe than her husband's "commere."
+Observing, therefore, the place where her husband put the remainder of
+the powder, she resolved that she would use some of it when she found
+an opportunity; and this she did within three or four days. Her husband,
+who felt a coldness of the stomach, begged her to make him some good
+soup, but she replied that a roast with Duke's powder would be better
+for him; whereupon he bade her go quickly and prepare it, and take
+cinnamon and sugar from the shop. This she did, not forgetting also to
+take the remainder of the powder given to the "commere," without any
+heed to dose, weight or measure.
+
+The husband ate the roast, and thought it very good. Before long,
+however, he felt its effects, and sought to soothe them with his wife,
+but this he found was impossible, for he felt all on fire, in such wise
+that he knew not which way to turn. He then told his wife that she had
+poisoned him, and demanded to know what she had put into the roast. She
+forthwith confessed the truth, telling him that she herself required the
+recipe quite as much as his "commere." By reason of his evil plight,
+the poor apothecary could belabour her only with hard words; however,
+he drove her from his presence, and sent to beg the Queen of Navarre's
+apothecary (3) to come and see him. This the Queen's apothecary did, and
+whilst giving the other all the remedies proper for his cure (which in
+a short time was effected) he rebuked him very sharply for his folly
+in counselling another to use drugs that he was not willing to take
+himself, and declared that his wife had only done her duty, inasmuch as
+she had desired to be loved by her husband.
+
+     3  It was from her apothecary no doubt that Queen Margaret
+     heard this story.--Ed.
+
+Thus the poor man was forced to endure the results of his folly in
+patience, and to own that he had been justly punished in being brought
+into such derision as he had proposed for another.
+
+"Methinks, ladies, this woman's love was as indiscreet as it was great."
+
+"Do you call it loving her husband," said Hircan, "to give him pain for
+the sake of the delight that she herself looked to have?"
+
+"I believe," said Longarine, "she only desired to win back her husband's
+love, which she deemed to have gone far astray; and for the sake of such
+happiness there is nothing that a woman will not do." "Nevertheless,"
+said Geburon, "a woman ought on no account to make her husband eat or
+drink anything unless, either through her own experience or that
+of learned folk, she be sure that it can do him no harm. Ignorance,
+however, must be excused, and hers was worthy of excuse; for the most
+blinding passion is love, and the most blinded of persons is a woman,
+since she has not strength enough to conduct so weighty a matter
+wisely."
+
+"Geburon," said Oisille, "you are departing from your own excellent
+custom so as to make yourself of like mind with your fellows; but there
+are women who have endured love and jealousy in patience."
+
+"Ay," said Hircan, "and pleasantly too; for the most sensible are those
+who take as much amusement in laughing at their husbands' doings, as
+their husbands take in secretly deceiving them. If you will make it
+my turn, so that the Lady Oisille may close the day, I will tell you a
+story about a wife and her husband who are known to all of us here."
+
+"Begin, then," said Nomerfide; and Hircan, laughing, began thus:--
+
+
+[Illustration: 168.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 169a. The Wife discovering her Husband in the Hood of
+their Serving-maid]
+
+[The Wife discovering her Husband in the Hood of their Serving-maid]
+
+[Illustration: 169.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXIX_.
+
+     _On finding her husband bolting meal in the garb of her
+     serving-woman, whom he was awaiting in the hope that he
+     would obtain from her what he desired, a certain lady showed
+     such good sense that she was content to laugh and make merry
+     at his folly_.
+
+At the castle of Odoz (1) in Bigorre, there dwelt one Charles, equerry
+to the King and an Italian by birth, who had married a very virtuous
+and honourable woman. After bearing him many children, she was now
+grown old, whilst he also was not young. And he lived with her in all
+peacefulness and affection, for although he would at times speak with
+his serving-women, his excellent wife took no notice of this, but
+quietly dismissed them whenever she found that they were becoming too
+familiar in her house.
+
+     1  The scene of this tale is laid at the castle where
+     Margaret died. Ste. Marthe in his _Oraison funebre_,
+     pronounced at Alencon fifteen days after the Queen's death,
+     formally states that she expired at Odos near Tarbes. He is
+     not likely to have been mistaken, so that Brantome's
+     assertion that the Queen died at Audos in Beam may be
+     accepted as incorrect (_ante_, vol. i. p. lxxxviii.). It is
+     further probable that the above tale was actually written at
+     Odos (_ante_, vol. i. p. lxxxvi.), but the authenticity of
+     the incidents is very doubtful, as there is an extremely
+     similar story in the _Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles_ (No, xvii.
+     _Le Conseiller au bluteau_), in which the hero of the
+     adventure is a "great clerk and knight who presided over the
+     Court of Accounts in Paris." For subsequent imitations see
+     Malespini's _Ducento Novelle_ (No. xcvii.) and _Les Joyeuses
+     Adventures et Nouvelles Recreations_ (No. xix.)--L. and Ed.
+
+One day she hired a discreet and worthy girl, telling her of her
+husband's temper and her own, and how she was wont to turn away such
+girls whom she found to be wantons. This maid, wishing to continue in
+her mistress's service and esteem, resolved to remain a virtuous woman;
+and although her master often spoke to her, she on her part gave no heed
+to his words save that she repeated them to her mistress, and they thus
+both derived much diversion from his folly.
+
+One day the maid was in a back room bolting meal, and wearing her
+"sarot," a kind of hood which, after the fashion of that country, not
+only formed a coif but covered the whole of the back and shoulders. Her
+master, finding her in this trim, came and urged her very pressingly,
+and, although she would not have done such a thing even to save her
+life, she pretended to consent, and asked leave to go first and see
+whether her mistress was engaged in some such manner that they might not
+be surprised together. To this he agreed; whereupon she begged him to
+put her hood upon his head and to continue bolting whilst she was away,
+in order that her mistress might still hear the noise of the bolter. And
+this he gladly did, in the hope of obtaining what he sought.
+
+The maid, who was by no means inclined to melancholy, ran off to her
+mistress and said to her--
+
+"Come and see your good husband, whom I have taught to bolt in order to
+be rid of him."
+
+The wife made all speed to behold this new serving-woman, and when she
+saw her husband with the hood upon his head and the bolter in his hands,
+she began to laugh so exceedingly, clapping her hands the while, that
+she was scarce able to say to him--
+
+"How much dost want a month, wench, for thy labour?"
+
+The husband, on hearing this voice, realised that he had been deceived,
+and, throwing down both what he was holding and wearing, he ran at the
+girl, calling her a thousand bad names. Had his wife not set herself in
+front of the maid, he would have given her wage enough for her quarter;
+but at last all was settled to the content of the parties concerned, and
+thenceforward they lived together without quarrelling. (2)
+
+     2  The Italian Charles, equerry to the King, to whom the
+     leading part is assigned in Queen Margaret's tale, may have
+     been Charles de San Severino, who figures among the
+     equerries with a salary of 200 _livres_, in the roll of the
+     royal household for 1522. The San Severino family, one of
+     the most prominent of Naples, had attached itself to the
+     French cause at the time of the expedition of Charles VIII.,
+     whom several of its members followed to France. In 1522 we
+     find a "Monsieur de Saint-Severin" holding the office of
+     first _maitre d'hotel_ to Francis I., and over a course of
+     several years his son figures among the _enfants
+     d'honneur_.--B. J. and Ed.
+
+"What say you, ladies, of this wife? Was she not sensible to make sport
+of her husband's sport?"
+
+"'Twas no sport," said Saffredent, "for the husband who failed in his
+purpose."
+
+"I believe," said Ennasuite, "that he had more delight in laughing with
+his wife, than at killing himself at his age with his serving-woman."
+
+"Still, I should be sorely vexed," said Simontault, "to be discovered so
+bravely coifed."
+
+"I have heard," said Parlamente, "that it was not your wife's fault that
+she did not once discover you in very much the same attire in spite of
+all your craft, and that since then she has known no repose."
+
+"Rest content with what befalls your own house," said Simontault,
+"without inquiring into what befalls mine. Nevertheless, my wife has no
+reason to complain of me, and even did I act as you say, she would never
+have occasion to notice it through any lack of what she might need."
+
+"Virtuous women," said Longarine, "require nothing but the love of
+their husbands, which alone can satisfy them. Those who seek a brutish
+satisfaction will never find it where honour enjoins."
+
+"Do you call it brutish," asked Geburon, "if a wife desires that her
+husband should give her her due?"
+
+"I say," said Longarine, "that a chaste woman, whose heart is filled
+with true love, is more content to be perfectly loved than to have all
+the delights that the body can desire."
+
+"I am of your opinion," said Dagoucin, "but my lords here will neither
+hear it nor confess it. I think if mutual love cannot satisfy a woman,
+her husband alone will not do so; for unless she live in the love
+that is honourable for a woman, she must be tempted by the infernal
+lustfulness of brutes."
+
+"In truth," said Oisille, "you remind me of a lady who was both handsome
+and well wedded, but who, through not living in that honourable love,
+became more carnal than swine and more cruel than lions."
+
+"I ask you, madam," said Simontault, "to end the day by telling us her
+story."
+
+"That I cannot do," said Oisille, "and for two reasons. The first is
+that it is exceedingly long; and the second, that it does not belong to
+our own day. It is written indeed by an author worthy of belief; but we
+are sworn to relate nothing that has been written."
+
+"That is true," said Parlamente; "but I believe I know the story you
+mean, and it is written in such old language that methinks no one
+present except ourselves has ever heard of it. It will therefore be
+looked upon as new."
+
+Upon this the whole company begged her to tell it without fear for its
+length, seeing that a full hour was yet left before vespers. So, at
+their request, the Lady Oisille thus began:--
+
+
+[Illustration: 174.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 175a. The Gentleman Killing Himself on the Death of his Mistress]
+
+[The Gentleman Killing Himself on the Death of his Mistress]
+
+[Illustration: 175.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXX_.
+
+     _The Duchess of Burgundy, not content with the love that her
+     husband bore her, conceived so great an affection for a
+     young gentleman that, when looks and glances were not
+     sufficient to inform him of her passion, she declared it to
+     him in words which led to an evil ending_. (1)
+
+     1  This story is borrowed from an old _fabliau_, known under
+     the title of the _Chatelaine de Vergy_, which will be found
+     in the _Recueil de Barbazan_ (vol iv.) and in Legrand
+     d'Aussy's _Fabliaux_ (vol iii.). Margaret calls the lady
+     Madame du Vergier (literally the lady of the orchard) in her
+     tale. Bandello imitated the same _fabliau_ in his _Novelle_
+     (1554; part iv. nov. v.), but gave it a different ending.
+     Belleforest subsequently adapted it for his _Histoires
+     Tragiques_. Margaret's tale may also be compared with No.
+     lxii. of the _Cento Novelle antiche_, p. 84 of the edition
+     of Florence, 1825.--L. and M.
+
+In the Duchy of Burgundy there was a Duke who was a very honourable
+and handsome Prince. He had married a wife whose beauty pleased him so
+greatly that it kept him from knowledge of her character, and he took
+thought only how he might please her, whilst she made excellent show of
+returning his affection. Now the Duke had in his household a gentleman
+filled with all the perfection that could be sought for in a man. He
+was loved by all, more especially by the Duke, who had reared him
+from childhood near his own person; and, finding him possessed of such
+excellent qualities, the Duke loved him exceedingly and trusted him with
+all such matters as one of his years could understand.
+
+The Duchess, who had not the heart of a virtuous woman and Princess,
+and was not content with the love that her husband bore her and the good
+treatment that she had at his hands, often observed this gentleman,
+and so much to her liking did she find him, that she loved him beyond
+measure. This she strove unceasingly to make known to him, as well by
+soft and piteous glances as by sighs and passionate looks.
+
+But the gentleman, whose inclinations had ever been to virtue alone,
+could not perceive wickedness in a lady who had so little excuse for it,
+and so the glances and looks of the poor wanton bore no fruit save her
+own frenzied despair. This at last drove her to extremes, and forgetting
+that she was a woman fit to be entreated and yet to refuse, and a
+Princess made to be worshipped by such lovers and yet to hold them in
+scorn, she acted with the spirit of a man transported by passion, with a
+view to rid herself of the fire which she could no longer endure.
+
+Accordingly, one day when her husband was gone to the council, at which
+the gentleman by reason of his youth was not present, she beckoned him
+to come to her, which he did, thinking that she had some command to
+give him. But leaning on his arm, like a woman wearied with repose, she
+brought him to walk in a gallery, where she said to him--
+
+"I marvel that you who are so handsome and young, and full of excellent
+grace, have lived in this company, where are so many beautiful ladies,
+and yet have been lover or true knight to none." Then, looking at him as
+graciously as she was able, she waited for his reply.
+
+"Madam," he said, "if I were worthy that your Highness should stoop to
+think of me, you would have still greater reason to marvel at seeing a
+man so little worthy of love as I am, offer his service where it would
+be rejected or scorned."
+
+On hearing this discreet reply, the Duchess felt she loved him more
+than before. She vowed to him that there was not a lady at her Court
+who would not be only too happy to have such a knight, and that he might
+well make an adventure of the sort, since there was no danger but he
+would come out of it with honour. The gentleman kept his eyes downcast,
+not daring to meet her looks, which were hot enough to melt ice; but,
+just as he was trying to excuse himself, the Duke sent for the Duchess
+to come to the council on some matter that concerned her, and thither
+with much regret she went. The gentleman never afterwards made the
+slightest sign of having understood a word of what she had said to him,
+at which she was exceedingly distressed and vexed; and she knew not to
+what cause to impute her failure, unless it were to the foolish fear of
+which she deemed the gentleman to be possessed.
+
+A few days afterwards, finding that he gave no sign of understanding
+what she had said, she resolved on her part to set aside all fear or
+shame, and to tell him of her love. She felt sure that beauty such as
+hers could not be otherwise than well received, although she would fain
+have had the honour of being wooed. However, she set her honour on one
+side for her pleasure's sake, and after she had several times attempted
+the same fashion of discourse as at first, but without receiving any
+reply to her liking, she one day plucked the gentleman by the sleeve,
+and told him that she must speak to him on certain matters of weight.
+The gentleman went with the humility and reverence that were her due to
+a deep window into which she had withdrawn; and, on perceiving that
+no one in the room could see her, she began in a trembling voice,
+that halted between desire and fear, to continue her former discourse,
+rebuking him for not yet having chosen some lady in the company, and
+promising him that, no matter who it might be, she would help him to win
+kindly treatment.
+
+The gentleman, who was no less vexed than astonished by her words,
+replied--
+
+"Madam, my heart is so tender, that, were I once refused, I should never
+again have joy in this world; and I know myself to be of such little
+worth that no lady at this Court would deign to accept my suit."
+
+The Duchess blushed, and, imagining that at last he was indeed won,
+vowed to him that she knew the most beautiful lady in the company
+would, if he were willing, joyfully receive him, and afford him perfect
+happiness.
+
+"Alas! madam," he replied, "I do not think that there is any woman in
+this company so unfortunate and so blind as to find me worthy of her
+love."
+
+The Duchess, finding that he would not understand her, drew the veil
+of her passion somewhat aside, and, by reason of the fears which the
+gentleman's virtue caused her, spoke to him in the form of a question.
+
+"If fortune," she said, "had so far favoured you that it was myself who
+bore you this goodwill, what would you say?"
+
+The gentleman, who thought that he was dreaming when he heard her speak
+in this wise, dropped on his knee, and replied--
+
+"Madam, when God by His favour enables me to have both the favour of
+the Duke, my master, and your own, I shall deem myself the happiest man
+alive; for 'tis the reward I crave for the loyal service of one who,
+more than any other, is bound to give his life in the service of you
+both. And I am sure, madam, that the love you bear my Lord aforesaid is
+attended with such chastity and nobleness that, apart from myself,
+who am but a worm of the earth, not even the greatest Prince and most
+perfect man to be found could break the union that exists between you.
+For my own part, my Lord has brought me up from childhood, and made me
+what I am, and to save my life I could not entertain towards any wife,
+daughter, sister or mother of his any thought contrary to what is due
+from a loyal and faithful servant."
+
+The Duchess would not allow him to continue, but finding that she was
+in danger of obtaining a dishonourable refusal, she suddenly interrupted
+him, and said--
+
+"Wicked and boastful fool, who seeks any such thing from you? Do you
+think that your good looks win you the love of the very flies in the
+air? Nay, if you were presumptuous enough to address yourself to me, I
+would show you that I love, and seek to love, none but my husband. What
+I have said to you was spoken only for my amusement, to try you and
+laugh at you, as I do at all foolish lovers."
+
+"Madam," said the gentleman, "I believed, and do still believe, that it
+is as you say."
+
+Then, without listening further, she withdrew in haste to her own
+apartment, and, finding that she was followed by her ladies, went into
+her closet, where she sorrowed after a fashion that cannot be described.
+On the one part, the love wherein she had failed caused her mortal
+sadness; on the other, her anger, both against herself for having
+entered upon such foolish talk and against the gentleman for his
+discreet reply, drove her into such fury that at one moment she wished
+to make away with herself, and at another, to live that she might avenge
+herself on one whom she now regarded as her deadly enemy.
+
+When she had wept for a long while, she made pretence of being ill, in
+order that she might not be present at the Duke's supper, at which the
+gentleman was commonly in waiting. The Duke, who loved his wife better
+than he did himself, came to see her; but the more effectually to work
+her end, she told him that she believed herself to be with child, and
+that her pregnancy had caused a rheum to come upon her eyes, which gave
+her much pain. So passed two or three days, during which the Duchess
+kept her bed in sadness and melancholy, until at last the Duke thought
+that something further must be the matter. He therefore came at night
+to sleep with her; but, finding that for all he could do he could in no
+sort check her sighs, he said to her--
+
+"You know, sweetheart, that I love you as dearly as my life, and that
+if yours were lacking I could not endure my own. If therefore you would
+preserve my health, I pray you tell me what causes you to sigh after
+this manner; for I cannot believe that such unhappiness can come only
+because you are with child."
+
+The Duchess, finding that her husband was disposed to her just as she
+could have wished him to be, thought that the time was come to seek
+vengeance for her affliction; and embracing the Duke, she began to weep,
+and said--
+
+"Alas, my lord, my greatest unhappiness is to see you deceived by
+those on whom is so deep an obligation to guard your substance and your
+honour."
+
+The Duke, on hearing this, was very desirous of knowing why she spoke
+in that manner, and earnestly begged her to make the truth known to him
+without fear. After refusing several times, she said--
+
+"I shall never wonder, my lord, that foreigners make war on Princes,
+when those who are in duty most bound to them, wage upon them a war so
+cruel that loss of territory were nothing in comparison. I say this,
+my lord, in reference to a certain gentleman" (naming her enemy) "who,
+though reared by your own hand and treated more like a son than a
+servant, has made a cruel and base attempt to ruin the honour of your
+wife, in which is also bound up the honour of your house and your
+children. Although for a long time he showed me such looks as pointed to
+his wicked purpose, yet my heart, which only cares for you, understood
+nothing of them; and so at last he declared himself in words to which
+I returned a reply such as beseemed my condition and my chastity.
+Nevertheless, I now so hate him that I cannot endure to look at him,
+and for this cause I have continued in my own apartment and lost the
+happiness of fellowship with you. I entreat you, my lord, keep not this
+pestilence near your person; for, after such a crime, he might fear lest
+I should tell you of it, and so attempt worse. This, my lord, is the
+cause of my sorrow, and methinks it were right and fitting that you
+should deal with it forthwith."
+
+The Duke, who on the one hand loved his wife and felt himself grievously
+affronted, and on the other loved his servant, whose faithfulness he had
+so fully tried that he could scarce believe this falsehood against him,
+was in great distress and filled with anger. Repairing to his own room,
+he sent word to the gentleman to come no more into his presence, but to
+withdraw to his lodging for a time. The gentleman, being ignorant of the
+cause of this, was grieved exceedingly, for he knew that he had deserved
+the opposite of such unworthy treatment. Aware, then, of his own
+innocence in heart and deed, he sent a comrade to speak to the Duke and
+take him a letter, humbly entreating that if any evil report had caused
+his banishment, his master would be pleased to suspend judgment until he
+had heard from himself the truth of the matter, when it would be found
+that he had been guilty of no offence.
+
+When the Duke saw this letter, his anger was somewhat abated. He
+secretly sent for the gentleman to his own room, and with wrathful
+countenance said--
+
+"I could never have thought that the care I took to rear you as my own
+child would be changed into regret at having so highly advanced you;
+but you have attempted what was more hurtful to me than loss of life
+or substance, and have sought to assail the honour of one who is half
+myself, and so bring infamy on my house and name. You may be assured
+that this outrage is so wounding to my heart that, were it not for my
+doubt whether it be true or not, you would have already been at the
+bottom of the water, and so have received in secret due punishment for
+the wrong that in secret you intended against me."
+
+The gentleman was in no wise dismayed by this discourse, but, ignorant
+as he was of the truth, spoke forth with confidence and entreated the
+Duke to name his accuser, since such a charge should be justified rather
+with the lance than with the tongue.
+
+"Your accuser," said the Duke, "carries no weapon but chastity. Know,
+then, that none other but my wife has told me this, and she begged me to
+take vengeance upon you."
+
+The poor gentleman, though he then perceived the lady's great
+wickedness, would not accuse her.
+
+"My lord," he replied, "my lady may say what she will. You know her
+better than I do, and you are aware if ever I saw her when out of your
+sight, save only on one occasion, when she spoke but little with me.
+You have, moreover, as sound a judgment as any Prince alive; wherefore I
+pray you, my lord, judge whether you have ever seen aught in me to cause
+any suspicion; and remember love is a fire that cannot be hidden so as
+never to be known of by those who have had a like distemper. So I pray
+you, my lord, to believe two things of me: first, that my loyalty to you
+is such that were my lady, your wife, the fairest being in the world,
+love would never avail to make me stain my honour and fidelity; and
+secondly, that even were she not your wife, I should be least in love
+with her of all the women I have ever known, since there are many others
+to whom I would sooner plight my troth."
+
+On hearing these words of truth, the Duke began to be softened, and
+said--
+
+"I assure you, on my part, that I did not believe it. Do, therefore,
+according to your wont, in the assurance that, if I find the truth to be
+on your side, I will love you yet better than before. But if it be not
+so, your life is in my hands."
+
+The gentleman thanked him and offered to submit to any pain or penalty
+if he were found guilty.
+
+The Duchess, on seeing the gentleman again in waiting as had formerly
+been his wont, could not endure it in patience, but said to her
+husband--
+
+"'Twould be no more than you deserve, my lord, if you were poisoned,
+since you put more trust in your deadly enemies than in your friends."
+
+"I pray you, sweetheart, do not torment yourself in this matter," said
+the Duke. "If I find that you have told me true, I promise you he shall
+not live four and twenty hours. But he has sworn to the contrary, and I
+have myself never perceived any such fault, and so I cannot believe it
+without complete proof."
+
+"In good sooth, my lord," she replied, "your goodness renders his
+wickedness the greater. What more complete proof would you have than
+this, that no love affair has ever been imputed to him? Believe me, my
+lord, were it not for the lofty purpose that he took into his head of
+being my lover, he would not have continued so long without a mistress;
+for never did a young man live solitary as he does in such good company,
+unless he had fixed his heart so high as to be content merely with his
+own vain hope. Since, then, you think that he is not hiding the truth
+from you, put him, I beg you, on oath as regards his love. If he loves
+another, I am content that you should believe him, and if not, you will
+know that what I say is true."
+
+The Duke thought his wife's reasonings very good, and, taking the
+gentleman into the country with him, said--
+
+"My wife continues still of the same mind, and has set before me an
+argument that causes me grave suspicion against you. It is deemed
+strange that you who are so gallant and young have never been known to
+love, and this makes me think that you have such affection for her as
+she says, and that the hope it gives you renders you content to think
+of no other woman. As a friend, therefore, I pray you, and as a master I
+command you to tell me whether you are in love with any lady on earth."
+
+Although the gentleman would have fain concealed his passion yet as
+he loved his life, he was obliged, on seeing his master's jealousy, to
+swear to him that he did indeed love one whose beauty was so great, that
+the beauty of the Duchess or of any lady of the Court would be simply
+ugliness beside it. But he entreated that he might never be compelled to
+name her, since the agreement between himself and his sweetheart was of
+such a nature that it could not be broken excepting by whichever of them
+should be the first to make it known.
+
+The Duke promised not to urge him, and being quite satisfied with him,
+treated him with more kindness than ever before. The Duchess perceived
+this, and set herself with her wonted craft to find out the reason.
+The Duke did not hide it from her; whereupon strong jealousy sprang up
+beside her desire for vengeance, and she begged her husband to command
+the gentleman to name his sweetheart. She assured him that the story was
+a lie, and that the course she urged was the best means of testing
+it. If the gentleman, said she, did not name her whom he deemed so
+beautiful, and his master believed him on his mere word, he would indeed
+be the most foolish Prince alive.
+
+The poor Duke, whose wife directed his thoughts at her pleasure, went to
+walk alone with the gentleman, and told him that he was in even greater
+trouble than before; for he was greatly minded to believe that he had
+been given an excuse to keep him from suspecting the truth. This was a
+greater torment to him than ever; and he therefore begged the gentleman,
+as earnestly as he was able, to name her whom he loved so dearly. The
+poor gentleman entreated that he might not be made to commit so great
+an offence against his mistress as to break the promise he had given her
+and had kept so long, and thus lose in a day all that he had preserved
+for seven years. And he added that he would rather suffer death than in
+this wise wrong one who had been true to him.
+
+The Duke, finding that he would not tell him, became deeply jealous, and
+with a wrathful countenance exclaimed--
+
+"Well, choose one of two things: either tell me whom you love more than
+any other, or else go into banishment from the territories over which
+I rule, under pain of a cruel death if you be found within them after a
+week is over."
+
+If ever heart of loyal servant was torn with anguish, it was so with
+that of this poor gentleman, who might well have said, _Angustiae sunt
+mihi undique_, for on the one part he saw that by telling the truth
+he would lose his mistress, if she learned that he had failed in his
+promise to her; while, if he did not confess it, he would be banished
+from the land in which she dwelt, and be no more able to see her. Hard
+pressed in this manner on all sides, there came upon him a cold sweat,
+as on one whose sorrow was bringing him near to death. The Duke,
+observing his looks, concluded that he loved no other lady than the
+Duchess, and was enduring this suffering because he was able to name
+none other. He therefore said to him with considerable harshness--
+
+"If what you say were true, you would not have so much trouble in
+telling me; but methinks 'tis your crime that is tormenting you."
+
+The gentleman, piqued by these words, and impelled by the love that he
+bore his master, resolved to tell him the truth, believing that he was
+too honourable a man ever, on any account, to reveal it. Accordingly,
+throwing himself upon his knees, and clasping his hands, he said--
+
+"My lord, the duty that I owe to you and the love that I bear you
+constrain me more than the fear of any death. I can see that you imagine
+and judge falsely concerning me, and, to take this trouble from you, I
+am resolved to do that to which no torment had compelled me. But I pray
+you, my lord, swear to me by the honour of God, and promise me by your
+own faith as a Prince and a Christian, that you will never reveal the
+secret which, since it so pleases you, I am obliged to tell."
+
+Upon this the Duke swore to him with all the oaths he could think of
+that he would never reveal aught of it to any living being, whether by
+speech, or writing, or feature. Then the young man, feeling confidence
+in so virtuous a Prince as he knew his master to be, began the building
+up of his misfortune, and said--
+
+"It is now seven years, my lord, since knowing your niece, the Lady
+du Vergier, to be a widow and without kindred, I set myself to win her
+favour. But, since I was of too lowly a birth to wed her, I contented
+myself with being received by her as her true knight, as indeed I have
+been. And it has pleased God that the affair has hitherto been contrived
+with much discretion, so that neither man nor woman knows of it save
+ourselves alone, and now, my lord, you also. I place my life and honour
+in your hands, entreating you to keep the matter secret and to esteem
+your niece none the less; for I think that under heaven there is no more
+perfect being."
+
+If ever man was rejoiced it was the Duke, for, knowing as he did the
+exceeding beauty of his niece, he now had no doubt that she was more
+pleasing than his wife. However, being unable to understand how so great
+a mystery could have been contrived, he begged the gentleman to tell
+him how it was that he was able to see her. The gentleman related to him
+then that his lady's chamber looked upon a garden, and that, on the days
+when he was to visit her, a little gate was left open through which he
+went in on foot until he heard the barking of a little dog which the
+lady used to loose in the garden when all her women were withdrawn. Then
+he went and conversed with her all night long, and, in parting from
+her, would appoint a day on which he would return; and this appointment,
+unless for some weighty reason, he never failed to keep. The Duke, who
+was the most inquisitive man alive, and who had made love in no small
+degree in his day, wished both to satisfy his suspicions and to fully
+understand so strange a business; and he therefore begged the gentleman
+to take him, not as a master but as a companion, the next time he went
+thither. To this the gentleman, having gone so far already, consented,
+saying that he had an appointment for that very day; at which the Duke
+was as glad as if he had gained a kingdom. Making pretence of retiring
+to rest in his closet, he caused two horses to be brought for himself
+and the gentleman, and they travelled all night long from Argilly, where
+the Duke lived, to Le Vergier. (2)
+
+     2  At Argilly the Dukes of Burgundy had a castle, which was
+     destroyed during the religious wars at the close of the
+     sixteenth century. The place is now a small village in the
+     arrondissement of Nuits, Cote d'Or. As the crow flies, it is
+     some ten miles distant from the ruins of the castle of
+     Vergy, which stands on a steep height, at an altitude of
+     over 1600 ft., within five miles from Nuits. The castle,
+     which can only be reached on one side of the hill, by a
+     narrow, winding and precipitous pathway, is known to have
+     been in existence already in the tenth century, when the
+     Lords of Vergy were Counts of Chalons, Beaune, and Nuits.
+     They appear to have engaged in a struggle for supremacy with
+     the princes of the first Ducal house of Burgundy, but in
+     1193 Alix de Vergy espoused Duke Eudes III., to whom she
+     brought, as dower, the greater part of the paternal
+     inheritance. The castle of Vergy was dismantled by Henry
+     IV., and the existing ruins are of small extent. Some
+     antiquaries believe the fortress to have been originally
+     built by the Romans.--B.J. and L.
+
+Then they left their horses without the wall, and the gentleman brought
+the Duke into the garden through the little gate, begging him to remain
+behind a walnut-tree, whence he might see whether he had been told the
+truth or not.
+
+They had been but a short time in the garden when the little dog began
+to bark, and the gentleman walked towards the tower, where his lady
+failed not to come and meet him. She kissed him, saying that it seemed
+a thousand years since she had seen him, and then they went into the
+chamber and shut the door behind them.
+
+Having seen the whole of the mystery, the Duke felt more than satisfied.
+Nor had he a great while to wait, for the gentleman told his mistress
+that he must needs return sooner than was his wont, since the Duke was
+to go hunting at four o'clock, and he durst not fail to attend him.
+
+The lady, who set honour before delight, would not keep him from
+fulfilling his duty; for what she prized most in their honourable
+affection was that it was kept secret from all.
+
+So the gentleman departed an hour after midnight, and his lady in cloak
+and kerchief went with him, yet not so far as she wished, for, fearing
+lest she should meet the Duke, he obliged her to return. Then he
+mounted with the Duke and returned to the castle of Argilly, his master
+unceasingly swearing to him on the way that he would die rather than
+ever reveal his secret. Moreover, he then put so much trust in the
+gentleman, and had so much love for him, that no one in his Court stood
+higher in his favour. The Duchess grew furious at this, but the Duke
+forbade her ever to speak to him about the gentleman again, saying that
+he now knew the truth about him and was well pleased, since the lady
+in question was more worthy of love than herself. These words deeply
+pierced the heart of the Duchess, and she fell into a sickness that was
+worse than fever.
+
+The Duke went to see her in order to comfort her, but there was no
+means of doing this except by telling her the name of this beautiful and
+dearly loved lady. She pressed him urgently to do this, until at last
+the Duke went out of the room, saying--
+
+"If you speak to me again after this fashion, we shall part one from the
+other."
+
+These words increased the sickness of the Duchess, and she pretended
+that she felt her infant stirring, at which the Duke was so rejoiced
+that he came and lay beside her. But, just when she saw him most loving
+towards her, she turned away, and said--
+
+"I pray you, my lord, since you have no love for either wife or child,
+leave us to die together."
+
+With these words she gave vent to many tears and lamentations, and the
+Duke was in great fear lest she should lose her child. He therefore took
+her in his arms and begged her to tell him what she would have, since he
+possessed nothing that was not also hers.
+
+"Ah, my lord," she replied, weeping, "what hope can I have that you
+would do a hard thing for me, when you will not do the easiest and most
+reasonable in the world, which is to name to me the mistress of the
+wickedest servant you ever had? I thought that you and I had but one
+heart, one soul, and one flesh. But now I see that you look upon me as
+a stranger, seeing that your secrets, which should be known to me, are
+hidden from me as though I were a stranger. Alas! my lord, you have told
+me many weighty and secret matters, of which you have never known me to
+speak, you have proved my will to be like to your own, and you cannot
+doubt but that I am less myself than you. And if you have sworn never to
+tell the gentleman's secret to another, you will not break your oath in
+telling it to me, for I am not and cannot be other than yourself. I have
+you in my heart, I hold you in my arms, I have in my womb a child in
+whom you live, and yet I may not have your heart as you have mine. The
+more faithful and true I am to you, the more cruel and stern are you to
+me, so that a thousand times a day do I long by a sudden death to rid
+my child of such a father and myself of such a husband. And I hope that
+this will be ere long, since you set a faithless servant before a wife
+such as 1 am to you, and before the life of the mother of your child,
+which will perish because I cannot have of you that which I most desire
+to know."
+
+So saying, she embraced and kissed her husband, and watered his face
+with her tears, uttering the while such lamentations and sighs that the
+good Prince feared to lose wife and child together, and resolved to tell
+her all the truth of the matter. Nevertheless, he first swore to her
+that if ever she revealed it to a living being she should die by his
+own hand; and she agreed to and accepted this punishment. Then the poor,
+deceived husband told her all that he had seen from beginning to end,
+and she made show of being well pleased. In her heart she was minded
+very differently, but through fear of the Duke she concealed her passion
+as well as she was able.
+
+Now on a certain great feast-day the Duke held his Court, to which he
+had bidden all the ladies of that country, and among the rest his
+niece. When the dances began, all did their duty save the Duchess, who,
+tormented by the sight of her niece's beauty and grace, could neither
+make merry nor prevent her spleen from being perceived. At last she
+called all the ladies, and making them scat themselves around her, began
+to talk of love; and seeing that the Lady du Vergier said nothing, she
+asked her, with a heart which jealousy was rending--
+
+"And you, fair niece, is it possible that your beauty has found no lover
+or true knight?"
+
+"Madam," replied the Lady du Vergier, "my beauty has not yet made such
+a conquest. Since my husband's death I have sought to love none but his
+children, with whom I deem myself happy."
+
+"Fair niece, fair niece," replied the Duchess, with hateful spleen,
+"there is no love so secret that it is not known, and no little dog so
+well broken in and trained that it cannot be heard to bark."
+
+I leave you to imagine, ladies, what sorrow the poor Lady du Vergier
+felt in her heart on finding a matter, so long concealed, thus made
+known to her great dishonour. Her honour, which had been so carefully
+guarded and was now wofully lost, tortured her, but still more so her
+suspicion that her lover had failed in his promise to her. This she did
+not think he could have done, unless it were that he loved some lady
+fairer than herself, to whom his love had constrained him to make the
+whole matter known. Yet so great was her discretion that she gave no
+sign, but replied laughing to the Duchess that she did not understand
+the language of animals. However, beneath this prudent concealment her
+heart was filled with sadness, so that she rose up, and, passing out of
+the chamber, entered a closet in sight of the Duke, who was walking up
+and down.
+
+Having thus reached a place where she believed herself to be alone, the
+poor lady let herself fall helplessly upon a bed, whereat a damsel, who
+had sat down beside it to sleep, rose up and drew back the curtains
+to see who this might be. Finding that it was the Lady du Vergier,
+who believed herself to be alone, she durst say nothing to her, but
+listened, making as little noise as she was able. And in a stifled voice
+the poor Lady du Vergier began to lament, saying--
+
+"O unhappy one, what words have I heard? to what decree of death have I
+hearkened? what final sentence have I received? O best beloved of men,
+is this the reward of my chaste, honourable and virtuous love? O my
+heart, hast thou made so parlous an election, and chosen for the
+most loyal the most faithless, for the truest the most false, for the
+discreetest the most slanderous? Alas! can it be that a thing hidden
+from every human eye has been revealed to the Duchess? Alas, my little
+dog, so well taught and the sole instrument of my love and virtuous
+affection, it was not you who betrayed me, it was he whose voice is
+louder than a dog's bark, and whose heart is more thankless than any
+brute's. Tis he who, contrary to his oath and promise, has made known
+the happy life which, wronging none, we so long have led together. O my
+beloved, the love of whom alone has entered into my heart, and preserved
+my life, must you now be declared my deadly foe, while mine honour is
+given to the winds, my body to the dust, and my soul to its everlasting
+abode? Is the beauty of the Duchess so exceeding great that, like the
+beauty of Circe, it has bewitched and transformed you? Has she turned
+you from virtue to vice, from goodness to wickedness, from being a man
+to be a beast of prey? O my beloved, though you have failed in your
+promise to me, yet will I keep mine to you, and, now that our love has
+been revealed, will never see you more. Nevertheless, I cannot live
+without your presence, and so I gladly yield to my exceeding sorrow, and
+will seek for it no cure either in reason or in medicine. Death alone
+shall end it, and death will be sweeter to me than life on earth without
+lover, honour or happiness. Neither war nor death has robbed me of my
+lover; no sin or fault of mine has robbed me of my honour; neither error
+nor demerit of mine has made me lose my joy. 'Tis cruel fate that
+has rendered the most favoured of men thankless, and has caused me to
+receive the contrary of that which I deserved.
+
+"Ah, my Lady Duchess, what delight it was to you to taunt me with my
+little dog! Rejoice, then, in the happiness you owe to me alone; taunt
+her who thought by careful concealment and virtuous love to be free from
+any taunt. Ah! how those words have bruised my heart! how they have made
+me blush for shame and pale for jealousy! Alas, my heart, I feel that
+thou art indeed undone! The wicked love that has discovered me burns
+thee; jealousy of thee and evil intent towards thee are to thee as ice
+and death; while wrath and sorrow do not suffer me to comfort thee.
+Alas, poor soul, that in adoring the creature didst forget the Creator,
+thou must return into the hands of Him from whom vain love tore thee
+away. Have trust, my soul, that thou wilt find in Him a Father kinder
+than was the lover for whose sake thou hast so often forgotten Him. O my
+God, my Creator, Thou who art the true and perfect love, by whose grace
+the love I bore to my beloved has been stained by no blemish save
+that of too great an affection, I implore Thee in mercy to receive the
+soul-and spirit of one who repents that she has broken thy first and
+most just commandment. And, through the merits of Him whose love passeth
+all understanding, forgive the error into which excess of love has led
+me, for in Thee alone do I put my perfect trust. And farewell, O my
+beloved, whose empty name doth break my very heart."
+
+With these words she fell backward, and her face grew pallid, her lips
+blue, and her extremities cold.
+
+Just at this moment the gentleman she loved came into the hall, and,
+seeing the Duchess dancing with the ladies, looked everywhere for his
+sweetheart. Not finding her, he went into the chamber of the Duchess,
+and there found the Duke, who was walking up and down, and who, guessing
+his purpose, whispered in his ear--
+
+"She went into that closet, and methought she was ill."
+
+The gentleman asked whether he would be pleased to let him go in, and
+the Duke begged him to do so. When he entered the closet he found the
+Lady du Vergier, come to the last stage of her mortal life; whereat,
+throwing his arms about her, he said--
+
+"What is this, sweetheart? Would you leave me?"
+
+The poor lady, hearing the voice that she knew so well, recovered a
+little strength and opened her eyes to look upon him who was the cause
+of her death; but at this look her love and anguish waxed so great that,
+with a piteous sigh, she yielded up her soul to God.
+
+The gentleman, more dead than the dead woman herself, asked the damsel
+who was there how this sickness had come upon his sweetheart, and she
+told him all the words that she had heard. Then the gentleman knew that
+the Duke had revealed the secret to his wife, and felt such frenzy that,
+whilst embracing his sweetheart's body, he for a long time watered it
+with his tears, saying--
+
+"O traitorous, wicked and unhappy lover that I am! why has not the
+punishment of my treachery fallen upon me, and not upon her who is
+innocent? Why was I not struck by a bolt from heaven on the day when my
+tongue revealed the secret and virtuous love between us? Why did not
+the earth open to swallow up this traitor to his troth? O tongue, mayest
+thou be punished as was the tongue of the wicked rich man in hell!
+
+"O heart, too fearful of death and banishment, mayest thou be torn
+continually by eagles as was the heart of Ixion! (3)
+
+     3  Queen Margaret's memory plainly failed her here.--Ed.
+
+"Alas, sweetheart, the greatest of all the greatest woes has fallen upon
+me! I thought to keep you, but I have lost you; I thought to see you for
+a long time and to abide with you in sweet and honourable content, yet
+now I embrace your dead body, and you passed away in sore displeasure
+with me, with my heart and with my tongue. O most loyal and faithful of
+women, I do confess myself the most disloyal, fickle and faithless of
+all men. Gladly would I complain of the Duke in whose promise I trusted,
+hoping thus to continue our happy life; but alas! I should have known
+that none could keep our secret better than I kept it myself. The Duke
+had more reason in telling his secret to his wife than I in telling mine
+to him. I accuse none but myself of the greatest wickedness that was
+ever done between lovers. I ought to have submitted to be cast into the
+moat as he threatened to do with me; at least, sweetheart, you would
+then have lived in widowhood and I have died a glorious death in
+observing the law that true love enjoins. But through breaking it I am
+now in life, and you, through perfectness of love, are dead; for your
+pure, clear heart could not bear to know the wickedness of your lover.
+
+"O my God! why didst Thou endow me with so light a love and so ignorant
+a heart? Why didst thou not create me as the little dog that faithfully
+served his mistress? Alas, my little friend, the joy your bark was wont
+to give me is turned to deadly sorrow, now that another than we twain
+has heard your voice. Yet, sweetheart, neither the love of the Duchess
+nor of any living woman turned me aside, though indeed that wicked one
+did often ask and entreat me. 'Twas by my ignorance, which thought to
+secure our love for ever, that I was overcome. Yet for that ignorance am
+I none the less guilty; for I revealed my sweetheart's secret and broke
+my promise to her, and for this cause alone do I see her lying dead
+before my eyes. Alas, sweetheart, death will to me be less cruel than
+to you, whose love has ended your innocent life. Methinks it would not
+deign to touch my faithless and miserable heart; for life with dishonour
+and the memory of that which I have lost through guilt would be harder
+to bear than ten thousand deaths. Alas, sweetheart, had any dared to
+slay you through mischance or malice, I should quickly have clapped hand
+to sword to avenge you; 'tis therefore right that I should not pardon
+the murderer who has caused your death by a more wicked act than any
+sword-thrust. Did I know a viler executioner than myself, I would
+entreat him to put your traitorous lover to death. O Love! I have
+offended thee from not having known how to love, and therefore thou wilt
+not succour me as thou didst succour her who kept all thy laws. 'Tis not
+right that I should die after so honourable a manner; but 'tis well that
+I should die by mine own hand. I have washed your face, sweet, with my
+tears, and with my tongue have craved your forgiveness; and now it only
+remains for my hand to make my body like unto yours, and send my soul
+whither yours will go, in the knowledge that a virtuous and honourable
+love can never end, whether in this world or in the next."
+
+Rising up from the body he then, like a frenzied man beside himself,
+drew his dagger and with great violence stabbed himself to the heart.
+Then he again took his sweetheart in his arms, kissing her with such
+passion that it seemed as though he were seized rather with love than
+with death.
+
+The damsel, seeing him deal himself the blow, ran to the door and called
+for help. The Duke, on hearing the outcry, suspected misfortune to those
+he loved, and was the first to enter the closet, where he beheld the
+piteous pair. He sought to separate them, and, if it were possible, to
+save the gentleman; but the latter clasped his sweetheart so fast that
+he could not be taken from her until he was dead. Nevertheless he heard
+the Duke speaking to him and saying--"Alas! what is the cause of this?"
+To which, with a glance of fury, he replied--"My tongue, my lord, and
+yours." So saying, he died, with his face close pressed to that of his
+mistress.
+
+The Duke, wishing to know more of the matter, made the damsel tell him
+what she had seen and heard; and this she did at full length, sparing
+nothing. Then the Duke, finding that he was himself the cause of all
+this woe, threw himself upon the two dead lovers, and, with great
+lamentation and weeping, kissed both of them several times and asked
+their forgiveness. And after that he rose up in fury, and drew the
+dagger from the gentleman's body; and, just as a wild boar, wounded with
+a spear, rushes headlong against him that has dealt the blow, so did the
+Duke now seek out her who had wounded him to the bottom of his soul. He
+found her dancing in the hall, and more merry than was her wont at
+the thought of the excellent vengeance she had wreaked on the Lady du
+Vergier.
+
+The Duke came upon her in the midst of the dance, and said--
+
+"You took the secret upon your life, and upon your life shall fall the
+punishment."
+
+So saying, he seized her by the head-dress and stabbed her with the
+dagger in the breast. All the company were astonished, and it was
+thought that the Duke was out of his mind; but, having thus worked his
+will, he brought all his retainers together in the hall and told them
+the virtuous and pitiful story of his niece, and the evil that his wife
+had wrought her. And those who were present wept whilst they listened.
+
+Then the Duke ordered that his wife should be buried in an abbey which
+he founded partly to atone for the sin that he had committed in killing
+her; and he caused a beautiful tomb to be built, in which the bodies of
+his niece and the gentleman were laid together, with an epitaph setting
+forth their tragic story. And the Duke undertook an expedition against
+the Turks, in which God so favoured him, that he brought back both
+honour and profit. On his return, he found his eldest son now able to
+govern his possessions, and so left all to him, and went and became a
+monk in the abbey where his wife and the two lovers were buried. And
+there did he spend his old age happily with God.
+
+"Such, ladies, is the story which you begged me to relate, and which,
+as I can see from your eyes, you have not heard without compassion. It
+seems to me that you should take example by it, and beware of placing
+your affections upon men; for, however honourable or virtuous these
+affections may be, in the end they have always an aftertaste of evil.
+You see how St. Paul would not that even married people should so
+deeply love each other; (4) for the more our hearts are set upon earthly
+things, the more remote are they from heavenly affection, and the harder
+is the tie to be broken. I therefore pray you, ladies, ask God for His
+Holy Spirit, who will so fire your hearts with the love of God, that
+when death comes, you will not be pained at leaving that which you love
+too well in this world."
+
+     4  I _Corinthians_ vii. 32-5.--M.
+
+"If their love," said Geburon, "was as honourable as you describe, why
+was it needful to keep it so secret?"
+
+"Because," said Parlamente, "the wickedness of men is so great, that
+they can never believe deep love to be allied with honour, but judge
+men and women to be wicked according to their own passions. Hence, if a
+woman has a dear friend other than one of her nearest kinsfolk, she must
+speak with him in secret if she would speak long with him; for a woman's
+honour is attacked, whether she love virtuously or viciously, since
+people judge only from appearances."
+
+"But," said Geburon, "when a secret of that kind is revealed, people
+think far worse of it."
+
+"I grant you that," said Longarine; "and so it is best not to love at
+all."
+
+"We appeal from that sentence," said Dagoucin, "for, did we believe the
+ladies to be without love, we would fain be ourselves without life. I
+speak of those who live but to win love: and, even if they secure it
+not, yet the hope of it sustains them and prompts them to do a thousand
+honourable deeds, until old age changes their fair sufferings to other
+pains. But, did we think that ladies were without love, it were needful
+we should turn traders instead of soldiers, and instead of winning fame,
+think only of hea'ping up riches."
+
+"You would say, then," said Hircan, "that, were there no women, we
+should all be dastards, as though we had no courage save such as they
+put into us. But I am of quite the opposite opinion, and hold that
+nothing weakens a man's courage so much as to consort with women or love
+them too much. For this reason the Jews would not suffer a man to go to
+the war within a year after his marriage, lest love for his wife should
+draw him back from the dangers that he ought to seek." (5)
+
+     5  See _Deuteronomy_ xx. 5, 6, 7; and the comments thereon
+     of Rabelais (book iii. ch. vi.).--M.
+
+"I consider that law," said Saffredent, "to have been without reason,
+for nothing will more readily make a man leave his home than marriage.
+The war without is not harder of endurance than the war within; and I
+think that, to make men desirous of going into foreign lands instead of
+lingering by their hearths, it were only needful to marry them."
+
+"It is true," said Ennasuite, "that marriage takes from them the care
+of their houses; for they trust in their wives, and for their own part
+think only of winning fame, feeling certain that their wives will give
+due heed to the profit."
+
+"However that may be," replied Saffredent, "I am glad that you are of my
+opinion."
+
+"But," said Parlamente, "you are not discussing what is chiefly to be
+considered, and that is why the gentleman, who was the cause of all the
+misfortune, did not as quickly die of grief as she who was innocent."
+
+Nomerfide replied--
+
+"'Twas because women love more truly than men."
+
+"Nay," said Simontault, "'twas because the jealousy and spitefulness of
+women make them die without knowing the reason, whereas men are led by
+their prudence to inquire into the truth of the matter. When this has
+been learnt through their sound sense, they display their courage, as
+this gentleman did; for, as soon as he understood the reason of his
+sweetheart's misfortune, he showed how truly he loved her and did not
+spare his own life."
+
+"Yet," said Ennasuite, "she died of true love, for her steadfast and
+loyal heart could not endure to be so deceived."
+
+"It was her jealousy," said Simontault, "which would not yield to
+reason, so that she believed evil of her lover of which he was not
+guilty at all. Moreover, her death was matter of necessity, for she
+could not prevent it, whilst her lover's death was voluntary, after he
+had recognised his own wrongdoing."
+
+"Still," said Nomerfide, "the love must needs be great that causes such
+deep sorrow."
+
+"Have no fear of it," said Hircan, "for you will never die of that kind
+of fever."
+
+"Nor," said Nomerfide, "will you ever kill yourself after recognising
+your error."
+
+Here Parlamente, who suspected that the dispute was being carried on at
+her own expense, said, laughing--
+
+"'Tis enough that two persons should have died of love, without two
+others fighting for the same cause. And there is the last bell sounding
+for vespers, which will have us gone whether you be willing or not."
+
+By her advice the whole company then rose and went to hear vespers, not
+forgetting in their fervent prayers the souls of those true lovers, for
+whom, also, the monks, of their charity, said a _De profundis_. As long
+as supper lasted there was no talk save of the Lady du Vergier, and
+then, when they had spent a little time together, they withdrew to their
+several apartments, and so brought to an end the Seventh Day.
+
+
+[Illustration: 213.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+
+
+
+EIGHTH DAY.
+
+_On the Eighth Day relation is made of the greatest yet truest follies
+that each can remember_.
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE.
+
+When morning was come they inquired whether their bridge (1) were being
+well advanced, and found that it might be finished in two or three days.
+These were not welcome tidings to some among the company, for they
+would gladly have had the work last a longer time, so as to prolong
+the happiness that they enjoyed in this pleasant mode of life. Finding,
+however, that only two or three such days were left, they resolved to
+turn them to account, and begged the Lady Oisille to give them their
+spiritual nourishment as had been her wont. This she forthwith did,
+but she detained them longer than usual, for before setting forth she
+desired to finish reading the canonical writings of St. John; and so
+well did she acquit herself of this, that it seemed as if the Holy
+Spirit in all His love and sweetness spoke by her mouth. Glowing with
+this heavenly flame, they went to hear high mass, and afterwards dined
+together, again speaking of the past day, and doubting whether they
+could make another as fair.
+
+     1  The allusion is to the bridge over the Gave spoken of in
+     the General Prologue (_ante_, vol. i. p. 25-6).--M.
+
+In order to set about it, they retired to their own rooms until it was
+time to repair to their Chamber of Accounts on the Board of Green Grass,
+where they found the monks already arrived and in their places.
+
+When all were seated, the question was put, who should begin; and
+Saffredent said--
+
+"You did me the honour to have me begin on two days. Methinks we should
+act wrongly towards the ladies if one of them did not also begin on
+two."
+
+"It were then needful," said the Lady Oisille, "either that we should
+continue here for a great while, or else that a gentleman and a lady of
+the company should forego the beginning of a day."
+
+"For my part," said Dagoucin, "had I been chosen, I would have given my
+place to Saffredent."
+
+"And I," said Nomerfide, "to Parlamente, for I have been so wont to
+serve that I know not how to command."
+
+To this all agreed, and Parlamente thus began--
+
+"Ladies, the days that are past have been filled with so many tales of
+wisdom, that I would beg you to fill this one with the greatest (yet
+most real) follies that we can remember. So, to lead the way, I will
+begin."
+
+
+[Illustration: 219a. The Saddler's Wife Cured by the sight of her Husband
+Caressing the Serving-maid]
+
+[The Saddler's Wife Cured by the sight of her Husband Caressing the
+Serving-maid]
+
+[Illustration: 219.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXXI_.
+
+     _A saddler's wife, who was grievously sick, was made whole
+     and recovered the power of speech, which for the space of
+     two days site had lost, on seeing her husband holding his
+     serving-maid too familiarly on the bed whilst she herself
+     was drawing to her end_.
+
+In the town of Amboise there lived one Brimbaudier, (1) saddler to the
+Queen of Navarre, and a man whose colour of feature showed him to be
+by nature rather a servant of Bacchus than a priest of Diana. He had
+married a virtuous woman who controlled his household very discreetly,
+and with whom he was well content.
+
+     1  Boaistuau gives the name as Bruribandier, and Gruget
+     transforms it into Borribaudier. M, Pifteau, after examining
+     the MSS., is doubtful whether Brimbaudier is the correct
+     reading. Bromardier, which in old French meant a tippler
+     (Ducange, _Briemardum_), would have been an appropriate name
+     for the individual referred to.--Ed.
+
+One day it was told him that his good wife was sick and in great danger,
+at which tidings he was in the greatest trouble imaginable. He went with
+all speed to her aid, and found her so low, poor woman, that she had
+more need of a confessor than a doctor. Thereupon he made the most
+pitiful lamentation that could be, but to represent it well 'twere
+needful to speak thickly as he did, (2) and better still to paint one's
+face like his.
+
+     2  Curiously enough, the transcriber of MS. No. 1520
+     attempts to give some idea of the husband's pronunciation by
+     transforming all his r's into l's. Here is an example: "Je
+     pelz ma povle femme, que fesai-ze, moi malhureux?... M'amie
+     je me meuls, je suis pis que tlepasse... je ne scai que
+     faize," &c.--L.
+
+When he had done all that he could for her, she asked for the cross, and
+it was brought. On seeing this, the good man flung himself upon a bed in
+despair, crying and saying in his thick speech--
+
+"Ah God! I am losing my poor wife! What shall I do, unhappy man that I
+am?"
+
+After uttering many such complaints, he perceived that there was no one
+in the room but a young servant-maid, passably fair and buxom, and he
+called to her in a whisper.
+
+"Sweetheart," he said, "I am dying. I am more than dead to see your
+mistress dying in this manner. I know not what to do or say, except
+that I commend myself to you, and beg you to care for my house and my
+children. Take therefore the keys from my side, and order the household,
+for I myself can attend to nothing more."
+
+The poor girl had pity on him and comforted him, begging him not to
+despair, so that, if she must lose her mistress, she might not also lose
+her good master.
+
+"Sweetheart," he replied, "'tis all of no avail, for I am indeed dying.
+See yourself how cold my face is; bring your cheeks close to mine and
+warm them."
+
+With this he laid his hand upon her breast. She tried to make some
+difficulty, but he begged her to have no fear, since they must indeed
+see each other more closely. And speaking in this wise, he took her in
+his arms and threw her upon the bed.
+
+Then his wife, whose only company was the cross and the holy water,
+and who had not spoken for two days, began to cry out as loudly as her
+feeble voice enabled her--
+
+"Ah! ah! ah! I am not dead yet!" And threatening them with her hand, she
+repeated--"Villain! monster! I am not dead yet!"
+
+On hearing her voice, the husband and maid rose up, but she was in such
+a rage against them that her anger consumed the catarrhal humour that
+had prevented her from speaking, and she poured upon them all the abuse
+that she could think of. And from that hour she began to mend, though
+not without often reproaching her husband for the little love he bore
+her. (3)
+
+     3  This story was imitated by Noel du Fail de La Herissaye
+     in his _Contes d'Eutrapel_ (ch. v._ De la Goutte_), where
+     the hero of the incident is called Glaume Esnaut de
+     Tremeril. "It is said," writes Du Fail, "that the wife of
+     that rascal Glaume of Tremeril when at the point of death,
+     on seeing Glaume too familiar with her serving-woman,
+     recovered her senses, saying, 'Ah! wicked man, I am not yet
+     so low as you thought. By God's grace, mistress baggage, you
+     shall go forth at once.'" Curiously enough, the 1585 edition
+     of the _Contes d'Eutrapel_ was printed at Rennes for Noel
+     Glame, virtually the same name as Glaume.--M.
+
+"By this you see, ladies, the hypocrisy of men, and how a little
+consolation will make them forget their sorrow for their wives."
+
+"How do you know," said Hircan, "that he had not heard that such was the
+best remedy his wife could have? Since his kindly treatment availed
+not to cure her, he wished to try whether the opposite would prove any
+better, and the trial was a very fortunate one. But I marvel that you
+who are a woman should have shown how the constitution of your sex is
+brought to amendment rather by foul means than by fair."
+
+"Without doubt," said Longarine, "behaviour of that kind would make me
+rise not merely from my bed, but from a grave such as that yonder."
+
+"And what wrong did he do her," asked Saffre-dent, "by comforting
+himself when he thought that she was dead? It is known that the
+marriage-tie lasts only through life, and that when this is ended it is
+loosed."
+
+"Ay," said Oisille, "loosed from oath and bond, but a good heart is
+never loosed from love. The husband you have told us of was indeed quick
+to forget his grief, since he could not wait until his wife had breathed
+her last."
+
+"What I think strangest of all," said Nomerfide, "is that, when death
+and the cross were before his eyes, he should not have lost all desire
+to offend against God."
+
+"A brave argument!" said Simontault. "You would therefore not be
+surprised to see a man act wantonly provided he were a good distance
+from the church and cemetery?"
+
+"You may laugh at me as much as you please," said Nomerfide;
+"nevertheless the contemplation of death must greatly chill a heart,
+however young it may be."
+
+"I should indeed be of the same opinion as yourself," said Dagoucin, "if
+I had not heard a Princess say the opposite."
+
+"In other words." said Parlamente, "she told some story about it. If it
+be so, I will give you my place that you may relate it to us."
+
+Then Dagoucin began as follows:--
+
+
+[Illustration: 224.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+[Illustration: 225a. The Monk Conversing with the Nun while Shrouding
+a Dead Body]
+
+[The Monk Conversing with the Nun while Shrouding a Dead Body]
+
+[Illustration: 225.jpg Page Image]
+
+
+
+
+_TALE LXXII_.
+
+     _Whilst engaged in the last deed of charity, the shrouding
+     of a dead body, a monk did also engage with a nun in the
+     deeds of the flesh, and made her big with child_. (1)
+
+
+
+In one of the finest towns of France after Paris there stood an hospital
+(2) richly endowed--namely, with a Prioress and fifteen or sixteen nuns,
+while in another building there was a Prior and seven or eight monks.
+Every day the monks said mass, but the nuns only their paternosters and
+the Hours of Our Lady, for they were occupied in tending the sick.
+
+     1  Gruget first printed this tale, which was not given by
+     Boaistuau.--L.
+
+     2  It is impossible to say what town and hospital Margaret
+     here refers to. Lyons is the scene of the latter part of the
+     story; and we are inclined to think that the earlier
+     incidents may have occurred at Dijon, where there was a
+     famous hospital under ecclesiastical management, founded by
+     Eudes III., seventh Duke of Burgundy.--L. and Ed.
+
+One day it chanced that a poor man died, and the nuns, being all
+assembled with him, after giving him every remedy for his health, sent
+for one of their monks to confess him. Then, finding that he was growing
+weaker, they gave him the extreme unction, after which he little by
+little lost the power of speech.
+
+But as he was a long time in passing away, and it seemed that he could
+still hear, the nuns continued speaking to him with the most comforting
+words they knew, until at last they grew weary, and, finding that night
+was come and that it was late, retired one after another to rest. Thus,
+to shroud the body, there remained only one of the youngest of the nuns,
+with a monk whom she feared more than the Prior or any other, by reason
+of the severity that he displayed in both speech and life.
+
+When they had duly uttered their Hours in the poor man's ear, they
+perceived that he was dead, and thereupon laid him out. Whilst
+engaged on this last deed of charity, the monk began to speak of
+the wretchedness of life, and the blessedness of death; and in such
+discourse they continued until after midnight.
+
+The poor girl listened attentively to the monk's pious utterances,
+looking at him the while with tears in her eyes; and so pleasing were
+these to him that, whilst speaking of the life to come, he began
+to embrace her as though he longed to bear her away in his arms to
+Paradise.
+
+The poor girl, listening to his discourse and deeming him the most pious
+of the community, ventured not to say him nay.
+
+Perceiving this, the wicked monk, whilst still speaking of God,
+accomplished with her the work which the devil suddenly put into their
+hearts--for before there had been no question of such a thing. He
+assured her, however, that secret sin was not imputed to men by God, and
+that two persons who had no ties, could do no wrong in this manner,
+when no scandal came of it; and, to avoid all scandal, he told her to be
+careful to confess to none but himself.
+
+So they parted each from the other, she going first. And as she passed
+through a chapel dedicated to Our Lady, she was minded to make her
+prayer as was her wont. But when she began with the words, "Mary,
+Virgin," she remembered that she had lost the title of virginity not
+through force or love, but through foolish fear; and she began to weep
+so bitterly that it seemed as if her heart must break.
+
+The monk, hearing the sighing from a distance, suspected her repentance,
+which might make him lose his delight, and to prevent this, he came and,
+finding her prostrate before the image, began to rebuke her harshly,
+telling her that if she had any scruples of conscience she should
+confess herself to him, and that she need not so act again unless she
+desired; for she might behave in either way without sin. The foolish
+nun, thinking to make atonement to God, confessed herself to the monk;
+but in respect of penance he swore to her that she did no sin in loving
+him, and that holy water would suffice to wash away such a peccadillo.
+
+Believing in him more than in God, she again some time afterwards
+yielded to him, and so became big with child. At this she was in deep
+grief, and entreated the Prioress to have the monk turned away from his
+monastery, saying that she knew him to be so crafty that he would not
+fail to seduce her. The Abbess and the Prior, who understood each other,
+laughed at her, saying that she was big enough to defend herself against
+a man, and that the monk she spoke of was too virtuous to do such a
+deed.
+
+At last, urged by the prickings of her conscience, she craved license
+to go to Rome, for she thought that, by confessing her sin at the Pope's
+feet, she might recover her virginity. This the Prior and Prioress very
+readily granted her, for they were more willing that she should become
+a pilgrim contrary to the rules of her order, than be shut up in the
+convent with her present scruples. They feared also that in her despair
+she might denounce the life that was led among them, and so gave her
+money for her journey.
+
+But God brought it to pass that when she came to Lyons, my lady the
+Duchess of Alencon, afterwards Queen of Navarre, being one evening after
+vespers in the roodloft of the church of St. John, whither she came
+secretly to perform a novena with three or four of her women, (3)
+heard someone mounting the stairway whilst she was kneeling before the
+crucifix. By the light of the lamp she saw it was a nun, and in order
+that she might hear her devotions, the Duchess thereupon withdrew to the
+corner of the altar. The nun, who believed herself to be alone, knelt
+down and, beating her breast, began weeping so sorrowfully that it was
+piteous to hear her; and all the while she cried naught but this--"Alas!
+my God, take pity on this poor sinner."
+
+     3  See _ante_, Tale LXV., note i.
+
+The Duchess, wishing to learn what it meant, went up to her and said,
+"Dear heart, what ails you, and whence do you come, and what brings you
+to this place?"
+
+The poor nun, who did not know her, replied, "Ah, sweet, my woe is such
+that I have no help but in God; and I pray that He may bring me to speak
+with the Duchess of Alencon. To her alone will I tell the matter, for I
+am sure that, if it be possible, she will set it right."
+
+"Dear heart," then said the Duchess, "you may speak to me as you would
+to her, for I am one of her nearest friends."
+
+"Forgive me," said the nun; "she alone must know my secret."
+
+Then the Duchess told her that she might speak freely, since she had
+indeed found her whom she sought. Forthwith the poor woman threw herself
+at her feet, and, after she had wept, related what you have heard
+concerning her hapless fortune. The Duchess consoled her so well, that
+whilst she took not from her everlasting repentance for her sin, she
+put from her mind the journeying to Rome, and then sent her back to her
+priory with letters to the Bishop of the place to have that shameful
+monk turned away.
+
+"I have this story from the Duchess herself, and from it you may see,
+ladies, that Nomerfide's prescription is not good for all, since these
+persons fell into lewdness even while touching and laying out the dead."
+
+"'Twas a device," said Hircan, "that methinks no man ever used before,
+to talk of death and engage in the deeds of life."
+
+"'Tis no deed of life," said Oisille, "to sin, for it is well known that
+sin begets death."
+
+"You may be sure," said Saffredent, "that these poor folk gave no
+thought to any such theology; but just as the daughters of Lot made
+their father drunk so that the human race might be preserved, so these
+persons wished to repair what death had spoiled, and to replace the dead
+body by a new one. I therefore can see no harm in the matter except the
+tears of the poor nun, who was always weeping and always returning to
+the cause of her tears."
+
+"I have known many of the same kind," said Hircan, "who wept for their
+sins and laughed at their pleasures both together."
+
+"I think I know whom you mean," said Parlamente, "and their laughter has
+lasted so great a while that 'twere time the tears should begin."
+
+"Hush!" said Hircan. "The tragedy that has begun with laughter is not
+ended yet."
+
+"To change the subject," said Parlamente, "it seems to me that Dagoucin
+departed from our purpose. We were to tell only merry tales, and his was
+very piteous."
+
+"You said," replied Dagoucin, "that you would only tell of follies, and
+I think that herein I have not been lacking. But, that we may hear a
+more pleasant story, I give my vote to Nomerfide, in the hope that she
+will make amends for my error."
+
+"I have indeed," she answered, "a story ready which is worthy to follow
+yours; for it speaks of monks and death. So I pray you give good heed."
+
+_Here end the Tales and Novels of the late Queen of Navarre, that is,
+all that can be recovered of them_.
+
+
+[Illustration: 232.jpg Tailpiece]
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+
+
+
+THE SUPPOSED NARRATORS OF THE _HEPTAMERON_ TALES.
+
+In his introductory essay to this translation of the _Heptameron_, Mr.
+George Saintsbury has called attention to the researches of various
+commentators who have laboured to identify the supposed narrators of
+Queen Margaret's tales. As it may be fairly assumed that the setting
+of the work is pure invention on the Queen's part, the researches in
+question can scarcely serve any useful purpose. Still they appear to
+have had considerable attraction for several erudite editors, whose
+opinions, occasionally alluded to in our notes, we will here briefly
+summarise for the information of those whom the matter may interest:--
+
+OISILLE, a widow lady of long experience, is supposed by Messrs. de
+Lincy, Lacroix, Genin, Frank, de Montaiglon and Miss Mary Robinson to be
+Louise of Savoy. In some MSS. the name is written Osyle, the anagram
+of _Loyse_, in which fashion Louise was spelt in old French. It may be
+pointed out, _en passant_, that Brantome's grandmother, the Senechale
+of Poitou, whose connection with the _Heptameron_ is recorded, was also
+named Louise (see ante, vol. i. p. lxxxii.).
+
+PARLAMENTE, wife of Hircan, is supposed by the same commentators to be
+Queen Margaret herself; this is assumed mainly because the views
+which Parlamente expresses on religion, philosophy, men and women,
+are generally in accord with those which the Queen is known to have
+professed.
+
+HIRCAN, in M. de Lincy's opinion, might be the Duke of Alencon,
+Margaret's first husband. Messrs. Frank and Mont-aiglon, following M.
+Lacroix, prefer to identify him as Henry d'Albret, King of Navarre.
+They conjecture the name of Hircan to be derived from Ilanricus, a not
+uncommon fashion of spelling Henricus. It might, however, simply come
+from _hircus_, a he-goat, for Hircan is a man of gross, sensual tastes.
+
+LONGARINE, a young widow, is supposed by M. de Lincy to be Blanche de
+Chastillon, _nee_ de Tournon (concerning whom see _ante_, vol. i. p. 84,
+n. 7, and p. 120 _et seq_.; vol. iv. p. 144, n. 2; and vol. v. p. 25, n.
+2). M. Frank, however, thinks she is Aimee Motier de la Fayette, lady of
+_Longray_, widow of Francis de Silly, Bailiff of Caen, and _gouvernante_
+to Queen Margaret's daughter, Jane of Navarre. Miss Robinson shares this
+opinion, but M. de Montaiglon thinks that _Longarine_ would rather
+be Aimee Motier de la Fayette's daughter Frances, married to Frederic
+d'Almenesches, of one of the branches of the house of Foix.
+
+SIMONTAULT (occasionally _Symontaut_), a young knight, is thought by M.
+de Lincy to be Henry d'Albret, Margaret's second husband, who was of an
+extremely amorous disposition, and much younger than herself. Messrs.
+Frank and de Montaiglon, however, fancy _Simontault_ to have been
+Francis, Baron de Bourdeilles, father of Brantome. It is admitted,
+however, that if this be the case, it is curious that Brantome should
+not have alluded to it in any of his writings, whereas he does speak
+both of his mother and of his grandmother in connection with the
+_Heptameron_.
+
+ENNASUITE (occasionally _Ennasuitte_ or _Ennasuicte_, and in some MSS.
+_Emarsuite_), is supposed by Messrs. de Lincy, Frank, and de Montaiglon
+to be Anne de Vivonne, wife of Francis de Bourdeilles and mother of
+Brantome (see ante, vol. iv. p. 144, n. 2). It is pointed out that the
+name may be transformed into the three words _Anne et suite_.
+
+DAGOUCIN, a young gentleman, is thought by M. Frank to be Nicholas Dangu
+(see ante, vol. i. p. 20, n. 4, and p. 40, n. 3), who became Chancellor
+to the King of Navarre. M. Lacroix, however, fancies this personage to
+be a Count d'Agoust.
+
+GEBURON, apparently an elderly man, would in M. Frank's opinion be the
+Seigneur de Burye, a captain of the Italian wars to whom Brantome (his
+cousin-german) alludes in his writings. The name of de Burye is also
+found in a list of the personages present at Queen Margaret's funeral.
+M. de Montaiglon shares M. Frank's views.
+
+NOMERFIDE, so M. de Lincy suggests, may have been the famous Frances
+de Foix, Countess of Chateaubriand; but M. Frank opines that she is a
+Demoiselle de Fimarcon or Fiedmarcon (Lat. _Feudimarco_), who in
+1525 married John de Montpczat, called "Captain Carbon," one of the
+exquisites of the famous Field of the cloth of gold. Miss Robinson,
+however, fancies that Nomerfide is Isabel d'Albret, sister of Margaret's
+second husband, and wife of Rene de Rohan.
+
+SAFFREDENT, so M. de Lincy thinks, may be Admiral de Bonnivet; M. Frank
+suggests John de Montpezat; and Miss Robinson Rene de Rohan, who, after
+his father Peter de Rohan-Gie (husband of Rolandine, see _ante_, vol.
+iii., Tale XXI, notes 2 and 15), had been killed at Pavia, was for some
+years entrusted to Queen Margaret's care. As Miss Robinson points out,
+_Saffredent_ literally means greedy tooth or sweet tooth.
+
+Those who may be desirous of studying and comparing these various
+attempts at identification, will find all the evidence and arguments of
+any value set forth in the writings of M. Frank, M. de Montaiglon and
+Miss Robinson, which are specified in the Bibliography annexed to this
+appendix.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHY.
+
+Fourteen MS. copies of the _Heptameron_ are known to exist. Twelve
+of these are at the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, one is at the town
+library of Orleans, and one in the Vatican library. We also have some
+record of four other copies which were in private libraries at the end
+of the last century.
+
+The twelve MSS. at the Bibliotheque Nationale are the following:--
+
+I. (No. 1511 in the catalogue). A folio volume bound in red morocco,
+bearing the Bethune arms. This MS. is on ruled paper, and only one leaf,
+the last, is missing.
+
+II. (No. 1512). A small folio, calf gilt, 350 leaves, from Colbert's
+library. The handwriting is that of the middle of the sixteeenth
+century, and is the same throughout; the last page bearing the signature
+"Doulcet." This supplied the text followed in the present translation.
+
+III. (No. 1513). A small folio, half-bound in red morocco, stamped with
+King Louis Philippe's monogram. It contains only twenty-eight of the
+tales.
+
+IV. (No. 1514). A large quarto, calf, from the De Mesmes library.
+Contains only thirty-four of the tales.
+
+V. (No. 1515). A small folio from Colbert's library, bound in calf,
+in Groslier's style. The text is complete, but there are numerous
+interlinear and marginal corrections and additions, in the same
+handwriting as MS. VII.
+
+VI. (Nos. 1516 to 1519). Four quarto vols., red morocco, Bethune arms.
+The first prologue is deficient, as is also the last leaf of tale lxxi.
+
+VII. (No. 1520). A folio vol., calf and red morocco, stamped with
+fleurs-de-lys and the monogram of Louis XVIII. This MS. on stout ruled
+paper, in a beautiful italic handwriting of the end of the sixteenth
+century, is complete. Unfortunately Queen Margaret's phraseology has
+been considerably modified, though, on the other hand, the copyist has
+inserted a large number of different readings, as marginal notes, which
+render his work of great value. It is frequently quoted in the present
+translation.
+
+VIII. (No. 1523). A folio vol., calf, from the De La Marre library. The
+first two leaves are deficient, and the text ends with the fifth tale of
+Day IV.
+
+IX. (No. 1522). A small folio, bound in parchment, from the De La Marre
+library. Only the tales of the first four days are complete, and on
+folio 259 begins a long poem called Les Prisons, the work probably of
+William Filandrier, whom Queen Margaret protected. On the first folio of
+the volume is the inscription, in sixteenth-century handwriting: _Pour
+ma sour Marie Philander_. The poem _Les Prisons_ is quoted on pp.
+xxxviii.-ix. vol. i. of the present work. It concludes with an epitaph
+on Margaret, dated 1549.
+
+X. (No. 1524). A folio vol. from Colbert's library, bound in red and
+yellow morocco, on which is painted, on a blue ground, a vine laden with
+grapes twining round the trunk of a tree. On either side and in gold
+letters is the device, _Sin e doppo la morte_ (until and after death).
+Following the title-page, on which the work is called "The Decameron of
+the most high and most illustrious Princess, Madame Margaret of France,"
+is a curious preface signed "Adrian de Thou," and dated "Paris, August
+8, 1553." This Adrian de Thou, Lord of Hierville and canon of Notre Dame
+de Paris, counsellor and clerk of the Paris Parliament, was the fourth
+son of Augustine de Thou and uncle to James Augustus de Thou, the
+historian. He died in October 1570. His MS. of the _Heptameron_, a
+most beautiful specimen of caligraphy, contains a long table of various
+readings and obscure passages; this was consulted in preparing the text
+for the present translation. The titles to the tales have also been
+borrowed from this MS.; they were composed by De Thou himself, and
+figure in no other MS. copy.
+
+XI. (No. 1525). A small folio, calf, from Colbert's library, very
+incomplete and badly written, but containing the _Miroir de Jesu Crist
+crucifie_, the last poem Queen Margaret composed (see _ante_, vol. i. p.
+lxxxvi.).
+
+XII. (No. 2155). A small quarto, red morocco, from the library of
+Mazarin, whose escutcheon has been cut off. The text, which is
+complete and correct, excepting that a portion of the prologue has been
+accidentally transposed, is followed by an epitaph on the Queen. The
+handwriting throughout is that of the end of the sixteenth century.
+
+
+The other MSS. of the _Heptameron_ are the following:--
+
+XIII. (Orleans town library, No. 352). A folio vol. of 440 pp. It is
+doubtful whether this MS. is of the sixteenth or seventeenth century.
+It bears the title _L'Heptameron des Nouvelles, &c_. There are numerous
+deficiencies in the text.
+
+XIV. (Vatican library, No. 929; from the library of Queen Christina of
+Sweden). A folio vol., calf, 95 leaves, handwriting of the end of the
+sixteenth century. This only contains fifteen of the stories.
+
+XV. (present possessor unknown). A folio vol., red morocco; text (ending
+with tale lxix. ) in sixteenth-century handwriting, with illuminated
+initial letters to each tale. _Catalogue des livres de feue Mme. la
+Comtesse de Verrue_, Paris, G. Martin, 1737.
+
+XVI. (possessor unknown). MS. supposed to be the original, a large
+folio, handwriting of the period, antique binding, containing the
+seventy-two tales. _Catalogue des livres, &c., du cabinet de M. Filheul,
+&c._, Paris, Chardin, 1779, pp. xxi. and 280.
+
+XVII. (possessor unknown). A folio vol., blue morocco, gilt. No. 1493
+in the catalogue of the _Bibliotheque de Simon Bernard, chez Barrois_,
+Paris, 1734; and No. 213 in a _Catalogue de manuscrits interessants qui
+seront vendus... en la maison de M. Gueret, notaire_, Paris, Debure fils
+jeune, 1776.
+
+XVIII. (possessor unknown). A folio vol., blue morocco, gilt, stamped
+with the arms of France, from the Randon de Boisset library; the
+seventy-two tales complete, a very fine copy. _Catalogue des livres de
+la bibliotheqzie de l'Abbe Rive_, Marseilles, 1793. (This MS. should not
+be confounded with No. xvii. See L. J. Hubaud's _Dissertation sur les
+Contes de la Reine de Navarre_, Marseilles, 1850.)
+
+
+The following are the editions of Queen Margaret's tales issued from the
+press from the sixteenth century to the present time. The list has been
+prepared with great care, and we believe it to be as complete a one as
+can be furnished; it includes several editions not mentioned in Brunet's
+Manual:--
+
+I. _Histoires des Amans Fortunez dediees a tres illustre princesse, Mme.
+Marguerite de Bourbon, etc., par Pierre Boaistuau, dit Launoy_, Paris,
+1558, 40. The authorisation to print and publish was accorded to Vincent
+Sertenas, and the work was issued by three different booksellers; some
+copies bearing the name of Gilles Robinot, others that of Jean Cavyller,
+and others that of Gilles Gilles.
+
+This, the first edition of the Queen's work, contains only sixty-seven
+of the tales, which are not divided into days or printed in their proper
+sequence; the prologues, moreover, are deficient, and all the
+bold passages on religious and philosophical questions, &c, in the
+conversational matter following the stories, are suppressed.
+
+II. _L'Heptameron des Nouvelles de tris illustre et tres excellente
+Princesse Marguerite de Valois, Royne de Navarre, &c., dedie a tres
+illustre et tres vertueuse Princesse Jeanne, Royne de Navarre, par
+Claude Gruget, parisien_, Paris, Vincent Certena, or Jean Caveillier,
+1559.
+
+This contains all the Queen's tales excepting Nos. xi., xliv., and
+xlvi., which Gruget replaced by others, probably written by himself. The
+other stories are placed in their proper order, but none of the names
+and passages suppressed by Boaistuau are restored. The phraseology of
+the MSS., moreover, is still further modified and polished.
+
+The text adopted by Boaistuau and Gruget was followed, with a few
+additional modifications, in all the editions issued during the later
+years of the sixteenth century. Most of these are badly printed and
+contain numerous typographical errors:--
+
+III. _L'Heptameron des Nouvelles, &c_. Reprint of Gruget's edition,
+sold by Vincent Sertenas, Gilles Robinot & Gilles Gille, and printed by
+Benoist Prevost, Paris, 1560.
+
+IV. _L'Heptameron des Nouvelles, &c_., 1560, 16mo. (No bookseller's or
+printer's name appears in this edition. )
+
+V. _L'Heptameron, &c_. (Gruget). Guill. Rouille, Lyons, 1561, small
+12mo; Gilles Gilles, Paris, 1561, 16mo.
+
+VI. The same. Norment & Bruneau, and Gilles Gilles, Paris, 1567, 16mo.
+
+VII. The same. Louys Cloquemin, Lyons, 1572, 16mo (reprinted in 1578 and
+1581).
+
+VIII. The same. Michel de Roigny, Paris, 1574, 16mo (round letters).
+
+IX. The same. Gab. Buon, Paris, 1581, 16mo.
+
+X. The same. Abel L'Angelier, Paris, 1581, 18mo.
+
+XI. The same. Jean Osmont, Rouen, 1598, 578 pp., sin. 12mo (good type).
+
+XII. The same. Romain Beauvais, Rouen, 1598, 589 pp. 12mo.
+
+
+In the seventeenth century the _Heptameron_ was frequently reprinted,
+Gruget's text, with a few changes, being still followed until 1698, when
+it occurred to some obscure literary man to put the tales into so-called
+_beau langage_. At the same time the title of _Heptameron_, devised by
+Gruget, was discarded (see post, No. XVI.).
+
+XIII. _L'Heptameron_, &c., printed by Ch. Chappellein, Paris, 1607,
+18mo.
+
+XIV. The same. _Sur Pimprime a Paris_, J. Bessin (Holland), 1615, sm.
+l2mo (reprinted in 1698, 2. vols. 12mo).
+
+XV. The same. David du Petit-Val, Rouen, 1625, 12mo.
+
+XVI. _Contes et Nouvelles de Marguerite de Valois, Reine de Navarre, mis
+en beau langage_. Gallet, Amsterdam, 1698, 2 vols, sm. 8vo. This edition
+is valued not for its _beau langage_, but for the copperplate engravings
+illustrating it. These are coarsely executed, and are attributed to
+Roman de Hooge, but do not bear his name. A reprint of the edition
+appeared at Amsterdam in 1700.
+
+XVII. The same. Gallet, Amsterdam, 1708, 2 vols. sm. 8vo. Virtually a
+reprint, but with several of the Roman de Hooge plates deficient, and
+replaced by others signed Harrewyn.
+
+XVIII. The same. La Haye (Chartres), 1733, 2 vols. sm. 12mo.
+
+XIX. The same. Londres, 1744, 2 vols. 12mo.
+
+XX. Heptameron Francais, ou les Nouvelles de Marguerite, Reine de
+Navarre; chez la Nouvelle Societe Typographique, Berne, 1780-1, 3 vols.
+8vo. On some copies the title is simply, Nouvelles de Marguerite,
+etc., Berne, 1781; on others Beat Louis Walthard is designated as the
+publisher.
+
+For this edition were executed the copperplate engravings, designed by
+Freudenberg and Dunker, which illustrate the present translation. It was
+at first intended to issue the work in parts, but after parts i. and ii.
+had been published (at 4 livres each) the project was abandoned. A few
+copies of these two parts are in existence; they bear the date 1778.
+Freudenberg began his designs in the previous year, and finished them in
+1780.
+
+This edition is greatly prized for its illustrations; the text, however,
+largely modified by Jean Rodolphe de Sinner, is without value. The work
+was reissued at Paris in 1784 (8 vols, in 8vo, some copies 18mo), at
+Berne in 1792, and again in Paris in 1807 (8 vols. 18mo).
+
+
+The following new editions of the _Heptameron_ have appeared during the
+present century:--
+
+XXI. _Contes et Nouvelles de Marguerite, &c_. Dauthereau, Paris, 1828, 5
+vols. 32mo. (Collection des romans francais et etrangers.)
+
+XXII. _L'Heptameron, ou Histoire des Amants fortunes, &c, ancien texte
+publie par C. Gruget.., revu, corrige et publie avec des notes, &c.,
+par le bibliophile Jacob_. Gosselin (Bibliotheque d'Elite), Paris, 1841,
+12mo. In this edition the Bibliophile Jacob (M. P. Lacroix) but
+slightly modified Gruget's text, and his annotation was comparatively
+insignificant. His work was reproduced in a volume of the _Pantheon
+Litteraire: Les vieux Conteurs francais_, Paris, 1841, 1. 8vo. (double
+cols.).
+
+XXIII. _Heptameron des Nouvelles de... Margtierile d'Angouleme...
+publiee sur les manuscrits par la Societe des Bibliophiles Francais_ (Le
+Roux de Lincy, editor), Paris, 1853-4, 3 vols. sm. 18mo.
+
+In this edition the real text of the tales was printed for the first
+time, M. de Lincy having carefully examined the best MSS. for this
+purpose. The present English translation is based upon his work. Copies
+of the "Bibliophiles Francais" edition, which contains a portrait of the
+Queen, a facsimile of a miniature, and an engraving showing her arms and
+device, cannot be purchased, when in fair condition, for less than L6 in
+Paris.
+
+XXIV. _L'Heptameron des Nouvelles, etc.... avec des notes et une
+notice par P. L. Jacob, Bibliophile_ (Paul Lacroix). Adolphe Delahays,
+_Bibliotheque Gauloise_, Paris, 1858, 18mo.
+
+In this edition M. Lacroix, following M. de Lincy's example, went to the
+MSS. for his text, which he annotated with care and erudition. All his
+notes of any importance are reproduced in the present translation. The
+edition of 1858 was reprinted in 1875.
+
+XXV. _L'Heptameron, &c_. Gamier freres, Paris, n.d., 1 vol. 18mo.
+This was long the "popular" edition in France. The text, which is
+considerably modernised, is of no value.
+
+XXVI. _Les sept Journees de la Reine de Navarre, suivies de la
+huitieme_. Paris, Librairie des Bibliophiles (Jouaust), 1872, 4 vols.
+l6mo.
+
+In this edition Gruget's text is followed; the notes, &c, are by M.
+Lacroix. The work is prized for its illustrations (a portrait and eight
+etchings) by Leopold Flameng. It was originally issued in eight parts.
+The value of the copies varies according to the paper on which they are
+printed. Those on India or Whatman paper, with a duplicate set of the
+engravings, command high prices. The text has been reissued by the same
+firm in two cr. 8vo vols, under the title of _L'Heptameron des contes,
+etc_.
+
+XXVII. _L'Heptameron des Nouvelles, &c_, preface, notes, &c, by Benjamin
+Pifteau, in the _Nouvelle Collection Jannet_, Alphonse Lemerre, Paris,
+1875, 2 vols. l6mo.
+
+This, undoubtedly the best of all the cheap editions, has been reprinted
+by Marpon & Flammarion, Paris, n.d. The text is from the MSS.; the
+notes are mainly abbreviated from those of MM. de Lincy and Lacroix. M.
+Pifteau supplies an introduction and glossary.
+
+XXVIII. _L'Heptameron, &c., publie avec Introduction, Notes et Glossaire
+par Felix Frank_. Liseux, Paris, 1879, 3 vols. 12mo.
+
+This, from the literary point of view, is one of the most important of
+modern editions. The text is not taken from the same MS. as was followed
+by M. de Lincy. The tales are preceded by a lengthy introduction, in
+which the editor discusses Queen Margaret's work and seeks to identify
+the supposed narrators of her tales. He has frequently been quoted in
+the notes to this translation.
+
+XXIX. _L'Heptameron, &c, avec notes, variantes et glossaire par F.
+Dillaye et notice par A. France_. A. Lemerre, Paris, 1879.
+
+A handy edition based on the MSS. The notes embody the substance of
+M. de Lincy's and M. Lacroix's researches with additional particulars
+supplied by M. Dillaye, who has been quoted in the course of the present
+work.
+
+XXX. _L'Heptameron, &c., publie stir les manuscrits avec les notes de
+MM. Le Poux de Lincy et Anatole de Montaiglon_. Auguste Eudes, Paris,
+1880, 8 vols. 1. 8vo and 4 vols. cr. 8vo.
+
+The edition in 8 vols, (two copies of which on parchment were issued at
+L44 each; and twelve on Japanese paper at L20 each) is illustrated with
+the Freudenberg plates; that in 4 vols, contains the text only. The text
+is the same as that of No. XXIII.; but with additional notes, prefatory
+matter, &c. The copyright attaching to this edition was acquired for
+the present work, in which all M. de Montaiglon's important notes are
+reproduced.
+
+
+Among the English translations of the _Heptameron_ are the following:--
+
+_Heptameron_, or the _History of the Fortunate Lovers_, translated by
+R. Codrington, London, 1654, 12mo. (Dedicated to Thomas Stanley, the
+translator of Anacreon and editor of AEschylus, and based on Boaistuau's
+defective text.)
+
+The _Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre, nota first translated
+from the original text, by Walter K. Kelly_. Bohn (extra volume),
+London, 1855. This has been several times reprinted. The translation
+is a very free rendering of M. de Lincy's text; many passages are
+deficient.
+
+The _Heptameron, &c., translated from the original French by Arthur
+Machen_. Privately printed (G. Redway), London, 1886, 1 vol. 1. 8vo. A
+scholarly translation, not annotated; illustrated with the etchings by
+Flameng (see _ante_, edition xxv.).
+
+_The Fortunate Lovers, twenty-seven novels of the Queen of Navarre,
+translated by Arthur Machen, edited with notes and introduction by A.
+Mary F. Robinson_. G. Redway, London, 1887, 8vo. Etched frontispiece
+by G. P. Jacomb Hood. This only contains such of the tales as the
+lady-editor considered unobjectionable. In her introduction she sketches
+the life of Queen Margaret and discusses the identity of the supposed
+narrators of the tales. Some of the notes are original, but the majority
+are based upon the researches of French commentators.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V.
+(of V.), by Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALES OF THE HEPTAMERON ***
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+      The Heptameron, Volume V.
+    </title>
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+
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V. (of V.), by
+Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V. (of V.)
+
+Author: Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
+
+Illustrator: Freudenberg and Dunker
+
+Translator: George Saintsbury: From The Authentic Text
+Of M. Le Roux De Lincy With An Essay Upon The Heptameron by the Translator
+
+Release Date: February 7, 2006 [EBook #17705]
+Last Updated: September 9, 2016
+
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALES OF THE HEPTAMERON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img alt="cover (92K)" src="images/cover.jpg" width="100%" />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img alt="spines (63K)" src="images/spines.jpg" width="100%" />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      THE TALES OF<br /> THE HEPTAMERON<br /> <br /> OF<br /> <br /> Margaret, Queen
+      of Navarre
+    </h1>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      <i>Newly Translated into English from the Authentic Text</i> <br /> <br />
+      OF M. LE ROUX DE LINCY WITH <br /> <br /> AN ESSAY UPON THE HEPTAMERON <br />
+      BY <br /> GEORGE SAINTSBURY, M.A. <br /> <br /> Also the Original
+      Seventy-three Full Page Engravings <br /> Designed by S. FREUDENBERG <br />
+      <br /> And One Hundred and Fifty Head and Tail Pieces <br /> By DUNKER<br />
+      <br /> <i>IN FIVE VOLUMES</i>
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      VOLUME THE FIFTH
+    </h2>
+    <h4>
+      LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY OF ENGLISH BIBLIOPHILISTS <br /> MDCCCXCIV
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+     <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto" cellpadding="4" border="3">
+      <tbody>
+        <tr>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17701/17701-h/17701-h.htm">Volume
+            I.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17702/17702-h/17702-h.htm">Volume
+            II.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17703/17703-h/17703-h.htm">Volume
+            III.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17704/17704-h/17704-h.htm">Volume
+            IV.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+      </tbody>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="100%" alt="Frontispiece " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [Margaret, Queen of Navarre, from a crayon drawing by Clouet, preserved at
+      the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/titlepage.jpg" width="100%" alt="Titlepage " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <blockquote>
+      <h2>
+        Contents
+      </h2>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> <b>SIXTH DAY</b>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_PROL6"> PROLOGUE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> <i>TALE LI</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> <i>TALE LII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> <i>TALE LIII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> <i>TALE LIV</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> <i>TALE LV</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> <i>TALE LVI</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> <i>TALE LVII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> <i>TALE LVIII.</i> </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> <i>TALE LIX</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> <i>TALE LX</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> <b>SEVENTH DAY</b>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_PROL7"> PROLOGUE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> <i>TALE LXI</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> <i>TALE LXII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> <i>TALE LXIII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> <i>TALE LXIV</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> <i>TALE LXV</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> <i>TALE LXVI</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> <i>TALE LXVII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> <i>TALE LXVIII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> <i>TALE LXIX</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> <i>TALE LXX</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> <b>EIGHTH DAY.</b> </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_PROL8"> PROLOGUE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> <i>TALE LXXI</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> <i>TALE LXXII</i>. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_APPE"> APPENDIX. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0035"> THE SUPPOSED NARRATORS OF THE <i>HEPTAMERON</i>
+        TALES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_BIBL"> BIBLIOGRAPHY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br /> <br />
+      </p>
+      <hr />
+      <p>
+        <br /> <br />
+      </p>
+      <h2>
+        List of Illustrations
+      </h2>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0001"> Frontispiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0002"> Titlepage </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0003"> 005a.jpg the Duke of Urbino Sending The
+        Maiden to Prison for Carrying Messages </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0004"> 005.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0005"> 014.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0006"> 015a.jpg the Gentleman and his Friend Annoyed
+        by The Smell of Sugar </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0007"> 015.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0008"> 022.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0009"> 023a.jpg the Lord Des Cheriots Flying from
+        The Prince&rsquo;s Servant </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0010"> 023.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0011"> 036.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0012"> 037a.jpg the Lady Watching The Shadow Faces
+        Kissing </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0013"> 037.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0014"> 042.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0015"> 043a.jpg the Servant Selling The Horse With
+        The Cat </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0016"> 043.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0017"> 049.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0018"> 051a.jpg the Grey Friar Introducing his
+        Comrade to The Lady and Her Daughter </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0019"> 051.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0020"> 061.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0021"> 063a.jpg the English Lord Seizing The Lady&rsquo;s
+        Glove </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0022"> 063.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0023"> 070.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0024"> 071a. The Gentleman Mocked by The Ladies when
+        Returning from The False Tryst </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0025"> 071.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0026"> 078.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0027"> 079a. The Lady Discovering Her Husband With
+        The Waiting-woman </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0028"> 079.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0029"> 090.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0030"> 091a. The Chanter of Blois Delivering his
+        Mistress from The Grave </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0031"> 091.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0032"> 099.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0033"> 105a. The Lady Returning to Her Lover, The
+        Canon of Autun </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0034"> 105.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0035"> 117.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0036"> 119a. The Gentleman&rsquo;s Spur Catching in The
+        Sheet </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0037"> 119.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0038"> 124.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0039"> 125a. The King Asking The Young Lord to Join
+        his Banquet </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0040"> 125.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0041"> 132.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0042"> 133a. The Lady Swooning in The Arms of The
+        Gentleman Of Valencia Who Had Become a Monk </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0043"> 133.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0044"> 141.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0045"> 143a. The Old Woman Startled by The Waking of
+        The Soldier </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0046"> 143.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0047"> 147.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0048"> 149a. The Old Serving-woman Explaining Her
+        Mistake To The Duke and Duchess of Vendôme </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0049"> 149.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0050"> 154.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0051"> 155a. The Wife Reading to Her Husband on The
+        Desert Island </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0052"> 155.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0053"> 161.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0054"> 163a. The Apothecary&rsquo;s Wife Giving The Dose
+        of Cantharides To Her Husband </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0055"> 163.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0056"> 168.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0057"> 169a. The Wife Discovering Her Husband in The
+        Hood Of Their Serving-maid </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0058"> 169.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0059"> 174.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0060"> 175a. The Gentleman Killing Himself on The
+        Death of his Mistress </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0061"> 175.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0062"> 213.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0063"> 219a. The Saddler&rsquo;s Wife Cured by The Sight
+        of Her Husband Caressing the Serving-maid </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0064"> 219.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0065"> 224.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0066"> 225a. The Monk Conversing With The Nun While
+        Shrouding A Dead Body </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0067"> 225.jpg Page Image </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0068"> 232.jpg Tailpiece </a>
+      </p>
+    </blockquote>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_TOC" id="link2H_TOC">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DETAILED CONTENTS OF VOLUME V.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <b>SIXTH DAY.</b>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Prologue
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0008">Tale LI.</a> Cruelty of the Duke of Urbino, who,
+      contrary to the promise he had given to the Duchess, hanged a poor lady
+      that had consented to convey letters to his son&rsquo;s sweetheart, the sister
+      of the Abbot of Farse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0009">Tale LII.</a> Merry trick played by the varlet of
+      an apothecary at Alençon on the Lord de la Tirelière and the lawyer
+      Anthony Bacheré, who, thinking to breakfast at his expense, find that they
+      have stolen from him something very different to a loaf of sugar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0010">Tale LIII.</a> Story of the Lady of Neufchâtel, a
+      widow at the Court of Francis I., who, through not admitting that she has
+      plighted her troth to the Lord des Cheriots, plays him an evil trick
+      through the means of the Prince of Belhoste.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0011">Tale LIV.</a> Merry adventure of a serving-woman
+      and a gentleman named Thogas, whereof his wife has no suspicion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0012">Tale LV.</a> The widow of a merchant of
+      Saragossa, not wishing to lose the value of a horse, the price of which
+      her husband had ordered to be given to the poor, devises the plan of
+      selling the horse for one ducat only, adding, however, to the bargain a
+      cat at ninety-nine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0013">Tale LVI.</a> Notable deception practised by an
+      old Grey Friar of Padua, who, being charged by a widow to find a husband
+      for her daughter, did, for the sake of getting the dowry, cause her to
+      marry a young Grey Friar, his comrade, whose condition, however, was
+      before long discovered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0014">Tale LVII.</a> Singular behaviour of an English
+      lord, who is content merely to keep and wear upon his doublet the glove of
+      a lady whom he loves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0015">Tale LVIII.</a> A lady at the Court of Francis
+      I., wishing to prove that she has no commerce with a certain gentleman who
+      loves her, gives him a pretended tryst and causes him to pass for a thief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0016">Tale LIX.</a> Story of the same lady, who,
+      learning that her husband is in love with her waiting-woman, contrives to
+      surprise him and impose her own terms upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0017">Tale LX.</a> A man of Paris, thinking his wife to
+      be well and duly deceased, marries again, but at the end of fifteen years
+      is forced to take his first wife back, although she has been living
+      meantime with one of the chanters of Louis XII.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <b>SEVENTH DAY.</b>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Prologue
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0020">Tale LXI.</a> Great kindness of a husband, who
+      consents to take back his wife twice over, spite of her wanton love for a
+      Canon of Autun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0021">Tale LXII.</a> How a lady, while telling a story
+      as of another, let her tongue trip in such a way as to show that what she
+      related had happened to herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0022">Tale LXIII.</a> How the honourable behaviour of a
+      young lord, who feigns sickness in order to be faithful to his wife,
+      spoils a party in which he was to have made one with the King, and in this
+      way saves the honour of three maidens of Paris.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0023">Tale LXIV.</a> Story of a gentleman of Valencia
+      in Spain, whom a lady drove to such despair that he became a monk, and
+      whom afterwards she strove in vain to win back to herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0024">Tale LXV.</a> Merry mistake of a worthy woman,
+      who in the church of St. John of Lyons mistakes a sleeping soldier for one
+      of the statues on a tomb, and sets a lighted candle on his forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0025">Tale LXVI.</a> How an old serving-woman, thinking
+      to surprise a Prothonotary with a lady, finds herself insulting Anthony de
+      Bourbon and his wife Jane d&rsquo;Albret.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0026">Tale LXVII.</a> How the Sire de Robertval,
+      granting a traitor his life at the prayers of the man&rsquo;s wife, set them
+      both down on a desert island, and how, after the husband&rsquo;s death, the wife
+      was rescued and brought back to La Rochelle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0027">Tale LXVIII.</a> The wife of an apothecary at
+      Pau, hearing her husband give some powder of cantharides to a woman who
+      was godmother with himself, secretly administered to him such a dose of
+      the same drug that he nearly died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0028">Tale LXIX.</a> How the wife of one of the King&rsquo;s
+      Equerries surprised her husband muffled in the hood of their servant-maid,
+      and bolting meal in her stead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0029">Tale LXX.</a> Of the love of a Duchess of
+      Burgundy for a gentleman who rejects her advances, for which reason she
+      accuses him to the Duke her husband, and the latter does not believe his
+      oaths till assured by him that he loves the Lady du Vergier. Then the
+      Duchess, having drawn knowledge of this amour from her husband, addresses
+      to the Lady du Vergier in public, an allusion that causes the death of
+      both lovers; and the Duke, in despair at his own lack of discretion, stabs
+      the Duchess himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <b>EIGHTH DAY.</b>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Prologue
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0032">Tale LXXI.</a> The wife of a saddler of Amboise
+      is saved on her deathbed through a fit of anger at seeing her husband
+      fondle a servant-maid.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0033">Tale LXXII.</a> Kindness of the Duchess of
+      Alençon to a poor nun whom she meets at Lyons, on her way to Rome, there
+      to confess to the Pope how a monk had wronged her, and to obtain his
+      Holiness&rsquo;s pardon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SIXTH DAY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <i>On the Sixth Day are related the deceits practised<br /> by Man on
+      Woman, Woman on Man, or<br /> Woman on Woman, through<br /> greed, revenge,
+      and<br /> wickedness</i>. <a name="link2H_PROL6" id="link2H_PROL6">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PROLOGUE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In the morning the Lady Oisille went earlier than was her wont to make
+      ready for her reading in the hall, but the company being advised of this,
+      and eager to hearken to her excellent instruction, used such despatch in
+      dressing themselves that she had not long to wait. Perceiving their
+      fervour, she set about reading them the Epistle of St. John the
+      Evangelist, which is full of naught but love, in the same wise as, on the
+      foregoing days, she had expounded to them St. Paul&rsquo;s Epistle to the
+      Romans. The company found this fare so much to their taste, that, although
+      they tarried a half-hour longer than on the other days, it seemed to them
+      as if they had not remained there a quarter of an hour altogether. From
+      thence they proceeded to the contemplation of the mass, when one and all
+      commended themselves to the Holy Ghost in order that they might that day
+      be enabled to satisfy their merry audience; and, after they had broken
+      their fast and taken a little rest, they set out to resume their
+      accustomed diversion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And the Lady Oisille asking who should begin the day, Longarine made
+      answer&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I give my vote to Madame Oisille; she has this day read to us so
+      beauteous a lesson, that she can but tell us some story apt to crown the
+      glory which she won this morning.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am sorry,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;that I cannot tell you aught so profitable
+      this afternoon as I did in the morning. But at least the purport of my
+      story shall not depart from the teaching of Holy Scripture, where it is
+      written, &lsquo;Trust not in princes, nor in the sons of men, in whom is not our
+      salvation.&rsquo; (1) And that this truth may not be forgotten by you for lack
+      of an example, I will tell you a tale which is quite true, and the memory
+      of which is so fresh that the eyes of those that saw the piteous sight are
+      scarcely yet dried.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0003" id="linkimage-0003">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/005a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="005a.jpg the Duke of Urbino Sending The Maiden to Prison for Carrying Messages Between his Son and His Sweetheart " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Duke of Urbino sending the Maiden to Prison for carrying<br />
+      Messages between his Son and his Sweetheart]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0004" id="linkimage-0004">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/005.jpg" width="100%" alt="005.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LI</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Because he would not have his son make a poor marriage, the
+     Duke of Urbino, contrary to the promise given to his wife,
+     hanged a young maiden by whom his son was wont to inform his
+     sweetheart of the love he bore her</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The Duke of Urbino, called the Prefect, (1) the same that married the
+      sister of the first Duke of Mantua, had a son of between eighteen and
+      twenty years of age, who was in love with a girl of an excellent and
+      honourable house, sister to the Abbot of Farse. (2) And since, according
+      to the custom of the country, he was not free to converse with her as he
+      wished, he obtained the aid of a gentleman in his service, who was in love
+      with a very beautiful and virtuous young damsel in the service of his
+      mother. By means of this damsel he informed his sweetheart of the deep
+      affection that he bore her; and the poor girl, thinking no harm, took
+      pleasure in doing him service, believing his purpose to be so good and
+      virtuous that she might honourably be the carrier of his intentions. But
+      the Duke, who had more regard for the profit of his house than for any
+      virtuous affection, was in such great fear lest these dealings should lead
+      his son (3) into marriage, that he caused a strict watch to be kept;
+      whereupon he was informed that the poor damsel had been concerned in
+      carrying some letters from his son to the lady he loved. On hearing this
+      he was in great wrath, and resolved to take the matter in hand.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  This is Francesco Maria I., della Rovere, nephew to Pope
+     Julius II., by whom he was created Prefect of Rome. Brought
+     up at the French Court, he became one of the great captains
+     of the period, especially distinguishing himself in the
+     command of the Venetian forces during the earlier part of
+     his career. He married Leonora Ypolita Gonzaga, daughter of
+     Francesco II., fourth Marquis of Mantua, respecting whom see
+     <i>ante</i>, vol. iii., notes to Tale XIX. It was Leonora rather
+     than her husband who imparted lustre to the Court of Urbino
+     at this period by encouraging arts and letters. Among those
+     who flourished there were Raffaelle and Baldassare
+     Castiglione. Francesco Maria, born in March 1491, died in
+     1538 from the effects&mdash;so it is asserted by several
+     contemporary writers&mdash;of a poisonous lotion which a Mantuan
+     barber had dropped into his ear. His wife, who bore him two
+     sons (see post, note 3), died at the age of 72, in 1570.&mdash;L.
+     and Ed.
+
+     2  The French words are <i>Abbé de Farse</i>. Farse would appear
+     to be a locality, as abbots were then usually designated by
+     the names of their monasteries; still it may be intended for
+     the Abbot&rsquo;s surname, and some commentators, adopting this
+     view, have suggested that the proper reading would be
+     Farnese.&mdash;Ed.
+
+     3  The Duke&rsquo;s two sons were Federigo, born in March 1511,
+     and Guidobaldo, born in April 1514. The former according to
+     all authorities died when &ldquo;young,&rdquo; and probably long before
+     reaching man&rsquo;s estate. Dennistoun, in his searching <i>Memoirs
+     of the Dukes of Urbino</i> (London, 1851), clearly shows that
+     for many years prior to Francesco Maria&rsquo;s death his second
+     son Guidobaldo was the only child remaining to him. Already
+     in 1534, when but twenty years old, Guidobaldo was regarded
+     as his father&rsquo;s sole heir and successor. In that year
+     Francesco Maria forced the young man to marry Giulia Varana,
+     a child of eleven, in order that he might lay claim to her
+     father&rsquo;s state of Camerino and annex it to the duchy. There
+     is no record of Guidobaldo having ever engaged in any such
+     intrigue as related by Queen Margaret in the above tale,
+     still it must be to him that she refers, everything pointing
+     to the conclusion that his brother Federigo died in
+     childhood. Guidobaldo became Duke of Urbino on his father&rsquo;s
+     death.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      He could not, however, conceal his anger so well that the maiden was not
+      advised of it, and knowing his wickedness, which was in her eyes as great
+      as his conscience was small, she felt a wondrous dread. Going therefore to
+      the Duchess, she craved leave to retire somewhere out of the Duke&rsquo;s sight
+      until his passion should be past; but her mistress replied that, before
+      giving her leave to do so, she would try to find out her husband&rsquo;s will in
+      the matter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Very soon, however, the Duchess heard the Duke&rsquo;s evil words concerning the
+      affair, and, knowing his temper, she not only gave the maiden leave, but
+      advised her to retire into a convent until the storm was over. This she
+      did as secretly as she could, yet not so stealthily but that the Duke was
+      advised of it. Thereupon, with pretended cheerfulness of countenance, he
+      asked his wife where the maiden was, and she, believing him to be well
+      aware of the truth, confessed it to him. He feigned to be vexed thereat,
+      saying that the girl had no need to behave in that fashion, and that for
+      his part he desired her no harm. And he requested his wife to cause her to
+      come back again, since it was by no means well to have such matters noised
+      abroad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess replied that, if the poor girl was so unfortunate as to have
+      lost his favour, it were better for a time that she should not come into
+      his presence; however, he would not hearken to her reasonings, but
+      commanded her to bid the maiden return.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess failed not to make the Duke&rsquo;s will known to the maiden; but
+      the latter, who could not but feel afraid, entreated her mistress that she
+      might not be compelled to run this risk, saying that she knew the Duke was
+      not so ready to forgive her as he feigned to be. Nevertheless, the Duchess
+      assured her that she should take no hurt, and pledged her own life and
+      honour for her safety.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl, who well knew that her mistress loved her, and would not lightly
+      deceive her, trusted in her promise, believing that the Duke would never
+      break a pledge when his wife&rsquo;s honour was its warranty. And accordingly
+      she returned to the Duchess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as the Duke knew this, he failed not to repair to his wife&rsquo;s
+      apartment. There, as soon as he saw the maiden, he said to his wife, &ldquo;So
+      such-a-one has returned,&rdquo; and turning to his gentlemen, he commanded them
+      to arrest her and lead her to prison.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At this the poor Duchess, who by the pledging of her word had drawn the
+      maiden from her refuge, was in such despair that, falling upon her knees
+      before her husband, she prayed that for love of herself and of his house
+      he would not do so foul a deed, seeing that it was in obedience to himself
+      that she had drawn the maiden from her place of safety.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But no prayer that she could utter availed to soften his hard heart, or to
+      overcome his stern resolve to be avenged. Without making any reply, he
+      withdrew as speedily as possible, and, foregoing all manner of trial, and
+      forgetting God and the honour of his house, he cruelly caused the hapless
+      maiden to be hanged.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I cannot undertake to recount to you the grief of the Duchess; it was such
+      as beseemed a lady of honour and a tender heart on beholding one, whom she
+      would fain have saved, perish through trust in her own plighted faith.
+      Still less is it possible to describe the deep affliction of the unhappy
+      gentleman, the maiden&rsquo;s lover, who failed not to do all that in him lay to
+      save his sweetheart&rsquo;s life, offering to give his own for hers; but no
+      feeling of pity moved the heart of this Duke, whose only happiness was
+      that of avenging himself on those whom he hated. (4)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     4  That Francesco-Maria was a man of a hasty, violent
+     temperament is certain. Much that Guicciardini relates of
+     him was doubtless penned in a spirit of resentment, for
+     during the time the historian lived at Urbino the Duke
+     repeatedly struck him, and on one occasion felled him to the
+     ground, with the sneering remark, &ldquo;Your business is to
+     confer with pedants.&rdquo; On the other hand, however, there is
+     independent documentary evidence in existence&mdash;notably
+     among the Urbino MSS. in the Vatican library&mdash;which shows
+     that Francesco-Maria in no wise recoiled from shedding
+     blood. He was yet in his teens when it was reported to him
+     that his sister&mdash;the widow of Venanzio of Camerino, killed
+     by Caesar Borgia&mdash;had secretly married a certain Giovanni
+     Andrea of Verona and borne him a son. Watching his
+     opportunity, Francesco-Maria set upon the unfortunate Andrea
+     one day in the ducal chamber and then and there killed him,
+     though not without resistance, for Andrea only succumbed
+     after receiving <i>four-and-twenty</i> stabs with his murderer&rsquo;s
+     poignard (Urbino MSS. Vat. No. 904). A few years later, in
+     1511, Francesco-Maria assassinated the Papal Legate
+     Alidosio, Cardinal Archbishop of Pavia, whom he encountered
+     in the environs of Bologna riding his mule and followed by a
+     hundred light horse. Nevertheless Urbino, with only a small
+     retinue, galloped up to him, plunged a dagger into his
+     stomach and fled before the soldiery could intervene. From
+     these examples it will be seen that, although history has
+     preserved no record of the affair related by Queen Margaret,
+     her narrative may well be a true one.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Thus, in spite of every law of honour, was the innocent maiden put to
+      death by this cruel Duke, to the exceeding sorrow of all that knew her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, ladies, what are the effects of wickedness when this is combined
+      with power.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I had indeed heard,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;that the Italians were prone to
+      three especial vices; but I should not have thought that vengeance and
+      cruelty would have gone so far as to deal a cruel death for so slight a
+      cause.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Longarine,&rdquo; said Saffredent, laughing, &ldquo;you have told us one of the three
+      vices, but we must also know the other two.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you did not know them,&rdquo; she replied, &ldquo;I would inform you, but I am
+      sure that you know them all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;From your words,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;it seems that you deem me very
+      vicious.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;but you so well know the ugliness of vice that,
+      better than any other, you are able to avoid it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not be amazed,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;at this act of cruelty. Those who
+      have passed through Italy have seen such incredible instances, that this
+      one is in comparison but a trifling peccadillo.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, truly,&rdquo; said Geburon. &ldquo;When Rivolta was taken by the French, (5)
+      there was an Italian captain who was esteemed a knightly comrade, but on
+      seeing the dead body of a man who was only his enemy in that being a
+      Guelph he was opposed to the Ghibellines, he tore out his heart, broiled
+      it on the coals and devoured it. And when some asked him how he liked it,
+      he replied that he had never eaten so savoury or dainty a morsel. Not
+      content with this fine deed, he killed the dead man&rsquo;s wife, and tearing
+      out the fruit of her womb, dashed it against a wall. Then he filled the
+      bodies both of husband and wife with oats and made his horses eat from
+      them. Think you that such a man as that would not surely have put to death
+      a girl whom he suspected of offending him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     5  Rivolta or Rivoli was captured by the French under Louis
+     XII. in 1509. An instance of savagery identical in character
+     with that mentioned by &ldquo;Geburon&rdquo; had already occurred at the
+     time of Charles VIII.&lsquo;s expedition to Naples, when the
+     culprit, a young Italian of good birth, was seized and
+     publicly executed.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It must be acknowledged,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;that this Duke of Urbino was
+      more afraid that his son might make a poor marriage than desirous of
+      giving him a wife to his liking.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think you can have no doubt,&rdquo; replied Simon-tault, &ldquo;that it is the
+      Italian nature to love unnaturally that which has been created only for
+      nature&rsquo;s service.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Worse than that,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;they make a god of things that are
+      contrary to nature.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And there,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;you have another one of the sins that I
+      meant; for we know that to love money, excepting so far as it be
+      necessary, is idolatry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Parlamente then said that St. Paul had not forgotten the vices of the
+      Italians, and of all those who believe that they exceed and surpass others
+      in honour, prudence and human reason, and who trust so strongly to this
+      last as to withhold from God the glory that is His due. Wherefore the
+      Almighty, jealous of His honour, renders&rsquo; those who believe themselves
+      possessed of more understanding than other men, more insensate even than
+      wild the beasts, causing them to show by their unnatural deeds that their
+      sense is reprobate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Longarine here interrupted Parlamente to say that this was indeed the
+      third sin to which the Italians were prone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By my faith,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;this discourse is very pleasing to me,
+      for, since those that possess the best trained and acutest understandings
+      are punished by being made more witless even than wild beasts, it must
+      follow that such as are humble, and low, and of little reach, like myself,
+      are filled with the wisdom of angels.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I protest to you,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;that I am not far from your opinion,
+      for none is more ignorant than he who thinks he knows.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have never seen a mocker,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;that was not mocked, a
+      deceiver that was not deceived, or a boaster that was not humbled.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You remind me,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;of a deceit which, had it been of a
+      seemly sort, I would willingly have related.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;since we are here to utter truth, I give you my
+      vote that you may tell it to us whatsoever its nature may be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Since you give place to me,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;I will tell it you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0005" id="linkimage-0005">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/014.jpg" width="100%" alt="014.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0006" id="linkimage-0006">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/015a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="015a.jpg the Gentleman and his Friend Annoyed by The Smell of That Which They Thought Was Sugar " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Gentleman and his Friend annoyed by The Smell of that <br /> which
+      they Thought was Sugar]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0007" id="linkimage-0007">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/015.jpg" width="100%" alt="015.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>An apothecary s man, espying behind him an advocate who was
+     to plague him, and on whom he desired to be revenged,
+     dropped from his sleeve a lump of frozen ordure, wrapped in
+     paper like a sugar-loaf, which a gentleman who was with the
+     advocate picked up and hid in his bosom, and then went to
+     breakfast at a tavern, whence he came forth with all the
+     cost and shame that he had thought to bring upon the poor
+     varlet</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Near the town of Alençon there lived a gentleman called the Lord of La
+      Tireliere, who one morning came from his house to the town afoot, both
+      because the distance was not great and because it was freezing hard. (1)
+      When he had done his business, he sought out a crony of his, an advocate
+      named Anthony Bacheré, and, after speaking with him of his affairs, he
+      told him that he should much like to meet with a good breakfast, but at
+      somebody else&rsquo;s expense. While thus discussing, they sat themselves down
+      in front of an apothecary&rsquo;s shop, where there was a varlet who listened to
+      them, and who forthwith resolved to give them their breakfast.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  The phraseology of this story varies considerably in the
+     different MSS. of the <i>Heptameron</i>. In No. 1520, for
+     instance, the tale begins as follows: &ldquo;In the town of
+     Alençon, in the time of the last Duke Charles, there was an
+     advocate, a merry companion, fond of breakfasting o&rsquo;
+     mornings. One day, whilst he sat at his door, he saw pass a
+     gentleman called the Lord of La Tilleriere, who, by reason
+     of the extreme cold, had come on foot from his house to the
+     town in order to attend to certain business there, and in
+     doing so had not forgotten to put on his great robe, lined
+     with fox-skin. And when he saw the advocate, who was much
+     such a man as himself, he told him that he had completed his
+     business, and had nothing further to do, except it were to
+     find a good breakfast. The advocate made answer that they
+     could find breakfasts enough and to spare, provided they had
+     some one to defray the cost, and, taking the other under the
+     arm, he said to him, &lsquo;Come, gossip, we may perhaps find some
+     fool who will pay the reckoning for us both.&rsquo; Now behind
+     them was an apothecary&rsquo;s man, an artful and inventive
+     fellow, whom this advocate was always plaguing,&rdquo; &amp;c.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      He went out from his shop into a street whither all repaired on needful
+      occasions, (2) and there found a large lump of ordure standing on end, and
+      so well frozen that it looked like a small loaf of fine sugar. Forthwith
+      he wrapped it in handsome white paper, in the manner he was wont to use
+      for the attraction of customers, and hid it in his sleeve.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  In olden time, as shown in the <i>Mémoires de l&rsquo;Académie de
+     Troyes</i>, there were in most French towns streets specially
+     set aside for the purpose referred to. At Alençon, in Queen
+     Margaret&rsquo;s time, there was a street called the Rue des
+     Fumiers, as appears from a report dated March 8, 1564
+     (Archives of the Orne, Series A). Probably it is to this
+     street that she alludes. (Communicated by M. L. Duval,
+     archivist of the department of the Orne).&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Afterwards he came and passed in front of the gentleman and the advocate,
+      and, letting the sugar-loaf (3) fall near them, as if by mischance, went
+      into a house whither he had pretended to be carrying it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Lord of La Tirelière (4) hastened back with all speed to pick up what
+      he thought to be a sugar-loaf, and just as he had done so the apothecary&rsquo;s
+      man also came back looking and asking for his sugar everywhere.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  M. Duval, archivist of the Orne, states that La
+     Tirelière, which is situated near St. Germain-du-Corbois,
+     within three miles of Alençon, is an old <i>gentilhommière</i> or
+     manor-house, surrounded by a moat. It was originally a
+     simple <i>vavassonrie</i> held in fief from the Counts and Dukes
+     of Alençon by the Pantolf and Crouches families, and in the
+     seventeenth century was merged into the marquisate of
+     L&rsquo;Isle.&mdash;M.
+
+     4  Sugar was at this period sold by apothecaries, and was a
+     rare and costly luxury. There were loaves of various sizes,
+     but none so large as those of the present time.&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, thinking that he had cleverly tricked him, then went in
+      haste to a tavern with his crony, to whom he said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our breakfast has been paid for at the cost of that varlet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When he was come to the tavern he called for good bread, good wine and
+      good meat, for he thought that he had wherewith to pay. But whilst he was
+      eating, as he began to grow warm, his sugar-loaf in its turn began to thaw
+      and melt, and filled the whole room with the smell peculiar to it,
+      whereupon he, who carried it in his bosom, grew wroth with the
+      waiting-woman, and said to her&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are the filthiest folks that ever I knew in this town, for either you
+      or your children have strewn all this room with filth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By St. Peter!&rdquo; replied the woman, &ldquo;there is no filth here unless you have
+      brought it in yourselves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereupon they rose, by reason of the great stench that they smelt, and
+      went up to the fire, where the gentleman drew out of his bosom a
+      handkerchief all dyed with the melted sugar, and on opening his robe,
+      lined with fox-skin, found it to be quite spoiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And all that he was able to say to his crony was this&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The rogue whom we thought to deceive has deceived us instead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then they paid their reckoning and went away as vexed as they had been
+      merry on their arrival, when they fancied they had tricked the
+      apothecary&rsquo;s varlet. (5)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     5  In MS. 1520, this tale ends in the following manner:&mdash;
+     &ldquo;They were no sooner in the street than they perceived the
+     apothecary&rsquo;s man going about and making inquiry of every one
+     whether they had not seen a loaf of sugar wrapped in paper.
+     They [the advocate and his companion] sought to avoid him,
+     but he called aloud to the advocate, &lsquo;If you have my loaf of
+     sugar, sir, I beg that you will give it back to me, for &lsquo;tis
+     a double sin to rob a poor servant.&rsquo; His shouts brought to
+     the spot many people curious to witness the dispute, and the
+     true circumstances of the case were so well proven, that the
+     apothecary&rsquo;s man was as glad to have been robbed as the
+     others were vexed at having committed such a nasty theft.
+     However, they comforted themselves with the hope that they
+     might some day give him tit for tat.&rdquo;&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Often, ladies, do we see the like befall those who delight in using such
+      cunning. If the gentleman had not sought to eat at another&rsquo;s expense, he
+      would not have drunk so vile a beverage at his own. It is true, ladies,
+      that my story is not a very clean one, but you gave me license to speak
+      the truth, and I have done so in order to show you that no one is sorry
+      when a deceiver is deceived.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is commonly said,&rdquo; replied Hircan, &ldquo;that words have no stink, yet
+      those for whom they are intended do not easily escape smelling them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;that such words do not stink, but there are
+      others which are spoken of as nasty, and which are of such evil odour that
+      they disgust the soul even more than the body is disgusted when it smells
+      such a sugar-loaf as you described in the tale.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;tell me what words you know of so foul as to
+      sicken both the heart and soul of a virtuous woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It would indeed be seemly,&rdquo; replied Oisille, &ldquo;that I should tell you
+      words which I counsel no woman to utter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By that,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;I quite understand what those terms are. They
+      are such as women desirous of being held discreet do not commonly employ.
+      But I would ask all the ladies present why, when they dare not utter them,
+      they are so ready to laugh at them when they are used in their presence.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then said Parlamente&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We do not laugh because we hear such pretty expressions, though it is
+      indeed true that every one is disposed to laugh on seeing anybody stumble
+      or on hearing any one utter an unfitting word, as often happens. The
+      tongue will trip and cause one word to be used for another, even by the
+      discreetest and most excellent speakers. But when you men talk viciously,
+      not from ignorance, but by reason of your own wickedness, I know of no
+      virtuous woman who does not feel a loathing for such speakers, and who
+      would not merely refuse to hearken to them, but even to remain in their
+      company.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is very true,&rdquo; responded Geburon. &ldquo;I have frequently seen women make
+      the sign of the cross on hearing certain words spoken, and cease not in
+      doing so after these words had been uttered a second time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But how many times,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;have they put on their masks (6)
+      in order to laugh as freely as they pretended to be angry?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet it were better to do this,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;than to let it be seen
+      that the talk pleased them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;you praise a lady&rsquo;s hypocrisy no less than her
+      virtue?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Virtue would be far better,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;but, when it is lacking,
+      recourse must be had to hypocrisy, just as we use our slippers (7) to
+      disguise our littleness. And it is no small matter to be able to conceal
+      our imperfections.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     8  <i>Tourets-de-nez</i>. <i>See ante</i>, vol. iii. p. 27, note 5.&mdash;Ed.
+
+     7  High-heeled slippers or <i>mules</i> were then worn.&mdash;B. J.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By my word,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;it were better sometimes to show some slight
+      imperfection than to cover it so closely with the cloak of virtue.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true,&rdquo; said Ennasuitc, &ldquo;that a borrowed garment brings the borrower
+      as much dishonour when he is constrained to return it as it brought him
+      honour whilst it was being worn, and there is a lady now living who, by
+      being too eager to conceal a small error, fell into a greater.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that I know whom you mean; in any case, however,
+      do not pronounce her name.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ho! ho!&rdquo; said Geburon [to Ennasuite], &ldquo;I give you my vote on condition
+      that when you have related the story you will tell us the names. We will
+      swear never to mention them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I promise it,&rdquo; said Knnasuite, &ldquo;for there is nothing that may not be told
+      in all honour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0008" id="linkimage-0008">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/022.jpg" width="100%" alt="022.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0009" id="linkimage-0009">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/023a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="023a.jpg the Lord Des Cheriots Flying from The Prince&rsquo;s Servant " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Lord des Cheriots flying from the Prince&rsquo;s Servant]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0010" id="linkimage-0010">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/023.jpg" width="100%" alt="023.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LIII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>By her dissimulation the Lady of Neufchastel caused the
+     Prince of Belhoste to put her to such proof that it turned
+     to her dishonour</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      King Francis the First was once at a handsome and pleasant castle, whither
+      he had gone with a small following, both for the purpose of hunting and in
+      order to take some repose. With him in his train was a certain Prince of
+      Belhoste, (1) as worshipful, virtuous, discreet and handsome a Prince as
+      any at Court. The wife he had married did not belong to a family of high
+      rank, yet he loved her as dearly and treated her as well as it were
+      possible for a husband to do, and also trusted in her. And when he was in
+      love with anybody he never concealed it from her, knowing that she had no
+      other will than his own.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  The Bibliophile Jacob surmises that this personage may be
+     one of the Italian grandees at that period in the service of
+     France, in which case the allusion may be to John
+     Caraccioli, Prince of Melphes, created a marshal of France
+     in 1544. Queen Margaret, however, makes no mention of her
+     Prince being a foreigner. &ldquo;Belhoste&rdquo; is of course a
+     fictitious name invented to replace that which the Prince
+     really bore, and admits of so many interpretations that its
+     meaning in the present instance cannot well be determined.
+     From the circumstance, however, that the Prince&rsquo;s wife was
+     of inferior birth to himself, it is not impossible that the
+     personage referred to may be either Charles de Bourbon,
+     Prince of La Roche-sur-Yonne and Duke of Beaupréau, or John
+     VIII., Lord of Créqui, Canaples and Pontdormi, and Prince of
+     Poix. The former, who married Philippa de Montespedon, widow
+     of René de Montéjan, and a lady of honour to Catherine de&rsquo;
+     Medici when Dauphiness, took a prominent part in the last
+     wars of Francis I.&lsquo;s reign, and survived till 1565. The
+     latter, generally known at Court by the name of Canaples,
+     was a gentleman of the chamber and an especial favourite of
+     Francis I. Brantôme says of him in his <i>Homines Illustres</i>
+     that he was &ldquo;a valiant lord and the strongest man of arms
+     that in those days existed in all Christendom, for he broke
+     a lance, no matter its strength, as easily as though it were
+     a mere switch, and few were able to withstand him.&rdquo; In 1525
+     the Prince of Poix married a Demoiselle d&rsquo;Acigné or Assigny,
+     of <i>petite noblesse</i>, who in 1532 became a lady of honour to
+     Queen Eleanor. She died in 1558, surviving her husband by
+     three years. See Rouard&rsquo;s rare <i>Notice dun Recueil de
+     Crayons à la Bibliothèque Méjanes d&rsquo;Aix</i>, Paris, 1863.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Now this Prince conceived a deep affection for a widow lady called Madame
+      de Neufchastel, (2) who was reputed the most beautiful woman it were
+      possible to see; and if the Prince of Bel-hoste loved her well, his wife
+      loved her no less, and would often send and bid her to dinner, for she
+      deemed her so discreet and honourable, that, instead of being grieved by
+      her husband&rsquo;s love for her, she rejoiced to see him address his attentions
+      to one so full of honour and virtue.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  M. Lacroix thinks that this lady may be Jane de Hochberg,
+     only daughter of Philip, sovereign Count of Neufchâtel.
+     According to the custom of the time, she was commonly called
+     Madame de Neufchâtel, despite her marriage with Louis
+     d&rsquo;Orléans, Duke of Longueville. She died in 1543, after a
+     lengthy widowhood. We consider the accuracy of M. Lacroix&rsquo;s
+     surmise to be extremely doubtful, for the names of both the
+     men figuring in the story are obviously altered so as to
+     conceal their identity, and it is therefore not likely that
+     Queen Margaret would designate the lady by her real name,
+     and thus publish her shame to the world. The Madame de
+     Neufchâtel she speaks of may really have been a Madame de
+     Châteauneuf, Châteauvieux or Maisonneuve; or we may again be
+     in presence of Margaret&rsquo;s lady of honour, the widowed
+     Blanche de Chastillon, <i>née</i> de Tournon, to whom frequent
+     reference has been made.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      This affection lasted for a great while, the Prince of Belhoste caring for
+      all the lady&rsquo;s affairs as though they were his own, and his wife doing no
+      less. By reason, however, of her beauty many great lords and gentlemen
+      earnestly sought the lady&rsquo;s favour, some only for love&rsquo;s sake, others for
+      sake of the ring, for, besides being beautiful, she was also very rich.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the rest was a young gentleman, called the Lord des Cheriots, (3)
+      who wooed her so ardently that he was never absent from her levee and
+      couchée, and was also with her as much as possible during the day. This
+      did not please the Prince of Belhoste, who thought that a man of such poor
+      estate, and so lacking in grace, did not deserve an honourable and
+      gracious reception, and he often made remonstrances about it to the lady.
+      She, however, being one of Eve&rsquo;s daughters, (4) excused herself by saying
+      that she spoke with every one in general, and that their own affection was
+      the better concealed, since she never spoke more with one than with
+      another.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  &ldquo;Des Cheriots&rdquo; (occasionally Des Cheriotz in the MS.) may
+     be a play upon the name of D&rsquo;Escars, sometimes written Des
+     Cars. According to La Curne de Ste. Palaye <i>car</i> as well as
+     <i>char</i> signified chariot. The D&rsquo;Escars dukedom is modern,
+     dating from 1815, and in the time of Francis I. the family
+     was of small estate. Some members of it may well have filled
+     inferior offices about the court, as in 1536 a Demoiselle
+     Suzanne d&rsquo;Escars married Geoffrey de Pompadour, who was both
+     a prothonotary and cupbearer to Francis I., and lived to
+     become Governor of the Limousin under Charles IX.&mdash;M. and
+     Ed.
+
+     4  We take this expression from MS. 1520. Ours says, &ldquo;a
+     daughter of the Duke,&rdquo; which is evidently an error.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Albeit, after some time, this Lord des Cheriots so pressed her that, more
+      through his importunity than through love, she promised to marry him,
+      begging him, however, not to urge her to reveal the marriage until her
+      daughters were wedded. After this the gentleman was wont to go with
+      untroubled conscience to her chamber at whatsoever hour he chose, and none
+      but a waiting-woman and a serving-man had knowledge of the matter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the Prince perceived that the gentleman was growing more and more
+      familiar in the house of her whom he so dearly loved, he took it in
+      ill-part, and could not refrain from saying to the lady&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have always prized your honour like that of my own sister, and you are
+      aware of the honourable manner in which I have addressed you, and the
+      happiness that I have in loving a lady as discreet and virtuous as
+      yourself; but did I think that another who deserves it not could win by
+      importunity that which I am not willing to crave, contrary to your own
+      desire, this would be unendurable to me, and in the like degree
+      dishonouring to you. I tell you this because you are beautiful and young,
+      and although hitherto of good repute, are now beginning to gain a very
+      evil fame. Even though he be not your equal in birth or fortune, and have
+      less influence, knowledge and address, yet it were better to have married
+      him than to give all men matter for suspicion. I pray you, therefore, tell
+      me whether you are resolved to love him, for I will not have him as fellow
+      of mine. I would rather leave you altogether to him, and put away from me
+      the feelings that I have hitherto borne you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor lady, fearful of losing his affection, thereupon began to weep,
+      and vowed to him that she would rather die than wed the gentleman of whom
+      he had spoken, but (she added) he was so importunate that she could not
+      help his entering her chamber at a time when every one else did so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of such times as those,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;I do not speak, for I can go
+      as well as he, and see all what you are doing. But I have been told that
+      he goes after you are in bed, and this I look upon as so extraordinary
+      that, if you should continue in this mode of life without declaring him to
+      be your husband, you will be disgraced more than any woman that ever
+      lived.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She swore to him with all the oaths she could utter that the other was
+      neither her husband nor her lover, but only as importunate a gentleman as
+      there well could be.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Since he is troublesome to you,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;I promise you that I
+      will rid you of him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What!&rdquo; asked the lady. &ldquo;Would you kill him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;but I will give him to understood that it is
+      not in such a place as this, not in such a house as the King&rsquo;s, that
+      ladies are to be put to shame. And I swear to you by the faith of the
+      lover that I am, that if, after I have spoken with him, he does not
+      correct himself, I will correct him in such a manner as to make him a
+      warning to others.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying he went away, and on leaving the room failed not to meet the
+      Lord des Cheriots on his way in. To him he spoke after the fashion that
+      you have heard, assuring him that the first time he was found there after
+      an hour at which gentlemen might reasonably visit the ladies, he would
+      give him such a fright as he would ever remember. And he added that the
+      lady was of too noble a house to be trifled with after such a fashion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman protested that he had never been in the room except in the
+      same manner as the rest, and, if the Prince should find him there, he gave
+      him full leave to do his worst.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day afterwards, when the gentleman believed the Prince&rsquo;s words to have
+      been forgotten, he went to see his lady in the evening, and remained
+      sufficiently late.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince [that same evening] told his wife that Madame de Neufchastel
+      had a severe cold, upon hearing which the worthy lady begged that he would
+      visit her on behalf of them both, and make excuse for herself, since she
+      could not go by reason of a certain matter that she must needs attend to
+      in her room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince waited until the King was in bed, and then went to give the
+      lady good-evening, but as he was going up a stairway he met a serving-man
+      coming down, who, on being asked how his mistress did, swore that she was
+      in bed and asleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince went down the stairway, but, suspecting that the servant had
+      lied, looked behind and saw him going back again with all speed. He walked
+      about the courtyard in front of the door to see whether the servant would
+      return. A quarter of an hour later he perceived him come down again and
+      look all about to see who was in the courtyard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Forthwith the Prince was convinced that the Lord des Cheriots was in the
+      lady&rsquo;s chamber, but through fear of himself durst not come down, and he
+      therefore again walked about for a long-while.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At last, observing that the lady&rsquo;s room had a casement which was not at
+      all high up, and which looked upon a little garden, he remembered the
+      proverb which says, &ldquo;When the door fails the window avails,&rdquo; and he
+      thereupon called a servant of his own, and said to him&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go into the garden there behind, and, if you see a gentleman come down
+      from the window, draw your sword as soon as he reaches the ground, clash
+      it against the wall, and cry out, &lsquo;Slay! slay!&rsquo; Be careful, however, that
+      you do not touch him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The servant went whither his master had sent him, and the Prince walked
+      about until three hours after midnight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the Lord des Cheriots heard that the Prince was still in the yard, he
+      resolved to descend by the window, and, having first thrown clown his
+      cloak, he then, by the help of his good friends, leapt into the garden. As
+      soon as the servant saw him, he failed not to make a noise with his sword,
+      at the same time crying, &ldquo;Slay! slay!&rdquo; Upon this the poor gentleman,
+      believing it was his [the servant&rsquo;s] master, was in such great fear that,
+      without thinking of his cloak, he fled as quickly as he was able.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He met the archers of the watch, who wondered greatly to see him running
+      in this fashion, but he durst say nothing to them, except to beg them to
+      open him the gate [of the castle], or else to lodge him with themselves
+      until morning. And this, as they had not the keys, they did.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the Prince went to bed, and, finding his wife asleep, awoke her
+      saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Guess, my wife, what hour it is.&lsquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have not heard the clock strike since I went to bed,&rdquo; she replied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is three hours after midnight,&rdquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If that be so,&rdquo; said his wife, &ldquo;where have you been all this time? I
+      greatly fear that your health will be the worse for it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sweetheart,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;watching will never make me ill when I am
+      engaged in preventing those who try to deceive me from going to sleep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, he began to laugh so heartily that his wife begged him to tell
+      her of the matter. This he did at length, showing her the wolf&rsquo;s skin (4)
+      which his servant had brought him. After making merry at the expense of
+      the hapless lovers, they went to sleep in gentle tranquillity, while the
+      other two passed the night in torment, fearing and dreading lest the
+      affair should be revealed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      However, the gentleman, knowing right well that he could not use
+      concealment with the Prince, came to him in the morning when he was
+      dressing to beg that he would not expose him, and would give orders for
+      the return of his cloak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince pretended that he knew nothing of the matter, and put such a
+      face on it that the gentleman was wholly at a loss what to think. But in
+      the end he received a rating that he had not expected, for the Prince
+      assured him that, if ever he went to the lady&rsquo;s room again, he would tell
+      the King of it, and have him banished the Court.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, ladies, judge whether it had not been better for this poor
+      lady to have spoken freely to him who did her the honour of loving and
+      esteeming her, instead of leading him by her dissimulation to prove her in
+      a way that brought her so much shame.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She knew,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;that if she confessed the truth she would
+      wholly lose his favour, and this she on no account desired to do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems to me,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;that when she had chosen a husband to
+      her liking, she ought not to have feared the loss of any other man&rsquo;s
+      affection.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am sure,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;that if she had dared to reveal her
+      marriage, she would have been quite content with her husband; but she
+      wished to hide it until her daughters were wed, and so she would not
+      abandon so good a means of concealment.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was not for that reason,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;but because the ambition
+      of women is so great that they are never satisfied with having only one
+      lover. I have heard that the discreetest of them are glad to have three&mdash;one,
+      namely, for honour, one for profit, and one for delight. Each of the three
+      thinks himself loved the best, but the first two are as servants to the
+      last.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You speak,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;of such women as have neither love nor
+      honour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;there are some of the kind that I describe,
+      whom you reckon among the most honourable in the land.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You may be sure,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that a crafty woman will be able to live
+      where all others die of hunger.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;when their craftiness is discerned, &lsquo;tis death.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, &lsquo;tis life,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;for they deem it no small glory to be
+      reputed more crafty than their fellows. And the reputation of &lsquo;crafty,&rsquo;
+      gained thus at their own expense, brings lovers more readily under
+      subjection to them than does their beauty, for one of the greatest
+      delights shared by those who are in love is to conduct the affair slyly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You speak,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;of wanton love, for the honourable has no
+      need of concealment.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;I pray you put that thought out of your head. The
+      more precious the drug, the less should it be exposed to the air, because
+      of the perverseness of those who trust only to outward signs. These are
+      not different in the case of honourable and faithful affection than in any
+      other case, so they must none the less be hidden when the love is virtuous
+      than when it is the opposite, if one would avoid the evil opinion of those
+      who cannot believe that a man may love a lady in all honour, and who,
+      being themselves slaves to pleasure, think every one else the same. If we
+      were all of good faith, look and speech would be without concealment, at
+      least toward those who would rather die than take them in an evil sense.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I protest to you, Dagoucin,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that your philosophy is too
+      deep for any man here to understand or believe. You would have us think
+      that men are angels, or stones, or devils.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am well aware,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;that men are men and subject to every
+      passion, but there are some, nevertheless, who would rather die than that
+      their mistresses should, for their delight, do aught against their
+      consciences.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To die means a great deal,&rdquo; said Geburon. &ldquo;I would not believe that of
+      them were it uttered by the lips of the austerest monk alive.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, I believe,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that there is none but desires the very
+      opposite. But they make pretence of disliking the grapes when these hang
+      too high to be gathered.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Still,&rdquo; said Nomcrfide, &ldquo;I am sure that the Prince&rsquo;s wife was very glad
+      to find that her husband was learning to know women.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I assure you it was not so,&rdquo; said Ennasuite. &ldquo;She was very sorry on
+      account of the love that she bore the lady.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I would as soon,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;have the lady who laughed when her
+      husband kissed her maid.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In sooth,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;you shall tell us the story. I give place to
+      you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Although the story is very short,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;I will still relate
+      it, for I would rather make you laugh than speak myself at length.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0011" id="linkimage-0011">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/036.jpg" width="100%" alt="036.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0012" id="linkimage-0012">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/037a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="037a.jpg the Lady Watching The Shadow Faces Kissing " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Lady watching the Shadow Faces Kissing]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0013" id="linkimage-0013">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/037.jpg" width="100%" alt="037.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LIV</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Thogas&rsquo;s wife, believing that her husband loved none but
+     herself, was pleased that her serving-woman should amuse
+     him, and laughed when in her presence he kissed the girl
+     before her eyes, and with her knowledge</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Between the Pyrenees Mountains and the Alps, there dwelt a gentleman named
+      Thogas, (1) who had a wife and children, with a very beautiful house, and
+      so much wealth and pleasure at his hand, that there was reason he should
+      live in contentment, had it not been that he was subject to great pain
+      beneath the roots of the hair, in such wise that the doctors advised him
+      to sleep no longer with his wife. She, whose chief thought was for her
+      husband&rsquo;s life and health, readily consented, and caused her bed to be set
+      in another corner of the room directly opposite her husband&rsquo;s, so that
+      they could neither of them put out their heads without seeing each other.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  We are unable to trace any family named Thogas, which is
+     probably a fictitious appellation. Read backwards with the
+     letter h omitted it forms Sagot, whilst if the syllables be
+     transposed it suggests Guasto, a well-known Basque or
+     Navarrese name.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      This lady had two serving-women, and often when the lord and his lady were
+      in bed, they would each take some diverting book to read, whilst the
+      serving-women held candles, the younger, that is, for the gentleman, and
+      the other for his wife.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, finding that the maid was younger and handsomer than her
+      mistress, took such great pleasure in observing her that he would break
+      off his reading in order to converse with her. His wife could hear this
+      very plainly, but believing that her husband loved none but herself, she
+      was well pleased that her servants should amuse him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It happened one evening, however, when they had read longer than was their
+      wont, that the lady looked towards her husband&rsquo;s bed where was the young
+      serving-maid holding the candle. Of her she could see nothing but her
+      back, and of her husband nothing at all excepting on the side of the
+      chimney, which jutted out in front of his bed, and the white wall of which
+      was bright with the light from the candle. And upon this wall she could
+      plainly see the shadows both of her husband and of her maid; whether they
+      drew apart, or came near together or laughed, it was all as clear to her
+      as though she had veritably beheld them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, using no precaution since he felt sure that his wife could
+      not see them, kissed her maid, and on the first occasion his wife suffered
+      this to pass without uttering a word. But when she saw that the shadows
+      frequently returned to this fellowship, she feared that there might be
+      some reality beneath it all, and burst into a loud laugh, whereat the
+      shadows were alarmed and separated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman then asked his wife why she was laughing so heartily, so
+      that he might have a share in her merriment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Husband,&rdquo; she replied, &ldquo;I am so foolish that I laugh at my own shadow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Inquire as he might, she would never acknowledge any other reason, but,
+      nevertheless, he thenceforward refrained from kissing such shadow-faces.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is the story of which I was reminded when I spoke of the lady who
+      loved her husband&rsquo;s sweetheart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By my faith,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;if my maid had treated me in that fashion,
+      I should have risen and extinguished the candle upon her nose.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are indeed terrible,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;but it had been well done if your
+      husband and the maid had both turned upon you and beaten you soundly.
+      There should not be so much ado for a kiss; and &lsquo;twould have been better
+      if his wife had said nothing about it, and had suffered him to take his
+      pastime, which might perchance have cured his complaint.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;she was afraid that the end of the pastime would
+      make him worse.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was not one of those,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;against whom our Lord says, &lsquo;We
+      have mourned to you and ye have not lamented, we have sung to you and ye
+      have not danced,&rsquo; (2) for when her husband was ill, she wept, and when he
+      was merry, she laughed. In the same fashion every virtuous woman ought to
+      share the good and evil, the joy and the sadness of her husband, and serve
+      and obey him as the Church does Jesus Christ.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  &ldquo;They are like unto children sitting in the market-place,
+     and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto
+     you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye
+     have not wept.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>St. Luke</i> vii. 32.&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, ladies,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;our husbands should be to us what Christ
+      is to the Church.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So are we,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;and, if it were possible, something more;
+      for Christ died but once for His Church, whereas we die daily for our
+      wives.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Die!&rdquo; said Longarine. &ldquo;Methinks that you and the others here present are
+      now worth more crowns than you were worth pence before you were wed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I know why,&rdquo; said Saffredent; &ldquo;it is because our worth is often
+      tried. Still our shoulders are sensible of having worn the cuirass so
+      long.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;you had been obliged to wear harness for a month
+      and lie on the hard ground, you would greatly long to regain the bed of
+      your excellent wife, and wear the cuirass of which you now complain. But
+      it is said that everything can be endured except ease, and that none know
+      what rest is until they have lost it. This foolish woman, who laughed when
+      her husband was merry, was fond of taking her rest under any
+      circumstances.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am sure,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;that she loved her rest better than her
+      husband, since she took nothing that he did to heart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She did take to heart,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;those things which might have
+      been hurtful to his conscience and his health, but she would not dwell
+      upon trifles.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When you speak of conscience,&rdquo; said Simontault &ldquo;you make me laugh. &lsquo;Tis a
+      thing to which I would have no woman give heed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It would be a good thing,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;if you had a wife like one
+      who, after her husband&rsquo;s death, proved that she loved her money better
+      than her conscience.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;tell us that tale. I give you my vote.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I had not intended,&rdquo; said Nomcrfide, &ldquo;to relate so short a story, but,
+      since it is suited to the occasion, I will do so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0014" id="linkimage-0014">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/042.jpg" width="100%" alt="042.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0015" id="linkimage-0015">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/043a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="043a.jpg the Servant Selling The Horse With The Cat " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Servant selling the Horse with the Cat]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0016" id="linkimage-0016">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/043.jpg" width="100%" alt="043.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LV</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A merchant&rsquo;s widow, whilst carrying out her husband&rsquo;s will,
+     interpreted its purport to the advantage of herself and her
+     children</i>. (1)
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the town of Safagossa there lived a rich merchant, who, finding his
+      death draw nigh, and himself no longer able to retain possession of his
+      goods&mdash;-which he had perchance gathered together by evil means&mdash;thought
+      that if he made a little present to God, he might thus after his death
+      make part atonement for his sins, just as though God sold His pardon for
+      money. Accordingly, when he had settled matters in respect of his house,
+      he declared it to be his desire that a fine Spanish horse which he
+      possessed should be sold for as much as it would bring, and the money
+      obtained for it be distributed among the poor. And he begged his wife that
+      she would in no wise fail to sell the horse as soon as he was dead, and
+      distribute the money in the manner he had commanded.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  Whether the incidents here related be true or not, it is
+     probable that this was a story told to Queen Margaret at the
+     time of her journey to Spain in 1525. It will have been
+     observed (<i>ante</i>, pp. 36 and 42) that both the previous tale
+     and this one are introduced into the <i>Heptameron</i> in a semi-
+     apologetic fashion, as though the Queen had not originally
+     intended that her work should include such short, slight
+     anecdotes. However, already at this stage&mdash;the fifty-fifth
+     only of the hundred tales which she proposed writing&mdash;she
+     probably found fewer materials at her disposal than she had
+     anticipated, and harked back to incidents of her earlier
+     years, which she had at first thought too trifling to
+     record. Still, slight as this story may be, it is not
+     without point. The example set by the wife of the Saragossa
+     merchant has been followed in modern times in more ways than
+     one.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      When the burial was over and the first tears were shed, the wife, who was
+      no more of a fool than Spanish women are used to be, went to the servant
+      who with herself had heard his master declare his desire, and said to him&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks I have lost enough in the person of a husband I loved so dearly,
+      without afterwards losing his possessions. Yet would I not disobey his
+      word, but rather better his intention; for the poor man, led astray by the
+      greed of the priests, thought to make a great sacrifice to God in
+      bestowing after his death a sum of money, not a crown of which, as you
+      well know, he would have given in his lifetime to relieve even the sorest
+      need. I have therefore bethought me that we will do what he commanded at
+      his death, and in still better fashion than he himself would have done if
+      had he lived a fortnight longer. But no living person must know aught of
+      the matter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When she had received the servant&rsquo;s promise to keep it secret, she said to
+      him&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will go and sell the horse, and when you are asked, &lsquo;How much?&rsquo; you
+      will reply, &lsquo;A ducat.&rsquo; I have, however, a very fine cat which I also wish
+      to dispose of, and you will sell it with the horse for ninety-nine ducats,
+      so that cat and horse together will bring in the hundred ducats for which
+      my husband wished to sell the horse alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The servant readily fulfilled his mistress&rsquo;s command. While he was walking
+      the horse about the market-place, and holding the cat in his arms, a
+      gentleman, who had seen the horse before, and was desirous of possessing
+      it, asked the servant what price he sought.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A ducat,&rdquo; replied the man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you,&rdquo; said the gentleman, &ldquo;do not mock me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I assure you, sir,&rdquo; said the servant, &ldquo;that it will cost you only a
+      ducat. It is true that the cat must be bought at the same time, and for
+      the cat I must have nine and ninety ducats.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Forthwith, the gentleman, thinking the bargain a reasonable one, paid him
+      one ducat for the horse, and the remainder as was desired of him, and took
+      his goods away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The servant, on his part, went off with the money, with which his mistress
+      was right well pleased, and she failed not to give the ducat that the
+      horse had brought to the poor Mendicants, (2) as her husband had
+      commanded, and the remainder she kept for the needs of herself and her
+      children. (3)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  The allusion is not to the ordinary beggars who then, as
+     now, swarmed in Spain, but to the Mendicant friars.&mdash;Ed.
+
+     3  In Boaistuau&rsquo;s and Gruget&rsquo;s editions of the <i>Heptameron</i>
+     the dialogue following this tale is replaced by matter of
+     their own invention. They did not dare to reproduce Queen
+     Margaret&rsquo;s bold opinions respecting the clergy, the monastic
+     orders, &amp;c., at a time when scores of people, including even
+     Counsellors of Parliament, were being burnt at the stake for
+     heresy.&mdash;L. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What think you? Was she not far more prudent than her husband, and did
+      she not think less of her conscience than of the advantage of her
+      household?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;that she did love her husband; but, seeing
+      that most men wander in their wits when at the point of death, and knowing
+      his intentions, she tried to interpret them to her children&rsquo;s advantage.
+      And therein I hold her to have been very prudent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What!&rdquo; said Geburon. &ldquo;Do you not hold it a great wrong not to carry out
+      the last wishes of departed friends?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Assuredly I do,&rdquo; said Parlamente; &ldquo;that is to say if the testator be in
+      his right mind, and not raving.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you call it raving to give one&rsquo;s goods to the Church and the poor
+      Mendicants?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not call it raving,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;if a man distribute what God
+      has given into his hands among the poor; but to make alms of another
+      person&rsquo;s goods is, in my opinion, no great wisdom. You will commonly see
+      the greatest usurers build the handsomest and most magnificent chapels
+      imaginable, thinking they may appease God with ten thousand ducats&rsquo; worth
+      of building for a hundred thousand ducats&rsquo; worth of robbery, just as
+      though God did not know how to count.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In sooth,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;I have many a time wondered how they can think
+      to appease God for things which He Himself rebuked when He was on earth,
+      such as great buildings, gildings, pictures and paint. If they really
+      understood the passage in which God says to us that the only offering He
+      requires from us is a contrite and humble heart, (4) and the other in
+      which St. Paul says we are the temples of God wherein He desires to dwell,
+      (5) they would be at pains to adorn their consciences while yet alive, and
+      would not wait for the hour when man can do nothing more, whether good or
+      evil, nor (what is worse) charge those who remain on earth to give their
+      alms to folk upon whom, during their lifetime, they did not deign to look.
+      But He who knows the heart cannot be deceived, and will judge them not
+      according to their works, but according to their faith and charity towards
+      Himself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     4  &ldquo;The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and
+     a contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>Psalm</i>
+     li. 17.&mdash;Ed.
+
+     5  &ldquo;For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath
+     said, I will dwell in them and walk in them,&rdquo; &amp;c.&mdash;2
+     <i>Corinthians</i> vi. 16.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why is it, then,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;that these Grey Friars and Mendicants
+      talk to us at our death of nothing but bestowing great benefits upon their
+      monasteries, assuring us that they will put us into Paradise whether we
+      will or not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How now, Geburon?&rdquo; said Hircan. &ldquo;Have you forgotten the wickedness you
+      related to us of the Grey Friars, that you ask how such folk find it
+      possible to lie? I declare to you that I do not think that there can be
+      greater lies than theirs. Those, indeed, who speak on behalf of the whole
+      community are not to be blamed, but there are some among them who forget
+      their vows of poverty in order to satisfy their own greed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks, Hircan,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;you must know some such tale, and if
+      it be worthy of this company, I pray you tell it us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;although it irks me to speak of such folk.
+      Methinks they are of the number of those of whom Virgil says to Dante,
+      &lsquo;Pass on and heed them not.&rsquo; (6) Still, to show you that they have not
+      laid aside their passions with their worldly garments, I will tell you of
+      something that once came to pass.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     6  <i>Non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa</i> (Dante&rsquo;s
+     <i>Purgatorio</i>, iii. 51). The allusion is to the souls of
+     those who led useless and idle lives on earth, supporting
+     neither the Divinity by the observance of virtue, nor the
+     spirit of evil by the practice of vice. They are thus cast
+     out both from heaven and hell.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0017" id="linkimage-0017">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/049.jpg" width="100%" alt="049.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0018" id="linkimage-0018">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/051a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="051a.jpg the Grey Friar Introducing his Comrade to The Lady and Her Daughter " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Grey Friar introducing his Comrade to the Lady and her Daughter]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0019" id="linkimage-0019">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/051.jpg" width="100%" alt="051.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LVI</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A pious lady had recourse to a Grey Friar for his advice in
+     providing her daughter with a good husband, for whom she
+     proposed making it so profitable a match that the worthy
+     father, hoping to get the money she intended for her son-in-
+     law, married her daughter to a young comrade of his own. The
+     latter came every evening to sup and lie with his wife, and
+     in the morning returned in the garb of a scholar to his
+     convent. But one day while he was chanting mass, his wife
+     perceived him and pointed him out to her mother; who,
+     however, could not believe that it was he until she had
+     pulled off his coif while he was in bed, and from his tonsure
+     learned the whole truth, and the deceit used by her father
+     confessor</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      A French lady, whilst sojourning at Padua, was informed that there was a
+      Grey Friar in the Bishop&rsquo;s prison there, and finding that every one spoke
+      jestingly about him, she inquired the reason. She was told that this Grey
+      Friar, who was an old man, had been confessor to a very honourable and
+      pious widow lady, mother of only one daughter, whom she loved so dearly as
+      to be at all pains to amass riches for her, and to find her a good
+      husband. Now, seeing that her daughter was grown up, she was unceasingly
+      anxious to find her a husband who might live with them in peace and quiet,
+      a man, that is, of a good conscience, such as she deemed herself to
+      possess. And since she had heard some foolish preacher say that it were
+      better to do evil by the counsel of theologians than to do well through
+      belief in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, she had recourse to her
+      father confessor, a man already old, a doctor of theology and one who was
+      held to lead a holy life by the whole town, for she felt sure that, with
+      his counsel and good prayers, she could not fail to find peace both for
+      herself and for her daughter. After she had earnestly begged him to choose
+      for her daughter such a husband as he knew a woman that loved God and her
+      honour ought to desire, he replied that first of all it was needful to
+      implore the grace of the Holy Spirit with prayer and fasting, and then,
+      God guiding his judgment, he hoped to find what she required.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So the Friar retired to think over the matter; and whereas he had heard
+      from the lady that she had got five hundred ducats together to give to her
+      daughter&rsquo;s husband, and that she would take upon herself the charge of
+      maintaining both husband and wife with lodgment, furniture and clothes, he
+      bethought himself that he had a young comrade of handsome figure and
+      pleasing countenance, to whom he might give the fair maiden, the house,
+      the furniture, maintenance and food, whilst he himself kept the five
+      hundred ducats to gratify his burning greed. And when he spoke to his
+      comrade of the matter, he found that they were both of one mind upon it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He therefore returned to the lady and said&mdash;&ldquo;I verily believe that
+      God has sent his angel Raphael to me as he did to Tobit, to enable me to
+      find a perfect husband for your daughter. I have in my house the most
+      honourable gentleman in Italy, who has sometimes seen your daughter and is
+      deeply in love with her. And so to-day, whilst I was at prayer, God sent
+      him to me, and he told me of his desire for the marriage, whereupon,
+      knowing his lineage and kindred and notable descent, I promised him to
+      speak to you on the matter. There is, indeed, one defect in him, of which
+      I alone have knowledge, and it is this. Wishing to save one of his friends
+      whom another man was striving to slay, he drew his sword in order to
+      separate them; but it chanced that his friend slew the other, and thus,
+      although he himself had not dealt a blow, yet inasmuch as he had been
+      present at a murder and had drawn his sword, he became a fugitive from his
+      native town. By the advice of his kinsfolk he came hither in the garb of a
+      scholar, and he dwells here unknown until his kinsfolk shall have ended
+      the matter; and this he hopes will shortly be done. For this reason, then,
+      it would be needful that the marriage should be performed in secret, and
+      that you should suffer him to go in the daytime to the public lectures and
+      return home every evening to sup and sleep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sir,&rdquo; replied the worthy woman, &ldquo;I look upon what you tell me as of great
+      advantage to myself, for I shall at least have by me what I most desire in
+      the world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereupon the Grey Friar brought his comrade, bravely attired with a
+      crimson satin doublet, and the lady was well pleased with him. And as soon
+      as he was come the betrothal took place, and, immediately after midnight,
+      a mass was said and they were married. Then they went to bed together
+      until daybreak, when the bridegroom told his wife that to escape discovery
+      he must needs return to the college.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After putting on his crimson satin doublet and his long robe, without
+      forgetting his coif of black silk, he bade his wife, who was still in bed,
+      good-bye, promising that he would come every evening to sup with her, but
+      that at dinner they must not wait for him. So he went away and left his
+      wife, who esteemed herself the happiest woman alive to have found so
+      excellent a match. And the young wedded Friar returned to the old father
+      and brought him the five hundred ducats, as had been agreed between them
+      when arranging the marriage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the evening he failed not to return and sup with her, who believed him
+      to be her husband, and so well did he make himself liked by her and by his
+      mother-in-law, that they would not have exchanged him for the greatest
+      Prince alive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This manner of life continued for some time, but God in His kindness takes
+      pity upon those that are deceived without fault of their own, and so in
+      His mercy and goodness it came to pass that one morning the lady and her
+      daughter felt a great desire to go and hear mass at St. Francis, (1) and
+      visit their good father confessor through whose means they deemed
+      themselves so well provided, the one with a son-in-law and the other with
+      a husband.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  The church of the Grey Friars&rsquo; monastery, St Francis
+     being their patron.&mdash;B. J.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      It chanced that they did not find the confessor aforesaid nor any other
+      that they knew, and, while waiting to see whether the father would come,
+      they were pleased to hear high mass, which was just beginning. And whilst
+      the young wife was giving close heed to the divine service and its
+      mystery, she was stricken with astonishment on seeing the Priest turn
+      himself about to pronounce the <i>Dominus vobiscum</i>, for it seemed to
+      her that it was her husband or else his very fellow. She uttered, however,
+      not a word, but waited till he should turn round again, when, looking
+      still more carefully at him, she had no doubt that it was indeed he. Then
+      she twitched her mother, who was deep in contemplation, and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alas! madam, what is it that I see?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is it?&rdquo; said her mother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is my husband,&rdquo; she replied, &ldquo;who is singing mass, or else &lsquo;tis one
+      as like him as can be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, my daughter,&rdquo; replied the mother, who had not carefully
+      observed him, &ldquo;do not take such a thought into your head. It is impossible
+      that men who are so holy should have practised such deceit. You would sin
+      grievously against God if you believed such a thing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Nevertheless the mother did not cease looking at him, and when it came to
+      the <i>Ite missa est</i> she indeed perceived that no two sons of the same
+      mother were ever so much alike. Yet she was so simple that she would fain
+      have said, &ldquo;O God, save me from believing what I see.&rdquo; Since her daughter
+      was concerned in the matter, however, she would not suffer it to remain in
+      uncertainty, and resolved to learn the truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When evening was come, and the husband (who had perceived nothing of them)
+      was about to return, the mother said to her daughter&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We shall now, if you are willing, find out the truth concerning your
+      husband. When he is in bed I will go to him, and then, while he is not
+      thinking, you will pluck off his coif from behind, and we shall see
+      whether he be tonsured like the Friar who said mass.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As it was proposed, so was it done. As soon as the wicked husband was in
+      bed, the old lady came and took both his hands as though in sport&mdash;her
+      daughter took off his coif, and there he was with his fine tonsure. At
+      this both mother and daughter were as greatly astonished as might be, and
+      forthwith they called their servants to seize him and bind him fast till
+      the morning, nor did any of his excuses or fine speeches avail him aught.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When day was come, the lady sent for her confessor, making as though she
+      had some great secret to tell him, whereupon he came with all speed, and
+      then, reproaching him for the deceit that he had practised on her, she had
+      him seized like the other. Afterwards she sent for the officers of
+      justice, in whose hands she placed them both. It is to be supposed that if
+      the judges were honest men they did not suffer the offence to go
+      unpunished. (2)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  There is some little resemblance between this tale and
+     the 36th of Morlini&rsquo;s <i>Novello, De monacho qui duxit
+     uxorem</i>.&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;From this story, ladies, you will see that those who have taken vows of
+      poverty are not free from the temptation of covetousness, which is the
+      cause of so many ills.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, of so many blessings,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;for with the five hundred
+      ducats that the old woman would have stored up there was made much good
+      cheer, while the poor maiden, who had been longing for a husband, was thus
+      enabled to have two, and to speak with more knowledge as to the truth of
+      all hierarchies.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You always hold the falsest opinions,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;that ever I knew.
+      You think that all women are of your own temper.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so, madam, with your good leave,&rdquo; said Saffredent. &ldquo;I would give much
+      that they were as easily satisfied as we are.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is a wicked speech,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;and there is not one present but
+      knows the contrary, and that what you say is untrue. The story that has
+      just been told proves the ignorance of poor women and the wickedness of
+      those whom we regard as better than the rest of your sex; for neither
+      mother nor daughter would do aught according to their own fancy, but
+      subjected desire to good advice.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Some women are so difficult,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;that they think they ought
+      to have angels instead of men.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And for that reason,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;they often meet with devils, more
+      especially those who, instead of trusting to God&rsquo;s grace, think by their
+      own good sense, or that of others, that they may in this world find some
+      happiness, though this is granted by none save God, from whom alone it can
+      come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How now, Simontault!&rdquo; said Oisille. &ldquo;I did not think that you knew so
+      much good.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;&lsquo;tis a pity that I have not been proved, for I
+      see that through lack of knowledge you have already judged ill of me. Yet
+      I may well practise a Grey Friar&rsquo;s trade, since a Grey Friar has meddled
+      with mine.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So you call it your trade,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;to deceive women? Thus out
+      of your mouth are you judged.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Had I deceived a hundred thousand,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;I should yet not
+      have avenged the woes that I have endured for the sake of one alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;how often you complain of women; yet, for all
+      that, we see you so merry and hearty that it is impossible to believe that
+      you have endured all the woes you speak of. But the &lsquo;Compassionless Fair
+      One&rsquo; (3) replies that&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis as well to say as much
+     To draw some comfort thence.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+
+     3  <i>La belle Dame sans mercy</i>, by Alain Chartier.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You quote a truly notable theologian,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;one who is not
+      only froward himself, but makes all the ladies so, who have read and
+      followed his teaching.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet his teaching,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;is as profitable for youthful dames
+      as any that I know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If it were indeed true,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;that the ladies were without
+      compassion, we might as well let our horses rest and our armour grow rusty
+      until the next war, and think of nothing but household affairs. And, I
+      pray you, tell me whether it is an excellence in a lady to have the
+      reputation of being without pity, or charity, or love, or mercy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Without charity or love,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;they should not be, but the
+      word &lsquo;mercy&rsquo; sounds so ill among women that they cannot use it without
+      wounding their honour; for properly speaking &lsquo;mercy&rsquo; means to grant a
+      favour sought, and we well know what the favour is that men desire.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May it please you, madam,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;there are some men who are
+      so reasonable that they crave nought but speech.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You remind me,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;of one who was content with a glove.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We must know who this easy lover was,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;and so this time I
+      give my vote to you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It will give me pleasure to tell the tale,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;for it is
+      full of virtue.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0020" id="linkimage-0020">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/061.jpg" width="100%" alt="061.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0021" id="linkimage-0021">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/063a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="063a.jpg the English Lord Seizing The Lady&rsquo;s Glove " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The English Lord seizing the Lady&rsquo;s Glove]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0022" id="linkimage-0022">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/063.jpg" width="100%" alt="063.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LVII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>An English lord for seven years loved a lady without ever
+     venturing to let her know of it, until one day, when
+     observing her in a meadow, he lost all colour and control of
+     feature through a sudden throbbing of the heart that came
+     upon him. Then she, showing her compassion, at his request
+     placed her gloved hand upon his heart, whereupon he pressed
+     it so closely, whilst declaring to her the love he had so
+     long borne her, that she withdrew it, leaving in its place
+     her glove. And this glove he afterwards enriched with gems
+     and fastened upon his doublet above his heart, and showed
+     himself so graceful and virtuous a lover that he never
+     sought any more intimate favour of her</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      King Louis the Eleventh (1) sent the Lord de Montmorency to England as his
+      ambassador, and so welcome was the latter in that country that the King
+      and all the Princes greatly esteemed and loved him, and even made divers
+      of their private affairs known to him in order to have his counsel upon
+      them.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  Some of the MS. say Louis XII., but we cannot find that
+     either the eleventh or twelfth Louis sent any Montmorency as
+     ambassador to England. Ripault-Desormeaux states, however,
+     in his history of this famous French family, that William de
+     Montmorency, who, after fighting in Italy under Charles
+     VIII. and Louis XII., became, governor of the Orléanais and
+     <i>chevalier d&rsquo;honneur</i> to Louise of Savoy was one of the
+     signatories of the treaty concluded with Henry VIII. of
+     England, after the-battle of Pavia in 1525. We know that
+     Louise, as Regent of France, at that time sent John Brinon
+     and John Joachim de Passano as ambassadors to England, and
+     possibly William de Montmorency accompanied them, since
+     Desormeaux expressly states that he guaranteed the loyal
+     observance of the treaty then negotiated. William was the
+     father of Anne, the famous Constable of France, and died May
+     24, 1531. &ldquo;Geburon,&rdquo; in the dialogue following the above
+     tale, mentions that he had well known the Montmorency
+     referred to, and speaks of him as of a person dead and gone.
+     It is therefore scarcely likely that Queen Margaret alludes
+     to Francis de Montmorency, Lord of La Rochepot, who was only
+     sent on a mission to England in 1546, and survived her by
+     many years.&mdash;L. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      One day, at a banquet that the King gave to him, he was seated beside a
+      lord (2) of high lineage, who had on his doublet a little glove, such as
+      women wear, fastened with hooks of gold and so adorned upon the
+      finger-seams with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls, that it was
+      indeed a glove of great price.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  The French word is <i>Millor (Milord)</i> and this is probably
+     one of the earliest instances of its employment to designate
+     a member of the English aristocracy. In such of the <i>Cent
+     Nouvelles Nouvelles</i> in which English nobles figure, the
+     latter are invariably called <i>seigneurs</i> or <i>chevaliers</i>,
+     and addressed as <i>Monseigneur</i>, Later on, when Brantôme
+     wrote, the term <i>un milord anglais</i> had become quite common,
+     and he frequently makes use of it in his various works.
+     English critics have often sneered at modern French writers
+     for employing the expression, but it will be seen from this
+     that they have simply followed a very old tradition.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The Lord de Montmorency looked at it so often that the English lord
+      perceived he was minded to inquire why it was so choicely ordered; so,
+      deeming its story to be greatly to his own honour, he thus began&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can see that you think it strange I should have so magnificently
+      arrayed a simple glove, and on my part I am still more ready to tell you
+      the reason, for I deem you an honest gentleman and one who knows what
+      manner of passion love is, so that if I did well in the matter you will
+      praise me for it, and if not, make excuse for me, knowing that every
+      honourable heart must obey the behests of love. You must know, then, that
+      I have all my life long loved a lady whom I love still, and shall love
+      even when I am dead, but, as my heart was bolder to fix itself worthily
+      than were my lips to speak, I remained for seven years without venturing
+      to make her any sign, through fear that, if she perceived the truth, I
+      should lose the opportunities I had of often being in her company; and
+      this I dreaded more than death. However, one day, while I was observing
+      her in a meadow, a great throbbing of the heart came upon me, so that I
+      lost all colour and control of feature. Perceiving this, she asked me what
+      the matter was, and I told her that I felt an intolerable pain of the
+      heart. She, believing it to be caused by a different sickness than love,
+      showed herself pitiful towards me, which prompted me to beg her to lay her
+      hand upon my heart and see how it was beating. This, more from charity
+      than from any other affection, she did, and while I held her gloved hand
+      against my heart, it began to beat and strain in such wise, that she felt
+      that I was speaking the truth. Then I pressed her hand to my breast,
+      saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Alas, madam, receive the heart which would fain break forth from my
+      breast to leap into the hand of her from whom I look for indulgence, life
+      and pity, and which now constrains me to make known to you the love that I
+      have so long concealed, for neither my heart nor I can now control this
+      potent God.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When she heard those words, she deemed them very strange. She wished to
+      withdraw her hand, but I held it fast, and the glove remained in her cruel
+      hand&rsquo;s place; and having neither before nor since had any more intimate
+      favour from her, I have fastened this glove upon my heart as the best
+      plaster I could give it. And I have adorned it with the richest rings I
+      have, though the glove itself is wealth that I would not exchange for the
+      kingdom of England, for I deem no happiness on earth so great as to feel
+      it on my breast.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Lord de Montmorency, who would have rather had a lady&rsquo;s hand than her
+      glove, praised his very honourable behaviour, telling him that he was the
+      truest lover he had ever known, and was worthy of better treatment, since
+      he set so much value upon so slight a thing; though perchance, if he had
+      obtained aught better than the glove, the greatness of his love might have
+      made him die of joy. With this the English lord agreed, not suspecting
+      that the Lord de Montmorency was mocking him. (3)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  Alluding to this story, Brantôme writes as follows in his
+     <i>Dames Galantes</i>: &ldquo;You have that English <i>Milord</i> in the
+     Hundred Tales of the Queen of Navarre, who wore his
+     mistress&rsquo;s glove at his side, beautifully adorned. I myself
+     have known many gentlemen who, before wearing their silken
+     hose, would beg their ladies and mistresses to try them on
+     and wear them for some eight or ten days, rather more than
+     less, and who would then themselves wear them in extreme
+     veneration and contentment, both of mind and body.&rdquo;&mdash;
+     Lalanne&rsquo;s <i>OEuvres de Brantôme</i>, vol. ix. p. 309.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If all men were so honourable as this one, the ladies might well trust
+      them, since the cost would be merely a glove.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I knew the Lord de Montmorency well,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;and I am sure that
+      he would not have cared to fare after the English fashion. Had he been
+      contented with so little, he would not have been so successful in love as
+      he was, for the old song says&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &lsquo;Of a cowardly lover
+     No good is e&rsquo;er heard.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You may be sure,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;that the poor lady withdrew her hand
+      with all speed, when she felt the beating of his heart, because she
+      thought that he was about to die, and people say that there is nothing
+      women loathe more than to touch dead bodies.&rdquo; (4)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     4  Most of this sentence, deficient in our MS., is taken
+     from MS. No. 1520.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you had spent as much time in hospitals as in taverns,&rdquo; said
+      Ennasuite, &ldquo;you would not speak in that way, for you would have seen women
+      shrouding dead bodies, which men, bold as they are, often fear to touch.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;that there is none upon whom penance has
+      been laid but does the opposite of that wherein he formerly had delight,
+      like a lady I once saw in a notable house, who, to atone for her delight
+      in kissing one she loved, was found at four o&rsquo;clock in the morning kissing
+      the corpse of a gentleman who had been killed the day before, and whom she
+      had never liked more than any other. Then every one knew that this was a
+      penance for past delights. But as all the good deeds done by women are
+      judged ill by men, I am of opinion that, dead or alive, there should be no
+      kissing except after the fashion that God commands.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For my part,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;I care so little about kissing women, except
+      my own wife, that I will assent to any law you please, yet I pity the
+      young folk whom you deprive of this trifling happiness, thus annulling the
+      command of St. Paul, who bids us kiss <i>in osculo sancto.</i>&rdquo; (5)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     5  <i>Romans</i> xvi. 16; 1 <i>Corinthians</i> xvi. 20; 2
+     <i>Corinthians</i> xiii. 12; I <i>Thessalonians</i> v. 26. Also 1
+     <i>Peter</i> v. 14.&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If St. Paul had been such a man as you are,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;we should
+      indeed have required proof of the Spirit of God that spoke in him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the end,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;you will doubt Holy Scripture rather than
+      give up one of your petty affectations.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;God forbid,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;that we should doubt Holy Scripture, but we
+      put small faith in your lies. There is no woman but knows what her belief
+      should be, namely, never to doubt the Word of God or believe the word of
+      man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet,&rdquo; said Simontauit, &ldquo;I believe that there are more men deceived by
+      women than [women] by men. The slenderness of women&rsquo;s love towards us
+      keeps them from believing our truths, whilst our exceeding love towards
+      them makes us trust so completely in their falsehoods, that we are
+      deceived before we suspect such a thing to be possible.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;you have been hearing some fool complain of
+      being duped by a wanton woman, for your words carry but little weight, and
+      need the support of an example. If, therefore, you know of one, I give you
+      my place that you may tell it to us. I do not say that we are bound to
+      believe you on your mere word, but it will assuredly not make our ears
+      tingle to hear you speak ill of us, since we know what is the truth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, since it is for me to speak,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;&lsquo;tis I who will tell
+      you the tale.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0023" id="linkimage-0023">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/070.jpg" width="100%" alt="070.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0024" id="linkimage-0024">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/071a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="071a. The Gentleman Mocked by The Ladies when Returning from The False Tryst " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Gentleman Mocked by the Ladies When Returning From The False Tryst]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0025" id="linkimage-0025">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/071.jpg" width="100%" alt="071.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LVIII.</i>
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A gentleman, through putting too much trust in the
+     truthfulness of a lady whom he had offended by forsaking her
+     for others just when she was most in love with him, was, by
+     a false tryst, deceived by her, and bemocked by the whole
+     Court</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      At the Court of King Francis the First there was a lady (1) of excellent
+      wit, who, by her grace, virtue and pleasantness of speech, had won the
+      hearts of several lovers. With these she right well knew how to pass the
+      time, but without hurt to her honour, conversing with them in such
+      pleasant fashion that they knew not what to think, for those who were the
+      most confident were reduced to despair, whilst those that despaired the
+      most became hopeful. Nevertheless, while fooling most of them, she could
+      not help greatly loving one whom she called her cousin, a name which
+      furnished a pretext for closer fellowship.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  M. de Lincy surmises that Margaret is referring to
+     herself both here and in the following tale, which concerns
+     the same lady. His only reason for the supposition, however,
+     is that the lady&rsquo;s views on certain love matters are akin to
+     those which the Queen herself professed.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      However, as there is nothing in this world of firm continuance, their
+      friendship often turned to anger and then was renewed in stronger sort
+      than ever, so that the whole Court could not but be aware of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day the lady, both to let it be seen that she was wholly void of
+      passion, and to vex him, for love of whom she had endured much annoyance,
+      showed him a fairer countenance than ever she had done before. Thereupon
+      the gentleman, who lacked boldness neither in love nor in war, began hotly
+      to press the suit that he many a time previously had addressed to her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She, pretending to be wholly vanquished by pity, promised to grant his
+      request, and told him that she would with this intent go into her room,
+      which was on a garret floor, where she knew there was nobody. And as soon
+      as he should see that she was gone he was to follow her without fail, for
+      he would find her ready to give proof of the good-will that she bore him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, believing what she said, was exceedingly well pleased, and
+      began to amuse himself with the other ladies until he should see her gone,
+      and might quickly follow her. But she, who lacked naught of woman&rsquo;s
+      craftiness, betook herself to my Lady Margaret, daughter of the King, and
+      to the Duchess of Montpensier, (2) to whom she said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will if you are willing, show you the fairest diversion you have ever
+      seen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  The former is Margaret of France, Duchess of Savoy and
+     Berry. Born in June 1523, she died in September 1574.&mdash;
+     Queen Margaret was her godmother. When only three years old,
+     she was promised in marriage to Louis of Savoy, eldest son
+     of Duke Charles III., and he dying, she espoused his younger
+     brother, Emmanuel Philibert, in July 1549. Graceful and
+     pretty as a child (see <i>ante</i>, vol. i. p. xlviii.), she
+     became, thanks to the instruction of the famous Michael de
+     l&rsquo; Hôpital, one of the most accomplished women of her time,
+     and Brantôme devotes an article to her in his <i>Dames
+     Illustres</i> (Lalanne, v. viii. pp. 328-37). See also Hilarion
+     de Coste&rsquo;s <i>Éloges et Vies des Reines, Princesses, &amp;c</i>.,
+     Paris, 1647, vol. ii. p. 278.
+
+     The Duchess of Montpensier, also referred to above, is
+     Jacqueline de Longwick (now Longwy), Countess of Bar-sur-
+     Seine, daughter of J. Ch. de Longwick, Lord of Givry, and of
+     Jane, <i>bâtarde</i> of Angoulême. In 1538 Jacqueline was
+     married to Louis II. de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier. She
+     gained great influence at the French Court, both under
+     Francis I. and afterwards, and De Thou says of her that she
+     was possessed of great wit and wisdom, far superior to the
+     century in which she lived. She died in August 1561, and was
+     the mother of Francis I., Duke of Montpensier, sometimes
+     called the Dauphin of Auvergne, who fought at Jarnac,
+     Moncontour, Arques, and Ivry, against Henry of Navarre.&mdash;L.,
+     B. J. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      They, being by no means enamoured of melancholy, begged that she would
+      tell them what it was.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know such a one,&rdquo; she replied, &ldquo;as worthy a gentleman as lives, and
+      as bold. You are aware how many ill turns he has done me, and that, just
+      when I loved him most, he fell in love with others, and so caused me more
+      grief than I have ever suffered to be seen. Well, God has now afforded me
+      the means of taking revenge upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am forthwith going to my own room, which is overhead, and immediately
+      afterwards, if it pleases you to keep watch, you will see him follow me.
+      When he has passed the galleries, and is about to go up the stairs, I pray
+      you come both to the window and help me to cry &lsquo;Thief!&rsquo; You will then see
+      his rage, which, I am sure, will not become him badly, and, even if he
+      does not revile me aloud, I am sure he will none the less do so in his
+      heart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This plan was not agreed to without laughter, for there was no gentleman
+      that tormented the ladies more than he did, whilst he was so greatly liked
+      and esteemed by all, that for nothing in the world would any one have run
+      the risk of his raillery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It seemed, moreover, to the two Princesses that they would themselves
+      share in the glory which the other lady looked to win over this gentleman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Accordingly, as soon as they saw the deviser of the plot go out, they set
+      themselves to observe the gentleman&rsquo;s demeanour. But little time went by
+      before he shifted his quarters, and, as soon as he had passed the door,
+      the ladies went out into the gallery, in order that they might not lose
+      sight of him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suspecting nothing, he wrapped his cloak about his neck, so as to hide his
+      face, and went down the stairway to the court, but, seeing some one whom
+      he did not desire to have for witness, he came back by another way, and
+      then went down into the court a second time. The ladies saw everything
+      without being perceived by him, and when he reached the stairway, by which
+      he thought he might safely reach his sweetheart&rsquo;s chamber, they went to
+      the window, whence they immediately perceived the other lady, who began
+      crying out &lsquo;Thief!&rsquo; at the top of her voice; whereupon the two ladies
+      below answered her so loudly that their voices were heard all over the
+      castle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I leave you to imagine with what vexation the gentleman fled to his
+      lodgings. He was not so well muffled as not to be known by those who were
+      in the mystery, and they often twitted him with it, as did even the lady
+      who had done him this ill turn, saying that she had been well revenged
+      upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It happened, however, that he was so ready with his replies and evasions
+      as to make them believe that he had quite suspected the plan, and had only
+      consented to visit the lady in order to furnish them with some diversion,
+      for, said he, he would not have taken so much trouble for her sake, seeing
+      that his love for her had long since flown. The ladies would not admit the
+      truth of this, so that the point is still in doubt; nevertheless, it is
+      probable that he believed the lady. And since he was so wary and so bold
+      that few men of his age and time could match and none could surpass him
+      (as has been proved by his very brave and knightly death), (3) you must,
+      it seems to me, confess that men of honour love in such wise as to be
+      often duped, by placing too much trust in the truthfulness of the ladies.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  This naturally brings Bonnivet to mind, though of course
+     the gay, rash admiral was not the only Frenchman of the time
+     who spent his life in making love and waging war.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In good faith,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;I commend this lady for the trick she
+      played; for when a man is loved by a lady and forsakes her for another,
+      her vengeance cannot be too severe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;if she is loved by him; but there are some who
+      love men without being certain that they are loved in return, and when
+      they find that their sweethearts love elsewhere, they call them fickle. It
+      therefore happens that discreet women are never deceived by such talk, for
+      they give no heed or belief even to those people who speak truly, lest
+      they should prove to be liars, seeing that the true and the false speak
+      but one tongue.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If all women were of your opinion,&rdquo; said Simon-tault, &ldquo;the gentlemen
+      might pack up their prayers at once; but, for all that you and those like
+      you may say, we shall never believe that women are as unbelieving as they
+      are fair. And in this wise we shall live as content as you would fain
+      render us uneasy by your maxims.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Truly,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;knowing as I well do who the lady is that played
+      that fine trick upon the gentleman, it is impossible for me not to believe
+      in any craftiness on her part. Since she did not spare her husband, &lsquo;twere
+      fitting she should not spare her lover.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Her husband, say you?&rdquo; said Simontault. &ldquo;You know, then, more than I do,
+      and so, since you wish it, I give you my place that you may tell us your
+      opinion of the matter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And since you wish it,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;I will do so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0026" id="linkimage-0026">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/078.jpg" width="100%" alt="078.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0027" id="linkimage-0027">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/079a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="079a. The Lady Discovering Her Husband With The Waiting-woman " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Lady discovering her Husband with the Waiting-woman]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0028" id="linkimage-0028">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/079.jpg" width="100%" alt="079.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LIX</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>This same lady, finding that her husband took it ill that
+     she should have lovers with whom she amused herself without
+     hurt to her honour, kept close watch upon him, and so
+     discovered how pleasantly he addressed himself to one of her
+     waiting-women. This woman she gained upon, made her consent
+     to what her husband solicited, and then surprised him in
+     such error that to atone for it, he was forced to confess
+     that he deserved greater punishment than herself; by which
+     means she was afterwards able to live as her fancy listed</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The lady of your story was wedded to a rich gentleman of high and ancient
+      lineage, and had married him on account of the great affection that they
+      bore to one another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Being a woman most pleasant of speech, she by no means concealed from her
+      husband that she had lovers whom she made game of for her pastime, and, at
+      first, her husband shared in her pleasure. But at last this manner of life
+      became irksome to him, for on the one part he took it ill that she should
+      hold so much converse with those that were no kinsfolk or friends of his
+      own, and on the other, he was greatly vexed by the expense to which he was
+      put in sustaining her magnificence and in following the Court.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He therefore withdrew to his own house as often as he was able, but so
+      much company came thither to see him that the expenses of his household
+      became scarcely any less, for, wherever his wife might be, she always
+      found means to pass her time in sports, dances, and all such matters as
+      youthful dames may use with honour. And when sometimes her husband told
+      her, laughing, that their expenses were too great, she would reply that
+      she promised never to make him a &ldquo;coqu&rdquo; or cuckold, but only a &ldquo;coquin,&rdquo;
+       that is, a beggar; for she was so exceedingly fond of dress, that she must
+      needs have the bravest and richest at the Court. (1) Her husband took her
+      thither as seldom as possible, but she did all in her power to go, and to
+      this end behaved in a most loving fashion towards her husband, who would
+      not willingly have refused her a much harder request.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  As Queen Margaret was by no means over fond of gorgeous
+     apparel and display, this passage is in contradiction with
+     M. de Lincy&rsquo;s surmise that the lady of this and the
+     preceding tale may be herself. In any case the narrative
+     could only apply to the period of her first marriage, and
+     this was in no wise a love-match. Yet we are told at the
+     outset of the above story that the lady and gentleman had
+     married on account of the great affection between them. On
+     the other hand, these details may have been introduced the
+     better to conceal the identity of the persons referred to.&mdash;
+     Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Now one day, when she had found that all her devices could not induce him
+      to make this journey to the Court, she perceived that he was very pleasant
+      in manner with a chamber-woman (2) she had, and thereupon thought she
+      might turn the matter to her own advantage. Taking the girl apart, she
+      questioned her cleverly, using both wiles and threats, in such wise that
+      the girl confessed that, ever since she had been in the house, not a day
+      had passed on which her master had not sought her love; but (she added)
+      she would rather die than do aught against God and her honour, more
+      especially after the honour which the lady had done her in taking her into
+      her service, for this would make such wickedness twice as great.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  The French expression here is <i>femme de chambre à
+     chaperon</i>. The <i>chaperon</i> in this instance was a cap with a
+     band of velvet worn across it as a sign of gentle and even
+     noble birth. The attendant referred to above would therefore
+     probably be a young woman of good descent, constrained by
+     circumstances to enter domestic service.&mdash;B. J. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      On hearing of her husband&rsquo;s unfaithfulness, the lady immediately felt both
+      grief and joy. Her grief was that her husband, despite all his show of
+      loving her, should be secretly striving to put her to so much shame in her
+      own household, and this when she believed herself far more beautiful and
+      graceful than the woman whom he sought in her stead. But she rejoiced to
+      think that she might surprise her husband in such manifest error that he
+      would no longer be able to reproach her with her lovers, nor with her
+      desire to dwell at Court; and, to bring this about, she begged the girl
+      gradually to grant her husband what he sought upon certain conditions that
+      she made known to her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl was minded to make some difficulty, but when her mistress
+      warranted the safety both of her life and of her honour, she consented to
+      do whatever might be her pleasure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, on continuing his pursuit of the girl, found her
+      countenance quite changed towards him, and therefore urged his suit more
+      eagerly than had been his wont; but she, knowing by heart the part she had
+      to play, made objection of her poverty, and said that, if she complied
+      with his desire, she would be turned away by her mistress, in whose
+      service she looked to gain a good husband.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman forthwith replied that she need give no thought to any such
+      matters, since he would bestow her in marriage more profitably than her
+      mistress would be able to do, and further, would contrive the matter so
+      secretly that none would know of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon this they came to an agreement, and, on considering what place would
+      be most suited for such a fine business, the girl said that she knew of
+      none better or more remote from suspicion than a cottage in the park,
+      where there was a chamber and a bed suitable for the occasion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, who would not have thought any place unsuitable, was
+      content with the one she named, and was very impatient for the appointed
+      day and hour to come.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl kept her word to her mistress, and told her in full the whole
+      story of the plan, and how it was to be put into execution on the morrow
+      after dinner. She would not fail, said she, to give a sign when the time
+      came to go to the cottage, and she begged her mistress to be watchful, and
+      in no wise fail to be present at the appointed hour, in order to save her
+      from the danger into which her obedience was leading her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This her mistress swore, begging her to be without fear, and promising
+      that she would never forsake her, but would protect her from her husband&rsquo;s
+      wrath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the morrow was come and dinner was over, the gentleman was more
+      pleasant with his wife than ever, and although this was not very agreeable
+      to her, she dissembled so well that he did not perceive the truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After dinner she asked him how he was minded to pass away the time, and he
+      answered that he knew of nothing better than to play at &ldquo;cent.&rdquo; (3)
+      Forthwith everything was made ready for the game, but the lady pretended
+      that she did not care to take part in it, and would find diversion enough
+      in looking at the players.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  This is probably a reference to the card game now called
+     piquet, usually played for a hundred points. It is one of
+     the oldest of its kind. See Rabelais&rsquo; <i>Gargantua</i>, book i.
+     chap, xxii.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Just before he sat down to play, the gentleman failed not to ask the girl
+      to remember her promise to him, and while he was playing she passed
+      through the room, making a sign to her mistress which signified that she
+      was about to set out on the pilgrimage she had to make. The sign was
+      clearly seen by the lady, but her husband perceived nothing of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An hour later, however, one of his servants made him a sign from a
+      distance, whereupon he told his wife that his head ached somewhat, and
+      that he must needs rest and take the air. She, knowing the nature of his
+      sickness as well as he did himself, asked him whether she should play in
+      his stead, and he consented, saying that he would very soon return.
+      However, she assured him that she could take his place for a couple of
+      hours without weariness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So the gentleman withdrew to his room, and thence by an alley into his
+      park.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady, who knew another and shorter way, waited for a little while, and
+      then, suddenly feigning to be seized with colic, gave her hand at play to
+      another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As soon as she was out of the room, she put off her high-heeled shoes and
+      ran as quickly as she could to the place, where she had no desire that the
+      bargain should be struck without her. And so speedily did she arrive,
+      that, when she entered the room by another door, her husband was but just
+      come in. Then, hiding herself behind the door, she listened to the fair
+      and honest discourse that he held to her maid. But when she saw that he
+      was coming near to the criminal point, she seized him from behind, saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, I am too near that you should take another.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It is needless to ask whether the gentleman was in extreme wrath, both at
+      being balked of the delight he had looked to obtain, and at having his
+      wife, whose affection he now greatly feared to lose for ever, know more of
+      him than he desired. He thought, however, that the plot had been contrived
+      by the girl, and (without speaking to his wife) he ran after her with such
+      fury that, had not his wife rescued her from his hands, he would have
+      killed her. He declared that she was the wickedest jade he had ever known,
+      and that, if his wife had waited to see the end, she would have found that
+      he was only mocking her, for, instead of doing what she expected, he would
+      have chastised her with rods.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But his wife, knowing what words of the sort were worth, set no value upon
+      them, and addressed such reproaches to him that he was in great fear lest
+      she should leave him. He promised her all that she asked, and, after her
+      sage reproaches, confessed that it was wrong of him to complain that she
+      had lovers; since a fair and honourable woman is none the less virtuous
+      for being loved, provided that she do or say nothing contrary to her
+      honour; whereas a man deserves heavy punishment when he is at pains to
+      pursue a woman that loves him not, to the wronging of his wife and his own
+      conscience. He would therefore, said he, never more prevent his wife from
+      going to Court, nor take it ill that she should have lovers, for he knew
+      that she spoke with them more in jest than in affection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This talk was not displeasing to the lady, for it seemed to her that she
+      had gained an important point. Nevertheless she spoke quite to the
+      contrary, pretending that she had no delight in going to Court, since she
+      no longer possessed his love, without which all assemblies were
+      displeasing to her; and saying that a woman who was truly loved by her
+      husband, and who loved him in return, as she did, carried with her a
+      safe-conduct that permitted her to speak with one and all, and to be
+      derided by none.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor gentleman was at so much pains to assure her of the love he bore
+      her, that at last they left the place good friends. That they might not
+      again fall into such trouble, he begged her to turn away the girl through
+      whom he had undergone so much distress. This she did, but did it by
+      bestowing her well and honourably in marriage, and at her husband&rsquo;s
+      expense.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And, to make the lady altogether forget his folly, the gentleman soon took
+      her to Court, in such style and so magnificently arrayed that she had good
+      reason to be content.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This, ladies, was what made me say I did not find the trick she played
+      upon one of her lovers a strange one, knowing, as I did, the trick she had
+      played upon her husband.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have described to us a very cunning wife and a very stupid husband,&rdquo;
+       said Hircan. &ldquo;Having advanced so far, he ought not to have come to a
+      standstill and stopped on so fair a road.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what should he have done?&rdquo; said Longarine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What he had taken in hand to do,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;for his wife was no less
+      wrathful with him for his intention to do evil than she would have been
+      had he carried the evil into execution. Perchance, indeed, she would have
+      respected him more if she had seen that he was a bolder gallant.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is all very well,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;but where will you find a man to
+      face two women at once? His wife would have defended her rights and the
+      girl her virginity.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;True,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;but a strong bold man does not fear to assail two
+      that are weak, nor will he ever fail to vanquish them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I readily understand,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;that if he had drawn his sword he
+      might have killed them both, but otherwise I cannot see that he had any
+      means of escape. I pray you, therefore, tell us what you would have done?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should have taken my wife in my arms,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;and have carried
+      her out. Then I should have had my own way with her maid by love or by
+      force.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis enough, Hircan,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;that you know how to do evil.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am sure, Parlamente,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;that I do not scandalise the
+      innocence in whose presence I speak, and by what I have said I do not mean
+      that I support a wicked deed. But I wonder at the attempt, which was in
+      itself worthless, and at the attempter, who, for fear rather than for love
+      of his wife, failed to complete it. I praise a man who loves his wife as
+      God ordains; but when he does not love her, I think little of him for
+      fearing her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Truly,&rdquo; replied Parlamente, &ldquo;if love did not render you a good husband, I
+      should make small account of what you might do through fear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are quite safe, Parlamente,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;for the love I bear you
+      makes me more obedient than could the fear of either death or hell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You may say what you please,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;but I have reason to be
+      content with what I have seen and known of you. As for what I have not
+      seen, I have never wished to make guess or still less inquiry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think it great folly,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;for women to inquire so
+      curiously concerning their husbands, or husbands concerning their wives.
+      Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, without giving so much heed
+      to the morrow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet it is sometimes needful,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;to inquire into matters that
+      may touch the honour of a house in order to set them right, though not to
+      pass evil judgment upon persons, seeing that there is none who does not
+      fail.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Many,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;have at divers times fallen into trouble for lack
+      of well and carefully inquiring into the errors of their wives.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;if you know any such instance, do not keep
+      it from us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do indeed know one,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;and since you so desire, I will
+      relate it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0029" id="linkimage-0029">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/090.jpg" width="100%" alt="090.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0030" id="linkimage-0030">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/091a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="091a. The Chanter of Blois Delivering his Mistress from The Grave " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Chanter of Blois delivering his Mistress from the Grave]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0031" id="linkimage-0031">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/091.jpg" width="100%" alt="091.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LX</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A man of Paris, through not making good inquiry concerning
+     his wife, whom he believed dead, though she was indeed
+     making good cheer with a chanter to the King, married a
+     second wife, whom, after having several children by her and
+     consorting with her for fourteen or fifteen years, he was
+     constrained to leave, in order to take his first wife back
+     again</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the city of Paris there was a man who was so good-natured that he would
+      have scrupled to believe a man abed with his wife, even if he had seen him
+      with his own eyes. This poor man married a woman whose conduct was as bad
+      as could be; nevertheless he perceived nothing of it, and treated her as
+      though she were the most virtuous woman alive. One day, however, when King
+      Louis XII. came to Paris, his wife surrendered herself to one of the
+      choir-men of the aforesaid sovereign, and when she found that the King was
+      leaving Paris and that she would no longer be able to see the singer, she
+      resolved to follow him and forsake her husband. To this the chanter
+      agreed, and brought her to a house that he had near Blois, (1) where for a
+      long while they lived together. The poor husband, finding that he had lost
+      his wife, sought her everywhere; and at last it was told him that she was
+      gone away with the chanter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wishing to recover the lost ewe which he had so badly watched, he wrote
+      many letters to her begging her to return to him, and saying that he would
+      take her back if she were willing to be a virtuous woman. But she took
+      such great delight in listening to the songs of the chanter, that she had
+      forgotten her husband&rsquo;s voice, and gave no heed to all his excellent
+      words, but mocked at them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Therefore the husband, in great wrath, gave her to know that, since she
+      would return to him in no other way, he would demand her in legal fashion
+      of the Church. (2) The wife, dreading that if the law should take the
+      matter in hand she and her chanter would fare badly, devised a stratagem
+      worthy of such a woman as herself. Feigning sickness, she sent for some
+      honourable women of the town to come and see her, and this they willingly
+      did, hoping that her illness might be a means of withdrawing her from her
+      evil life, with which purpose they addressed the sagest admonitions to
+      her. Thereupon she, whilst pretending to be grievously sick, made a show
+      of weeping and acknowledging her sinfulness in such sort that she gained
+      the pity of the whole company, who quite believed that she was speaking
+      from the bottom of her heart. And, finding her thus subdued and sorry,
+      they began to comfort her, telling her that God was in no wise so terrible
+      as many preachers represented Him, and that He would never refuse to show
+      her mercy.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  Louis XII.&lsquo;s favourite place of residence.&mdash;Ed.
+
+     2  Implying the Officialité or episcopal court.&mdash;B. J.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      After this excellent discourse, they sent for a virtuous man to come and
+      confess her, and on the morrow the priest of the parish came to administer
+      the Holy Sacrament. This she received so piously, that all the virtuous
+      women of the town who were present wept to see her devoutness, praising
+      God, who of His goodness had in this wise shown compassion upon this poor
+      creature.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Afterwards she pretended that she could no longer take food, whereupon the
+      extreme unction was brought by the priest and received by her with many
+      pious signs; for (as they thought) she was scarcely able to speak. She
+      continued thus for a great while, and it seemed as though she were
+      gradually losing her sight, hearing and other senses, whereat there came
+      from all a cry of &ldquo;Jesus!&rdquo; As night was at hand and the ladies were far
+      from home, they all withdrew; and just as they were leaving the house it
+      was told them that she was dead, whereupon, saying their <i>De profundis</i>
+      for her, they returned to their houses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The priest asked the chanter where he would have her buried, and the other
+      replied that she had desired to be buried in the cemetery, and that it
+      would be well to bring her there at night. So the poor unfortunate was
+      shrouded by a serving-woman, who was careful not to hurt her, and then by
+      brave torchlight she was carried to the grave that the chanter had caused
+      to be made.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the body passed in front of the houses of those who had been present
+      when she received the extreme unction, they all came forth and followed
+      her to the tomb; and there she was soon left by women and priests alike.
+      The chanter, however, did not go away, but, as soon as he saw the company
+      some distance off, he and the serving-woman opened the grave wherein was
+      his sweetheart more alive than ever, and he sent her secretly to his
+      house, where for a long time he kept her concealed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The husband, who was in pursuit of her, came as far as Blois to demand
+      justice, when he found that she was dead and buried according to the
+      testimony of all the ladies of Blois. They told him, too, what a good end
+      she had made, and the worthy man was rejoiced to think that his wife&rsquo;s
+      soul was in Paradise, and himself rid of her wicked body.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In this wise well content, he betook himself back to Paris, where he
+      married a beautiful and virtuous young woman, and a good housewife, by
+      whom he had several children, and with whom he lived for fourteen or
+      fifteen years. But at last rumour, which can keep nothing hid, advised him
+      that his wife was not dead, but was still dwelling with the wicked
+      chanter. The poor man concealed the matter as well as he was able,
+      pretending to know nothing about it, and hoping that it was a lie. But his
+      wife, who was a discreet woman, was told of it, and such was her anguish
+      at the tidings that she was like to die of grief. Had it been possible
+      without offence to her conscience, she would gladly have concealed her
+      misfortune, but it was not possible. The Church immediately took the
+      affair in hand, and first of all separated them from each other until the
+      truth of the matter should be known.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then was this poor man obliged to leave the good and go after the bad, and
+      in this wise he came to Blois shortly after Francis the First had become
+      king. Here he found Queen Claude and my Lady the Regent, (3) to whom he
+      made his complaint, asking for her whom he would gladly not have found,
+      but whom, to the great compassion of the whole company, he was now obliged
+      to see.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  This shows that the incidents of the tale occurred in the
+     summer or autumn of 1515, when Francis I. was absent in
+     Italy conducting the campaign which resulted in the victory
+     of Marignano and the surrender of Milan.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      When his wife was brought before him, she strove for a long while to
+      maintain that he was not her husband, which he would willingly have
+      believed had he been able. More disappointed than abashed, she told him
+      that she would rather die than go back with him, and at this he was well
+      pleased; but the ladies in whose presence she spoke in this unseemly
+      fashion condemned her to return, and so rated the chanter with many a
+      threat, that he was obliged to tell his ugly sweetheart to go back with
+      her husband, and to declare that he himself would never see her more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rejected thus on all sides, the poor unfortunate withdrew to a home in
+      which she was fated to meet with better treatment from her husband than
+      she had deserved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see, ladies, why I say that if the poor husband had been more
+      watchful over his wife, he would not thus have lost her. A thing that is
+      well guarded is difficult to lose, but heedlessness makes the thief.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis a strange thing,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;how strong love is just where it
+      seems most unreasonable.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have heard,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;that it were easier to break two
+      marriages than to sunder the love of a priest and his serving-maid.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe it,&rdquo; said Ennasuite; &ldquo;for those who bind others together in
+      marriage, are so well able to tie the knot that nought but death can
+      destroy it. Theologians, moreover, hold that spiritual language is of more
+      effect than any other, and in consequence spiritual love surpasses any
+      other kind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a thing that I cannot forgive in ladies,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;when they
+      forsake an honourable husband or a lover for a priest, however handsome
+      and worthy the latter may be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, Dagoucin,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;intermeddle not with our Holy Mother
+      Church. Be assured that &lsquo;tis a great delight for timorous and
+      secret-loving women to sin with those who can absolve them; for there are
+      some who are more ashamed to confess a thing than to do it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You speak,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;of those who have no knowledge of God, and who
+      think not that secret matters are one day revealed in presence of the
+      Company of Heaven. But I think that it is not for confession&rsquo;s sake that
+      they go after confessors; for the Enemy has so blinded them that they are
+      more concerned to attach themselves where they think there is most
+      concealment and security, than anxious to obtain absolution for the
+      wickedness of which they do not repent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Repent, say you?&rdquo; said Saffredent. &ldquo;Nay, they deem themselves holier than
+      other women. I am sure that there are some who deem it honourable in
+      themselves that they are constant in such love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You speak in such a manner,&rdquo; said Oisille to Saffredent, &ldquo;that I think
+      you know of some one of that kind. I pray you, therefore, begin the Day
+      tomorrow by telling us what you know. But now the last bell for vespers is
+      already ringing; for our friends the monks went off as soon as they had
+      heard the tenth tale, and left us to finish our discussions among
+      ourselves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At these words they all rose and came to the church, where they found the
+      monks awaiting them. Then, after hearing vespers, they all supped
+      together, talking the while of many excellent stories. After supper they
+      went, according to their wont, to disport themselves somewhat in the
+      meadow, and then retired to rest, in order that their memories might be
+      the sounder on the morrow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0032" id="linkimage-0032">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/099.jpg" width="100%" alt="099.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SEVENTH DAY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <i>On the Seventh Day relation is made<br /> of such as have done<br />
+      quite contrary to<br /> their duty<br /> or desire</i>. <a
+      name="link2H_PROL7" id="link2H_PROL7">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PROLOGUE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In the morning the Lady Oisille failed not to administer to them wholesome
+      nutriment, which she did by reading of the acts and virtuous deeds of the
+      glorious knights and apostles of Jesus Christ, as related by St. Luke,
+      telling them withal that these relations should suffice to make them long
+      for the return of such a time, and to make them weep for the uncomeliness
+      of this age as compared with that. When she had sufficiently read and
+      expounded to them the beginning of this excellent book, she begged them to
+      go to the church in such union as that in which the Apostles were wont to
+      pray, seeking of God the mercy which is never refused to those who ask for
+      it in faith. Her counsel was approved by all, and they came to the church
+      just as the Mass of the Holy Spirit was beginning; this seemed to them
+      very apt to the occasion, and they hearkened to the service in great
+      devotion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Afterwards they went to dinner, where they called to mind the apostolic
+      life, and took such great delight in it that it was as though their
+      undertaking had been forgotten. But Nomerfide, who was the youngest,
+      noticed this, and said, &ldquo;The Lady Oisille has made us so devout that we
+      are letting slip the hour at which we are wont to withdraw, in order to
+      make ready for the relating of our tales.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her words caused the whole company to rise, and, after they had been for a
+      while in their rooms, they failed not to repair to the meadow as on the
+      day before. When they were seated at their ease, the Lady Oisille said to
+      Saffredent, &ldquo;Although I am certain that you will say nothing to the
+      advantage of women, yet I must call upon you to tell the tale that you had
+      in readiness yester evening.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I protest, madam,&rdquo; replied Saffredent, &ldquo;against winning the repute of a
+      slanderer through telling the truth, or losing the favour of virtuous
+      ladies through relating the deeds of the wanton. I have felt what it is to
+      lack their presence, and had I equally lacked their fair favours, I had
+      not been alive to-day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, he turned his eyes away from her who was the cause of his
+      happiness and of his woe; and, looking upon Ennasuite, caused her to blush
+      as deeply as though his words had been directed to her. Yet was he none
+      the less understood by her whom he desired should understand him. The Lady
+      Oisille then assured him that he might freely speak the truth at the cost
+      of any person concerned; whereupon he thus began:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0033" id="linkimage-0033">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/105a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="105a. The Lady Returning to Her Lover, The Canon of Autun " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Lady returning to her Lover, the Canon of Autun]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0034" id="linkimage-0034">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/105.jpg" width="100%" alt="105.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXI</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A husband is reconciled with his wife after she had lived
+     during fourteen or fifteen years with a Canon of Autun</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Near the town of Autun there lived a very beautiful woman, who was tall,
+      fair, and as handsome of feature as any I have ever seen. She was married
+      to an honest man who seemed somewhat younger than herself, and who loved
+      and treated her well enough to give her reason for content.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A little while after they were married, he took her to the town of Autun,
+      where he had business; and while he was engaged with the law, his wife
+      would go to the church to pray God for him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She repaired so often to this holy place that a very rich Canon fell in
+      love with her, and wooed her so urgently that the unhappy creature gave
+      herself up to him. Her husband had no suspicion of this, however, for he
+      gave more thought to the guarding of his property than of his wife.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the time for departure was come, and they must needs return to their
+      home, which was full seven leagues from the town, great was the woman&rsquo;s
+      sorrow. But the Canon promised that he would often go and see her, and
+      this he did, pretending to be making some journey which led him past the
+      house. The gentleman, however, was not so foolish as not to perceive the
+      truth, and he so skilfully contrived matters, that when the Canon came
+      thither he no longer met the wife, who was too well hidden by her husband
+      to allow of his having any speech with her. The wife, knowing her
+      husband&rsquo;s jealousy, gave no sign that this was displeasing to her;
+      nevertheless, she resolved to set things to rights, for she felt herself
+      as it were in hell, deprived as she was of the sight of her God.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day, when her husband was abroad, she found a means to occupy her
+      servants, both men and women, after such a fashion that she was left alone
+      in the house. Immediately, she took what was needful, and, with no company
+      save that of the wanton love she carried with her, she repaired on foot to
+      Autun. Here she arrived none too late to be recognised by her Canon, who
+      kept her shut up in hiding for more than a year, and this in spite of the
+      monitions and excommunications that were procured against him by her
+      husband.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The latter, finding that he had no other remedy, at last complained to the
+      Bishop, who had an Archdeacon, as worthy a man as any at that time in
+      France. This Archdeacon himself searched with great diligence through all
+      the Canon&rsquo;s houses, until he discovered the one in which the woman was
+      being kept in concealment, whereupon he cast her into prison, and laid
+      heavy penance upon the Canon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The husband, knowing that his wife had been recovered by the counsels of
+      the Archdeacon and divers other excellent persons, was content to take her
+      back on her swearing to him that she would live for the future as beseemed
+      a virtuous woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This the worthy man in his deep love for her readily believed, and,
+      bringing her back to his house, he treated her as honourably as before,
+      except that he gave her two old serving-women who never left her, one or
+      other of them being at all times with her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But, however kindly her husband might use her, the wicked love she bore
+      towards the Canon caused her to regard all rest as torment. And although
+      she was a very beautiful woman and her husband a man of excellent
+      constitution, vigorous and strong, she never had any children by him, her
+      heart being always seven leagues away from her body; this, however, she
+      concealed so well that it seemed to her husband that, like himself, she
+      had wholly forgotten the past.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But in her great wickedness she was not so minded; for, just when she saw
+      her husband most in love with her and having least suspicion, she
+      pretended to fall ill, and continued in this pretence until her husband
+      was in wondrous distress, and anxious to spare nought that might relieve
+      her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      However, she played her part so exceedingly well that he, and all in the
+      house, thought that she was sick unto death, and was growing by degrees
+      weaker and weaker. Finding that her husband was no less grieved than he
+      should have been glad, she begged of him that he would authorise her to
+      make her will, and this with tears he did.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Having power of bequest, although she had no children, she gave to her
+      husband what she could, craving at the same time his forgiveness for her
+      wrong-doing towards him. Then she sent for the priest, confessed herself,
+      and received the Holy Sacrament of the Altar with such devoutness, that
+      all wept to see so glorious an end.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the evening was come, she begged her husband to send for the extreme
+      unction, saying that, as she was growing very weak, she was in fear lest
+      she might not live to receive it. Her husband in all haste caused it to be
+      brought by the priest, and she, by receiving it with very great humility,
+      prompted every one to praise her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After she had got through her brave mysteries, she told her husband that,
+      having through God&rsquo;s grace received all that the Church commands, she felt
+      great peace of conscience, and would fain take some rest; and she begged
+      him to do the like, seeing that he had great need of it after all his
+      weeping and watching with her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When her husband was gone, and all his servants with him, the poor old
+      women, who had so long watched her in health and now had no fear of losing
+      her except by death, went contentedly and comfortably to bed. As soon as
+      she heard them asleep and loudly snoring, she rose in nothing but her
+      shift, and went out of the room, listening to hear if any one was yet
+      astir in the house. Taking every precaution, she then (as she well knew
+      how) let herself out through a little garden-gate that was not shut, and,
+      barefooted and in her shift, journeyed all night long towards Autun and
+      the saint, who had preserved her from death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It happened, however, that as the distance was great, she could not
+      accomplish the whole of it before daylight overtook her. Looking then all
+      along the road, she perceived two horsemen who were galloping at full
+      speed, and thinking that it might be her husband in search of her, she hid
+      herself entirely in a marsh, with her head among the reeds. As her husband
+      (for he it was) passed close beside her, he spoke to a servant who was
+      with him, in tones of deep despair, saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, the wicked woman! Who could have thought that so foul and abominable
+      a deed could be hidden under cloak of the holy sacraments of the Church.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If Judas,&rdquo; replied the servant, &ldquo;feared not to betray his Master when he
+      was receiving the like, a woman&rsquo;s treachery is but small matter for
+      wonder.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At this point the husband passed on, and his wife remained among the
+      rushes, in greater gladness at having deceived and escaped him than she
+      had ever felt at home in a good bed but in subjection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor husband sought her through all the town of Autun, but learning
+      for certain that she had not entered it, he retraced his steps,
+      complaining unceasingly of her and of his loss, and threatening her with
+      nothing short of death if he should find her. Of this she had as little
+      fear in her mind as she had of cold in her body, although the place and
+      season might well have caused her to repent of her evil journey. And any
+      one who did not know how the fire of hell inflames those that are filled
+      with it, must needs wonder how it was that this unhappy woman could so
+      leave a warm bed and continue for a whole day in the piercing cold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yet she neither lost courage nor gave up the journey, but, as soon as
+      night was come, went forward once more. Just as the gate at Autun was
+      being closed, this pilgrim arrived thither and repaired straight to the
+      shrine of her saint, who was in great wonder at her coming, and could
+      scarcely believe that it was indeed she. But when he had carefully looked
+      at her and examined her at all points, he found that, unlike a spirit, she
+      was really possessed of bone and flesh, and so became convinced that she
+      was no ghost.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And thenceforward they agreed so well together that she dwelt with the
+      Canon for fourteen or fifteen years.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Although for a time she lived in concealment, in the end she lost all
+      fear, and (what is worse) became so exceedingly proud of her lover that at
+      church she would set herself before most of the honourable women of the
+      town, wives of officials and others. Moreover, she had children by the
+      Canon, and among others a daughter who was married to a rich merchant, and
+      who had so magnificent a wedding that all the women of the town murmured
+      exceedingly, yet were powerless to set the affair to rights.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now it happened that at this time Queen Claude, wife of King Francis,
+      passed through the town of Autun, having with her my Lady the Regent,
+      mother of the King aforesaid, and the Duchess of Alençon, her daughter.
+      (1) One of the Queen&rsquo;s waiting-women, named Perrette, came to the Duchess
+      and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam, I pray you listen to me, and you will do a better deed than if you
+      went to hear the whole day&rsquo;s service at the church.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  This would have occurred in the late autumn of 1515, when
+     the Court journeyed southward to meet Francis I. on his
+     return from the Marignano campaign.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess gave ready heed, knowing that nought but good counsel could
+      come from her. Then Perrette forthwith told her how she had taken a young
+      girl to help her in washing the Queen&rsquo;s linen, and how, on asking the news
+      of the town, she had heard from her the vexation which all the honourable
+      women endured at seeing the Canon&rsquo;s mistress go before them, together with
+      some of the history of the wicked woman&rsquo;s life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess went immediately to the Queen and my Lady the Regent, and told
+      them the story; and they, without any form of law, sent for the unhappy
+      woman. The latter sought no concealment, for her shame was turned to pride
+      at being mistress in the household of so rich a man; and hence, with no
+      feeling of confusion or disgrace, she presented herself before the ladies
+      aforesaid, who were so abashed by her hardihood that at first they knew
+      not what to say. After a time, however, my Lady the Regent rebuked her in
+      a fashion which would have made a right-thinking woman weep, though this
+      unhappy creature did not do so, but with great boldness said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, ladies, let my honour go unscathed, for, God be praised, I
+      have lived so well and virtuously with the Canon that no person alive can
+      say aught against me. And let it not be thought that I am living in
+      opposition to the will of God, since, for three years past, the Canon has
+      not come near me, and we live together as chastely and as lovingly as two
+      little angels, without any speech or wish between us to the contrary. And
+      any one separating us will commit a great sin, for the worthy man, who is
+      nigh eighty years old, will not live long without me, who am forty-five.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      You may imagine how the ladies then comported themselves, and what
+      remonstrance they all made with her; but, in spite of the words that were
+      spoken, and her own age, and the honourable indignation of those present,
+      her obstinacy was not softened. That she might be the more effectually
+      humbled, they sent for the good Archdeacon of Autun, and he condemned her
+      to lie in prison for a year, faring on bread and water. The ladies further
+      sent for her husband, and he, after hearing their excellent exhortations,
+      was content to take her back again after she should have performed her
+      penance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But when she found that she was a prisoner, and that the Canon was
+      resolved to have her back no more, she thanked the ladies for having taken
+      a devil off her shoulders, and showed such deep and perfect contrition
+      that her husband, instead of waiting until the year should have expired,
+      came and asked her of the Archdeacon before a fortnight was over; and
+      since then they have lived together in all peace and affection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see, ladies, how the chains of St. Peter are by wicked ministers
+      converted into those of Satan, which it is so hard to break that even the
+      sacraments, which cast out devils from the body, are here the means of
+      making them abide longer in the conscience; for the best things, when
+      abused, bring about most evil.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Truly,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;this woman was a very wicked one, but at the same
+      time she was well punished by her appearance before such judges as the
+      ladies you have named. The mere glance of the Lady Regent had such power
+      that never was there a woman, however virtuous, that did not dread being
+      found unworthy in her sight. Those who were looked upon kindly by her
+      deemed that they had earned a high honour, knowing as they did that none
+      but virtuous women were favoured by her.&rdquo; (2)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  We are asked to believe that Oisille is none other than
+     the Lady Regent (Louise of Savoy), but is it likely she
+     would thus speak of herself? We can scarcely conceive Queen
+     Margaret perpetrating such a flagrant anachronism.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It were indeed a fine thing,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that there should be greater
+      dread of a woman&rsquo;s eyes than of the Holy Sacrament, which, if it be not
+      received in faith and charity, brings with it eternal damnation.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Those,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;who are not inspired by God are, I promise you,
+      in greater dread of the temporal than of the spiritual powers. And I
+      believe that the poor creature was brought to mend her ways rather by her
+      imprisonment and the thought of seeing her Canon no more, than by any
+      remonstrance that might have been made to her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;you have forgotten the chief cause of her return
+      to her husband, which was that the Canon was eighty years old, whilst her
+      husband was younger than herself; so the worthy lady had the best of all
+      her bargains. Had the Canon been young, she would not have been willing to
+      forsake him, and the admonitions of the ladies would have been as
+      ineffectual as the sacraments.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Further,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;I think she did well not to confess her sin so
+      readily; such an offence ought to be humbly acknowledged to God, but
+      stoutly denied before men. Even though it be true, still, by deception and
+      swearing, doubt may be cast upon it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so,&rdquo; said Longarine. &ldquo;A sin can scarcely be so secret that it will
+      not become revealed, unless God in His pity conceal it, as in the case of
+      those who for love of Himself have truly repented.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;will you say of those women who have no sooner
+      done a deed of folly than they tell some one about it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think that a strange thing,&rdquo; answered Longarine, &ldquo;and a sign that sin
+      is not displeasing to them. If, as I said, a sin is not covered by the
+      mercy of God, it cannot be denied before men; there are many who,
+      delighting in such talk, glory to make their vices known, whilst others
+      who contradict themselves in this way become their own accusers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you know any such instance,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;I give you my place and
+      beg you to tell it us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Listen then,&rdquo; said Longarine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0035" id="linkimage-0035">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/117.jpg" width="100%" alt="117.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0036" id="linkimage-0036">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/119a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="119a. The Gentleman&rsquo;s Spur Catching in The Sheet " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Gentleman&rsquo;s Spur catching in the Sheet]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0037" id="linkimage-0037">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/119.jpg" width="100%" alt="119.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A lady&rsquo;s tongue tripped so awkwardly whilst she was telling
+     a story, as if of another, to a dame of high degree, that
+     her honour thenceforward bore a stain which she could never
+     remove</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the time of King Francis the First there lived a lady of the blood
+      royal, who was endowed with honour, virtue and beauty, and well knew how
+      to tell a story with grace and to laugh at such as might be told to her.
+      (1) This lady being at one of her houses, all her subjects and neighbours
+      came to see her; for she was as much liked as it were possible for woman
+      to be.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  M. de Lincy thinks that this lady may be Louise of Savoy,
+     who was very fond of listening to stories of an equivocal
+     character. This, it may be pointed out, is one of the
+     reasons why the commentators of the <i>Heptameron</i> suppose her
+     to be Oisille, though the latter in the conversational
+     passages following the tales displays considerable prudery
+     and devoutness. That Louise was a woman of extremely amorous
+     tendency is well known; we need, indeed, no better proof of
+     it than her unseemly passion for the Constable de Bourbon
+     when she was five-and-forty years of age. If she be the lady
+     of royal blood spoken of above, the incidents of the tale
+     may have occurred in the Bourbonnais, a considerable portion
+     of which passed into her hands after the flight of the
+     Constable from France. It will be noted that allusion is
+     made to the lady&rsquo;s subjects, showing that she exercised a
+     feudal sway. As one of the commentators of the <i>Heptameron</i>
+     has pointed out, Queen Margaret always saw her mother&mdash;that
+     &ldquo;donna terribilissima!&rdquo; as De Lussy called her&mdash;in such an
+     ideal light that M. de Lincy&rsquo;s surmise may well be a correct
+     one despite the attributes of honour, virtue and beauty
+     bestowed on the lady whom she speaks of.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Among others there came a lady who hearkened whilst the rest told every
+      story they could think of in order to amuse the Princess. This lady then
+      resolved that she would not be behind the others, and accordingly said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam, I will tell you a fine story, but you must promise me not to speak
+      of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then she forthwith continued&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The story, madam, is on my conscience a perfectly true one, and concerns
+      a married lady who lived in all honour with her husband, although he was
+      old and she was young. A gentleman who was her neighbour, seeing her
+      married to this old man, fell in love with her, and importuned her for
+      several years; but never received of her any reply save such as a virtuous
+      woman should make. One day the gentleman bethought him that if he could
+      take her at a disadvantage she might perchance be less harsh towards him,
+      and, after he had for a long while weighed the danger that he might run,
+      his love for the lady wholly banished his fears, and he resolved to find a
+      time and place. He kept excellent watch, and so one morning, when the
+      lady&rsquo;s husband was going to another of his houses, and leaving at daybreak
+      by reason of the heat, the young gallant came to the house, where he found
+      the lady asleep in her bed, and perceived that the serving-women were gone
+      out of the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, without having sense enough to fasten the door, he got into the
+      lady&rsquo;s bed all booted and spurred as he was, and when she awoke, she was
+      as distressed as she could possibly be. But in spite of any remonstrance
+      that she could make to him, he took her by force, saying that if she
+      should make the matter known he would tell every one that she had sent for
+      him; and at this the lady was so greatly afraid that she durst not cry
+      out. Afterwards, on some of her women coming in, he rose in haste and
+      would have been perceived by none if his spur, which had become fastened
+      in the upper sheet, had not drawn it right off, leaving the lady quite
+      naked in her bed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So far the lady had told the story as if of another, but at the end she
+      involuntarily said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never was a woman so confounded as I was, when I found myself lying quite
+      naked.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At these last words the lady, who had hitherto hearkened to the story
+      without laughing, could not refrain from doing so, and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By what I can see, you are well qualified to tell the tale.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor lady tried in every possible way to clear her honour, but it was
+      already flown so far away that she was never able to recall it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I assure you, ladies, that had she felt any deep displeasure in doing
+      such a deed, she would have desired to forget it. But, as I have told you,
+      sin will of itself be discovered before it could otherwise be known,
+      unless it be hidden by the mantle which, as David says, makes man
+      blessed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In good sooth,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;she was the greatest fool I have ever
+      heard of, to make the others laugh at her own expense.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not deem it strange,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;that the word should follow
+      the deed, for it is easier to say than to do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;what sin had she committed? She was asleep in her
+      bed, he threatened her with shame and death; Lucrèce, who is so highly
+      praised, did just the same.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is true,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;and I confess that there is none too
+      righteous to fall. But when one has felt great offence in the deed, the
+      same holds good of the recollection; and whereas Lucrèce to efface the
+      latter killed herself, this foolish woman tried to make others laugh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nevertheless,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;it seems that she was a virtuous woman,
+      seeing that she had been many times entreated but would never consent, so
+      that the gentleman must needs resort to treachery and force in order to
+      wrong her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What!&rdquo; said Parlamente. &ldquo;Do you think that a woman has answered for her
+      honour, when she gives herself up after refusing two or three times? There
+      would then be many virtuous women among those that are deemed the
+      opposite, for many of them have been known to refuse for a long while
+      those to whom their hearts had been given, some doing this through fear
+      for their honour, and others in order to make themselves still more
+      ardently loved and esteemed. No account, therefore, should be made of a
+      woman unless she stands firm to the end. But if a man refuse a beautiful
+      girl, do you regard that as great virtue?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Truly,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;if a young and lusty man so refused, I should hold
+      it worthy of high praise, but none the less difficult of belief.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;I know one who refused to partake in amours that
+      were sought after by all his comrades.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;take my place and tell us the tale, yet
+      remember that you must here utter the truth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I promise you,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;that I will tell it in all its
+      simplicity, without any colouring or disguise.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0038" id="linkimage-0038">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/124.jpg" width="100%" alt="124.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0039" id="linkimage-0039">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/125a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="125a. The King Asking The Young Lord to Join his Banquet " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The King asking the Young Lord to join his Banquet]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0040" id="linkimage-0040">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/125.jpg" width="100%" alt="125.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXIII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A gentleman&rsquo;s refusal of an amour that was sought after by
+     all his comrades, was imputed to him as great virtue, and
+     his wife loved him and esteemed him in consequence far more
+     than before</i>. (1)
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the city of Paris there lived four girls, of whom two were sisters, and
+      such was their beauty, youth and freshness, that they were run after by
+      all the gallants. A gentleman, however, who at that time held the office
+      of Provost of Paris (2) from the King, seeing that his master was young,
+      of an age to desire such company, so cleverly contrived matters with all
+      four of the damsels that each, thinking herself intended for the King,
+      agreed to what the aforesaid Provost desired. This was that they should
+      all of them be present at a feast to which he invited his master.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  This story, omitted by Boaistuau, was included in
+     Gruget&rsquo;s edition of the <i>Heptameron</i>.&mdash;L.
+
+     2  This is John de la Barre, already alluded to in Tale I.
+     The <i>Journal d&rsquo;un Bourgeois de Paris</i> tells us that he was
+     born in Paris of poor parents, and became a favourite of
+     Francis I., who appointed him Bailiff of the capital,
+     without requiring him to pay any of the dues attaching to
+     the office. From the roll of the royal household for 1522,
+     we also find that he was then a gentleman of the bed chamber
+     with 1200 <i>livres</i> salary, master of the wardrobe (a post
+     worth 200 <i>livres</i>) and governor of the pages, for the board
+     and clothing of whom he received 5000 <i>livres</i> annually. In
+     1526 he became Provost as well as Bailiff of Paris, the two
+     offices then being amalgamated. He was further created Count
+     of Etampes, and acquired the lordship of Veretz, best
+     remembered by its associations with the murder of Paul Louis
+     Courier. La Barre fought at Pavia, was taken prisoner with
+     the King, and remained his constant companion during his
+     captivity. Several letters of his, dating from this period
+     and of great historical interest, are still extant; some of
+     them have been published by Champollion-Figeac (<i>Captivité
+     de François Ier</i>) and Génin (<i>Lettres de Marguerite, &amp;c</i>).
+     Under date 1533 (o. s.) the &ldquo;Bourgeois de Paris&rdquo; writes in
+     his <i>Journal</i>: &ldquo;At the beginning of March there died in
+     Paris, at the house of Monsieur Poncher, Monsieur le Prévost
+     de Paris, named de La Barre.... The King was then in Paris,
+     at his chateau of the Louvre, and there was great pomp at
+     the obsequies; and he was borne to his lordship of Veretz,
+     near Tours, that he might be buried there.&rdquo; Numerous
+     particulars concerning La Barre will also be found in M. de
+     Laborde&rsquo;s <i>Comptes des Bâtiments du Roi au XVIeme Siècle</i>.&mdash;
+     L. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      He told the latter his plan, which was approved both by the Prince and by
+      two other great personages of the Court, all three agreeing together to
+      share in the spoil.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While they were looking for a fourth comrade, there arrived a handsome and
+      honourable lord who was ten years younger than the others. He was invited
+      to the banquet, but although he accepted with a cheerful countenance, in
+      his heart he had no desire for it. For on the one part he had a wife who
+      was the mother of handsome children, and with whom he lived in great
+      happiness, and in such peacefulness that on no account would he have had
+      her suspect evil of him. And on the other hand he was the lover of one of
+      the handsomest ladies of her time in France, whom he loved and esteemed so
+      greatly that all other women seemed to him ugly beside her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In his early youth, before he was married, he had found it impossible to
+      gaze upon and associate with other women, however beautiful they might be;
+      for he took more delight in gazing upon his sweetheart, and in perfectly
+      loving her, than in having all that another might have given him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This lord, then, went to his wife and told her secretly of the enterprise
+      that his master had in hand, saying that he would rather die than do what
+      he had promised. For (he told her) just as there was no living man whom he
+      would not venture to attack in anger, although he would rather die than
+      commit a causeless and wilful murder unless his honour compelled him to
+      it; even so, unless driven by extreme love, such as may serve to blind
+      virtuous men, he would rather die than break his marriage vow to gratify
+      another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On hearing these words of his, and finding that so much honour dwelt in
+      one so young, his wife loved and esteemed him more than she had ever done
+      before, and inquired how he thought he might best excuse himself, since
+      Princes often frown on those who do not praise what they like.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have always heard,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;that a wise man has a journey or a
+      sickness in his sleeve for use in time of need. I have therefore resolved
+      that I will feign a grievous sickness four or five days beforehand, and in
+      this matter your countenance may render me true service.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tis a worthy and holy hypocrisy,&rdquo; said his wife, &ldquo;and I will not fail to
+      serve you with the saddest face I can command; for he who can avoid
+      offending God and angering the Prince is fortunate indeed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As it was resolved, so was it done, and the King was very sorry to hear
+      from the wife of her husband&rsquo;s sickness. This, however, lasted no long
+      time; for, on account of certain business which arose, the King
+      disregarded his pleasure to attend to his duty, and betook himself away
+      from Paris.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      However, one day, remembering their unfinished undertaking, he said to the
+      young lord:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We were very foolish to leave so suddenly without seeing the four girls
+      who are declared to be the fairest in my kingdom.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am very glad,&rdquo; replied the young lord, &ldquo;that you failed in the matter,
+      for I was in great fear that, by reason of my sickness, I should be the
+      only one to miss so pleasant an adventure.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      By reason of this answer the King never suspected the dissimulation of the
+      young lord, who was thenceforward loved by his wife more dearly than he
+      had ever been before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hereupon Parlamente began to laugh, and could not hold from saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He would have loved his wife better if he had done this for love of her
+      alone. But in any case he is worthy of great praise.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems to me,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that it is no great merit in a man to keep
+      his chastity for love of his wife, inasmuch as there are many reasons
+      which in a manner compel him to do so. In the first place, God commands
+      it; his marriage vow binds him to it, and, further, surfeited nature is
+      not liable to temptation or desire as necessity is. But when the
+      unfettered love that a man bears towards a mistress of whom he has no
+      delight, and no other happiness save that of seeing her and speaking with
+      her, and from whom he often receives harsh replies&mdash;when this love is
+      so loyal and steadfast that nothing can ever make it change, I say that
+      such chastity is not simply praiseworthy but miraculous.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis no miracle in my opinion,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;for when the heart is
+      plighted, nothing is impossible to the body.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;True,&rdquo; said Hircan; &ldquo;to bodies which have become those of angels.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not speak only of those,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;who by the grace of God are
+      wholly transformed into Himself, but of the grosser spirits that we see
+      here below among men. And, if you give heed, you will find that those who
+      have set their hearts and affections upon seeking after the perfection of
+      the sciences, have forgotten not only the lust of the flesh, but even the
+      most needful matters, such as food and drink; for so long as the soul is
+      stirred within the body, so long does the flesh continue as though
+      insensible. Thence comes it that those who love handsome, honourable and
+      virtuous women have such happiness of spirit in seeing them and speaking
+      with them, that the flesh is lulled in all its desires. Those who cannot
+      feel this happiness are the carnally-minded, who, wrapped in their
+      exceeding fatness, cannot tell whether they have a soul or not. But, when
+      the body is in subjection to the spirit, it is as though heedless of the
+      failings of the flesh, and the beliefs of such persons may render them
+      insensible of the same. I knew a gentleman who, to show that he loved his
+      mistress more dearly than did any other man, proved it to all his comrades
+      by holding his bare fingers in the flame of a candle. And then, with his
+      eyes fixed upon his mistress, he remained firm until he had burned himself
+      to the bone, and yet said that he had felt no hurt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;that the devil whose martyr he was ought to
+      have made a St. Lawrence of him; for there are few whose love-flame is hot
+      enough to keep them from fearing that of the smallest taper. But if a lady
+      had suffered me to endure so much hurt for her sake, I should either have
+      sought a rich reward or else have taken my love away from her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;you would have your hour after the lady had had
+      hers? That was what was done by a gentleman of the neighbourhood of
+      Valencia in Spain, whose story was told to me by a captain, a right worthy
+      man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, madam,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;take my place and tell it us, for I
+      am sure that it must be a good one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This story, ladies,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;will teach you both to think twice
+      when you are inclined to give a refusal and to lay aside the thought that
+      the present will always continue; and so, knowing that it is subject to
+      mutation, you will have a care for the time to come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0041" id="linkimage-0041">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/132.jpg" width="100%" alt="132.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0042" id="linkimage-0042">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/133a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="133a. The Lady Swooning in The Arms of The Gentleman Of Valencia Who Had Become a Monk " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Lady Swooning in the Arms of the Gentleman of Valencia who had become
+      a Monk]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0043" id="linkimage-0043">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/133.jpg" width="100%" alt="133.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXIV</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>After a lady had for the space of five or six years made
+     trial of the love that a certain gentleman bore her, she
+     desired to have a still stronger proof of it, and reduced
+     him to such despair that he turned monk, on which account
+     she was not able to win him back again when she would fain
+     have done so</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the city of Valencia there lived a gentleman, who for the space of five
+      or six years had loved a lady so perfectly that the honour and conscience
+      of neither of them had taken any hurt; for his intent was to have her as
+      his wife, and this was reasonable, seeing that he was handsome, rich and
+      of good descent. But, before he became her lover, he first inquired
+      concerning her own mind, whereupon she declared herself willing to marry
+      according to the counsels of her kinsfolk. The latter, being come together
+      for the purpose, deemed the marriage a very reasonable one provided that
+      the maiden was herself disposed to it; but she&mdash;whether because she
+      thought to do better or because she wished to hide her love for him&mdash;-made
+      some difficulty, and the company separated, not without regret at having
+      failed to conclude a match so well suited to both parties.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The most grieved of all was the poor gentleman, who would have borne his
+      misfortune with patience had he thought that the fault lay with the
+      kinsfolk and not with her; but he knew the truth, and the knowledge was to
+      him worse than death. So, without speaking to his sweetheart or to any
+      other person, he withdrew to his own house, and, after setting his affairs
+      in order, betook himself to a solitary spot, where he strove to forget his
+      love and change it wholly to that love of our Lord which were truly a
+      higher duty than the other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During this time he received no tidings of his mistress or her kindred,
+      and he therefore resolved that, since he had failed to obtain the happiest
+      life he could hope for, he would choose the most austere and disagreeable
+      that he could imagine. With this sad intent, which might well have been
+      called despair, he went and became a monk in the monastery of St. Francis.
+      This monastery was not far from the dwellings of divers of his kinsfolk,
+      who, on hearing of his desperate condition, did all that in them lay to
+      hinder his purpose; but this was so firmly rooted in his heart that it was
+      not possible to turn him from it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nevertheless, as the source of his distemper was known to them, they
+      determined to seek the cure, and so repaired to her who was the cause of
+      his sudden devoutness. She was greatly astonished and grieved by this
+      mischance, for, in refusing for a time, she had thought only to test his
+      affection, not to lose it for ever. Seeing now the evident risk that she
+      ran of doing this last, she sent him a letter, which, ill-translated, was
+      as follows:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Since love, if tested not full needfully,
+     Steadfast and faithful is not shown to be,
+     By length of time my heart would that assay
+     Whereon itself was set to love alway&mdash;
+     To wit, a husband with that true love filled
+     Such as no lapsing time has ever killed.
+     This, then, was the sole reason that I drew
+     My kin to hinder for a year or two
+     That closest tie which lasts till life is not,
+     And whereby woe is oftentimes begot.
+     Yet sought I not to have you wholly sent
+     Away; such was in no wise my intent,
+     For none save you could I have e&rsquo;er adored
+     Or looked to as my husband and my lord.
+     But woe is me, what tidings reach mine ear!
+     That you, to lead the cloistered life austere,
+     Are gone with speech to none; whereat the pain
+     That ever holds me, now can brook no rein,
+     But forces me mine own estate to slight
+     For that which yours aforetime was of right;
+     To seek him out who once sought me alone,
+     And win him who myself has sometimes won.
+     Nay then, my love, life of the life in me,
+     For loss of whom I fain would cease to be,
+     Turn hither, graciously, those eyes of pain
+     And trace those wandering footsteps back again.
+     Leave the grey robe and its austerity,
+     Come back and taste of that felicity
+     Which often you desired, and which to-day
+     Time has nor slain, nor swept away.
+     For you alone I&rsquo;ve kept myself; and I,
+     Lacking your presence, cannot choose but die.
+     Come back then; in your sweetheart have belief,
+     And for past memories find cool relief
+     In holy marriage-ties. Ah! then, my dear,
+     To me, not to your pride give ready ear,
+     And rest of this assured, I had no thought
+     To give, sweetheart, to you offence in aught,
+     But only yearned your faithfulness to prove
+     And then to make you happy with my love.
+     But now that through this trial, free from scathe,
+     Are come your steadfastness and patient faith,
+     And all that loyal love to me is known,
+     Which at the last has made me yours alone,
+     Come, my beloved, take what is your due
+     And wholly yield to me, as I to you!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      This letter, brought by a friend of hers with every remonstrance that it
+      was possible to make, was received and read by the gentleman friar with
+      such sadness of countenance, such sighs and such tears, that it seemed as
+      though he would drown and burn the poor epistle. But he made no reply to
+      it, except to tell the messenger that the mortification of his exceeding
+      passion had cost him so dear as to have taken from him both the wish to
+      live and the fear to die. He therefore requested her who had been the
+      cause of this, that since she had not chosen to satisfy his passionate
+      longings, she would, now that he was rid of them, abstain from tormenting
+      him, and rest content with the evil which was past. For that evil he could
+      find no remedy but the choice of an austere life, which by continual
+      penance might bring him to forget his grief, and, by fasts and
+      disciplines, subdue his body, till the thought of death should be to him
+      but a sovereign consolation. Above all, he begged that he might never hear
+      of her, since he found the mere remembrance of her name a purgatory not to
+      be endured.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman went back with this mournful reply, and reported it to the
+      maiden who did not hear it without intolerable sorrow. But Love, which
+      will not suffer the spirit utterly to fail, gave her the thought that, if
+      she could see him, her words and presence might be of more effect than the
+      writing. She therefore, with her father and the nearest of her kin, went
+      to the monastery where he abode. She had left nothing in her box that
+      might set off her beauty, for she felt sure that, could he but once look
+      at her and hear her, the fire that had so long dwelt in both their hearts
+      must of necessity be kindled again in greater strength than before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Coming thus into the monastery towards the end of vespers, she sent for
+      him to come to her in a chapel that was in the cloister. He, knowing not
+      who it was that sought him, went in all ignorance to the sternest battle
+      in which he had ever been. When she saw him so pale and wan that she could
+      hardly recognise him, yet filled with grace, in no whit less winning than
+      of yore, Love made her stretch out her arms to embrace him, whilst her
+      pity at seeing him in such a plight so enfeebled her heart, that she sank
+      swooning to the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor monk, who was not void of brotherly charity, lifted her up and
+      set her upon a seat in the chapel. Although he had no less need of aid
+      than she had, he feigned to be unaware of her passion, and so strengthened
+      his heart in the love of God against the opportunities now present with
+      him, that, judging by his countenance, he seemed not to know what was
+      actually before him. Having recovered from her weakness, she turned upon
+      him her beautiful, piteous eyes, which were enough to soften a rock, and
+      began to utter all such discourse as she believed apt to draw him from the
+      place in which he now was. He replied as virtuously as he was able; but at
+      last, finding that his heart was being softened by his sweetheart&rsquo;s
+      abundant tears, and perceiving that Love, the cruel archer whose pains he
+      long had known, was ready with his golden dart to deal him fresh and more
+      deadly wounds, he fled both from Love and from his sweetheart, like one
+      whose only resource lay, indeed, in flight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he was shut up in his room, not desiring to let her go without some
+      settlement of the matter, he wrote her a few words in Spanish, which seem
+      to me so excellent in their matter that I would not by translating them
+      mar their grace. These were brought to her by a little novice, who found
+      her still in the chapel and in such despair that, had it been lawful, she
+      too would have remained there and turned friar. But when she saw the
+      words, which were these&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Volvete don venesti, anima mia,
+     Que en las tristas vidas es la mia,&rdquo; (1)
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      she knew that all hope was gone, and she resolved to follow the advice of
+      him and her friends, and so returned home, there to lead a life as
+      melancholy as that of her lover in his monastery was austere.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  &ldquo;Return whence thou earnest, my soul,
+     for among the sad lives is mine.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see, ladies, what vengeance the gentleman took upon his harsh
+      sweetheart, who, thinking to try him, reduced him to such despair that,
+      when she would have regained him, she could not do so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am sorry,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;that he did not lay aside his gown and
+      marry her. It would, I think, have been a perfect marriage.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In good sooth,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;I think he was very wise. Anyone who
+      well considers what marriage is will deem it no less grievous than a
+      monkish life. Moreover, being so greatly weakened by fasts and abstinence,
+      he feared to take upon him a burden of that kind which lasts all through
+      life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;she wronged so feeble a man by tempting him to
+      marriage, for &lsquo;tis too much for the strongest man alive; but had she
+      spoken to him of love, free from any obligation but that of the will,
+      there is no friar&rsquo;s cord that would not have been untied. However, since
+      she sought to draw him out of purgatory by offering him hell, I think that
+      he was quite right to refuse her, and to let her feel the pain that her
+      own refusal had cost him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By my word,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;there are many who, thinking to do better
+      than their fellows, do either worse or else the very opposite of what they
+      desire.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Truly,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;you remind me&mdash;though, indeed, the matter is
+      not greatly to the point&mdash;of a woman who did the opposite of what she
+      desired, and so caused a great uproar in the church of St. John of Lyons.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;take my place and tell us about it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My story,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;will not be so long or so piteous as the one we
+      have heard from Parlamente.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0044" id="linkimage-0044">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/141.jpg" width="100%" alt="141.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0045" id="linkimage-0045">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/143a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="143a. The Old Woman Startled by The Waking of The Soldier " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Old Woman startled by the Waking of the Soldier]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0046" id="linkimage-0046">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/143.jpg" width="100%" alt="143.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXV</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Though the priests of St. John of Lyons would fain have
+     concealed it, the falsity of a miracle was brought to light
+     through an old woman&rsquo;s folly becoming known</i>. (1)
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the church of St. John of Lyons there is a very dark chapel, and inside
+      it a stone tomb with figures of great personages raised life-like upon it,
+      whilst several men-at-arms lie all around it.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  We believe that the incident here narrated occurred early
+     in 1525, when Margaret is known to have been at Lyons. She
+     and her husband (on his return from Pavia) resided there at
+     the house of the Obédiencier de St. Just, and it was in the
+     church of St. Just that the Duke of Alençon was buried.
+     Doubtless it was during his illness that the <i>novena</i>
+     alluded to in the final tale of the <i>Heptameron</i> was
+     performed by Queen Margaret at the church of St. John of
+     Lyons, where the two most important chapels, according to
+     Quincarnon&rsquo;s <i>Antiquités et la fondation de la Métropole
+     des Gaules, &amp;c.</i>, Lyons, 1673, were the Most Holy Eucharist,
+     or Bourbon chapel, built in 1449 by Charles de Bourbon,
+     Primate of Gaul, and the Holy Sepulchre, or Good Friday
+     chapel, erected at the beginning of the fifteenth century by
+     Philip de Turey, Archbishop of Lyons. Unfortunately the
+     church of St. John was in 1652 devastated by the Huguenots,
+     who in their insensate fury destroyed almost all the tombs.
+     It is therefore now impossible to identify the chapel and
+     tomb to which the Queen of Navarre refers in the above
+     story, though her allusion to the dimness of the light would
+     incline us to place the incident she recounts in the
+     Chapelle du St. Sépulcre.&mdash;L. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      One day a soldier, walking in the church at the very height of summer,
+      felt inclined to sleep, and, looking at this dark, cool chapel, resolved
+      to go and guard the tomb in sleep like the rest; (2) and accordingly he
+      lay down beside them. Now it chanced that a very pious old woman came in
+      while his sleep was the soundest, and having performed her devotions,
+      holding a lighted taper in her hand, she sought to fix this taper to the
+      tomb. Finding that the sleeping man was nearest to her, she tried to set
+      it upon his forehead, thinking that it was of stone; but the wax would not
+      stick to such stone as this, whereupon the worthy dame, believing that the
+      reason of it was the coldness of the statue, applied the flame to the
+      sleeper&rsquo;s forehead, that she might the better fix the taper on it. At
+      this, however, the statue, which was not without feeling, began to cry
+      out.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  Meaning the recumbent statues of the men-at-arms.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The good woman was then in exceeding fear, and set herself to shout, &ldquo;A
+      miracle! a miracle!&rdquo; until all who were in the church ran, some to ring
+      the bells, and the rest to view the miracle. The good woman forthwith took
+      them to see the statue that had stirred, whereupon many found food for
+      laughter; though the greater number were unable to feel any content,
+      inasmuch as they had really determined to make profit out of the tomb, and
+      to gain as much money by it as by the crucifix on their pulpit, which is
+      said to have spoken. (3) But when the woman&rsquo;s folly became known the farce
+      came to an end. If all knew of their follies, they would not be accounted
+      holy nor their miracles true. And I would beg you, ladies, to see
+      henceforward to what saints you offer your candles. (4)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  The crucifix in the church of St. John was mainly of
+     silver, and, according to Quincarnon, at the time of a
+     Huguenot outbreak at Lyons it was thrown to the ground by a
+     Calvinist minister named Ruffy, who, after reducing it to
+     fragments, carried all the precious metal away with him.&mdash;M.
+
+     4  The latter portion of this story and all the dialogue
+     that follows it are omitted by Boaistuau in his edition.
+     Gruget inserted the dialogue, but he did not dare to print
+     the passage respecting the talking crucifix.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis notable,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that, whatever the matter in question may
+      be, women always do wrong.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it wrong,&rdquo; asked Nomerfide, &ldquo;to bring candles to a tomb?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;if the flame be turned against a man&rsquo;s forehead; for
+      nothing good should be called good if it be attended with evil. You may be
+      sure that the poor woman thought she had made a fine gift to God with her
+      little candle.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I look not to the gift,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;but to the heart that offers it.
+      Perhaps this worthy woman had more love for God than those who offer great
+      torches; for, as the Gospel says, she gave of her need.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Still, I no not believe,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;that God, who is sovereign
+      wisdom, can be pleased with the foolishness of women. Although simplicity
+      is pleasing to Him, I see from the Scriptures that He despises the
+      ignorant; and if He commands us to be as harmless as the dove, He none the
+      less commands us to be wise like the serpent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For my part,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;I do not call the woman ignorant who brings
+      her candle or burning taper into the presence of God, and makes amends for
+      her wrongdoing on bended knees before her sovereign Lord, confessing her
+      unworthiness and with steadfast hope seeking pity and salvation.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Would to God,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;that all understood it in the same way as
+      you; but I do not believe that these poor fools do it with the intent you
+      say.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The women,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;who are least able to speak are just those who
+      are most sensible of the love and will of God; wherefore &lsquo;tis well to
+      judge none but ourselves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ennasuite laughed and said&mdash;&ldquo;&lsquo;Tis no wonderful thing to have
+      frightened a sleeping varlet, since women of as lowly condition have
+      frightened noble Princes, without putting fire to their foreheads.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am sure,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;that you know some such story, which you are
+      willing to relate; wherefore, if it please you, you shall take my place.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The tale will not be a long one,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;but, could I recount
+      it just as it happened, you would have no desire to weep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0047" id="linkimage-0047">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/147.jpg" width="100%" alt="147.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0048" id="linkimage-0048">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/149a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="149a. The Old Serving-woman Explaining Her Mistake To The Duke and Duchess of Vendôme " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Old Serving-woman explaining her Mistake <br /> to the Duke and
+      Duchess of Vendôme]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0049" id="linkimage-0049">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/149.jpg" width="100%" alt="149.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXVI</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>The Duke of Vendôme and the Princess of Navarre, whilst
+     resting together one afternoon, were surprised by an old
+     serving-woman, who took them for a prothonotary and a damsel
+     between whom she suspected some affection; and, through this
+     fine justicement, a matter, of which intimates were
+     ignorant, was made known to strangers</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the year when the Duke of Vendôme married the Princess of Navarre, (1)
+      the King and Queen, their parents, after feasting at Vendôme, went with
+      them into Guienne, and, visiting a gentleman&rsquo;s house where there were many
+      honourable and beautiful ladies, the newly married pair danced so long in
+      this excellent company that they became weary, and, withdrawing to their
+      chamber, lay down in their clothes upon the bed and fell asleep, doors and
+      windows being shut and none remaining with them.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  It was in October 1548, some eighteen months after Henry
+     II. had succeeded Francis I., that Anthony de Bourbon, Duke
+     of Vendôme, who after the King&rsquo;s children held the first
+     rank in France, was married at Moulins to Margaret&rsquo;s
+     daughter Jane of Navarre. The Duke was then thirty and Jane
+     twenty years old. &ldquo;I never saw so joyous a bride,&rdquo; wrote
+     Henry II. to Montmorency, &ldquo;she never does anything but
+     laugh.&rdquo; She was indeed well pleased with the match, the
+     better so, perhaps, as her husband had settled 100,000
+     livres on her, a gift which was the more acceptable by
+     reason of her extravagant tastes and love of display. Ste.
+     Marthe, in his <i>Oraison Funèbre</i> on Queen Margaret, speaks
+     of her daughter&rsquo;s marriage as &ldquo;a most fortunate
+     conjunction,&rdquo; and refers to her son-in-law as &ldquo;the most
+     valiant and magnanimous Prince Anthony, Duke of Vendôme,
+     whose admirable virtues have so inclined all France to love
+     and revere him, that princes and nobles, the populace, the
+     great and the humble alike, no sooner hear his name
+     mentioned than they forthwith wish him and beg God to bestow
+     on him all possible health and prosperity.&rdquo;&mdash;Ed
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Just, however, when their sleep was at its soundest, they were awakened by
+      their door being opened from without, and the Duke drew the curtain and
+      looked to see who it might be, suspecting indeed that it was one of his
+      friends who was minded to surprise him. But he perceived a tall, old
+      bed-chamber woman come in and walk straight up to their bed, where, for
+      the darkness of the room, she could not recognise them. Seeing them,
+      however, quite close together, she began to cry out&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou vile and naughty wanton! I have long suspected thee to be what thou
+      art, yet for lack of proof spoke not of it to my mistress. But now thy
+      vileness is so clearly shown that I shall in no sort conceal it; and thou,
+      foul renegade, who hast wrought such shame in this house by the undoing of
+      this poor wench, if it were not for the fear of God, I would e&rsquo;en cudgel
+      thee where thou liest. Get up, in the devil&rsquo;s name, get up, for methinks
+      even now thou hast no shame.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke of Vendôme and the Princess hid their faces against each other in
+      order to have the talk last longer, and they laughed so heartily that they
+      were not able to utter a word. Finding that for all her threats they were
+      not willing to rise, the serving-woman came closer in order to pull them
+      by the arms. Then she at once perceived both from their faces and from
+      their dress that they were not those whom she sought, and, recognising
+      them, she flung herself upon her knees, begging them to pardon her error
+      in thus robbing them of their rest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the Duke of Vendôme was not content to know so little, and rising
+      forthwith, he begged the old woman to say for whom she had taken them.
+      This at first she was not willing to do; but at last, after he had sworn
+      to her never to reveal it, she told him that there was a girl in the house
+      with whom a prothonotary (2) was in love, and that she had long kept a
+      watch on them, since it pleased her little to see her mistress trusting in
+      a man who was working this shame towards her. She then left the Prince and
+      Princess shut in as she had found them, and they laughed for a long while
+      over their adventure. And, although they afterwards told the story they
+      would never name any of the persons concerned.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  The office of apostolic prothonotary was instituted by
+     Pope Clement I., there being at first twelve such officers,
+     whose duty was to write the lives of the saints and other
+     apostolic records. Gradually their number so increased, that
+     in the fifteenth century the title of prothonotary had come
+     to be merely an honorary dignity, conferred as a matter of
+     course on doctors of theology of noble family, or otherwise
+     of note. In the role of Francis I.&lsquo;s household for 1522, we
+     find but one prothonotary mentioned, but in that for 1529
+     there are twelve. More than one of them might have been
+     called <i>un letrado que no tenia muchas letras</i>, as Brantôme
+     wrote of Thomas de Lescun, Prothonotary of Foix and
+     afterwards Marshal of France. &ldquo;In those days,&rdquo; adds the
+     author of <i>Les Grands Capitaines Français</i>, &ldquo;it was usual
+     for prothonotaries and even for those of good family not to
+     have much learning, but to enjoy themselves, hunt, make love
+     and seduce the wives of the poor gentlemen who were gone to
+     the wars.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>OEuvres complètes de Brantôme</i>, 8vo edit., vol.
+     ii. p. 144.&mdash;L. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see, ladies, how the worthy dame, whilst thinking to do a fine deed
+      of justice, made known to strange princes a matter of which the servants
+      of the house had never heard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think I know,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;in whose house it was, and who the
+      prothonotary is; for he has governed many a lady&rsquo;s house, and when he
+      cannot win the mistress&rsquo;s favour he never fails to have that of one of the
+      maids. In other matters, however, he is an honourable and worthy man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why do you say &lsquo;in other matters&rsquo;?&rdquo; said Hircan. &ldquo;Tis for that very
+      behaviour that I deem him so worthy a man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can see,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;that you know the sickness and the
+      sufferer, and that, if he needed excuse, you would not fail him as
+      advocate. Yet I would not trust myself to a man who could not contrive his
+      affairs without having them known to the serving-women.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And do you imagine,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;that men care whether such a matter
+      be known if only they can compass their end? You may be sure that, even if
+      none spoke of it but themselves, it would still of necessity be known.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They have no need,&rdquo; said Hircan angrily, &ldquo;to say all that they know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps,&rdquo; she replied, blushing, &ldquo;they would not say it to their own
+      advantage.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Judging from your words,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;it would seem that men
+      delight in hearing evil spoken about women, and I am sure that you reckon
+      me among men of that kind. I therefore greatly wish to speak well of one
+      of your sex, in order that I may not be held a slanderer by all the rest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I give you my place,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;praying you withal to control your
+      natural disposition, so that you may acquit yourself worthily in our
+      honour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Forthwith Simontault began&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tis no new thing, ladies, to hear of some virtuous act on your part
+      which, methinks, should not be hidden but rather written in letters of
+      gold, that it may serve women as an example, and give men cause for
+      admiration at seeing in the weaker sex that from which weakness is prone
+      to shrink. I am prompted, therefore, to relate something that I heard from
+      Captain Robertval and divers of his company.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0050" id="linkimage-0050">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/154.jpg" width="100%" alt="154.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0051" id="linkimage-0051">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/155a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="155a. The Wife Reading to Her Husband on The Desert Island " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Wife Reading to her Husband on the Desert Island]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0052" id="linkimage-0052">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/155.jpg" width="100%" alt="155.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXVII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A poor woman risked her own life to save that of her
+     husband, whom she forsook not until death</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The Captain Robertval aforesaid once made a voyage across the seas to the
+      island of Canadas, (1) himself being chief in command by the appointment
+      of the King, his master. And there, if the air of the country were good,
+      he had resolved to dwell and to build towns and castles. With this work he
+      made such a beginning as is known to all; and to people the country with
+      Christians he took with him all kinds of artificers, among whom was a most
+      wicked man, who betrayed his master and put him in danger of being
+      captured by the natives. But God willed that his attempt should be
+      discovered before any evil befell the Captain, who, seizing the wicked
+      traitor, was minded to punish him as he deserved. And this he would have
+      done but for the man&rsquo;s wife, who had followed her husband through the
+      perils of the deep and would not now leave him to die, but with many tears
+      so wrought upon the Captain and all his company that, for pity of her and
+      for the sake of the services she had done them, her request was granted.
+      In consequence, husband and wife were left together on a small island in
+      the sea, inhabited only by wild beasts, and were suffered to take with
+      them such things as were needful.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  Canada had been discovered by Cabot in 1497; and in 1535
+     James Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence and, taking
+     possession of the country in the name of Francis I., called
+     it La Nouvelle France. Seven years later a gentleman of
+     Picardy, named John Francis de La Roque, Lord of Robertval,
+     accompanying Cartier, established a colony on the Isle
+     Royale, and subsequently built the fort of Charlebourg. One
+     of his pilots, named Alphonse of Saintonge, meanwhile
+     reconnoitred the coasts both of Canada and Labrador. About
+     this time (1542) the incidents related in the above tale
+     must have occurred.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The poor folk, finding themselves all alone and surrounded by wild and
+      cruel beasts, had no recourse but to God, who had ever been this poor
+      woman&rsquo;s steadfast hope; and, since she found all her consolation in Him,
+      she carried the New Testament with her for safeguard, nourishment and
+      consolation, and in it read unceasingly. Further, she laboured with her
+      husband to make them a little dwelling as best they might, and when the
+      lions (2) and other animals came near to devour them, the husband with his
+      arquebuss and she with stones made so stout a defence that not only were
+      the beasts afraid to approach, but often some were slain that were very
+      good for food. And on this flesh and the herbs of the land, they lived for
+      some time after their bread failed them.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  This mention of lions on a small desert island in the
+     Canadian seas would be rather perplexing did we not know how
+     great at that time was the general ignorance on most matters
+     connected with natural history. Possibly the allusion may be
+     to the <i>lion marin</i>, as the French call the leonine seal.
+     This, however, is anything but an aggressive animal.
+     Curiously enough, Florimond de Rémond, the sixteenth century
+     writer, speaks of a drawing of a &ldquo;marine lion&rdquo; given to him
+     &ldquo;by that most illustrious lady Margaret Queen of Navarre, to
+     whom it had been presented by a Spanish gentleman, who was
+     taking a second copy of it to the Emperor Charles V., then
+     in Spain.&rdquo;&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      At last, however, the husband could no longer endure this nutriment, and
+      by reason of the waters that they drank became so swollen that in a short
+      while he died, and this without any service or consolation save from his
+      wife, she being both his doctor and his confessor; and when he had
+      joyously passed out of the desert into the heavenly country, the poor
+      woman, left now in solitude, buried him in the earth as deeply as she was
+      able. Nevertheless the beasts quickly knew of it, and came to eat the dead
+      body; but the poor woman, firing with the arquebuss from her cabin, saved
+      her husband&rsquo;s flesh from finding such a grave.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Leading thus in regard to her body the life of a brute, and in regard to
+      her soul the life of an angel, she passed her time in reading,
+      meditations, prayers and orisons, having a glad and happy mind in a wasted
+      and half-dead body. But He who never forsakes His own, and who manifests
+      His power when others are in despair, did not suffer the virtue that he
+      had put into this woman to be unknown by men, but willed that it should be
+      made manifest to His own glory. He therefore brought things so to pass,
+      that after some time, when one of the ships of the armament was passing by
+      the island, those that were looking that way perceived some smoke, which
+      reminded them of the persons who had been left there, and they resolved to
+      go and see what God had done with them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor woman, seeing the ship draw nigh, dragged herself to the shore,
+      and there they found her on their arrival. After giving praise to God, she
+      brought them to her poor cottage and showed them on what she had lived
+      during her abode in that place. This would have seemed to them impossible
+      of belief, but for their knowledge that God is as powerful to feed His
+      servants in a desert as at the greatest banquet in the world. As the poor
+      woman could not continue in such a spot, they took her with them straight
+      to La Rochelle, where, their voyage ended, they arrived. And when they had
+      made known to the inhabitants the faithfulness and endurance of this
+      woman, she was very honourably received by all the ladies, who gladly sent
+      their daughters to her to learn to read and write. In this honest calling
+      she maintained herself for the rest of her life, having no other desire
+      save to admonish every one to love and trust Our Lord, and setting forth
+      as an example the great compassion that He had shown towards her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, ladies, you cannot say I do not praise the virtues which God has
+      given you, and which show the more when possessed by one of lowly
+      condition.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, we are not sorry,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;to hear you praise the mercies of
+      Our Lord, for in truth all virtue comes from Him; but we must confess that
+      man assists in the work of God as little as women. Neither can by heart or
+      will do more than plant. God alone giveth the increase.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you have studied Scripture,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;you know that St. Paul
+      says that Apollos planted and he himself watered; (3) but he does not
+      speak of women as having set hand to the work of God.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  The text is just the contrary: &ldquo;I have planted, Apollos
+     watered; but God gave the increase.&rdquo;&mdash;I <i>Corinthians</i> iii.
+     6.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You would follow,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;the opinion of those wicked men who
+      take a passage of Scripture that is in their favour and leave one that is
+      against them. If you had read St. Paul to the end, you would have found
+      that he commends himself to the ladies, who greatly laboured with him in
+      the work of the Gospel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;However that may be,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;the woman in the story is well
+      worthy of praise both for the love she bore her husband, on whose behalf
+      she risked her own life, and for the faith she had in God, who, as we see,
+      did not forsake her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;as far as the first is concerned, that there
+      is no woman present but would do as much to save her husband&rsquo;s life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;that some husbands are such brutes that the
+      women who live with them should not find it strange to live among their
+      fellows.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ennasuite, who took these words to herself, could not refrain from saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Provided the beasts did not bite me, their company would be more pleasant
+      to me than that of men, who are choleric and intolerable. But I abide by
+      what I have said, that, if my husband were in a like danger, I should not
+      leave him to die.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Beware,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;of loving too fondly, for excess of love will
+      deceive both him and you. There is a medium in all things, and through
+      lack of knowledge love often gives birth to hate.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;you have not carried your discourse so far
+      without having an instance to confirm it. If, then, you know such a one, I
+      give you my place that you may tell it to us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;the tale shall, as is my wont, be a short and a
+      merry one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0053" id="linkimage-0053">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/161.jpg" width="100%" alt="161.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0054" id="linkimage-0054">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/163a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="163a. The Apothecary&rsquo;s Wife Giving The Dose of Cantharides To Her Husband " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Apothecary&rsquo;s Wife giving the Dose of Cantharides <br /> to her
+      Husband]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0055" id="linkimage-0055">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/163.jpg" width="100%" alt="163.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXVIII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>An apothecary&rsquo;s wife, finding that her husband made no
+     great account of her, and wishing to be better loved by him,
+     followed the advice that he had given to a &ldquo;commère&rdquo; (1) of
+     his, whose sickness was of the same kind as her own; but she
+     prospered not so well as the other, and instead of love
+     reaped hate</i>.
+
+     1  Mr W. Kelly has pointed out (Bohn&rsquo;s <i>Heptameron</i>, p. 395)
+     that in France the godfather and godmother of a child are
+     called in reference to each other compère and commère, terms
+     implying mutual relations of an extremely friendly kind. &ldquo;The
+     same usage exists in all Catholic countries,&rdquo; adds Mr Kelly,
+     &ldquo;and one of the novels of the <i>Decameron</i> is founded on a
+     very general opinion in Italy that an amorous connection
+     between a <i>compadre</i> and his <i>commadre</i> partook almost of
+     the nature of incest.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      In the town of Pau in Beam there was an apothecary whom men called Master
+      Stephen. He had married a virtuous wife and a thrifty, with beauty enough
+      to content him. But just as he was wont to taste different drugs, so did
+      he also with women, that he might be the better able to speak of all
+      kinds. His wife was greatly tormented by this, and at last lost all
+      patience; for he made no account of her except by way of penance during
+      Holy Week.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day when the apothecary was in his shop, and his wife had hidden
+      herself behind him to listen to what he might say, a woman, who was
+      &ldquo;commère&rdquo; to the apothecary, and was stricken with the same sickness as
+      his own wife, came in, and, sighing, said to him&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alas, good godfather, I am the most unhappy woman alive. I love my
+      husband better than myself, and do nothing but think of how I may serve
+      and obey him; but all my labour is wasted, for he prefers the wickedest,
+      foulest, vilest woman in the town to me. So, godfather, if you know of any
+      drug that will change his humour, prithee give it me, and, if I be well
+      treated by him, I promise to reward you by all means in my power.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The apothecary, to comfort her, said that he knew of a powder which, if
+      she gave it to her husband with his broth or roast, after the fashion of
+      Duke&rsquo;s powder, (2) would induce him to entertain her in the best possible
+      manner. The poor woman, wishing to behold this miracle, asked him what the
+      powder was, and whether she could have some of it. He declared that there
+      was nothing like powder of cantharides, of which he had a goodly store;
+      and before they parted she made him prepare this powder, and took as much
+      of it as was needful for her purpose. And afterwards she often thanked the
+      apothecary, for her husband, who was strong and lusty, and did not take
+      too much, was none the worse for it.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  Boaistuau and Gruget call this preparation <i>poudre de
+     Dun</i>, as enigmatical an appellation as <i>poudre de Duc</i>. As
+     for the specific supplied by the apothecary, the context
+     shows that this was the same aphrodisiac as the Marquis de
+     Sades put to such a detestable use at Marseilles in 1772,
+     when, after fleeing from justice, he was formally sentenced
+     to death, and broken, in effigy, upon the wheel. See P.
+     Lacroix&rsquo;s <i>Curiosités de l&rsquo;histoire de France, IIème Série</i>,
+     Paris, 1858.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The apothecary&rsquo;s wife heard all this talk, and thought within herself that
+      she had no less need of the recipe than her husband&rsquo;s &ldquo;commère.&rdquo;
+       Observing, therefore, the place where her husband put the remainder of the
+      powder, she resolved that she would use some of it when she found an
+      opportunity; and this she did within three or four days. Her husband, who
+      felt a coldness of the stomach, begged her to make him some good soup, but
+      she replied that a roast with Duke&rsquo;s powder would be better for him;
+      whereupon he bade her go quickly and prepare it, and take cinnamon and
+      sugar from the shop. This she did, not forgetting also to take the
+      remainder of the powder given to the &ldquo;commère,&rdquo; without any heed to dose,
+      weight or measure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The husband ate the roast, and thought it very good. Before long, however,
+      he felt its effects, and sought to soothe them with his wife, but this he
+      found was impossible, for he felt all on fire, in such wise that he knew
+      not which way to turn. He then told his wife that she had poisoned him,
+      and demanded to know what she had put into the roast. She forthwith
+      confessed the truth, telling him that she herself required the recipe
+      quite as much as his &ldquo;commère.&rdquo; By reason of his evil plight, the poor
+      apothecary could belabour her only with hard words; however, he drove her
+      from his presence, and sent to beg the Queen of Navarre&rsquo;s apothecary (3)
+      to come and see him. This the Queen&rsquo;s apothecary did, and whilst giving
+      the other all the remedies proper for his cure (which in a short time was
+      effected) he rebuked him very sharply for his folly in counselling another
+      to use drugs that he was not willing to take himself, and declared that
+      his wife had only done her duty, inasmuch as she had desired to be loved
+      by her husband.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  It was from her apothecary no doubt that Queen Margaret
+     heard this story.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Thus the poor man was forced to endure the results of his folly in
+      patience, and to own that he had been justly punished in being brought
+      into such derision as he had proposed for another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks, ladies, this woman&rsquo;s love was as indiscreet as it was great.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you call it loving her husband,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;to give him pain for
+      the sake of the delight that she herself looked to have?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;she only desired to win back her husband&rsquo;s
+      love, which she deemed to have gone far astray; and for the sake of such
+      happiness there is nothing that a woman will not do.&rdquo; &ldquo;Nevertheless,&rdquo; said
+      Geburon, &ldquo;a woman ought on no account to make her husband eat or drink
+      anything unless, either through her own experience or that of learned
+      folk, she be sure that it can do him no harm. Ignorance, however, must be
+      excused, and hers was worthy of excuse; for the most blinding passion is
+      love, and the most blinded of persons is a woman, since she has not
+      strength enough to conduct so weighty a matter wisely.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Geburon,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;you are departing from your own excellent custom
+      so as to make yourself of like mind with your fellows; but there are women
+      who have endured love and jealousy in patience.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;and pleasantly too; for the most sensible are those
+      who take as much amusement in laughing at their husbands&rsquo; doings, as their
+      husbands take in secretly deceiving them. If you will make it my turn, so
+      that the Lady Oisille may close the day, I will tell you a story about a
+      wife and her husband who are known to all of us here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Begin, then,&rdquo; said Nomerfide; and Hircan, laughing, began thus:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0056" id="linkimage-0056">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/168.jpg" width="100%" alt="168.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0057" id="linkimage-0057">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/169a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="169a. The Wife Discovering Her Husband in The Hood Of Their Serving-maid " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Wife discovering her Husband in the <br /> Hood of their Serving-maid]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0058" id="linkimage-0058">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/169.jpg" width="100%" alt="169.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXIX</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>On finding her husband bolting meal in the garb of her
+     serving-woman, whom he was awaiting in the hope that he
+     would obtain from her what he desired, a certain lady showed
+     such good sense that she was content to laugh and make merry
+     at his folly</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      At the castle of Odoz (1) in Bigorre, there dwelt one Charles, equerry to
+      the King and an Italian by birth, who had married a very virtuous and
+      honourable woman. After bearing him many children, she was now grown old,
+      whilst he also was not young. And he lived with her in all peacefulness
+      and affection, for although he would at times speak with his
+      serving-women, his excellent wife took no notice of this, but quietly
+      dismissed them whenever she found that they were becoming too familiar in
+      her house.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  The scene of this tale is laid at the castle where
+     Margaret died. Ste. Marthe in his <i>Oraison funèbre</i>,
+     pronounced at Alençon fifteen days after the Queen&rsquo;s death,
+     formally states that she expired at Odos near Tarbes. He is
+     not likely to have been mistaken, so that Brantome&rsquo;s
+     assertion that the Queen died at Audos in Beam may be
+     accepted as incorrect (<i>ante</i>, vol. i. p. lxxxviii.). It is
+     further probable that the above tale was actually written at
+     Odos (<i>ante</i>, vol. i. p. lxxxvi.), but the authenticity of
+     the incidents is very doubtful, as there is an extremely
+     similar story in the <i>Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles</i> (No, xvii.
+     <i>Le Conseiller au bluteau</i>), in which the hero of the
+     adventure is a &ldquo;great clerk and knight who presided over the
+     Court of Accounts in Paris.&rdquo; For subsequent imitations see
+     Malespini&rsquo;s <i>Ducento Novelle</i> (No. xcvii.) and <i>Les Joyeuses
+     Adventures et Nouvelles Recreations</i> (No. xix.)&mdash;L. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      One day she hired a discreet and worthy girl, telling her of her husband&rsquo;s
+      temper and her own, and how she was wont to turn away such girls whom she
+      found to be wantons. This maid, wishing to continue in her mistress&rsquo;s
+      service and esteem, resolved to remain a virtuous woman; and although her
+      master often spoke to her, she on her part gave no heed to his words save
+      that she repeated them to her mistress, and they thus both derived much
+      diversion from his folly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day the maid was in a back room bolting meal, and wearing her &ldquo;sarot,&rdquo;
+       a kind of hood which, after the fashion of that country, not only formed a
+      coif but covered the whole of the back and shoulders. Her master, finding
+      her in this trim, came and urged her very pressingly, and, although she
+      would not have done such a thing even to save her life, she pretended to
+      consent, and asked leave to go first and see whether her mistress was
+      engaged in some such manner that they might not be surprised together. To
+      this he agreed; whereupon she begged him to put her hood upon his head and
+      to continue bolting whilst she was away, in order that her mistress might
+      still hear the noise of the bolter. And this he gladly did, in the hope of
+      obtaining what he sought.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The maid, who was by no means inclined to melancholy, ran off to her
+      mistress and said to her&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come and see your good husband, whom I have taught to bolt in order to be
+      rid of him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The wife made all speed to behold this new serving-woman, and when she saw
+      her husband with the hood upon his head and the bolter in his hands, she
+      began to laugh so exceedingly, clapping her hands the while, that she was
+      scarce able to say to him&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How much dost want a month, wench, for thy labour?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The husband, on hearing this voice, realised that he had been deceived,
+      and, throwing down both what he was holding and wearing, he ran at the
+      girl, calling her a thousand bad names. Had his wife not set herself in
+      front of the maid, he would have given her wage enough for her quarter;
+      but at last all was settled to the content of the parties concerned, and
+      thenceforward they lived together without quarrelling. (2)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  The Italian Charles, equerry to the King, to whom the
+     leading part is assigned in Queen Margaret&rsquo;s tale, may have
+     been Charles de San Severino, who figures among the
+     equerries with a salary of 200 <i>livres</i>, in the roll of the
+     royal household for 1522. The San Severino family, one of
+     the most prominent of Naples, had attached itself to the
+     French cause at the time of the expedition of Charles VIII.,
+     whom several of its members followed to France. In 1522 we
+     find a &ldquo;Monsieur de Saint-Severin&rdquo; holding the office of
+     first <i>maître d&rsquo;hôtel</i> to Francis I., and over a course of
+     several years his son figures among the <i>enfants
+     d&rsquo;honneur</i>.&mdash;B. J. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What say you, ladies, of this wife? Was she not sensible to make sport of
+      her husband&rsquo;s sport?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Twas no sport,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;for the husband who failed in his
+      purpose.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;that he had more delight in laughing with
+      his wife, than at killing himself at his age with his serving-woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Still, I should be sorely vexed,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;to be discovered so
+      bravely coifed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have heard,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;that it was not your wife&rsquo;s fault that
+      she did not once discover you in very much the same attire in spite of all
+      your craft, and that since then she has known no repose.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rest content with what befalls your own house,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;without
+      inquiring into what befalls mine. Nevertheless, my wife has no reason to
+      complain of me, and even did I act as you say, she would never have
+      occasion to notice it through any lack of what she might need.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Virtuous women,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;require nothing but the love of their
+      husbands, which alone can satisfy them. Those who seek a brutish
+      satisfaction will never find it where honour enjoins.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you call it brutish,&rdquo; asked Geburon, &ldquo;if a wife desires that her
+      husband should give her her due?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I say,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;that a chaste woman, whose heart is filled with
+      true love, is more content to be perfectly loved than to have all the
+      delights that the body can desire.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am of your opinion,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;but my lords here will neither
+      hear it nor confess it. I think if mutual love cannot satisfy a woman, her
+      husband alone will not do so; for unless she live in the love that is
+      honourable for a woman, she must be tempted by the infernal lustfulness of
+      brutes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In truth,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;you remind me of a lady who was both handsome
+      and well wedded, but who, through not living in that honourable love,
+      became more carnal than swine and more cruel than lions.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ask you, madam,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;to end the day by telling us her
+      story.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That I cannot do,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;and for two reasons. The first is that
+      it is exceedingly long; and the second, that it does not belong to our own
+      day. It is written indeed by an author worthy of belief; but we are sworn
+      to relate nothing that has been written.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is true,&rdquo; said Parlamente; &ldquo;but I believe I know the story you mean,
+      and it is written in such old language that methinks no one present except
+      ourselves has ever heard of it. It will therefore be looked upon as new.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon this the whole company begged her to tell it without fear for its
+      length, seeing that a full hour was yet left before vespers. So, at their
+      request, the Lady Oisille thus began:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0059" id="linkimage-0059">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/174.jpg" width="100%" alt="174.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0060" id="linkimage-0060">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/175a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="175a. The Gentleman Killing Himself on The Death of his Mistress " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Gentleman Killing Himself on the Death of his Mistress]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0061" id="linkimage-0061">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/175.jpg" width="100%" alt="175.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXX</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>The Duchess of Burgundy, not content with the love that her
+     husband bore her, conceived so great an affection for a
+     young gentleman that, when looks and glances were not
+     sufficient to inform him of her passion, she declared it to
+     him in words which led to an evil ending</i>. (1)
+
+     1  This story is borrowed from an old <i>fabliau</i>, known under
+     the title of the <i>Châtelaine de Vergy</i>, which will be found
+     in the <i>Recueil de Barbazan</i> (vol iv.) and in Legrand
+     d&rsquo;Aussy&rsquo;s <i>Fabliaux</i> (vol iii.). Margaret calls the lady
+     Madame du Vergier (literally the lady of the orchard) in her
+     tale. Bandello imitated the same <i>fabliau</i> in his <i>Novelle</i>
+     (1554; part iv. nov. v.), but gave it a different ending.
+     Belleforest subsequently adapted it for his <i>Histoires
+     Tragiques</i>. Margaret&rsquo;s tale may also be compared with No.
+     lxii. of the <i>Cento Novelle antiche</i>, p. 84 of the edition
+     of Florence, 1825.&mdash;L. and M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the Duchy of Burgundy there was a Duke who was a very honourable and
+      handsome Prince. He had married a wife whose beauty pleased him so greatly
+      that it kept him from knowledge of her character, and he took thought only
+      how he might please her, whilst she made excellent show of returning his
+      affection. Now the Duke had in his household a gentleman filled with all
+      the perfection that could be sought for in a man. He was loved by all,
+      more especially by the Duke, who had reared him from childhood near his
+      own person; and, finding him possessed of such excellent qualities, the
+      Duke loved him exceedingly and trusted him with all such matters as one of
+      his years could understand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess, who had not the heart of a virtuous woman and Princess, and
+      was not content with the love that her husband bore her and the good
+      treatment that she had at his hands, often observed this gentleman, and so
+      much to her liking did she find him, that she loved him beyond measure.
+      This she strove unceasingly to make known to him, as well by soft and
+      piteous glances as by sighs and passionate looks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the gentleman, whose inclinations had ever been to virtue alone, could
+      not perceive wickedness in a lady who had so little excuse for it, and so
+      the glances and looks of the poor wanton bore no fruit save her own
+      frenzied despair. This at last drove her to extremes, and forgetting that
+      she was a woman fit to be entreated and yet to refuse, and a Princess made
+      to be worshipped by such lovers and yet to hold them in scorn, she acted
+      with the spirit of a man transported by passion, with a view to rid
+      herself of the fire which she could no longer endure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Accordingly, one day when her husband was gone to the council, at which
+      the gentleman by reason of his youth was not present, she beckoned him to
+      come to her, which he did, thinking that she had some command to give him.
+      But leaning on his arm, like a woman wearied with repose, she brought him
+      to walk in a gallery, where she said to him&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I marvel that you who are so handsome and young, and full of excellent
+      grace, have lived in this company, where are so many beautiful ladies, and
+      yet have been lover or true knight to none.&rdquo; Then, looking at him as
+      graciously as she was able, she waited for his reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;if I were worthy that your Highness should stoop to
+      think of me, you would have still greater reason to marvel at seeing a man
+      so little worthy of love as I am, offer his service where it would be
+      rejected or scorned.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On hearing this discreet reply, the Duchess felt she loved him more than
+      before. She vowed to him that there was not a lady at her Court who would
+      not be only too happy to have such a knight, and that he might well make
+      an adventure of the sort, since there was no danger but he would come out
+      of it with honour. The gentleman kept his eyes downcast, not daring to
+      meet her looks, which were hot enough to melt ice; but, just as he was
+      trying to excuse himself, the Duke sent for the Duchess to come to the
+      council on some matter that concerned her, and thither with much regret
+      she went. The gentleman never afterwards made the slightest sign of having
+      understood a word of what she had said to him, at which she was
+      exceedingly distressed and vexed; and she knew not to what cause to impute
+      her failure, unless it were to the foolish fear of which she deemed the
+      gentleman to be possessed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few days afterwards, finding that he gave no sign of understanding what
+      she had said, she resolved on her part to set aside all fear or shame, and
+      to tell him of her love. She felt sure that beauty such as hers could not
+      be otherwise than well received, although she would fain have had the
+      honour of being wooed. However, she set her honour on one side for her
+      pleasure&rsquo;s sake, and after she had several times attempted the same
+      fashion of discourse as at first, but without receiving any reply to her
+      liking, she one day plucked the gentleman by the sleeve, and told him that
+      she must speak to him on certain matters of weight. The gentleman went
+      with the humility and reverence that were her due to a deep window into
+      which she had withdrawn; and, on perceiving that no one in the room could
+      see her, she began in a trembling voice, that halted between desire and
+      fear, to continue her former discourse, rebuking him for not yet having
+      chosen some lady in the company, and promising him that, no matter who it
+      might be, she would help him to win kindly treatment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, who was no less vexed than astonished by her words, replied&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam, my heart is so tender, that, were I once refused, I should never
+      again have joy in this world; and I know myself to be of such little worth
+      that no lady at this Court would deign to accept my suit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess blushed, and, imagining that at last he was indeed won, vowed
+      to him that she knew the most beautiful lady in the company would, if he
+      were willing, joyfully receive him, and afford him perfect happiness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alas! madam,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;I do not think that there is any woman in this
+      company so unfortunate and so blind as to find me worthy of her love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess, finding that he would not understand her, drew the veil of
+      her passion somewhat aside, and, by reason of the fears which the
+      gentleman&rsquo;s virtue caused her, spoke to him in the form of a question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If fortune,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;had so far favoured you that it was myself who
+      bore you this goodwill, what would you say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, who thought that he was dreaming when he heard her speak in
+      this wise, dropped on his knee, and replied&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam, when God by His favour enables me to have both the favour of the
+      Duke, my master, and your own, I shall deem myself the happiest man alive;
+      for &lsquo;tis the reward I crave for the loyal service of one who, more than
+      any other, is bound to give his life in the service of you both. And I am
+      sure, madam, that the love you bear my Lord aforesaid is attended with
+      such chastity and nobleness that, apart from myself, who am but a worm of
+      the earth, not even the greatest Prince and most perfect man to be found
+      could break the union that exists between you. For my own part, my Lord
+      has brought me up from childhood, and made me what I am, and to save my
+      life I could not entertain towards any wife, daughter, sister or mother of
+      his any thought contrary to what is due from a loyal and faithful
+      servant.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess would not allow him to continue, but finding that she was in
+      danger of obtaining a dishonourable refusal, she suddenly interrupted him,
+      and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wicked and boastful fool, who seeks any such thing from you? Do you think
+      that your good looks win you the love of the very flies in the air? Nay,
+      if you were presumptuous enough to address yourself to me, I would show
+      you that I love, and seek to love, none but my husband. What I have said
+      to you was spoken only for my amusement, to try you and laugh at you, as I
+      do at all foolish lovers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam,&rdquo; said the gentleman, &ldquo;I believed, and do still believe, that it is
+      as you say.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, without listening further, she withdrew in haste to her own
+      apartment, and, finding that she was followed by her ladies, went into her
+      closet, where she sorrowed after a fashion that cannot be described. On
+      the one part, the love wherein she had failed caused her mortal sadness;
+      on the other, her anger, both against herself for having entered upon such
+      foolish talk and against the gentleman for his discreet reply, drove her
+      into such fury that at one moment she wished to make away with herself,
+      and at another, to live that she might avenge herself on one whom she now
+      regarded as her deadly enemy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When she had wept for a long while, she made pretence of being ill, in
+      order that she might not be present at the Duke&rsquo;s supper, at which the
+      gentleman was commonly in waiting. The Duke, who loved his wife better
+      than he did himself, came to see her; but the more effectually to work her
+      end, she told him that she believed herself to be with child, and that her
+      pregnancy had caused a rheum to come upon her eyes, which gave her much
+      pain. So passed two or three days, during which the Duchess kept her bed
+      in sadness and melancholy, until at last the Duke thought that something
+      further must be the matter. He therefore came at night to sleep with her;
+      but, finding that for all he could do he could in no sort check her sighs,
+      he said to her&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know, sweetheart, that I love you as dearly as my life, and that if
+      yours were lacking I could not endure my own. If therefore you would
+      preserve my health, I pray you tell me what causes you to sigh after this
+      manner; for I cannot believe that such unhappiness can come only because
+      you are with child.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess, finding that her husband was disposed to her just as she
+      could have wished him to be, thought that the time was come to seek
+      vengeance for her affliction; and embracing the Duke, she began to weep,
+      and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alas, my lord, my greatest unhappiness is to see you deceived by those on
+      whom is so deep an obligation to guard your substance and your honour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke, on hearing this, was very desirous of knowing why she spoke in
+      that manner, and earnestly begged her to make the truth known to him
+      without fear. After refusing several times, she said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall never wonder, my lord, that foreigners make war on Princes, when
+      those who are in duty most bound to them, wage upon them a war so cruel
+      that loss of territory were nothing in comparison. I say this, my lord, in
+      reference to a certain gentleman&rdquo; (naming her enemy) &ldquo;who, though reared
+      by your own hand and treated more like a son than a servant, has made a
+      cruel and base attempt to ruin the honour of your wife, in which is also
+      bound up the honour of your house and your children. Although for a long
+      time he showed me such looks as pointed to his wicked purpose, yet my
+      heart, which only cares for you, understood nothing of them; and so at
+      last he declared himself in words to which I returned a reply such as
+      beseemed my condition and my chastity. Nevertheless, I now so hate him
+      that I cannot endure to look at him, and for this cause I have continued
+      in my own apartment and lost the happiness of fellowship with you. I
+      entreat you, my lord, keep not this pestilence near your person; for,
+      after such a crime, he might fear lest I should tell you of it, and so
+      attempt worse. This, my lord, is the cause of my sorrow, and methinks it
+      were right and fitting that you should deal with it forthwith.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke, who on the one hand loved his wife and felt himself grievously
+      affronted, and on the other loved his servant, whose faithfulness he had
+      so fully tried that he could scarce believe this falsehood against him,
+      was in great distress and filled with anger. Repairing to his own room, he
+      sent word to the gentleman to come no more into his presence, but to
+      withdraw to his lodging for a time. The gentleman, being ignorant of the
+      cause of this, was grieved exceedingly, for he knew that he had deserved
+      the opposite of such unworthy treatment. Aware, then, of his own innocence
+      in heart and deed, he sent a comrade to speak to the Duke and take him a
+      letter, humbly entreating that if any evil report had caused his
+      banishment, his master would be pleased to suspend judgment until he had
+      heard from himself the truth of the matter, when it would be found that he
+      had been guilty of no offence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the Duke saw this letter, his anger was somewhat abated. He secretly
+      sent for the gentleman to his own room, and with wrathful countenance said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I could never have thought that the care I took to rear you as my own
+      child would be changed into regret at having so highly advanced you; but
+      you have attempted what was more hurtful to me than loss of life or
+      substance, and have sought to assail the honour of one who is half myself,
+      and so bring infamy on my house and name. You may be assured that this
+      outrage is so wounding to my heart that, were it not for my doubt whether
+      it be true or not, you would have already been at the bottom of the water,
+      and so have received in secret due punishment for the wrong that in secret
+      you intended against me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman was in no wise dismayed by this discourse, but, ignorant as
+      he was of the truth, spoke forth with confidence and entreated the Duke to
+      name his accuser, since such a charge should be justified rather with the
+      lance than with the tongue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your accuser,&rdquo; said the Duke, &ldquo;carries no weapon but chastity. Know,
+      then, that none other but my wife has told me this, and she begged me to
+      take vengeance upon you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor gentleman, though he then perceived the lady&rsquo;s great wickedness,
+      would not accuse her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My lord,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;my lady may say what she will. You know her better
+      than I do, and you are aware if ever I saw her when out of your sight,
+      save only on one occasion, when she spoke but little with me. You have,
+      moreover, as sound a judgment as any Prince alive; wherefore I pray you,
+      my lord, judge whether you have ever seen aught in me to cause any
+      suspicion; and remember love is a fire that cannot be hidden so as never
+      to be known of by those who have had a like distemper. So I pray you, my
+      lord, to believe two things of me: first, that my loyalty to you is such
+      that were my lady, your wife, the fairest being in the world, love would
+      never avail to make me stain my honour and fidelity; and secondly, that
+      even were she not your wife, I should be least in love with her of all the
+      women I have ever known, since there are many others to whom I would
+      sooner plight my troth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On hearing these words of truth, the Duke began to be softened, and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I assure you, on my part, that I did not believe it. Do, therefore,
+      according to your wont, in the assurance that, if I find the truth to be
+      on your side, I will love you yet better than before. But if it be not so,
+      your life is in my hands.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman thanked him and offered to submit to any pain or penalty if
+      he were found guilty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess, on seeing the gentleman again in waiting as had formerly been
+      his wont, could not endure it in patience, but said to her husband&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Twould be no more than you deserve, my lord, if you were poisoned, since
+      you put more trust in your deadly enemies than in your friends.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, sweetheart, do not torment yourself in this matter,&rdquo; said the
+      Duke. &ldquo;If I find that you have told me true, I promise you he shall not
+      live four and twenty hours. But he has sworn to the contrary, and I have
+      myself never perceived any such fault, and so I cannot believe it without
+      complete proof.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In good sooth, my lord,&rdquo; she replied, &ldquo;your goodness renders his
+      wickedness the greater. What more complete proof would you have than this,
+      that no love affair has ever been imputed to him? Believe me, my lord,
+      were it not for the lofty purpose that he took into his head of being my
+      lover, he would not have continued so long without a mistress; for never
+      did a young man live solitary as he does in such good company, unless he
+      had fixed his heart so high as to be content merely with his own vain
+      hope. Since, then, you think that he is not hiding the truth from you, put
+      him, I beg you, on oath as regards his love. If he loves another, I am
+      content that you should believe him, and if not, you will know that what I
+      say is true.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke thought his wife&rsquo;s reasonings very good, and, taking the
+      gentleman into the country with him, said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My wife continues still of the same mind, and has set before me an
+      argument that causes me grave suspicion against you. It is deemed strange
+      that you who are so gallant and young have never been known to love, and
+      this makes me think that you have such affection for her as she says, and
+      that the hope it gives you renders you content to think of no other woman.
+      As a friend, therefore, I pray you, and as a master I command you to tell
+      me whether you are in love with any lady on earth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Although the gentleman would have fain concealed his passion yet as he
+      loved his life, he was obliged, on seeing his master&rsquo;s jealousy, to swear
+      to him that he did indeed love one whose beauty was so great, that the
+      beauty of the Duchess or of any lady of the Court would be simply ugliness
+      beside it. But he entreated that he might never be compelled to name her,
+      since the agreement between himself and his sweetheart was of such a
+      nature that it could not be broken excepting by whichever of them should
+      be the first to make it known.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke promised not to urge him, and being quite satisfied with him,
+      treated him with more kindness than ever before. The Duchess perceived
+      this, and set herself with her wonted craft to find out the reason. The
+      Duke did not hide it from her; whereupon strong jealousy sprang up beside
+      her desire for vengeance, and she begged her husband to command the
+      gentleman to name his sweetheart. She assured him that the story was a
+      lie, and that the course she urged was the best means of testing it. If
+      the gentleman, said she, did not name her whom he deemed so beautiful, and
+      his master believed him on his mere word, he would indeed be the most
+      foolish Prince alive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor Duke, whose wife directed his thoughts at her pleasure, went to
+      walk alone with the gentleman, and told him that he was in even greater
+      trouble than before; for he was greatly minded to believe that he had been
+      given an excuse to keep him from suspecting the truth. This was a greater
+      torment to him than ever; and he therefore begged the gentleman, as
+      earnestly as he was able, to name her whom he loved so dearly. The poor
+      gentleman entreated that he might not be made to commit so great an
+      offence against his mistress as to break the promise he had given her and
+      had kept so long, and thus lose in a day all that he had preserved for
+      seven years. And he added that he would rather suffer death than in this
+      wise wrong one who had been true to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke, finding that he would not tell him, became deeply jealous, and
+      with a wrathful countenance exclaimed&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, choose one of two things: either tell me whom you love more than
+      any other, or else go into banishment from the territories over which I
+      rule, under pain of a cruel death if you be found within them after a week
+      is over.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      If ever heart of loyal servant was torn with anguish, it was so with that
+      of this poor gentleman, who might well have said, <i>Angustiæ sunt mihi
+      undique</i>, for on the one part he saw that by telling the truth he would
+      lose his mistress, if she learned that he had failed in his promise to
+      her; while, if he did not confess it, he would be banished from the land
+      in which she dwelt, and be no more able to see her. Hard pressed in this
+      manner on all sides, there came upon him a cold sweat, as on one whose
+      sorrow was bringing him near to death. The Duke, observing his looks,
+      concluded that he loved no other lady than the Duchess, and was enduring
+      this suffering because he was able to name none other. He therefore said
+      to him with considerable harshness&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If what you say were true, you would not have so much trouble in telling
+      me; but methinks &lsquo;tis your crime that is tormenting you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, piqued by these words, and impelled by the love that he
+      bore his master, resolved to tell him the truth, believing that he was too
+      honourable a man ever, on any account, to reveal it. Accordingly, throwing
+      himself upon his knees, and clasping his hands, he said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My lord, the duty that I owe to you and the love that I bear you
+      constrain me more than the fear of any death. I can see that you imagine
+      and judge falsely concerning me, and, to take this trouble from you, I am
+      resolved to do that to which no torment had compelled me. But I pray you,
+      my lord, swear to me by the honour of God, and promise me by your own
+      faith as a Prince and a Christian, that you will never reveal the secret
+      which, since it so pleases you, I am obliged to tell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon this the Duke swore to him with all the oaths he could think of that
+      he would never reveal aught of it to any living being, whether by speech,
+      or writing, or feature. Then the young man, feeling confidence in so
+      virtuous a Prince as he knew his master to be, began the building up of
+      his misfortune, and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is now seven years, my lord, since knowing your niece, the Lady du
+      Vergier, to be a widow and without kindred, I set myself to win her
+      favour. But, since I was of too lowly a birth to wed her, I contented
+      myself with being received by her as her true knight, as indeed I have
+      been. And it has pleased God that the affair has hitherto been contrived
+      with much discretion, so that neither man nor woman knows of it save
+      ourselves alone, and now, my lord, you also. I place my life and honour in
+      your hands, entreating you to keep the matter secret and to esteem your
+      niece none the less; for I think that under heaven there is no more
+      perfect being.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      If ever man was rejoiced it was the Duke, for, knowing as he did the
+      exceeding beauty of his niece, he now had no doubt that she was more
+      pleasing than his wife. However, being unable to understand how so great a
+      mystery could have been contrived, he begged the gentleman to tell him how
+      it was that he was able to see her. The gentleman related to him then that
+      his lady&rsquo;s chamber looked upon a garden, and that, on the days when he was
+      to visit her, a little gate was left open through which he went in on foot
+      until he heard the barking of a little dog which the lady used to loose in
+      the garden when all her women were withdrawn. Then he went and conversed
+      with her all night long, and, in parting from her, would appoint a day on
+      which he would return; and this appointment, unless for some weighty
+      reason, he never failed to keep. The Duke, who was the most inquisitive
+      man alive, and who had made love in no small degree in his day, wished
+      both to satisfy his suspicions and to fully understand so strange a
+      business; and he therefore begged the gentleman to take him, not as a
+      master but as a companion, the next time he went thither. To this the
+      gentleman, having gone so far already, consented, saying that he had an
+      appointment for that very day; at which the Duke was as glad as if he had
+      gained a kingdom. Making pretence of retiring to rest in his closet, he
+      caused two horses to be brought for himself and the gentleman, and they
+      travelled all night long from Argilly, where the Duke lived, to Le
+      Vergier. (2)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  At Argilly the Dukes of Burgundy had a castle, which was
+     destroyed during the religious wars at the close of the
+     sixteenth century. The place is now a small village in the
+     arrondissement of Nuits, Côte d&rsquo;Or. As the crow flies, it is
+     some ten miles distant from the ruins of the castle of
+     Vergy, which stands on a steep height, at an altitude of
+     over 1600 ft., within five miles from Nuits. The castle,
+     which can only be reached on one side of the hill, by a
+     narrow, winding and precipitous pathway, is known to have
+     been in existence already in the tenth century, when the
+     Lords of Vergy were Counts of Chalons, Beaune, and Nuits.
+     They appear to have engaged in a struggle for supremacy with
+     the princes of the first Ducal house of Burgundy, but in
+     1193 Alix de Vergy espoused Duke Eudes III., to whom she
+     brought, as dower, the greater part of the paternal
+     inheritance. The castle of Vergy was dismantled by Henry
+     IV., and the existing ruins are of small extent. Some
+     antiquaries believe the fortress to have been originally
+     built by the Romans.&mdash;B.J. and L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Then they left their horses without the wall, and the gentleman brought
+      the Duke into the garden through the little gate, begging him to remain
+      behind a walnut-tree, whence he might see whether he had been told the
+      truth or not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They had been but a short time in the garden when the little dog began to
+      bark, and the gentleman walked towards the tower, where his lady failed
+      not to come and meet him. She kissed him, saying that it seemed a thousand
+      years since she had seen him, and then they went into the chamber and shut
+      the door behind them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Having seen the whole of the mystery, the Duke felt more than satisfied.
+      Nor had he a great while to wait, for the gentleman told his mistress that
+      he must needs return sooner than was his wont, since the Duke was to go
+      hunting at four o&rsquo;clock, and he durst not fail to attend him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady, who set honour before delight, would not keep him from
+      fulfilling his duty; for what she prized most in their honourable
+      affection was that it was kept secret from all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So the gentleman departed an hour after midnight, and his lady in cloak
+      and kerchief went with him, yet not so far as she wished, for, fearing
+      lest she should meet the Duke, he obliged her to return. Then he mounted
+      with the Duke and returned to the castle of Argilly, his master
+      unceasingly swearing to him on the way that he would die rather than ever
+      reveal his secret. Moreover, he then put so much trust in the gentleman,
+      and had so much love for him, that no one in his Court stood higher in his
+      favour. The Duchess grew furious at this, but the Duke forbade her ever to
+      speak to him about the gentleman again, saying that he now knew the truth
+      about him and was well pleased, since the lady in question was more worthy
+      of love than herself. These words deeply pierced the heart of the Duchess,
+      and she fell into a sickness that was worse than fever.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke went to see her in order to comfort her, but there was no means
+      of doing this except by telling her the name of this beautiful and dearly
+      loved lady. She pressed him urgently to do this, until at last the Duke
+      went out of the room, saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you speak to me again after this fashion, we shall part one from the
+      other.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      These words increased the sickness of the Duchess, and she pretended that
+      she felt her infant stirring, at which the Duke was so rejoiced that he
+      came and lay beside her. But, just when she saw him most loving towards
+      her, she turned away, and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, my lord, since you have no love for either wife or child,
+      leave us to die together.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With these words she gave vent to many tears and lamentations, and the
+      Duke was in great fear lest she should lose her child. He therefore took
+      her in his arms and begged her to tell him what she would have, since he
+      possessed nothing that was not also hers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, my lord,&rdquo; she replied, weeping, &ldquo;what hope can I have that you would
+      do a hard thing for me, when you will not do the easiest and most
+      reasonable in the world, which is to name to me the mistress of the
+      wickedest servant you ever had? I thought that you and I had but one
+      heart, one soul, and one flesh. But now I see that you look upon me as a
+      stranger, seeing that your secrets, which should be known to me, are
+      hidden from me as though I were a stranger. Alas! my lord, you have told
+      me many weighty and secret matters, of which you have never known me to
+      speak, you have proved my will to be like to your own, and you cannot
+      doubt but that I am less myself than you. And if you have sworn never to
+      tell the gentleman&rsquo;s secret to another, you will not break your oath in
+      telling it to me, for I am not and cannot be other than yourself. I have
+      you in my heart, I hold you in my arms, I have in my womb a child in whom
+      you live, and yet I may not have your heart as you have mine. The more
+      faithful and true I am to you, the more cruel and stern are you to me, so
+      that a thousand times a day do I long by a sudden death to rid my child of
+      such a father and myself of such a husband. And I hope that this will be
+      ere long, since you set a faithless servant before a wife such as 1 am to
+      you, and before the life of the mother of your child, which will perish
+      because I cannot have of you that which I most desire to know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, she embraced and kissed her husband, and watered his face with
+      her tears, uttering the while such lamentations and sighs that the good
+      Prince feared to lose wife and child together, and resolved to tell her
+      all the truth of the matter. Nevertheless, he first swore to her that if
+      ever she revealed it to a living being she should die by his own hand; and
+      she agreed to and accepted this punishment. Then the poor, deceived
+      husband told her all that he had seen from beginning to end, and she made
+      show of being well pleased. In her heart she was minded very differently,
+      but through fear of the Duke she concealed her passion as well as she was
+      able.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now on a certain great feast-day the Duke held his Court, to which he had
+      bidden all the ladies of that country, and among the rest his niece. When
+      the dances began, all did their duty save the Duchess, who, tormented by
+      the sight of her niece&rsquo;s beauty and grace, could neither make merry nor
+      prevent her spleen from being perceived. At last she called all the
+      ladies, and making them scat themselves around her, began to talk of love;
+      and seeing that the Lady du Vergier said nothing, she asked her, with a
+      heart which jealousy was rending&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you, fair niece, is it possible that your beauty has found no lover
+      or true knight?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam,&rdquo; replied the Lady du Vergier, &ldquo;my beauty has not yet made such a
+      conquest. Since my husband&rsquo;s death I have sought to love none but his
+      children, with whom I deem myself happy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fair niece, fair niece,&rdquo; replied the Duchess, with hateful spleen, &ldquo;there
+      is no love so secret that it is not known, and no little dog so well
+      broken in and trained that it cannot be heard to bark.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I leave you to imagine, ladies, what sorrow the poor Lady du Vergier felt
+      in her heart on finding a matter, so long concealed, thus made known to
+      her great dishonour. Her honour, which had been so carefully guarded and
+      was now wofully lost, tortured her, but still more so her suspicion that
+      her lover had failed in his promise to her. This she did not think he
+      could have done, unless it were that he loved some lady fairer than
+      herself, to whom his love had constrained him to make the whole matter
+      known. Yet so great was her discretion that she gave no sign, but replied
+      laughing to the Duchess that she did not understand the language of
+      animals. However, beneath this prudent concealment her heart was filled
+      with sadness, so that she rose up, and, passing out of the chamber,
+      entered a closet in sight of the Duke, who was walking up and down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Having thus reached a place where she believed herself to be alone, the
+      poor lady let herself fall helplessly upon a bed, whereat a damsel, who
+      had sat down beside it to sleep, rose up and drew back the curtains to see
+      who this might be. Finding that it was the Lady du Vergier, who believed
+      herself to be alone, she durst say nothing to her, but listened, making as
+      little noise as she was able. And in a stifled voice the poor Lady du
+      Vergier began to lament, saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O unhappy one, what words have I heard? to what decree of death have I
+      hearkened? what final sentence have I received? O best beloved of men, is
+      this the reward of my chaste, honourable and virtuous love? O my heart,
+      hast thou made so parlous an election, and chosen for the most loyal the
+      most faithless, for the truest the most false, for the discreetest the
+      most slanderous? Alas! can it be that a thing hidden from every human eye
+      has been revealed to the Duchess? Alas, my little dog, so well taught and
+      the sole instrument of my love and virtuous affection, it was not you who
+      betrayed me, it was he whose voice is louder than a dog&rsquo;s bark, and whose
+      heart is more thankless than any brute&rsquo;s. Tis he who, contrary to his oath
+      and promise, has made known the happy life which, wronging none, we so
+      long have led together. O my beloved, the love of whom alone has entered
+      into my heart, and preserved my life, must you now be declared my deadly
+      foe, while mine honour is given to the winds, my body to the dust, and my
+      soul to its everlasting abode? Is the beauty of the Duchess so exceeding
+      great that, like the beauty of Circe, it has bewitched and transformed
+      you? Has she turned you from virtue to vice, from goodness to wickedness,
+      from being a man to be a beast of prey? O my beloved, though you have
+      failed in your promise to me, yet will I keep mine to you, and, now that
+      our love has been revealed, will never see you more. Nevertheless, I
+      cannot live without your presence, and so I gladly yield to my exceeding
+      sorrow, and will seek for it no cure either in reason or in medicine.
+      Death alone shall end it, and death will be sweeter to me than life on
+      earth without lover, honour or happiness. Neither war nor death has robbed
+      me of my lover; no sin or fault of mine has robbed me of my honour;
+      neither error nor demerit of mine has made me lose my joy. &lsquo;Tis cruel fate
+      that has rendered the most favoured of men thankless, and has caused me to
+      receive the contrary of that which I deserved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, my Lady Duchess, what delight it was to you to taunt me with my
+      little dog! Rejoice, then, in the happiness you owe to me alone; taunt her
+      who thought by careful concealment and virtuous love to be free from any
+      taunt. Ah! how those words have bruised my heart! how they have made me
+      blush for shame and pale for jealousy! Alas, my heart, I feel that thou
+      art indeed undone! The wicked love that has discovered me burns thee;
+      jealousy of thee and evil intent towards thee are to thee as ice and
+      death; while wrath and sorrow do not suffer me to comfort thee. Alas, poor
+      soul, that in adoring the creature didst forget the Creator, thou must
+      return into the hands of Him from whom vain love tore thee away. Have
+      trust, my soul, that thou wilt find in Him a Father kinder than was the
+      lover for whose sake thou hast so often forgotten Him. O my God, my
+      Creator, Thou who art the true and perfect love, by whose grace the love I
+      bore to my beloved has been stained by no blemish save that of too great
+      an affection, I implore Thee in mercy to receive the soul-and spirit of
+      one who repents that she has broken thy first and most just commandment.
+      And, through the merits of Him whose love passeth all understanding,
+      forgive the error into which excess of love has led me, for in Thee alone
+      do I put my perfect trust. And farewell, O my beloved, whose empty name
+      doth break my very heart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With these words she fell backward, and her face grew pallid, her lips
+      blue, and her extremities cold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just at this moment the gentleman she loved came into the hall, and,
+      seeing the Duchess dancing with the ladies, looked everywhere for his
+      sweetheart. Not finding her, he went into the chamber of the Duchess, and
+      there found the Duke, who was walking up and down, and who, guessing his
+      purpose, whispered in his ear&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She went into that closet, and methought she was ill.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman asked whether he would be pleased to let him go in, and the
+      Duke begged him to do so. When he entered the closet he found the Lady du
+      Vergier, come to the last stage of her mortal life; whereat, throwing his
+      arms about her, he said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is this, sweetheart? Would you leave me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor lady, hearing the voice that she knew so well, recovered a little
+      strength and opened her eyes to look upon him who was the cause of her
+      death; but at this look her love and anguish waxed so great that, with a
+      piteous sigh, she yielded up her soul to God.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman, more dead than the dead woman herself, asked the damsel who
+      was there how this sickness had come upon his sweetheart, and she told him
+      all the words that she had heard. Then the gentleman knew that the Duke
+      had revealed the secret to his wife, and felt such frenzy that, whilst
+      embracing his sweetheart&rsquo;s body, he for a long time watered it with his
+      tears, saying&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O traitorous, wicked and unhappy lover that I am! why has not the
+      punishment of my treachery fallen upon me, and not upon her who is
+      innocent? Why was I not struck by a bolt from heaven on the day when my
+      tongue revealed the secret and virtuous love between us? Why did not the
+      earth open to swallow up this traitor to his troth? O tongue, mayest thou
+      be punished as was the tongue of the wicked rich man in hell!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O heart, too fearful of death and banishment, mayest thou be torn
+      continually by eagles as was the heart of Ixion! (3)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  Queen Margaret&rsquo;s memory plainly failed her here.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alas, sweetheart, the greatest of all the greatest woes has fallen upon
+      me! I thought to keep you, but I have lost you; I thought to see you for a
+      long time and to abide with you in sweet and honourable content, yet now I
+      embrace your dead body, and you passed away in sore displeasure with me,
+      with my heart and with my tongue. O most loyal and faithful of women, I do
+      confess myself the most disloyal, fickle and faithless of all men. Gladly
+      would I complain of the Duke in whose promise I trusted, hoping thus to
+      continue our happy life; but alas! I should have known that none could
+      keep our secret better than I kept it myself. The Duke had more reason in
+      telling his secret to his wife than I in telling mine to him. I accuse
+      none but myself of the greatest wickedness that was ever done between
+      lovers. I ought to have submitted to be cast into the moat as he
+      threatened to do with me; at least, sweetheart, you would then have lived
+      in widowhood and I have died a glorious death in observing the law that
+      true love enjoins. But through breaking it I am now in life, and you,
+      through perfectness of love, are dead; for your pure, clear heart could
+      not bear to know the wickedness of your lover.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O my God! why didst Thou endow me with so light a love and so ignorant a
+      heart? Why didst thou not create me as the little dog that faithfully
+      served his mistress? Alas, my little friend, the joy your bark was wont to
+      give me is turned to deadly sorrow, now that another than we twain has
+      heard your voice. Yet, sweetheart, neither the love of the Duchess nor of
+      any living woman turned me aside, though indeed that wicked one did often
+      ask and entreat me. &lsquo;Twas by my ignorance, which thought to secure our
+      love for ever, that I was overcome. Yet for that ignorance am I none the
+      less guilty; for I revealed my sweetheart&rsquo;s secret and broke my promise to
+      her, and for this cause alone do I see her lying dead before my eyes.
+      Alas, sweetheart, death will to me be less cruel than to you, whose love
+      has ended your innocent life. Methinks it would not deign to touch my
+      faithless and miserable heart; for life with dishonour and the memory of
+      that which I have lost through guilt would be harder to bear than ten
+      thousand deaths. Alas, sweetheart, had any dared to slay you through
+      mischance or malice, I should quickly have clapped hand to sword to avenge
+      you; &lsquo;tis therefore right that I should not pardon the murderer who has
+      caused your death by a more wicked act than any sword-thrust. Did I know a
+      viler executioner than myself, I would entreat him to put your traitorous
+      lover to death. O Love! I have offended thee from not having known how to
+      love, and therefore thou wilt not succour me as thou didst succour her who
+      kept all thy laws. &lsquo;Tis not right that I should die after so honourable a
+      manner; but &lsquo;tis well that I should die by mine own hand. I have washed
+      your face, sweet, with my tears, and with my tongue have craved your
+      forgiveness; and now it only remains for my hand to make my body like unto
+      yours, and send my soul whither yours will go, in the knowledge that a
+      virtuous and honourable love can never end, whether in this world or in
+      the next.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rising up from the body he then, like a frenzied man beside himself, drew
+      his dagger and with great violence stabbed himself to the heart. Then he
+      again took his sweetheart in his arms, kissing her with such passion that
+      it seemed as though he were seized rather with love than with death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The damsel, seeing him deal himself the blow, ran to the door and called
+      for help. The Duke, on hearing the outcry, suspected misfortune to those
+      he loved, and was the first to enter the closet, where he beheld the
+      piteous pair. He sought to separate them, and, if it were possible, to
+      save the gentleman; but the latter clasped his sweetheart so fast that he
+      could not be taken from her until he was dead. Nevertheless he heard the
+      Duke speaking to him and saying&mdash;&ldquo;Alas! what is the cause of this?&rdquo;
+       To which, with a glance of fury, he replied&mdash;&ldquo;My tongue, my lord, and
+      yours.&rdquo; So saying, he died, with his face close pressed to that of his
+      mistress.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke, wishing to know more of the matter, made the damsel tell him
+      what she had seen and heard; and this she did at full length, sparing
+      nothing. Then the Duke, finding that he was himself the cause of all this
+      woe, threw himself upon the two dead lovers, and, with great lamentation
+      and weeping, kissed both of them several times and asked their
+      forgiveness. And after that he rose up in fury, and drew the dagger from
+      the gentleman&rsquo;s body; and, just as a wild boar, wounded with a spear,
+      rushes headlong against him that has dealt the blow, so did the Duke now
+      seek out her who had wounded him to the bottom of his soul. He found her
+      dancing in the hall, and more merry than was her wont at the thought of
+      the excellent vengeance she had wreaked on the Lady du Vergier.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Duke came upon her in the midst of the dance, and said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You took the secret upon your life, and upon your life shall fall the
+      punishment.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, he seized her by the head-dress and stabbed her with the dagger
+      in the breast. All the company were astonished, and it was thought that
+      the Duke was out of his mind; but, having thus worked his will, he brought
+      all his retainers together in the hall and told them the virtuous and
+      pitiful story of his niece, and the evil that his wife had wrought her.
+      And those who were present wept whilst they listened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the Duke ordered that his wife should be buried in an abbey which he
+      founded partly to atone for the sin that he had committed in killing her;
+      and he caused a beautiful tomb to be built, in which the bodies of his
+      niece and the gentleman were laid together, with an epitaph setting forth
+      their tragic story. And the Duke undertook an expedition against the
+      Turks, in which God so favoured him, that he brought back both honour and
+      profit. On his return, he found his eldest son now able to govern his
+      possessions, and so left all to him, and went and became a monk in the
+      abbey where his wife and the two lovers were buried. And there did he
+      spend his old age happily with God.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Such, ladies, is the story which you begged me to relate, and which, as I
+      can see from your eyes, you have not heard without compassion. It seems to
+      me that you should take example by it, and beware of placing your
+      affections upon men; for, however honourable or virtuous these affections
+      may be, in the end they have always an aftertaste of evil. You see how St.
+      Paul would not that even married people should so deeply love each other;
+      (4) for the more our hearts are set upon earthly things, the more remote
+      are they from heavenly affection, and the harder is the tie to be broken.
+      I therefore pray you, ladies, ask God for His Holy Spirit, who will so
+      fire your hearts with the love of God, that when death comes, you will not
+      be pained at leaving that which you love too well in this world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     4  I <i>Corinthians</i> vii. 32-5.&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If their love,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;was as honourable as you describe, why was
+      it needful to keep it so secret?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;the wickedness of men is so great, that they
+      can never believe deep love to be allied with honour, but judge men and
+      women to be wicked according to their own passions. Hence, if a woman has
+      a dear friend other than one of her nearest kinsfolk, she must speak with
+      him in secret if she would speak long with him; for a woman&rsquo;s honour is
+      attacked, whether she love virtuously or viciously, since people judge
+      only from appearances.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But,&rdquo; said Geburon, &ldquo;when a secret of that kind is revealed, people think
+      far worse of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I grant you that,&rdquo; said Longarine; &ldquo;and so it is best not to love at
+      all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We appeal from that sentence,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;for, did we believe the
+      ladies to be without love, we would fain be ourselves without life. I
+      speak of those who live but to win love: and, even if they secure it not,
+      yet the hope of it sustains them and prompts them to do a thousand
+      honourable deeds, until old age changes their fair sufferings to other
+      pains. But, did we think that ladies were without love, it were needful we
+      should turn traders instead of soldiers, and instead of winning fame,
+      think only of hea&rsquo;ping up riches.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You would say, then,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that, were there no women, we should
+      all be dastards, as though we had no courage save such as they put into
+      us. But I am of quite the opposite opinion, and hold that nothing weakens
+      a man&rsquo;s courage so much as to consort with women or love them too much.
+      For this reason the Jews would not suffer a man to go to the war within a
+      year after his marriage, lest love for his wife should draw him back from
+      the dangers that he ought to seek.&rdquo; (5)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     5  See <i>Deuteronomy</i> xx. 5, 6, 7; and the comments thereon
+     of Rabelais (book iii. ch. vi.).&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I consider that law,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;to have been without reason, for
+      nothing will more readily make a man leave his home than marriage. The war
+      without is not harder of endurance than the war within; and I think that,
+      to make men desirous of going into foreign lands instead of lingering by
+      their hearths, it were only needful to marry them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;that marriage takes from them the care of
+      their houses; for they trust in their wives, and for their own part think
+      only of winning fame, feeling certain that their wives will give due heed
+      to the profit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;However that may be,&rdquo; replied Saffredent, &ldquo;I am glad that you are of my
+      opinion.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;you are not discussing what is chiefly to be
+      considered, and that is why the gentleman, who was the cause of all the
+      misfortune, did not as quickly die of grief as she who was innocent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Nomerfide replied&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Twas because women love more truly than men.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;&lsquo;twas because the jealousy and spitefulness of
+      women make them die without knowing the reason, whereas men are led by
+      their prudence to inquire into the truth of the matter. When this has been
+      learnt through their sound sense, they display their courage, as this
+      gentleman did; for, as soon as he understood the reason of his
+      sweetheart&rsquo;s misfortune, he showed how truly he loved her and did not
+      spare his own life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet,&rdquo; said Ennasuite, &ldquo;she died of true love, for her steadfast and loyal
+      heart could not endure to be so deceived.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was her jealousy,&rdquo; said Simontault, &ldquo;which would not yield to reason,
+      so that she believed evil of her lover of which he was not guilty at all.
+      Moreover, her death was matter of necessity, for she could not prevent it,
+      whilst her lover&rsquo;s death was voluntary, after he had recognised his own
+      wrongdoing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Still,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;the love must needs be great that causes such
+      deep sorrow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have no fear of it,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;for you will never die of that kind of
+      fever.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nor,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;will you ever kill yourself after recognising your
+      error.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here Parlamente, who suspected that the dispute was being carried on at
+      her own expense, said, laughing&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis enough that two persons should have died of love, without two others
+      fighting for the same cause. And there is the last bell sounding for
+      vespers, which will have us gone whether you be willing or not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      By her advice the whole company then rose and went to hear vespers, not
+      forgetting in their fervent prayers the souls of those true lovers, for
+      whom, also, the monks, of their charity, said a <i>De profundis</i>. As
+      long as supper lasted there was no talk save of the Lady du Vergier, and
+      then, when they had spent a little time together, they withdrew to their
+      several apartments, and so brought to an end the Seventh Day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0062" id="linkimage-0062">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/213.jpg" width="100%" alt="213.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      EIGHTH DAY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <i>On the Eighth Day relation is made<br /> of the greatest yet truest<br />
+      folliesthat each<br /> can remember</i>. <a name="link2H_PROL8"
+       id="link2H_PROL8">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PROLOGUE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When morning was come they inquired whether their bridge (1) were being
+      well advanced, and found that it might be finished in two or three days.
+      These were not welcome tidings to some among the company, for they would
+      gladly have had the work last a longer time, so as to prolong the
+      happiness that they enjoyed in this pleasant mode of life. Finding,
+      however, that only two or three such days were left, they resolved to turn
+      them to account, and begged the Lady Oisille to give them their spiritual
+      nourishment as had been her wont. This she forthwith did, but she detained
+      them longer than usual, for before setting forth she desired to finish
+      reading the canonical writings of St. John; and so well did she acquit
+      herself of this, that it seemed as if the Holy Spirit in all His love and
+      sweetness spoke by her mouth. Glowing with this heavenly flame, they went
+      to hear high mass, and afterwards dined together, again speaking of the
+      past day, and doubting whether they could make another as fair.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  The allusion is to the bridge over the Gave spoken of in
+     the General Prologue (<i>ante</i>, vol. i. p. 25-6).&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In order to set about it, they retired to their own rooms until it was
+      time to repair to their Chamber of Accounts on the Board of Green Grass,
+      where they found the monks already arrived and in their places.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When all were seated, the question was put, who should begin; and
+      Saffredent said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You did me the honour to have me begin on two days. Methinks we should
+      act wrongly towards the ladies if one of them did not also begin on two.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It were then needful,&rdquo; said the Lady Oisille, &ldquo;either that we should
+      continue here for a great while, or else that a gentleman and a lady of
+      the company should forego the beginning of a day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For my part,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;had I been chosen, I would have given my
+      place to Saffredent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;to Parlamente, for I have been so wont to serve
+      that I know not how to command.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      To this all agreed, and Parlamente thus began&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ladies, the days that are past have been filled with so many tales of
+      wisdom, that I would beg you to fill this one with the greatest (yet most
+      real) follies that we can remember. So, to lead the way, I will begin.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0063" id="linkimage-0063">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/219a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="219a. The Saddler&rsquo;s Wife Cured by The Sight of Her Husband Caressing the Serving-maid " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Saddler&rsquo;s Wife Cured by the sight of her Husband <br /> Caressing the
+      Serving-maid]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0064" id="linkimage-0064">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/219.jpg" width="100%" alt="219.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXXI</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>A saddler&rsquo;s wife, who was grievously sick, was made whole
+     and recovered the power of speech, which for the space of
+     two days site had lost, on seeing her husband holding his
+     serving-maid too familiarly on the bed whilst she herself
+     was drawing to her end</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the town of Amboise there lived one Brimbaudier, (1) saddler to the
+      Queen of Navarre, and a man whose colour of feature showed him to be by
+      nature rather a servant of Bacchus than a priest of Diana. He had married
+      a virtuous woman who controlled his household very discreetly, and with
+      whom he was well content.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  Boaistuau gives the name as Bruribandier, and Gruget
+     transforms it into Borribaudier. M, Pifteau, after examining
+     the MSS., is doubtful whether Brimbaudier is the correct
+     reading. Bromardier, which in old French meant a tippler
+     (Ducange, <i>Briemardum</i>), would have been an appropriate name
+     for the individual referred to.&mdash;Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      One day it was told him that his good wife was sick and in great danger,
+      at which tidings he was in the greatest trouble imaginable. He went with
+      all speed to her aid, and found her so low, poor woman, that she had more
+      need of a confessor than a doctor. Thereupon he made the most pitiful
+      lamentation that could be, but to represent it well &lsquo;twere needful to
+      speak thickly as he did, (2) and better still to paint one&rsquo;s face like
+      his.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     2  Curiously enough, the transcriber of MS. No. 1520
+     attempts to give some idea of the husband&rsquo;s pronunciation by
+     transforming all his r&rsquo;s into l&rsquo;s. Here is an example: &ldquo;Je
+     pelz ma povle femme, que fesai-ze, moi malhureux?... M&rsquo;amie
+     je me meuls, je suis pis que tlepassé... je ne sçai que
+     faize,&rdquo; &amp;c.&mdash;L.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      When he had done all that he could for her, she asked for the cross, and
+      it was brought. On seeing this, the good man flung himself upon a bed in
+      despair, crying and saying in his thick speech&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah God! I am losing my poor wife! What shall I do, unhappy man that I
+      am?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After uttering many such complaints, he perceived that there was no one in
+      the room but a young servant-maid, passably fair and buxom, and he called
+      to her in a whisper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sweetheart,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I am dying. I am more than dead to see your
+      mistress dying in this manner. I know not what to do or say, except that I
+      commend myself to you, and beg you to care for my house and my children.
+      Take therefore the keys from my side, and order the household, for I
+      myself can attend to nothing more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor girl had pity on him and comforted him, begging him not to
+      despair, so that, if she must lose her mistress, she might not also lose
+      her good master.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sweetheart,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;&lsquo;tis all of no avail, for I am indeed dying.
+      See yourself how cold my face is; bring your cheeks close to mine and warm
+      them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With this he laid his hand upon her breast. She tried to make some
+      difficulty, but he begged her to have no fear, since they must indeed see
+      each other more closely. And speaking in this wise, he took her in his
+      arms and threw her upon the bed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then his wife, whose only company was the cross and the holy water, and
+      who had not spoken for two days, began to cry out as loudly as her feeble
+      voice enabled her&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! ah! ah! I am not dead yet!&rdquo; And threatening them with her hand, she
+      repeated&mdash;&ldquo;Villain! monster! I am not dead yet!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On hearing her voice, the husband and maid rose up, but she was in such a
+      rage against them that her anger consumed the catarrhal humour that had
+      prevented her from speaking, and she poured upon them all the abuse that
+      she could think of. And from that hour she began to mend, though not
+      without often reproaching her husband for the little love he bore her. (3)
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  This story was imitated by Noël du Fail de La Hérissaye
+     in his <i>Contes d&rsquo;Eutrapel</i> (ch. v.<i> De la Goutte</i>), where
+     the hero of the incident is called Glaume Esnaut de
+     Tremeril. &ldquo;It is said,&rdquo; writes Du Fail, &ldquo;that the wife of
+     that rascal Glaume of Tremeril when at the point of death,
+     on seeing Glaume too familiar with her serving-woman,
+     recovered her senses, saying, &lsquo;Ah! wicked man, I am not yet
+     so low as you thought. By God&rsquo;s grace, mistress baggage, you
+     shall go forth at once.&rsquo;&rdquo; Curiously enough, the 1585 edition
+     of the <i>Contes d&rsquo;Eutrapel</i> was printed at Rennes for Noël
+     Glame, virtually the same name as Glaume.&mdash;M.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By this you see, ladies, the hypocrisy of men, and how a little
+      consolation will make them forget their sorrow for their wives.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you know,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that he had not heard that such was the
+      best remedy his wife could have? Since his kindly treatment availed not to
+      cure her, he wished to try whether the opposite would prove any better,
+      and the trial was a very fortunate one. But I marvel that you who are a
+      woman should have shown how the constitution of your sex is brought to
+      amendment rather by foul means than by fair.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Without doubt,&rdquo; said Longarine, &ldquo;behaviour of that kind would make me
+      rise not merely from my bed, but from a grave such as that yonder.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what wrong did he do her,&rdquo; asked Saffre-dent, &ldquo;by comforting himself
+      when he thought that she was dead? It is known that the marriage-tie lasts
+      only through life, and that when this is ended it is loosed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;loosed from oath and bond, but a good heart is never
+      loosed from love. The husband you have told us of was indeed quick to
+      forget his grief, since he could not wait until his wife had breathed her
+      last.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What I think strangest of all,&rdquo; said Nomerfide, &ldquo;is that, when death and
+      the cross were before his eyes, he should not have lost all desire to
+      offend against God.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A brave argument!&rdquo; said Simontault. &ldquo;You would therefore not be surprised
+      to see a man act wantonly provided he were a good distance from the church
+      and cemetery?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You may laugh at me as much as you please,&rdquo; said Nomerfide; &ldquo;nevertheless
+      the contemplation of death must greatly chill a heart, however young it
+      may be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should indeed be of the same opinion as yourself,&rdquo; said Dagoucin, &ldquo;if I
+      had not heard a Princess say the opposite.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In other words.&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;she told some story about it. If it be
+      so, I will give you my place that you may relate it to us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Dagoucin began as follows:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0065" id="linkimage-0065">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/224.jpg" width="100%" alt="224.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0066" id="linkimage-0066">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/225a.jpg" width="100%"
+       alt="225a. The Monk Conversing With The Nun While Shrouding A Dead Body " />
+    </div>
+    <h4>
+      [The Monk Conversing with the Nun while Shrouding a Dead Body]
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0067" id="linkimage-0067">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/225.jpg" width="100%" alt="225.jpg Page Image " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      <i>TALE LXXII</i>.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Whilst engaged in the last deed of charity, the shrouding
+     of a dead body, a monk did also engage with a nun in the
+     deeds of the flesh, and made her big with child</i>. (1)
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In one of the finest towns of France after Paris there stood an hospital
+      (2) richly endowed&mdash;namely, with a Prioress and fifteen or sixteen
+      nuns, while in another building there was a Prior and seven or eight
+      monks. Every day the monks said mass, but the nuns only their paternosters
+      and the Hours of Our Lady, for they were occupied in tending the sick.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1  Gruget first printed this tale, which was not given by
+     Boaistuau.&mdash;L.
+
+     2  It is impossible to say what town and hospital Margaret
+     here refers to. Lyons is the scene of the latter part of the
+     story; and we are inclined to think that the earlier
+     incidents may have occurred at Dijon, where there was a
+     famous hospital under ecclesiastical management, founded by
+     Eudes III., seventh Duke of Burgundy.&mdash;L. and Ed.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      One day it chanced that a poor man died, and the nuns, being all assembled
+      with him, after giving him every remedy for his health, sent for one of
+      their monks to confess him. Then, finding that he was growing weaker, they
+      gave him the extreme unction, after which he little by little lost the
+      power of speech.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But as he was a long time in passing away, and it seemed that he could
+      still hear, the nuns continued speaking to him with the most comforting
+      words they knew, until at last they grew weary, and, finding that night
+      was come and that it was late, retired one after another to rest. Thus, to
+      shroud the body, there remained only one of the youngest of the nuns, with
+      a monk whom she feared more than the Prior or any other, by reason of the
+      severity that he displayed in both speech and life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When they had duly uttered their Hours in the poor man&rsquo;s ear, they
+      perceived that he was dead, and thereupon laid him out. Whilst engaged on
+      this last deed of charity, the monk began to speak of the wretchedness of
+      life, and the blessedness of death; and in such discourse they continued
+      until after midnight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor girl listened attentively to the monk&rsquo;s pious utterances, looking
+      at him the while with tears in her eyes; and so pleasing were these to him
+      that, whilst speaking of the life to come, he began to embrace her as
+      though he longed to bear her away in his arms to Paradise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor girl, listening to his discourse and deeming him the most pious
+      of the community, ventured not to say him nay.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Perceiving this, the wicked monk, whilst still speaking of God,
+      accomplished with her the work which the devil suddenly put into their
+      hearts&mdash;for before there had been no question of such a thing. He
+      assured her, however, that secret sin was not imputed to men by God, and
+      that two persons who had no ties, could do no wrong in this manner, when
+      no scandal came of it; and, to avoid all scandal, he told her to be
+      careful to confess to none but himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So they parted each from the other, she going first. And as she passed
+      through a chapel dedicated to Our Lady, she was minded to make her prayer
+      as was her wont. But when she began with the words, &ldquo;Mary, Virgin,&rdquo; she
+      remembered that she had lost the title of virginity not through force or
+      love, but through foolish fear; and she began to weep so bitterly that it
+      seemed as if her heart must break.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The monk, hearing the sighing from a distance, suspected her repentance,
+      which might make him lose his delight, and to prevent this, he came and,
+      finding her prostrate before the image, began to rebuke her harshly,
+      telling her that if she had any scruples of conscience she should confess
+      herself to him, and that she need not so act again unless she desired; for
+      she might behave in either way without sin. The foolish nun, thinking to
+      make atonement to God, confessed herself to the monk; but in respect of
+      penance he swore to her that she did no sin in loving him, and that holy
+      water would suffice to wash away such a peccadillo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Believing in him more than in God, she again some time afterwards yielded
+      to him, and so became big with child. At this she was in deep grief, and
+      entreated the Prioress to have the monk turned away from his monastery,
+      saying that she knew him to be so crafty that he would not fail to seduce
+      her. The Abbess and the Prior, who understood each other, laughed at her,
+      saying that she was big enough to defend herself against a man, and that
+      the monk she spoke of was too virtuous to do such a deed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At last, urged by the prickings of her conscience, she craved license to
+      go to Rome, for she thought that, by confessing her sin at the Pope&rsquo;s
+      feet, she might recover her virginity. This the Prior and Prioress very
+      readily granted her, for they were more willing that she should become a
+      pilgrim contrary to the rules of her order, than be shut up in the convent
+      with her present scruples. They feared also that in her despair she might
+      denounce the life that was led among them, and so gave her money for her
+      journey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But God brought it to pass that when she came to Lyons, my lady the
+      Duchess of Alençon, afterwards Queen of Navarre, being one evening after
+      vespers in the roodloft of the church of St. John, whither she came
+      secretly to perform a novena with three or four of her women, (3) heard
+      someone mounting the stairway whilst she was kneeling before the crucifix.
+      By the light of the lamp she saw it was a nun, and in order that she might
+      hear her devotions, the Duchess thereupon withdrew to the corner of the
+      altar. The nun, who believed herself to be alone, knelt down and, beating
+      her breast, began weeping so sorrowfully that it was piteous to hear her;
+      and all the while she cried naught but this&mdash;&ldquo;Alas! my God, take pity
+      on this poor sinner.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     3  See <i>ante</i>, Tale LXV., note i.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The Duchess, wishing to learn what it meant, went up to her and said,
+      &ldquo;Dear heart, what ails you, and whence do you come, and what brings you to
+      this place?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor nun, who did not know her, replied, &ldquo;Ah, sweet, my woe is such
+      that I have no help but in God; and I pray that He may bring me to speak
+      with the Duchess of Alençon. To her alone will I tell the matter, for I am
+      sure that, if it be possible, she will set it right.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dear heart,&rdquo; then said the Duchess, &ldquo;you may speak to me as you would to
+      her, for I am one of her nearest friends.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Forgive me,&rdquo; said the nun; &ldquo;she alone must know my secret.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the Duchess told her that she might speak freely, since she had
+      indeed found her whom she sought. Forthwith the poor woman threw herself
+      at her feet, and, after she had wept, related what you have heard
+      concerning her hapless fortune. The Duchess consoled her so well, that
+      whilst she took not from her everlasting repentance for her sin, she put
+      from her mind the journeying to Rome, and then sent her back to her priory
+      with letters to the Bishop of the place to have that shameful monk turned
+      away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have this story from the Duchess herself, and from it you may see,
+      ladies, that Nomerfide&rsquo;s prescription is not good for all, since these
+      persons fell into lewdness even while touching and laying out the dead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Twas a device,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;that methinks no man ever used before, to
+      talk of death and engage in the deeds of life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis no deed of life,&rdquo; said Oisille, &ldquo;to sin, for it is well known that
+      sin begets death.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You may be sure,&rdquo; said Saffredent, &ldquo;that these poor folk gave no thought
+      to any such theology; but just as the daughters of Lot made their father
+      drunk so that the human race might be preserved, so these persons wished
+      to repair what death had spoiled, and to replace the dead body by a new
+      one. I therefore can see no harm in the matter except the tears of the
+      poor nun, who was always weeping and always returning to the cause of her
+      tears.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have known many of the same kind,&rdquo; said Hircan, &ldquo;who wept for their
+      sins and laughed at their pleasures both together.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think I know whom you mean,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;and their laughter has
+      lasted so great a while that &lsquo;twere time the tears should begin.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hush!&rdquo; said Hircan. &ldquo;The tragedy that has begun with laughter is not
+      ended yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To change the subject,&rdquo; said Parlamente, &ldquo;it seems to me that Dagoucin
+      departed from our purpose. We were to tell only merry tales, and his was
+      very piteous.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You said,&rdquo; replied Dagoucin, &ldquo;that you would only tell of follies, and I
+      think that herein I have not been lacking. But, that we may hear a more
+      pleasant story, I give my vote to Nomerfide, in the hope that she will
+      make amends for my error.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have indeed,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;a story ready which is worthy to follow
+      yours; for it speaks of monks and death. So I pray you give good heed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Here end the Tales and Novels of the late Queen of Navarre, that is,
+      all that can be recovered of them</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0068" id="linkimage-0068">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/232.jpg" width="100%" alt="232.jpg Tailpiece " />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_APPE" id="link2H_APPE">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      APPENDIX.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0035" id="link2H_4_0035">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE SUPPOSED NARRATORS OF THE <i>HEPTAMERON</i> TALES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In his introductory essay to this translation of the <i>Heptameron</i>,
+      Mr. George Saintsbury has called attention to the researches of various
+      commentators who have laboured to identify the supposed narrators of Queen
+      Margaret&rsquo;s tales. As it may be fairly assumed that the setting of the work
+      is pure invention on the Queen&rsquo;s part, the researches in question can
+      scarcely serve any useful purpose. Still they appear to have had
+      considerable attraction for several erudite editors, whose opinions,
+      occasionally alluded to in our notes, we will here briefly summarise for
+      the information of those whom the matter may interest:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      OISILLE, a widow lady of long experience, is supposed by Messrs. de Lincy,
+      Lacroix, Génin, Frank, de Montaiglon and Miss Mary Robinson to be Louise
+      of Savoy. In some MSS. the name is written Osyle, the anagram of <i>Loyse</i>,
+      in which fashion Louise was spelt in old French. It may be pointed out, <i>en
+      passant</i>, that Brantôme&rsquo;s grandmother, the Sénéchale of Poitou, whose
+      connection with the <i>Heptameron</i> is recorded, was also named Louise
+      (see ante, vol. i. p. lxxxii.).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      PARLAMENTE, wife of Hircan, is supposed by the same commentators to be
+      Queen Margaret herself; this is assumed mainly because the views which
+      Parlamente expresses on religion, philosophy, men and women, are generally
+      in accord with those which the Queen is known to have professed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      HIRCAN, in M. de Lincy&rsquo;s opinion, might be the Duke of Alençon, Margaret&rsquo;s
+      first husband. Messrs. Frank and Mont-aiglon, following M. Lacroix, prefer
+      to identify him as Henry d&rsquo;Albret, King of Navarre. They conjecture the
+      name of Hircan to be derived from Ilanricus, a not uncommon fashion of
+      spelling Henricus. It might, however, simply come from <i>hircus</i>, a
+      he-goat, for Hircan is a man of gross, sensual tastes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      LONGARINE, a young widow, is supposed by M. de Lincy to be Blanche de
+      Chastillon, <i>née</i> de Tournon (concerning whom see <i>ante</i>, vol.
+      i. p. 84, n. 7, and p. 120 <i>et seq</i>.; vol. iv. p. 144, n. 2; and vol.
+      v. p. 25, n. 2). M. Frank, however, thinks she is Aimée Motier de la
+      Fayette, lady of <i>Longray</i>, widow of Francis de Silly, Bailiff of
+      Caen, and <i>gouvernante</i> to Queen Margaret&rsquo;s daughter, Jane of
+      Navarre. Miss Robinson shares this opinion, but M. de Montaiglon thinks
+      that <i>Longarine</i> would rather be Aimée Motier de la Fayette&rsquo;s
+      daughter Frances, married to Frederic d&rsquo;Almenesches, of one of the
+      branches of the house of Foix.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      SIMONTAULT (occasionally <i>Symontaut</i>), a young knight, is thought by
+      M. de Lincy to be Henry d&rsquo;Albret, Margaret&rsquo;s second husband, who was of an
+      extremely amorous disposition, and much younger than herself. Messrs.
+      Frank and de Montaiglon, however, fancy <i>Simontault</i> to have been
+      Francis, Baron de Bourdeilles, father of Brantôme. It is admitted,
+      however, that if this be the case, it is curious that Brantôme should not
+      have alluded to it in any of his writings, whereas he does speak both of
+      his mother and of his grandmother in connection with the <i>Heptameron</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      ENNASUITE (occasionally <i>Ennasuitte</i> or <i>Ennasuicte</i>, and in
+      some MSS. <i>Emarsuite</i>), is supposed by Messrs. de Lincy, Frank, and
+      de Montaiglon to be Anne de Vivonne, wife of Francis de Bourdeilles and
+      mother of Brantôme (see ante, vol. iv. p. 144, n. 2). It is pointed out
+      that the name may be transformed into the three words <i>Anne et suite</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      DAGOUCIN, a young gentleman, is thought by M. Frank to be Nicholas Dangu
+      (see ante, vol. i. p. 20, n. 4, and p. 40, n. 3), who became Chancellor to
+      the King of Navarre. M. Lacroix, however, fancies this personage to be a
+      Count d&rsquo;Agoust.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      GEBURON, apparently an elderly man, would in M. Frank&rsquo;s opinion be the
+      Seigneur de Burye, a captain of the Italian wars to whom Brantôme (his
+      cousin-german) alludes in his writings. The name of de Burye is also found
+      in a list of the personages present at Queen Margaret&rsquo;s funeral. M. de
+      Montaiglon shares M. Frank&rsquo;s views.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      NOMERFIDE, so M. de Lincy suggests, may have been the famous Frances de
+      Foix, Countess of Chateaubriand; but M. Frank opines that she is a
+      Demoiselle de Fimarcon or Fiédmarcon (Lat. <i>Feudimarco</i>), who in 1525
+      married John de Montpczat, called &ldquo;Captain Carbon,&rdquo; one of the exquisites
+      of the famous Field of the cloth of gold. Miss Robinson, however, fancies
+      that Nomerfide is Isabel d&rsquo;Albret, sister of Margaret&rsquo;s second husband,
+      and wife of René de Rohan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      SAFFREDENT, so M. de Lincy thinks, may be Admiral de Bonnivet; M. Frank
+      suggests John de Montpezat; and Miss Robinson René de Rohan, who, after
+      his father Peter de Rohan-Gié (husband of Rolandine, see <i>ante</i>, vol.
+      iii., Tale XXI, notes 2 and 15), had been killed at Pavia, was for some
+      years entrusted to Queen Margaret&rsquo;s care. As Miss Robinson points out, <i>Saffredent</i>
+      literally means greedy tooth or sweet tooth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Those who may be desirous of studying and comparing these various attempts
+      at identification, will find all the evidence and arguments of any value
+      set forth in the writings of M. Frank, M. de Montaiglon and Miss Robinson,
+      which are specified in the Bibliography annexed to this appendix.&mdash;Ed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_BIBL" id="link2H_BIBL">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BIBLIOGRAPHY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Fourteen MS. copies of the <i>Heptameron</i> are known to exist. Twelve of
+      these are at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, one is at the town library
+      of Orleans, and one in the Vatican library. We also have some record of
+      four other copies which were in private libraries at the end of the last
+      century.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The twelve MSS. at the Bibliothèque Nationale are the following:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I. (No. 1511 in the catalogue). A folio volume bound in red morocco,
+      bearing the Béthune arms. This MS. is on ruled paper, and only one leaf,
+      the last, is missing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      II. (No. 1512). A small folio, calf gilt, 350 leaves, from Colbert&rsquo;s
+      library. The handwriting is that of the middle of the sixteeenth century,
+      and is the same throughout; the last page bearing the signature &ldquo;Doulcet.&rdquo;
+       This supplied the text followed in the present translation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      III. (No. 1513). A small folio, half-bound in red morocco, stamped with
+      King Louis Philippe&rsquo;s monogram. It contains only twenty-eight of the
+      tales.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      IV. (No. 1514). A large quarto, calf, from the De Mesmes library. Contains
+      only thirty-four of the tales.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      V. (No. 1515). A small folio from Colbert&rsquo;s library, bound in calf, in
+      Groslier&rsquo;s style. The text is complete, but there are numerous interlinear
+      and marginal corrections and additions, in the same handwriting as MS.
+      VII.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      VI. (Nos. 1516 to 1519). Four quarto vols., red morocco, Béthune arms. The
+      first prologue is deficient, as is also the last leaf of tale lxxi.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      VII. (No. 1520). A folio vol., calf and red morocco, stamped with
+      fleurs-de-lys and the monogram of Louis XVIII. This MS. on stout ruled
+      paper, in a beautiful italic handwriting of the end of the sixteenth
+      century, is complete. Unfortunately Queen Margaret&rsquo;s phraseology has been
+      considerably modified, though, on the other hand, the copyist has inserted
+      a large number of different readings, as marginal notes, which render his
+      work of great value. It is frequently quoted in the present translation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      VIII. (No. 1523). A folio vol., calf, from the De La Marre library. The
+      first two leaves are deficient, and the text ends with the fifth tale of
+      Day IV.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      IX. (No. 1522). A small folio, bound in parchment, from the De La Marre
+      library. Only the tales of the first four days are complete, and on folio
+      259 begins a long poem called Les Prisons, the work probably of William
+      Filandrier, whom Queen Margaret protected. On the first folio of the
+      volume is the inscription, in sixteenth-century handwriting: <i>Pour ma
+      sour Marie Philander</i>. The poem <i>Les Prisons</i> is quoted on pp.
+      xxxviii.-ix. vol. i. of the present work. It concludes with an epitaph on
+      Margaret, dated 1549.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      X. (No. 1524). A folio vol. from Colbert&rsquo;s library, bound in red and
+      yellow morocco, on which is painted, on a blue ground, a vine laden with
+      grapes twining round the trunk of a tree. On either side and in gold
+      letters is the device, <i>Sin e doppo la morte</i> (until and after
+      death). Following the title-page, on which the work is called &ldquo;The
+      Decameron of the most high and most illustrious Princess, Madame Margaret
+      of France,&rdquo; is a curious preface signed &ldquo;Adrian de Thou,&rdquo; and dated
+      &ldquo;Paris, August 8, 1553.&rdquo; This Adrian de Thou, Lord of Hierville and canon
+      of Notre Dame de Paris, counsellor and clerk of the Paris Parliament, was
+      the fourth son of Augustine de Thou and uncle to James Augustus de Thou,
+      the historian. He died in October 1570. His MS. of the <i>Heptameron</i>,
+      a most beautiful specimen of caligraphy, contains a long table of various
+      readings and obscure passages; this was consulted in preparing the text
+      for the present translation. The titles to the tales have also been
+      borrowed from this MS.; they were composed by De Thou himself, and figure
+      in no other MS. copy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XI. (No. 1525). A small folio, calf, from Colbert&rsquo;s library, very
+      incomplete and badly written, but containing the <i>Miroir de Jésu Crist
+      crucifié</i>, the last poem Queen Margaret composed (see <i>ante</i>, vol.
+      i. p. lxxxvi.).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XII. (No. 2155). A small quarto, red morocco, from the library of Mazarin,
+      whose escutcheon has been cut off. The text, which is complete and
+      correct, excepting that a portion of the prologue has been accidentally
+      transposed, is followed by an epitaph on the Queen. The handwriting
+      throughout is that of the end of the sixteenth century.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The other MSS. of the <i>Heptameron</i> are the following:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XIII. (Orleans town library, No. 352). A folio vol. of 440 pp. It is
+      doubtful whether this MS. is of the sixteenth or seventeenth century. It
+      bears the title <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron des Nouvelles, &amp;c</i>. There are
+      numerous deficiencies in the text.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XIV. (Vatican library, No. 929; from the library of Queen Christina of
+      Sweden). A folio vol., calf, 95 leaves, handwriting of the end of the
+      sixteenth century. This only contains fifteen of the stories.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XV. (present possessor unknown). A folio vol., red morocco; text (ending
+      with tale lxix. ) in sixteenth-century handwriting, with illuminated
+      initial letters to each tale. <i>Catalogue des livres de feue Mme. la
+      Comtesse de Verrue</i>, Paris, G. Martin, 1737.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XVI. (possessor unknown). MS. supposed to be the original, a large folio,
+      handwriting of the period, antique binding, containing the seventy-two
+      tales. <i>Catalogue des livres, &amp;c., du cabinet de M. Filheul, &amp;c.</i>,
+      Paris, Chardin, 1779, pp. xxi. and 280.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XVII. (possessor unknown). A folio vol., blue morocco, gilt. No. 1493 in
+      the catalogue of the <i>Bibliothèque de Simon Bernard, chez Barrois</i>,
+      Paris, 1734; and No. 213 in a <i>Catalogue de manuscrits intéressants qui
+      seront vendus... en la maison de M. Gueret, notaire</i>, Paris, Debure
+      fils jeune, 1776.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XVIII. (possessor unknown). A folio vol., blue morocco, gilt, stamped with
+      the arms of France, from the Randon de Boisset library; the seventy-two
+      tales complete, a very fine copy. <i>Catalogue des livres de la
+      bibliothèqzie de l&rsquo;Abbé Rive</i>, Marseilles, 1793. (This MS. should not
+      be confounded with No. xvii. See L. J. Hubaud&rsquo;s <i>Dissertation sur les
+      Contes de la Reine de Navarre</i>, Marseilles, 1850.)
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following are the editions of Queen Margaret&rsquo;s tales issued from the
+      press from the sixteenth century to the present time. The list has been
+      prepared with great care, and we believe it to be as complete a one as can
+      be furnished; it includes several editions not mentioned in Brunet&rsquo;s
+      Manual:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I. <i>Histoires des Amans Fortunez dédiées à très illustre princesse, Mme.
+      Marguerite de Bourbon, etc., par Pierre Boaistuau, dit Launoy</i>, Paris,
+      1558, 40. The authorisation to print and publish was accorded to Vincent
+      Sertenas, and the work was issued by three different booksellers; some
+      copies bearing the name of Gilles Robinot, others that of Jean Cavyller,
+      and others that of Gilles Gilles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This, the first edition of the Queen&rsquo;s work, contains only sixty-seven of
+      the tales, which are not divided into days or printed in their proper
+      sequence; the prologues, moreover, are deficient, and all the bold
+      passages on religious and philosophical questions, &amp;c, in the
+      conversational matter following the stories, are suppressed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      II. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron des Nouvelles de tris illustre et très excellente
+      Princesse Marguerite de Valois, Royne de Navarre, &amp;c., dédié à très
+      illustre et très vertueuse Princesse Jeanne, Royne de Navarre, par Claude
+      Gruget, parisien</i>, Paris, Vincent Certena, or Jean Caveillier, 1559.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This contains all the Queen&rsquo;s tales excepting Nos. xi., xliv., and xlvi.,
+      which Gruget replaced by others, probably written by himself. The other
+      stories are placed in their proper order, but none of the names and
+      passages suppressed by Boaistuau are restored. The phraseology of the
+      MSS., moreover, is still further modified and polished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The text adopted by Boaistuau and Gruget was followed, with a few
+      additional modifications, in all the editions issued during the later
+      years of the sixteenth century. Most of these are badly printed and
+      contain numerous typographical errors:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      III. <i>L&rsquo;Heptamêron des Nouvelles, &amp;c</i>. Reprint of Gruget&rsquo;s
+      edition, sold by Vincent Sertenas, Gilles Robinot &amp; Gilles Gille, and
+      printed by Benoist Prévost, Paris, 1560.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      IV. <i>L&rsquo;Heptamêron des Nouvelles, &amp;c</i>., 1560, 16mo. (No
+      bookseller&rsquo;s or printer&rsquo;s name appears in this edition. )
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      V. <i>L&rsquo;Heptamêron, &amp;c</i>. (Gruget). Guill. Rouillé, Lyons, 1561,
+      small 12mo; Gilles Gilles, Paris, 1561, 16mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      VI. The same. Norment &amp; Bruneau, and Gilles Gilles, Paris, 1567, 16mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      VII. The same. Louys Cloquemin, Lyons, 1572, 16mo (reprinted in 1578 and
+      1581).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      VIII. The same. Michel de Roigny, Paris, 1574, 16mo (round letters).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      IX. The same. Gab. Buon, Paris, 1581, 16mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      X. The same. Abel L&rsquo;Angelier, Paris, 1581, 18mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XI. The same. Jean Osmont, Rouen, 1598, 578 pp., sin. 12mo (good type).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XII. The same. Romain Beauvais, Rouen, 1598, 589 pp. 12mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the seventeenth century the <i>Heptameron</i> was frequently reprinted,
+      Gruget&rsquo;s text, with a few changes, being still followed until 1698, when
+      it occurred to some obscure literary man to put the tales into so-called
+      <i>beau langage</i>. At the same time the title of <i>Heptameron</i>,
+      devised by Gruget, was discarded (see post, No. XVI.).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XIII. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron</i>, &amp;c., printed by Ch. Chappellein, Paris,
+      1607, 18mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XIV. The same. <i>Sur Pimprimé à Paris</i>, J. Bessin (Holland), 1615, sm.
+      l2mo (reprinted in 1698, 2. vols. 12mo).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XV. The same. David du Petit-Val, Rouen, 1625, 12mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XVI. <i>Contes et Nouvelles de Marguerite de Valois, Reine de Navarre, mis
+      en beau langage</i>. Gallet, Amsterdam, 1698, 2 vols, sm. 8vo. This
+      edition is valued not for its <i>beau langage</i>, but for the copperplate
+      engravings illustrating it. These are coarsely executed, and are
+      attributed to Roman de Hooge, but do not bear his name. A reprint of the
+      edition appeared at Amsterdam in 1700.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XVII. The same. Gallet, Amsterdam, 1708, 2 vols. sm. 8vo. Virtually a
+      reprint, but with several of the Roman de Hooge plates deficient, and
+      replaced by others signed Harrewyn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XVIII. The same. La Haye (Chartres), 1733, 2 vols. sm. 12mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XIX. The same. Londres, 1744, 2 vols. 12mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XX. Heptaméron Français, ou les Nouvelles de Marguerite, Reine de Navarre;
+      chez la Nouvelle Société Typographique, Berne, 1780-1, 3 vols. 8vo. On
+      some copies the title is simply, Nouvelles de Marguerite, etc., Berne,
+      1781; on others Béat Louis Walthard is designated as the publisher.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For this edition were executed the copperplate engravings, designed by
+      Freudenberg and Dunker, which illustrate the present translation. It was
+      at first intended to issue the work in parts, but after parts i. and ii.
+      had been published (at 4 livres each) the project was abandoned. A few
+      copies of these two parts are in existence; they bear the date 1778.
+      Freudenberg began his designs in the previous year, and finished them in
+      1780.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This edition is greatly prized for its illustrations; the text, however,
+      largely modified by Jean Rodolphe de Sinner, is without value. The work
+      was reissued at Paris in 1784 (8 vols, in 8vo, some copies 18mo), at Berne
+      in 1792, and again in Paris in 1807 (8 vols. 18mo).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following new editions of the <i>Heptameron</i> have appeared during
+      the present century:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXI. <i>Contes et Nouvelles de Marguerite, &amp;c</i>. Dauthereau, Paris,
+      1828, 5 vols. 32mo. (Collection des romans français et étrangers.)
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXII. <i>L&rsquo;Heptamêron, ou Histoire des Amants fortunés, &amp;c, ancien
+      texte publié par C. Gruget.., revu, corrigé et publié avec des notes,
+      &amp;c., par le bibliophile Jacob</i>. Gosselin (Bibliothèque d&rsquo;Élite),
+      Paris, 1841, 12mo. In this edition the Bibliophile Jacob (M. P. Lacroix)
+      but slightly modified Gruget&rsquo;s text, and his annotation was comparatively
+      insignificant. His work was reproduced in a volume of the <i>Panthéon
+      Littéraire: Les vieux Conteurs français</i>, Paris, 1841, 1. 8vo. (double
+      cols.).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXIII. <i>Heptaméron des Nouvelles de... Margtierile d&rsquo;Angouléme...
+      publiée sur les manuscrits par la Société des Bibliophiles Français</i>
+      (Le Roux de Lincy, editor), Paris, 1853-4, 3 vols. sm. 18mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In this edition the real text of the tales was printed for the first time,
+      M. de Lincy having carefully examined the best MSS. for this purpose. The
+      present English translation is based upon his work. Copies of the
+      &ldquo;Bibliophiles Français&rdquo; edition, which contains a portrait of the Queen, a
+      facsimile of a miniature, and an engraving showing her arms and device,
+      cannot be purchased, when in fair condition, for less than £6 in Paris.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXIV. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron des Nouvelles, etc.... avec des notes et une notice
+      par P. L. Jacob, Bibliophile</i> (Paul Lacroix). Adolphe Delahays, <i>Bibliothèque
+      Gauloise</i>, Paris, 1858, 18mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In this edition M. Lacroix, following M. de Lincy&rsquo;s example, went to the
+      MSS. for his text, which he annotated with care and erudition. All his
+      notes of any importance are reproduced in the present translation. The
+      edition of 1858 was reprinted in 1875.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXV. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron, &amp;c</i>. Gamier frères, Paris, n.d., 1 vol. 18mo.
+      This was long the &ldquo;popular&rdquo; edition in France. The text, which is
+      considerably modernised, is of no value.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXVI. <i>Les sept Journées de la Reine de Navarre, suivies de la huitième</i>.
+      Paris, Librairie des Bibliophiles (Jouaust), 1872, 4 vols. l6mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In this edition Gruget&rsquo;s text is followed; the notes, &amp;c, are by M.
+      Lacroix. The work is prized for its illustrations (a portrait and eight
+      etchings) by Leopold Flameng. It was originally issued in eight parts. The
+      value of the copies varies according to the paper on which they are
+      printed. Those on India or Whatman paper, with a duplicate set of the
+      engravings, command high prices. The text has been reissued by the same
+      firm in two cr. 8vo vols, under the title of <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron des contes,
+      etc</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXVII. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron des Nouvelles, &amp;c</i>, preface, notes, &amp;c,
+      by Benjamin Pifteau, in the <i>Nouvelle Collection Jannet</i>, Alphonse
+      Lemerre, Paris, 1875, 2 vols. l6mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This, undoubtedly the best of all the cheap editions, has been reprinted
+      by Marpon &amp; Flammarion, Paris, n.d. The text is from the MSS.; the
+      notes are mainly abbreviated from those of MM. de Lincy and Lacroix. M.
+      Pifteau supplies an introduction and glossary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXVIII. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron, &amp;c., publié avec Introduction, Notes et
+      Glossaire par Félix Frank</i>. Liseux, Paris, 1879, 3 vols. 12mo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This, from the literary point of view, is one of the most important of
+      modern editions. The text is not taken from the same MS. as was followed
+      by M. de Lincy. The tales are preceded by a lengthy introduction, in which
+      the editor discusses Queen Margaret&rsquo;s work and seeks to identify the
+      supposed narrators of her tales. He has frequently been quoted in the
+      notes to this translation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXIX. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron, &amp;c, avec notes, variantes et glossaire par F.
+      Dillaye et notice par A. France</i>. A. Lemerre, Paris, 1879.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A handy edition based on the MSS. The notes embody the substance of M. de
+      Lincy&rsquo;s and M. Lacroix&rsquo;s researches with additional particulars supplied
+      by M. Dillaye, who has been quoted in the course of the present work.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      XXX. <i>L&rsquo;Heptaméron, &amp;c., publié stir les manuscrits avec les notes
+      de MM. Le Poux de Lincy et Anatole de Montaiglon</i>. Auguste Eudes,
+      Paris, 1880, 8 vols. 1. 8vo and 4 vols. cr. 8vo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The edition in 8 vols, (two copies of which on parchment were issued at
+      £44 each; and twelve on Japanese paper at £20 each) is illustrated with
+      the Freudenberg plates; that in 4 vols, contains the text only. The text
+      is the same as that of No. XXIII.; but with additional notes, prefatory
+      matter, &amp;c. The copyright attaching to this edition was acquired for
+      the present work, in which all M. de Montaiglon&rsquo;s important notes are
+      reproduced.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the English translations of the <i>Heptameron</i> are the following:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Heptameron</i>, or the <i>History of the Fortunate Lovers</i>,
+      translated by R. Codrington, London, 1654, 12mo. (Dedicated to Thomas
+      Stanley, the translator of Anacreon and editor of Æschylus, and based on
+      Boaistuau&rsquo;s defective text.)
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The <i>Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre, nota first translated
+      from the original text, by Walter K. Kelly</i>. Bohn (extra volume),
+      London, 1855. This has been several times reprinted. The translation is a
+      very free rendering of M. de Lincy&rsquo;s text; many passages are deficient.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The <i>Heptameron, &amp;c., translated from the original French by Arthur
+      Machen</i>. Privately printed (G. Redway), London, 1886, 1 vol. 1. 8vo. A
+      scholarly translation, not annotated; illustrated with the etchings by
+      Flameng (see <i>ante</i>, edition xxv.).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>The Fortunate Lovers, twenty-seven novels of the Queen of Navarre,
+      translated by Arthur Machen, edited with notes and introduction by A. Mary
+      F. Robinson</i>. G. Redway, London, 1887, 8vo. Etched frontispiece by G.
+      P. Jacomb Hood. This only contains such of the tales as the lady-editor
+      considered unobjectionable. In her introduction she sketches the life of
+      Queen Margaret and discusses the identity of the supposed narrators of the
+      tales. Some of the notes are original, but the majority are based upon the
+      researches of French commentators.&mdash;Ed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+     <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto" cellpadding="4" border="3">
+      <tbody>
+        <tr>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17701/17701-h/17701-h.htm">Volume
+            I.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17702/17702-h/17702-h.htm">Volume
+            II.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17703/17703-h/17703-h.htm">Volume
+            III.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+          <td>
+            &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a
+            href="http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/0/17704/17704-h/17704-h.htm">Volume
+            IV.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+          </td>
+        </tr>
+      </tbody>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
+
+
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