KS .

THE

PRINCESS OF CLEVES.
MADAME DK [Link].
 THE

PRINCESS OF CLEVES.
BY

MADAME DE LA FAYETTE.

TRANSLATED BY

THOMAS SERGEANT PERRY.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS DRAWN BY JULES GARNIER. AND

ENGRAVED BY A. [Link].

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

BOSTON:
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
1891.
 Copyright, 1891,

BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.

JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE.

 CONTENTS TO VOL. I.

PAGB
PREFACE 7

PART 1 47

PART II 131

2220756
 PREFACE.

"PRINCESS OFCLEVES" was pub-

lished in the spring of 1678 by
Claude Barbin, whose place of business
was on the second floor of the Sainte-
Chapelle. It was a good house, for
Barbin was the publisher of Boileau, La
Fontaine, and Racine. The " Phedre "
had appeared but a short time before ;

the first volume of a new edition of the

" "
Fables had just been put on sale; and
for the autumn there was announced
a fifth edition, much enlarged, of the
"Maxims" of Monsieur de la Rochefou-
cauld. Barbin was no Elzevir ;
he
8 Preface.

wrought, not for students or for con-

noisseurs, but for the court and the
town. His books were printed without
elegance, and were designed for a wide
circulation. He had shrewdly printed
" "
the Princess of Cleves in four small

volumes, in large type, doubtless in

order to be able to ask the highest pos-
sible price for a book long announced
and belauded ;
possibly, too, in order
that ladies might be able to carry into
bowers and
drawing-rooms the light
volumes of a book written for them by
one of themselves.
" "
The Princess of Cleves bore no
author's name. Etiquette forbade that
there should be exposed on the stalls of
the Palais and of the Rue Saint-Jacques
the titlepage of a book bearing the
name of a lady of the court It was

commonly supposed that the Duke of

 Preface. 9

La Rochefoucauld, the lover of Madame

de la Fayette, had lent his aid, and that
1

perhaps Segrais had written part of it.

Segrais, poor gentleman and an

a

academician, had for some time been a

member of the household of Madame
de la Fayette, occupying an humble po-
sition in an elegant and noble domes-

ticity. 1670 he had put his name

In
"
to Zaide a Spanish Story," which
:

Monsieur Huet and all the duke's

friends freely attributed to Madame de
1
There was published this introductory note, from
"The Publisher to the Reader," which denied noth-
ing, confessed nothing, and contained
an unfulfilled
" In
promise :
spite of the approval that readers have
expressed for this story, the author has not been able
to decide to set his name to it. He knows from
experience that books are often condemned from dis-
like for their author, and he also knows that an au-
thor's reputation gives a value to his work. Hence
he remains in his present obscurity to secure a freer
and juster verdict nevertheless, he will make himself
;

known if this story proves as agreeable to the public

as he hopes."
i o Preface.

la Fayette, and which the worthy gentle-

"
man afterward called his Zai'de," ap-

parently from an excess of friendly zeal.

It is, after all, very possible that he may
"
have devised the plot of Zai'de," and
even that he may have written a few

pages of the story. It is easy to imagine

Segrais writing in the romantic style of
this Spanish story; but it is impossible

to see what he could have contributed

"
to the Princess of Cleves," the note
of which is entirely different. Segrais'
taste always inclined to grace and pretti-

ness, which certainly are not the char-

acteristic qualities of the novel of 1678.
We cannot even be certain that Segrais
would in his heart have approved so
simple a tale ;
he would have vastly pre-
"
ferred Zai'de," his "Zai'de," with its ab-

ductions, its shipwrecks, its pirates, its

gloomy solitudes, where flawless lovers

 1 1
Preface.

breathed forth their sighs in palaces

adorned with allegorical paintings. The
"
Princess of Cleves" appeared two years
after the return of Segrais to Caen, the
city of his birth.
The book was doubtless written be-
fore the academician left Madame de
la Fayette's house ;
but even if he had
assisted in its preparation, it was not
"
his book, it was not his Princess." As
for the Duke of La Rochefoucauld, he
was, as every one knows, the acknowl-

edged lover of Madame de la Fayette;

their relations were respected by every
one, and many things combined to

diminish the scandal of their intimacy.

The duke was an old man Madame de ;

la Fayette was no longer young, and

had never been beautiful ;
they were
both ill, feeble,almost at the point of
death. Lastly, he was a prince, and
1 2 Preface.

she was very devout. It was a natural

supposition that they wrote their novels
together, as Monsieur and Madame Da-
Greek together. It was also
cier read

known that the duke liked to read

novels. He used to say, after
having
been loved by Madame
de Sable, by Ma-
dame de Longueville, and by Madame
de la Fayette, that he had never known
love outside of pages of a novel.
the
He was credited with a share in the
" "
Princess of Cleves only because it

was possible that he might have had

one but no one knew how large this
;

share was, or even whether there was

one. For my part, I do not believe that
he inspired or contributed a line. His
imagination was powerful, but its flight
was short he grasped at everything,
;

but everything slipped through his fin-

gers. Moreover, he was weary of life;

 1
Preface. 3

while Madame de la Fayette, although

she seemed almost at the last gasp,
never eating or sleeping, parched with
fever, withered, half dead, was yet very
active and an indefatigable writer.

Among other matters which she had

undertaken, she had for twelve years
been governing Savoy by letters, as
the secret agent of the Regent. Huet
" "
testifies that he saw her write Zai'de ;

Madame de Sevigne, her most intimate

friend, assigns to her, without a mo-
"
ment's hesitation, both the Princess
of Montpensier" and the "Princess of
"
Cleves and I know no evidence that
;

can be urged against this most prob-

able statement except that of Madame
de la Fayette herself.
The relations of Madame de
Fay- la

ette to the little court Savoy were of

hidden in France from even the most

14 Preface.

intimate friends of that lady, and have

eluded all her biographers. Sainte-
Beuve himself, who seldom went astray,
had no suspicion of the political intri-
gues which played a prominent part in
a life which he supposed thoroughly
filled with works of piety, with literature,
and with an engrossing affection. It

isnot yet twelve years since Monsieur

A. D. Perrero published the letters
of Madame de la Fayette which he
1
had discovered in the Turin archives.
These letters show us the sedate mis-

tress of La Rochefoucauld in a new

light, busier, more interested in poli-

tics, in statesmanship, than might seem

desirable. Doubtless she was working
for France, and asked the most trivial

1
Madame de Lafayette. Torino,
Lettere inedite di
1880. See, too, the article by Arvede Barine in the
"
Revue des Deux Mondes " for Sept. 15, 1880.
 1
Preface. 5

rewards for her services ;

but it is a sur-

prise to detect in her such an intriguing

nature, and we must acknowledge that
the excellent Madame
de Sevigne, who
called her so candid, did not know her

at all. should be unwilling to say

I

that Madame de la Fayette was not

candid, but very certain that she
it is

was extremely reserved and that she

deceived every one. All who had any-

thing to do with her imagined her con-

tinually lost in day-dreams they called ;

her misty yet in reality she was most

:

precise, most practical. Truthful she

was, without doubt ; yet there is one
matter in which it is impossible to

believe her, and that is when she

"
denies having written the Princess of
Cleves."
This denial is to be found in a letter,

written April 13, 1678, to the secre-

1 6 Preface.

tary of the Regent Savoy Les-

of

cheraine, with whom the countess was

carrying on a diplomatic correspon-

dence. We quote the interesting part
of this letter :

" A little book which had some vogue

fifteen years ago, and which the public was
pleased to ascribe to me, has earned me the
title of author of the 'Princess of Cleves.'
But I assure
you have had no part in
that I

it, and that Monsieur de la Rochefoucauld,

who has also been mentioned, has had as

little as I. He denies it so strenuously

that it is impossible not to believe him,
especially about a matter which can be con-
fessed without shame. As for me, I am
flattered at being suspected, and I think I

should acknowledge the book if I was sure

that the author would never claim it of me.
I find it very agreeable, well-written, with-
out being extremely polished, full of very

delicate touches, and well worth more than

 1
Preface. 7

a single reading ;
and what I especially no-
tice is an exact representation of the persons

composing the court and of their manner

of life. It is without romanticism and exag-

geration, and so is not a romance; it is

more like a book of memoirs, and I hear

that was the first title of the book; but it

was changed. There you have my opinion

on the Princess of Cleves
'
let ;
'

me ask you
for yours, for people have almost come to
blows over it. Many blame what others

praise ; so, whatever you say, you will not

find yourself alone in your views."

This letter makes it clear that Ma-

dame de la Fayette was averse to hav-
ing it known, in Savoy at least, that

she was a writer of books, and that she

had been so called by Claude Barbin,
the bookseller of the Palais. With one
stroke of the pen she disclaims both
" " "
the Princess of Cleves and Zaide,"
which had been published fifteen, or,
VOL 12
1 8 Preface.

more accurately, seventeen years.

1
She
disavows any share in it, as does Mon-
sieur de la Rochefoucauld, whose denial
she mentions. Yet she is far from con-

demning what she disclaims. She says

" "
that if the Princess of Cleves is not

by her, she would be glad to have writ-

ten it, and she is almost tempted to steal
it from its true author. She praises the
book more warmly than we should be
able to do. Save in sincerity, she re-
minds us of the poor girl who sighed
and said: "Children are so lovely! What
"
a pity that they bring disgrace Did !

Madame de la Fayette look upon the

" "
Princess of Cleves as a charming
sin, a sweet disgrace ? I should be
inclined to think that she did. Later,
Voltaire was to give us many exam-
"
1
We
have said that "Za'ide appeared in 1670. It

was reprinted in 1705 and 1719.

 1
Preface. 9

pies of disavowals of this sort. But

Voltaire lied with too much pleasure,
with an unction that betrayed a natu-
ral predisposition to falsehood. This

great enemy of prejudice never hesi-

tated to employ a lie in the service of
the truth. Sometimes he lied merely
for his own pleasure, thereby swerving
from the precept of a great master of the
art, Monsieur de Talleyrand, who used
"
to say :
Lying is such an excellent

thing that it should not be abused."

However that
may be, it is easy to
understand why Voltaire denied this
or that one of his books. We are
more surprised by Madame de la Fay-
ette's disavowal, coming as it does
" "
from the most candid of women,
and it is not easy to see what were
her real reasons. Arvede Barine in
"
the article in the Revue des Deux
2O Preface.
"
Mondes already cited suggests that
possibly Madame de la Fayette was
afraid of offending the Regent of Savoy,
a Princess of Nemours, by acknowl-
edging herself to be the author of a
novel in which a Nemours is repre-
sented as the handsomest man of his

day, but as thoroughly devoted to

gallantry
This would be an excess of scrupu-

lousness for which there was no occa-

sion. The Regent, Marie de Nemours,
commonly called Madame Royale, was
also notorious for her many love affairs,

which, indeed, she took no pains to con-

ceal ;
and Monsieur de Nemours would
no more have shocked her by his con-

duct than he would have displeased her

by his appearance. Moreover, even if

she had assumed a prudery which in

no way belonged to her, no woman
 Preface. 2 1

even of excessive religious sensitiveness

would ever have blushed at having had

a Nemours in her family.
I rather incline to think that Madame
de la Fayette, who took pleasure in writ-

ing because she wrote well, was unwill-

ing to be known as an author, especially
at courts. It was she, we must say, who
was prudish and pious. Now, about
1678 women enjoyed no very
writers

high repute. By her epoch and by her

friendships Madame de la Fayette be-
longed to the brilliant society of the
Fronde. Ever since she had been
Mademoiselle de Vergne, and showed
la

Menage how much more Latin she

knew than he, the Hotel de Rambouil-
let had set the fashion for a society
very eager for fame, and no less criti-

cal in matters of feeling than in those

of the intellect. At that time it was
22 Preface.

customary for women to combine pure

morals with intellectual brilliancy. To
be learned was to be virtuous ;
and
wisdom in the ancient sense, as it was
then understood, implied rhetoric, as-

tronomy, and chastity. That is the way

that Mademoiselle de la Vergne under-
stood it, and she was very anxious to

be thought
u learned. After her mar-

riage, which brought her no happiness,

she became intimate with the pre-
cieuses, who dealt in subtilties and
affected to scorn the pleasures of the
senses. Then was that she brought
it
"
out the "Princess of Montpensier;
but at that very moment public opinion
was changing. The new generation
showed itself severe toward those once
famous women, and with some rudeness
ordered them back to their domestic

duties. The pr'ecieuses were ridiculed

 Preface. 23

on all sides were attacked by

; they
Moliere and by the Abbe de Pure at
the same time. Madame de la Fayette,
like a discreet woman, concealed her
Latin and yielded to the new cur-

rent of thought,
O although
O she felt that

she had a genius for writing. While

she risked "ZaTde" in the face of this
reaction, when even Madeleine de
Scudery, that illustrious Sappho, passed
for a tolerably ridiculous person, it

was with the precautions we have men-

tioned, and behind the mask of Mon-
sieur de Segrais. Eighteen years later,
a woman as sensitive of her reputation

as was Madame de la Fayette had still

to be cautious about appearing in print.

Women who wrote were looked upon

as improper characters, and not wholly
without reason. Madame Deshoulieres
had been loose in her life, Madame de
24 Preface.

la Suze still was, and Mademoiselle de

Villedieu lived with an officer. Learned
women like Madame de la Sabliere
made great concessions to the emo-
tions. Madame de la Fayette was un-
willing to seem learned, and entered
the republic of letters only behind a

triple veil. Besides, she was a woman

of piety, and belonged to the little co-

terie of Port Royal, in which novels

were an abomination. Monsieur Nicole,
the gentlest of men, said at that time :

"
A writer of novels or plays is a pub-
lic poisoner, not of men's bodies, but
of the souls of the faithful ;
and he
ought to look upon himself as guilty
of numberless spiritual homicides,

whether, in he has already caused

fact,

them, or only may cause them by his

pernicious writings." It is plain that
Madame de la Fayette had, after all,
 Preface. 25

some reasons for not too openly ac-

"
knowledging the Princess of Cleves."
The book which appeared in this
mysterious way was at once success-
ful. For a whole season every one
was talking about it. Madame de la

Fayette scarcely exaggerated when she

" "
spoke of people coming to blows
about it. Young Valincour, the friend
of Racine, wrote a criticism of it which
was ascribed to Father Bouhours, and
an Abbe de Charmes replied with an

apology which appeared under the

name of Barbier d'Aucour. Boursault
made a tragedy out of it, for in France

everything that acquires notoriety comes

at lastupon the stage.
Never was success better deserved.
Madame de la Fayette was the first to

introduce naturalness into fiction, the

first to draw human beings and real
26 Preface.

feelings ;
and thereby she earned a place
among the true classics, fitly follow-

ing Moliere, La Fontaine, Boileau, and

Racine, who had brought back the
"
Muses to nature and truth. Andro-
" "
maque belongs to 1667; the Princess
of Cleves" to 1678: modern French

literature starts from those two dates.

" "
The Princess of Cleves is the first

French novel in which the interest de-

pends on the truth of the passions.
But we must not forget that if this

novel shows, by the charming simplicity

and thought, that Racine had
of its style

appeared, introducing Monime and Be-

renice, yet Madame de la Fayette, by
the very spirit of her work, belongs to
the generation of the Fronde and of
Corneille. She remains heroic in her
simplicity, and, like the author of
"
Cinna," preserves a proud and noble
 Preface. 27

ideal of life. In the essential points of

her character her heroine is, like Emilie,

an "adorable fury," a fury of modesty,

it
may be but none the less a few ser-
;

pents' heads appear to be concealed in

her beautiful blond hair. The philoso-

phy of Madame de
Fayette is like that
la

of Corneille, and she held to the past as

do women no longer young. Racine

and it was the great success of this

genius, who was both charming and pow-

erful represented his tragic heroines
as pathetic victims of their heart and of

their senses. Corneille had exalted the

will to a point of absurdity; Racine
showed the omnipotence of the passions,

and, without knowing it, he was in this

respect the boldest of innovators. He

introduced into poetry a new, unheard-
of,profound truth. His contemporaries
had no very clear vision of this even ;
28 Preface.

those who, like Saint-Evremond, were to

enter most readily into this philosophy,
were restrained by their literary preju-
dices. Hence we need not be sur-

prised that Madame

de Sevigne felt a
frivolous contempt works so great
for

that she was incompetent to understand

them. Her intimate friend, Madame

de la Fayette, was far more thoughtful
and of keener intellect ;
she understood

things whose existence the marchioness

never even suspected. Nevertheless, in
her study of the passions she clung, and
insisted on clinging, to the psychology
of Corneille and of the precieuses.
What did she really think ? No one
will ever know. Her real personality
was impenetrable ;
even her confessor
did not know her. A prude, pious,
with a
high position can at court, I

almost suspect her of having doubted of

 Preface. 29

virtue, of having believed only faintly

in God, and what was more astonish-
ing at that period ofhaving hated
the king. I am convinced that she
was a great freethinker. She never
"
told her secret, not even in the Prin-
cess of Cleves."
I shall not analyze this novel, which
is familiar even to those who have not
read it. It is well known that the scene
is laid in the court of Henri II., but
that in fact the manners described are
those, somewhat idealized, of people of

quality who lived at the same period

as the author. Writers of the seven-
teenth century had no true sense of
the and unconsciously delineated
past,
themselves under ancient or foreign
names : thus Madame de la Fayette
with perfect simplicity ascribes to the

contemporaries of the Valois the Ian-

30 Preface.

guage and manners of the courtiers of

Louis XIV. I do not
say that she was
not familiar with the epoch of the Valois,
I do say that she but dimly understood
it and we should be glad that she did
;

not undertake to describe it, that

would have been only a work of erudi-
tion, while, as it was, she gave free play
to her genius. It is scarcely worth while
to the
simple story that is the
recall

basis of this charming book. Madame

de Cleves, the most beautiful woman of

the court, is loved by Monsieur de Ne-

mours, the most accomplished gentle-

man of the whole kingdom. Monsieur
de Nemours, though he had led a life
of gallantry, becomes timid as soon as

he is really in love. He hides his pas-

sion, but Madame de Cleves detects it,

and involuntarily shares it. To defend

herself from the danger to which her
 Preface. 31

heart exposes her, she finally decides

to tell her husband that she loves Mon-
sieur de Nemours, that she fears him
and fears herself. Her husband at first
reassures and consoles her ;
but through
the imprudence and an indiscretion of
the Duke of Nemours he imagines him-
selfwronged, and dies of grief. His
widow does not judge that she has there-
by regained her liberty ;
she remains
faithful to the memory of a husband
whom she had never lovect.

That in many ways seems admirable.

It is true that Madame de Cleves sets a
high value on virtue, for she does not
think it is paid too high a price by the
death of the husband and the despair of
a lover, taking this last word in the
sense that it had in the seventeenth

century.
"
What do you think of it ? "
I asked a woman whose honest and in-
32 Preface.

telligent mind I admire. This was what

she was good enough to reply :

"
Except for her preciosity, the Princess of

Cleves is a true heroine of the Hotel de Ram-

bouillet. She is divine like Clelie and Arthe-

nice. Her beauty is unrivalled, her soul

knows no weakness. But Madame de Cleves
is no artificial heroine, and the motives that

inspire her have their roots in reality, and do

not depend on fiction. Her principles are

very human, and wholly without any ideal;

propriety and reason, which are transient
virtues, control her life and regulate her feel-

ings. And
even more than propriety, the
notion of her worldly position fills and pro-
tects her. She has the pr foundest respect
for appearances, and her aristocratic pride
mitigates many of her secret sufferings. I

fancy that to this woman, whose psychology,

and especially whose moral nature, was so
much less complicated than ours, the world
must have seemed like a well-lighted drawing-
 Preface. 33

room, and that her duty consisted in passing

through it with dignity and grace; then
with a majestic courtesy she withdrew, and all

was over. It is the triumph of etiquette, and

of etiquette which may amount to heroism ;

for it sometimes takes more courage and more

firmness to smile in the midst of a ball than
on the battle-field. The Princess of Cleves

possesses that sort of courage, she possesses

it to such an extent that she forgets herself

and sacrifices herself; she has no weakness,

but she also has no pity. She gives over to
despair and death two men, one of whom at
least she loves. She has no remorse, because
she has given no cause for scandal, and noth-

ing has seriously marred the happy harmony

of her conduct. She is an excellent example
of what produced by very rigid social
is

principles and a very severe rule of life with

nothing higher than these principles. She is

also an edifying, though discouraging, instance

of what morality and virtue can do for men's

happiness. In contrast with this loyal and

VOL. i.
3
34 Preface.

we recall those other hero-

unflinching soul,
ines who were weak, who were guilty, but
were gentle and we ask if, underlying lofty
;

virtue, there was not a feeling of pride which

consoled her for everything, even for the harm
she wrought."

Doubtless what is most original in

the conduct of Madame de Cleves is

her confession to her husband of her

love for another man. This cannot be

regarded as a kind action, for this con-

fession is the primary cause of the death
of Monsieur de Cleves. If she had not

spoken, Monsieur de Cleves would not

have died he would have lived on, tran-
;

quilly, happily, in an agreeable delusion :

but truth was required at all hazards.

This was also the opinion of a famous
woman who a hundred years later re-

peated this confession. Madame Roland,

"
when thirty-nine years old, felt the
 Preface. 35

strong affections of a powerful mind con-

trolling a robust body." The man she
loved had, like her, a lofty feeling of duty.
He was the Deputy Buzot. They loved,
but that was all. Madame Roland had
a husband twenty years older than she,
and decrepit. She thought it her duty,
following the example of Madame de
Cleves, to confess to him that she loved
another man ;
but the confession once
made, this half-dead husband could not
take it
tragically, so that perhaps in this

respectMadame Roland will seem less

imprudent than Madame de Cleves.
In spite of that, she had no reason to
be satisfied with her confession of the
state of affairs to him, as she acknowl-
edges in her Memoirs :

" honor and cherish

I my husband as an
affectionate daughter adores a virtuous father

for whom she would sacrifice even a lover;

 36 Preface.

but I have found the man who might be this

lover, and while I remained faithful to my

duties my ingenuity has not been able to hide
the feelings that I sacrificed to them. My
husband, whose susceptibility and self-love
were both easily roused, could not endure the
idea of the slightest modification in sway ;
he
imagined dark things ;
his jealousy annoyed
me ; happiness fled far from us. He adored
me ;
I sacrificed myself to him, and we were
wretched. Were I free, I would follow him
anywhere, to soothe his sufferings and to
console his old age : a soul like mine is

contented with no imperfect sacrifice. But

Roland detests the thought of a sacrifice ;
and
having once perceived that I am making one
for him, the knowledge destroys all his hap-
piness. It pains him to receive such a sacri-
fice, and yet he cannot do without it."

Roland did not die of this. Every

one says that he was sublime ;
and he

promised some time to make way for

 Preface. 37

the man who was loved, if his wife's

new affection should continue. Ma-

dame Roland was also sublime, and
refused to hear of this generous sacri-
fice. But sublime as they were, they
quarrelled and grew more bitter. The
household was most unhappy when the
3ist of brought them other cares,
May
and swept away their domestic bicker-
ings in the public disaster.

So far as I know, the cruel frank-

ness of Madame de Cleves has been
imitated by no other woman than
Madame Roland. I do not dare to
say that this is to be regretted ; but
however it
may be, we must in jus-
tice remember that for acting as she
did, Madame Roland had not such
good reasons as Madame de Cleves.
Madame de Cleves when she confided
in her husband asked for his aid in
38 Preface.

her distress, she implored his support;

Madame Roland merely wanted to ex-
pose her passion, and those are two
very different things. As for Madame
de la Fayette, she was
delighted so
with these tragic confessions that she
afterward wrote a novel simply to show
another woman making the same con-
fession under still more painful circum-
stances ;
for she is
guilty, and confesses
to her husband that she has deceived
him. The Countess of Tende, who
takes her husband for the confidant of
her weaknesses, outdoes even Madame
Roland in heroic sincerity.
She is another candid woman. It

is amusing that these candid women

should have sprung from the imagina-
tion of a woman who never confessed

even to her confessor.

ANATOLE FRANCE.
 Preface. 39

P. S. I thought that I had kept within

bounds, that had justly admired the " Prin-
I
"
cess of Cleves and justly esteemed Madame
de la Fayette ;
but justice is not everything.
To a masterpiece, to awoman, something
besides justice is due, and I became uneasy.
I feared that I had been deficient in that

politeness, that courtesy, without which even

the belles-lettres remain rude and unpol-
ished. Hence, remembering that Auguste
Comte had admitted the "Princess of Cleves"
into the Positivist Library, I took the lib-

erty of asking the heir of the founder, the

venerable leader of the Positivists, to be good

enough to write for me a few words about

this princess, which he admires, as know,
I

with an intelligent fervor. Monsieur Pierre

Laffitte was kind enough to reply; and here
is his letter, which will correct my preface.

This letter is just what I expected from a

philosopher animated, like the ancient Epicu-
rus, by an ardent enthusiasm for reason.
4O Preface.

PARIS, December 28, 1888.

[28 Bichat, too Gall ]

MY DEAR MONSIEUR FRANCE, I am glad to

" Princess of
see that you have written about the

Cleves," and I am sure that you will not take amiss

a few observations, not on its literary qualities, for

there would be but little propriety in my addressing

you on this score, but merely on the state of mind

which this masterpiece indicates, all the more
that it does this without premeditation.
What has always struck me in reading this dis-

tinguished product of the female mind is the

complete absence of everything supernatural. The

name of God is not once mentioned ; and yet the
inner working of human life, and more especially
of a woman's life, is portrayed without any appear-
ance of strangeness or want of logic ;
and that is so

true that no one before me, so far as I know, has

ever noticed this absence of God. Read more
particularly that wonderful discussion in which
Madame de Cleves sets forth her reasons for refus-

ing to marry Monsieur de Nemours. The reasons

influencing her in forming this most important

decision are all of a perfectly natural sort ;
she
 Preface. 41

succeeds in overcoming a deep and lawful attach-

ment by delicate and wise motives. The absence
of the supernatural is all the more striking here,
from the fact that human motives assure the supe-

riority of reason over the passions, and not their

mere brutal victory.
It is evident that a work of this sort portrays
a new state of mental equilibrium attained by a

woman, it is true, by a very superior woman,

in whom life is controlled by the appreciation of

the consequences of our actions, without thought

of any supernatural interference. Women of a rare

type have reached this lofty state, in which life

has become wise, dignified, and delicate, void of

fear as well as of what, for the sake of politeness,

I will not call a chimerical, but at least a doubt-

ful, hope. For this is not peculiar to Madame

de la Fayette ;
read Madame de Lambert's "Advice
to my Son," and you will see that, with the excep-

tion of a few formulas of politeness toward God,

every motive for living with dignity is of a human
sort. Is not this a practical demonstration of the

possibility of conceiving of a life, not only honor-

able but lofty and delicate, by considerations of a
 42 Preface.

merely natural order? The demonstration is all

the more striking because it is in no way systema-

tic, no attempt is made to prove anything ;
it is

merely described. The slow evolution of human-

ity has produced such a condition in superior

souls, which, after all, are only in advance of the

rest ;
the systematization will follow later.

Doubtless I shall be told that the supernatural

scaffolding was necessary at first. I grant it ;

but they at least have succeeded in doing without

it. Thus man does not really belong to the ani-
mal kingdom. This becomes serious in large
societies ; consequently, the leaders of our race

sought at first to provide against it. But they

had to invoke both a God and a Devil to per-
suade men to act nobly. At the present time
the West gets along without fear of hell or hope
of paradise. Why may not the evolution accom-

plished by civilized peoples in a simple case be

also attainedmore complicated cases? The
in
" "
furnishes us with the demon-
Princess of Cleves

stration, not by scholastic rules, but by a living

figure, in an aesthetic masterpiece ;

and this ab-

sence of God helps to portray the final victory

 Preface. 43

of reason over passion, which is the normal type

of our species.
But let us consider the opposite opinion, and

by discussing art, not science. Jean- Jacques

Rousseau, in a period of reaction, introduced

"
God again ;
read the Nouvelle Heloise," and see
what a part he makes him play there : it must
be said, with all possible politeness, that it is a

sorry one. God intervenes to justify tender weak-

nesses, or at least to accept them with a smiling

tolerance. And in the nineteenth century how
this tendency has developed ! In George Sand,
when women wish to yield gracefully, God is

always there to make things easy for them. He

has to play a singular part. We are very far from

those momentous decisions in which the soul

exercises control, such as Madame de la Fayette

described with a thorough knowledge of human
nature.

On the whole, the " Princess of Cleves " seems to

me the most perfect work that ever issued from
a woman's hand. She did not try works of vast

strength in any direction, but in her own field

Madame de la Fayette had complete mastery.

44 Preface.

Her book will be read so long as there shall sur-

vive men of taste and intelligence ;

it is a pleas-
ure to feel one's self m communion with the

chosen spirits who, since the seventeenth century,

have enjoyed this delightful masterpiece, and
to think of the others who, after us, will still

enjoy it.

P. LAFFITTE.
THE PRINCESS OF CLEVES.
 PART I.

r
I "HERE never was in France so brilliant
a display of magnificence and gal-
lantry as during the last years of the reign of
Henri II. This monarch was gallant, hand-

some, and susceptible; although his love for

Diane de Poitiers, Duchess of Valentinois,
had lasted twenty years, its ardor had not
diminished, as his conduct testified.
He was remarkably skilful in physical ex-
ercises, and devoted much attention to them ;

every day was filled with hunting and tennis,

48 The Princess of Cleves.

dancing, running at the ring, and sports of

that kind. The favorite colors and the

initials of Madame de Valentinois were to be

seen everywhere, and she herself used to

appear dressed as richly as Mademoiselle de

laMarck, her granddaughter, who was then
about to be married.
The fact that the queen was there, accounted
for her presence. This princess, although she
had passed her first youth, was still beautiful ;

she was fond of splendor, magnificence, and

pleasure. The king had married her while

still Duke of Orleans, in the lifetime of his
elder brother, the dauphin, who afterward
died at Tournon, mourned as a worthy heir
to the position of Francis I., his father.

The queen's ambition made her like to

reign. She seemed indifferent to the king's

attachment to the Duchess of Valentinois,

and never betrayed any jealousy; but she
was so skilled a dissembler that it was hard
to discover her real feelings, and she was

compelled by policy to keep the duchess

 The Princess of Cloves. 49

near her if she wanted to see anything of the

king. As he liked the society of

for him,

women, even of those with whom he was not

at all in love. He
was with the queen every
day at her audience, when all the most at-
tractive lords and ladies were sure to appear.
At no court had there ever been gathered

together so many lovely women and brave

men. It seemed as if Nature had made an
effort to show her highest beauty in the

greatest lords and ladies. Madame Elisa-

beth of France, afterwards queen of Spain,

began to show her wonderful intelligence

and that unrivalled beauty which was so
fatal to her. Mary Stuart, the queen of
Scotland, who had just married the dauphin
and was called the crown princess, or dau-
phiness, was faultless in mind and body.
She had been brought up at the French
court and had acquired all its polish; she
was endowed by Nature with so strong a
love for the softer graces that in spite of her

youth she admired and understood them

VOL. I. 4
50 The Princess of Cleves.

perfectly. Her mother-in-law, the queen,

and Madame, the king's sister, were also fond
of poetry, of comedy, and of music. The
interest which King Francis I. had felt in

poetry and letters still prevailed in France,

and since the king, his son, was devoted to
physical exercise, pleasures of all sorts were
to be found at the court. But what rendered
the and majestic was the
court especially fine

great number of princes and lords of excep-

tional merit those I am about to name were,
;

in their different ways, the ornament and the

admiration of their age.
The King of Navarre inspired universal re-

spect by his exalted rank and his royal

bearing. He excelled in the art of war; but
the Duke of Guise had shown himself so

strong a rival that he had often laid aside his

command to enter the duke's service as a

private soldier in the most dangerous battles.

This duke had manifested such admirable

bravery with such remarkable success that

he was an object of envy to every great
 The Princess of Cleves. 51

commander. He had many conspicuous

qualities besides his personal courage, he
possessed a vast and profound intelligence,
a noble, lofty mind, and equal capacity for

war and affairs. His brother, the Cardinal

of Lorraine, was born with an unbridled am-

bition, and had acquired vast learning; this he

turned to his profit by using it in defence of
Catholicism, which had begun to be attacked.
The Chevalier de Guise, afterwards known
as the Grand Prior, was loved by all he was ;

handsome, witty, clever, and his courage was

renowned throughout Europe. The short,
ill-favored body of the Prince of Conde held
a great and haughty soul, and an intelligence
that endeared him to even the most beautiful
women. The Duke of Nevers, famous for
his military prowess and his important ser-
vices to the state, though somewhat advanced
in years was adored by all the court. He had
three handsome sons, the second, known as

the Prince of Cleves, was worthy to bear that

proud title; he was brave and grand, and

52 The Princess of Cloves.

was withal endowed with a prudence rare in

the young. The Vidame of Chartres, a scion

of the old house of Vend6me, a name not de-
spised by princes of the blood, had won equal
triumphs in war and gallantry ;
he was hand-
some, attractive, brave, hardy, generous ;
all

his good qualities were distinct and striking,

in short, he was the only man fit to be com-

pared, if such comparison be possible, with

the Duke of Nemours. This nobleman was
a masterpiece of Nature ;
the least of his fas-
cinations was his extreme beauty; he was the
handsomest man in the world. What made
him superior to every one else was his un-

rivalled courage and a charm manifested in

his mind, his expression, and his actions,
such as no other showed. He possessed a
certain playfulness that was equally attractive
to men and women ;
he was unusually skil-
ful in physical exercises; and he dressed in
a way that every one tried in vain to imi-
tate ; moreover, his bearing was such that all

eyes followed him wherever he appeared.

 The Princess of CI eves. 53

There was no lady in the court who would

not have been flattered by his attentions;
few of those to whom he had devoted himself
could boast of having resisted him ;
and even
many in whom he had shown no interest

made very clear their affection for him. He

was so gentle and courteous that he could
not refuse some attentions to those who tried

to please him, hence he had many mis-

tresses; but it was hard to say whom he
really loved. He was often to be seen with
the dauphiness; her beauty, her gentleness,
her desire to please every one, and the es-

pecial regard she showed for this prince,

made some imagine that he dared to raise

his eyes to her. The Guises, whose niece

she was, had acquired influence and position

by her marriage they aspired to an equality

;

with the princes of the blood and to a share

of the power exercised by the Constable of

Montmorency. It was to the constable that

the king confided the greater part of the cares
of state, while he treated the Duke of Guise
54 The Princess of CIeves.
and the Marshal of Saint-Andre as his favor-

ites. But those attached to his person by

favor or position could only keep their place

by submitting to the Duchess of Valentinois,

who, although no longer young or beautiful,
ruled him so despotically that she may be
said to have been the mistress of his person
and of the state.

The king had always loved the constable,

and at the beginning of his reign had sum-
moned him from the exile into which he
had been sent by Francis I. The court
was divided between the Guises and the
constable, who was the favorite of the

princes of the blood. Both parties had

always struggled for the favor of the
Duchess of Valentinois. The Duke of Au-
male, brother of the Duke of Guise, had
married one of her daughters. The con-
stable aspired to the same alliance, not sat-
isfied with having married his eldest son to
Madame Diane, a daughter of the king by
a lady of Piedmont who entered a convent
 The Princess of Cleves. 55

after the birth of The promises

her child.
which Monsieur de Montmorency had made
to Mademoiselle de Piennes, one of the
queen's maids-of-honor, had proved a seri-
ous obstacle to this match and although
;

the king had removed it with extreme pa-

tience and kindness, the constable still felt

insecure until he had won over the Duchess

of Valentinois and had separated her from
the Guises, whose greatness had begun to
alarm her. She had delayed in every way
in power the marriage between the
her

dauphin and the Queen of Scotland; this

young queen's beauty and intelligence, and
the position given to the Guises by this mar-
riage, were very odious to her. She espe-
cially detested the Cardinal of Lorraine, who
had addressed her even contemptu-
in bitter,

ous terms. She saw that he was intriguing

with the queen ;
hence the constable found her
ready to join forces with him by bringing about
the marriage of Mademoiselle de la Marck,
her granddaughter, to Monsieur d'Anville,
56 The Princess of Cleves.

his second son, who succeeded to his post

in the reign of Charles IX. The constable
did not expect that Monsieur d'Anville would
have any objections to this marriage, as had
been the case with Monsieur de Montmo-
rency ;
but though the reasons were more
hidden, the difficulties were no less obstinate.
Monsieur d'Anville was desperately in love
with the crown princess; and although his

passion was hopeless, he could not persuade

himself to contract other ties. The Marshal
of Saint-Andre" was almost the only courtier
who had taken sides with neither faction ;

he was one of the favorites, but this position

he held simply by his own merits. Ever

since he had been the dauphin, the king
had been attached to this nobleman, and later
had made him marshal of France, at an age
when men are satisfied with lesser honors.
His advance gave him a distinction which
he maintained by his personal worth and
charm, by a costly table and rich surround-
ings, and by more splendor than any private
 The Princess of Cloves. 57

individual had yet displayed. The king's

generosity warranted this sumptuousness.

There was no limit to this monarch's gen-
erosity to those he loved. He did not pos-
sessevery great quality, but he had many,
and among them the love of war and a
good knowledge of it. This accounted for
his many successes ;
and if we except the
battle of St. Quentin, his reign was an un-
broken series of victories. He had won the
battle of Renty in person, Piedmont had
been conquered, the English had been
driven from France, and the Emperor
Charles V. had seen his good fortune desert
him before the city of Metz, which he had
besieged in vain with all the forces of the

Empire and of Spain. Nevertheless, since

the defeat of St. Quentin had diminished our

hope of conquest, and fortune seemed to

favor one king as much as the other, they
were gradually led to favor peace.
The Dowager Duchess of Lorraine had be-
gun to lead the way to a cessation of hos-
58 The Princess of Cloves.

tilities at the time of the dauphin's marriage,

and ever since then there had been secret
negotiations. At last Cercamp, in the Pro-
vince of Artois, was chosen as the place of

meeting. The Cardinal of Lorraine, the

constable, and the Marshal of Saint-Andre
appeared in behalf of the King of France ;

the Duke Alvaand the Prince of Orange in

of
behalf of Philip II. The Duke and Duchess
of Lorraine were the mediators. The leading
were the marriage of Madame Elisa-
articles

beth of France to Don Carlos, Infanta of

Spain, and that of Madame, the king's sister,

with Monsieur de Savoie.

Meanwhile the king remained on the fron-
tier, and there heard of the death of Mary,
queen of England. He sent the Count of
Randan to Elizabeth to congratulate her on
ascending the throne. She was very glad to

receive him, because her rights were so inse-

cure that it was of great service to her to

have them acknowledged by the king. The

count found her well informed about the
 The Princess of Cleves. 59

interests of France and the capabilities of

those who composed the court, but especially

familiar with the reputation of the Duke of
Nemours. She spoke of this nobleman so
often and with such warmth that when Mon-

sieur de Randan returned and recounted his

journey to the king, he told him that there

was nothing to which Monsieur de Nemours
could not aspire, and that she would be

capable of marrying him. That very eve-

ning the king spoke to this nobleman, and
made Monsieur de Randan repeat to him
his conversation with Elizabeth, urging him
to essay this great fortune. At first Mon-
sieur de Nemours thought that the king was
jesting; but when he saw his mistake he
said,
" At any if I undertake a fan-
rate, sire,

tastic enterprise under the advice and in

behalf of your Majesty, I beg of you to

keep it secret until success shall justify me
before the public, and to guard me from
appearing vain enough to suppose that a
60 The Princess of Cloves.

queen who has never seen me should wish

to marry me from love."

The king promised speak of the plan

to

to no one but the constable, and agreed

that secrecy was essential for its success.

Monsieur de Randan advised Monsieur de

Nemours to visit England as a simple trav-

eller; but the latter could not make up his

mind to do this. He sent Lignerolles, an in-
telligent young man, one of his favorites,

to ascertain the queen's feeling and to try

to open the matter. Meanwhile he went to

see the Duke of Savoy, who was then at

Brussels with the King of Spain. The death
of Mary of England raised great obstacles to

any treaty of peace ;

the commission broke

up at the end of November, and the king

returned to Paris.
At that moment there appeared at court a

young lady to whom all eyes were turned, and

we may well believe that she was possessed of
faultless beauty, since she aroused admiration
where all were well accustomed to the sight
 The Princess of Cloves. 61

of handsome women. Of the same family

as the Vidame of Chartres, she was one of
the greatest heiresses in France. Her father
had died young, leaving her under the charge
of his wife, Madame de Chartres, whose

kindness, virtue, and worth were beyond

praise. After her husband's death she had
withdrawn from court for many years ; during
this period she had devoted herself to the
education of her daughter, not merely culti-

vating her mind and her beauty, but also

seeking to inspire her with the love of virtue

and to make her attractive. Most mothers
imagine that it is
enough never to speak of
gallantry to their daughters to guard them
from it forever. Madame de Chartres was
of a very different opinion she often drew ;

pictures of love to her daughter, showing

her its fascinations, in order to give her a
better understanding of its perils. She told
her how insincere men are, how false and de-
ceitful ;
she described the domestic miseries
which illicit love-affairs entail, and, on the
62 The Princess of Cloves.

other hand, pictured to her the peaceful hap-

piness of a virtuous woman's life, as well as

the distinction and elevation which virtue

gives to a woman of rank and beauty. She

taught her, too, how hard it was to preserve

this virtue without extreme care, and with-
out that one sure means of securing a wife's

happiness, which is to love her husband and

tobe loved by him.
This heiress was, then, one of the greatest
matches in France, and although she was
very young, many propositions of marriage
had been made to her. Madame de Chartres,
who was extremely proud, found almost
nothing worthy of her daughter, and the
girl being in her sixteenth year, she was
anxious to take her to court. The Vidame
went to welcome her on her arrival, and
was much struck by the marvellous beauty
of Mademoiselle de Chartres, and with
good reason her delicate complexion
:

and her blond hair gave her a unique bril-

liancy; her features were regular, and her
 The Princess of CIeves. 63

face and person were full of grace and

charm.
The day after her arrival she went to match
some precious stones at the house of an
Italian who dealt in them. He had come
from Florence with the queen, and had
grown so rich by his business that his
house seemed that of some great nobleman
rather than of a merchant. The Prince of
Cleves happened to come in while she was
there ;
he was so struck by her beauty that
he could not conceal his surprise, and Made-

moiselle de Chartres could not keep from

blushing when she saw his astonishment: she

succeeded, however, in regaining her com-
posure without paying any further atten-

tion to the prince than civility required for a

man of his evident importance. Monsieur de

Cleves gazed at her admiringly, wondering
who this beauty was whom he did not know.
He perceived from her bearing and her suite
that she must be a lady of high rank. She
was so young that he thought she must be
64 The Princess of Cleves.

unmarried; but since she had not her

mother with her, and the Italian, who did
not know her, addressed her as " madame,"
he was in great doubt, and stared at her
with continual surprise. He saw that his

glances embarrassed her, unlike most young

women, who always take pleasure in seeing
the effect of their beauty ;
it even seemed to
him that his presence made her anxious to

go away, and in fact she left very soon. Mon-

sieur de Cleves consoled himself for her de-

parture with the hope of finding out who she

was, and was much disappointed to learn
that no one knew. He was so struck by her
beauty and evident modesty that from that
moment he conceived for her the greatest
love and esteem. That evening he called
on Madame, the king's sister.
This princess was held in high esteem on
account of her influence with the king, her
brother; and this influence was so great that
when the king made peace he consented to

restore Piedmont to enable her to marry

 The Princess of Cleves. 65

Monsieur de Although she had

Savoie.

always meant to marry, she had determined

to give her hand to none but a sovereign,

and had for that reason refused the

King of
Navarre when he was Duke of Vend6me, and
had always felt an interest in Monsieur de
Savoie after seeing him at Nice on the oc-
casion of the interview between Francis I.

and Pope Paul III. Since she possessed

great intelligence and a fine taste, she drew

pleasant persons about her, and at certain
hours the whole court used to visit her.

Thither Monsieur de Cleves went, as was

his habit. He was so full of the wit and

beauty of Mademoiselle de Chartres that he

could speak of nothing elsehe talked freely ;

of his adventure, and set no limit to his praise

young woman he had seen but did not

of the
know. Madame said to him that there was
no such person as he described, and that if

there were, every one would have known

about her. Madame
de Dampierre, her lady-
in-waiting and a friend of Madame de Chartres,
VOL. i.
5
66 The Princess of Cleves.

when she heard the conversation moved near

the princess and said to her in a low voice that
doubtless it was Mademoiselle de Chartres
whom Monsieur de Cleves had seen. Madame
turned towards him and said that if he would
return the next day, she would show him this

beauty who had so impressed him. Made-

moiselle de Chartres made her appearance the
next day. The queen received her with every

imaginable attention, and she was greeted with

such admiration by every one that she heard
around her nothing but praise. This she re-
ceived with such noble modesty that she
seemed not to hear it, or at least not to be
affected
by it. Then she visited the apart-

ments of Madame, the king's sister. The

princess, after praising her beauty, told her
the surprise she had given to Monsieur
de Cleves. A moment after, that person
appeared.
" " see
Come," she said to him, if I have
not kept my word, and if, when I point out
Mademoiselle de Chartres to you, I do not
 The Princess of Cleves. 67

show you the beauty you sought; at any

rate, thank me for telling her how much
you already admire her."
Monsieur de Cleves was filled with joy to
find that this young woman whom he had
found so attractive was of a rank proportionate
to her beauty. He went up to her and asked

her to remember that he had been the first to

admire her, and that without knowing her
he had felt all the respect and esteem that
were her due.
The Chevalier de Guise, his friend, and he
the house together. At first they praised
left

Mademoiselle de Chartres without stint then ;

they found that they were praising her too

much, and both stopped saying what they
thought of her: but they were compelled to
talk about her on the following days wherever

they met. This new beauty was for a long

time the general subject of conversation.
The queen praised her warmly and showed
an extraordinary regard for her; the dau-

phiness made her one of her favorites, and

68 T/ie Princess of Cleves.

begged Madame de Chartres to bring her to

see her very often ;

the daughters of the

king invited her to all their entertainments,

in short, she was loved and admired by the

whole court, except by Madame de Valen-
tinois. It was not that this new beauty gave

her any uneasiness, her long experience

had made her sure of the king, but she so
hated the Vidame of Chartres, whom she had
desired to ally with herself by the marriage
of one of her daughters, while he had joined
the queen's party, that she could not look
with favor on any one who bore his name
and seemed to enjoy his friendship.

The Prince of Cloves fell passionately in

love with Mademoiselle de Chartres, and was

eager to marry her; but he feared lest the

pride of Madame
de Chartres should prevent
her from giving her daughter to a man who
was not the eldest of his family. Yet this
family was so distinguished, and the Count
of Eu, who was the head of the house, had

just married a woman so near to royalty, that

 The Princess of Cloves. 69

it was timidity rather than any true reason

that inspired the fear of Monsieur de Cleves.
He had many rivals the Chevalier de Guise
;

seemed to him the most formidable, on

account of his birth, his ability, and the

brilliant position of his family. This prince
had fallen in love with Mademoiselle de
Chartres the first day he saw her; he had
noticed the passion of Monsieur de Cleves

just as the latter had noticed his. Though

the two men were friends, the separation
which resulted from gave them
this rivalry

no chance to explain themselves, and their

friendship cooled without their having cour-

age to come to an understanding. The

good fortune of Monsieur de Cleves in

being the first to see Mademoiselle de

Chartres seemed to him a happy omen, and
to promise him some advantage over his
rivals ;
but he foresaw serious obstacles on
the part of the Duke of Nevers, his father.
This duke was bound to the Duchess of
Valentinois by many ties ;
she was an
70 The Princess of Cleves.

enemy of the Vidame, and this was reason

enough to prevent the Duke of Nevers from

consenting that his son should think of that

nobleman's niece.
Madame de Chartres, who had already
taken such pains to fill her daughter with a
love of virtue, did not remit them in this

place where they were still so necessary, and

bad examples were so frequent. Ambi-
tion and gallantry were the sole occupation

of the court, busying men and women alike.

There were so many interests and so many
different intrigues in which women took part

that love was always mingled with politics,

and politics with love. No one was calm
or indifferent; every one sought to rise, to

please, to serve, or to injure; no one was

weary or idle, every one was taken up with
pleasure or intrigue. The ladies had their

special interest in the queen, in the crown

princess, in the Queen of Navarre, in Madame

the king's sister, or in the Duchess of Va-

lentinois, according to their inclinations, their

 The Princess of Cloves. 71

sense of right, or their humor. Those who

had passed their first youth and assumed
an austere virtue, were devoted to the queen ;

those who were younger and sought pleasure

and gallantry, paid their court to the crown
princess. The Queen of Navarre had her
favorites; she was young, and had much
influence over her husband the king, who
was allied with the constable, and hence

highly esteemed. Madame the king's sister

stillpreserved some of her beauty, and
gathered several ladies about herself. The
Duchess of Valentinois was sought by all

those whom she deigned to regard ;

but the
women she liked were few, and with the

exception of those who enjoyed her inti-

macy and confidence, and whose disposi-

tion bore some likeness to her own, she
received only on the days when she as-
sumed to hold a court like the queen.

All these different cliques were separated

by rivalry and envy. Then, too, the women

who belonged to each one of them were
72 The Princess of Cloves.

also jealous of one another, either about their

chances of advancement, or about their lov-
ers; often their interests were complicated
by other pettier, but no less important ques-
tions. Hence there was in this court a sort
of well-ordered agitation, which rendered it

very charming, but also very dangerous, for

a young woman. Madame de Chartres saw
this peril, and thought only of protecting
her daughter from it. She besought her,
not as a mother, but as a friend, to confide
to her all the sweet speeches that
might
be made to her, and promised her aid in
all those matters which so often embarrass

the young.
The Chevalier de Guise made his feelings for

Mademoiselle de Chartres and his intentions

so manifest that every one could see them;

yet he well knew the very grave difficulties

that stood in his way. He was aware that
he was not a desirable match, because his

fortune was too small for his rank. He knew,

too, that his brothers would disapprove of his
 The Princess of Cleves. .73

marrying, through fear of the loss of posi-

tion which sometimes befalls great families
through the marriage of younger sons. The
Cardinal of Lorraine soon proved to him
that his fears were well grounded, for he de-
nounced the chevalier's love for Mademoiselle
de Chartres very warmly, though he concealed
his true reasons. The cardinal nourished a
hatred for the Vidame, which was hidden at
the and only broke out later.
time, He
would have preferred to see his brother ally
himself with any other family than that of
the Vidame, and gave such public expression
to his dislike that Madame de Chartres was
plainly offended. She took great pains to
show that the Cardinal of Lorraine had no
cause for fear, and that she herself never con-
templated the match. The Vidame adopted
the same course, and with a better under-

standing of the cardinal's objection, because

he knew the underlying reason.
The Prince of Cleves had concealed his
passion quite as little as had the Chevalier de
74 The Princess of Cleves.

Guise. The Duke of Nevers was sorry to

hear of this attachment, but thought that his
son would forget it at a word from him ;

great was his surprise when he found him

determined to marry Mademoiselle de Char-
tres. He opposed this determination with
a warmth so ill concealed that the whole
court soon had wind of it, and it came to

the knowledge of her mother. She had

never doubted that Monsieur de Nevers
would regard this match as an advantageous
one for his son, and was much surprised that
both the house of Cleves and that of Guise
dreaded the alliance instead of desiring it.
She was so chagrined that she sought to
marry her daughter to some one who could
raise her above those who fancied them-

selves superior to her; and after carefully

going over the ground, pitched on the prince

dauphin, the son of the Duke of Montpen-
sier. He was of the right age to marry, and
held the highest position at court. Since
Madame de Chartres was a very clever
 The Princess of Cleves. 75

woman, and was aided by the Vidame,

who at that time had great influence, while
her daughter was in every way a good
match, she played her cards so cleverly and
successfully that Monsieur de Montpensier

appeared to desire the marriage, and it

seemed as if nothing could stand in its

way.
The Vidame, though aware of Monsieur
d'Anville's devotion to the crown princess,
thought that he might make use of the in-
still

fluence which she had over him to induce him

to speak well of Mademoiselle de Chartres to
the king and to the Prince of Montpensier,
whose intimate friend he was. He men-
tioned this to the princess, who took up the
matter eagerly, since it promised advance-
ment to a young woman of whom she had be-
come very fond. This she told the Vidame,
assuring him that though she knew she
should offend her uncle, the Cardinal of

Lorraine, this would be no objection, be-

cause she had good grounds for disliking
76 The Princess of CIeves.
him, since he every day furthered the

queen's interests in opposition to her own.

Persons in love are always glad of any ex-
cuse for talking about the object of their
affection. As soon as the Vidame had gone,
the crown princess ordered Chatelart, the
favorite of Monsieur d'Anville and the confi-

dant of his love for her, to tell him to be at the

queen's reception that evening. Chatelart

received this command with great delight.
He belonged to a good family of Dauphin6,
but his merit and intelligence had raised him
to a higher place than his birth warranted.

He was received and treated with kindness

by all the great lords at the court, and the
favor of the family of Montmorency had at-

tached him especially to Monsieur d'Anville.

He was handsome and skilled in all physical

exercises; he sang agreeably, wrote verses,

and had a gallant, ardent nature, which so at-

tracted Monsieur d'Anville that he made him

a confidant of his love for the crown princess.
The confidence brought him into the society
 The Princess of Clives. 77

of that lady, and thus began that unhappy

passion, which robbed him of his reason and

finally cost him his life.

Monsieur d'Anville did not fail to make

his appearance that evening in the queen's
drawing-room he was pleased that the
;

dauphiness had chosen him to aid her, and

he promised faithfully to obey her commands.
But Madame de Valentinois had heard of the
contemplated marriage and had laid her

plans to thwart it; she had been so success-

ful in arousing the king's opposition that
when Monsieur d'Anville spoke of it, he
showed his disapproval, and commanded him
to apprise the Prince of Montpensier of it.

It is easy to imagine the feelings of Ma-

dame de Chartres at the failure of a plan
she had so much desired, especially when her
gave so great an advantage to
ill-success

her enemies and did so much harm to her

daughter.
The crown princess kindly expressed to
Mademoiselle de Chartres her regrets at not
78 The Princess of Cleves.

"
being able to further her interests. You
" I
see," she said, have but very little

power; I am so detested by the queen and

the Duchess of Valentinois that they or
their attendants always oppose everything
I desire. Still," she added, " I have
always
tried to please them, and they hate me only
on account of my mother, who used to fill
them with uneasiness and jealousy. The
king had been in love with her before
he loved Madame de Valentinois, and
in his early married life, before he had
any children, though he loved this duchess,
he seemed bent on dissolving that marriage
to marry the queen my mother. Madame
de Valentinois dreaded the woman he had
loved so well, lest her wit and beauty should
diminish her own power, and entered into an
alliance with the constable, who was also op-
posed to the king's marrying a sister of the
Guises. They won over the late king; and

though he hated the Duchess of Valentinois

as much as he loved the queen, he joined with
 The Princess of Cloves. 79

them in preventing the king from dissolving

his marriage. In order to make this impos-

sible, they arranged my mother's marriage

with the King of Scotland, whose first wife
had been Madame Magdeleine, the king's
sister, this they did because it was the first

thing that offered;though they broke the

promises that had been made to the King of
England, who was deeply in love with her.
In fact, this matter nearly caused a falling
out between the two kings. Henry VIII.
could not be consoled for not marrying my
mother; and whenever any other French
princess was proposed to him, he used to say
that she would never take the r
place of the
one they had taken from him. It is true

that my mother was a perfect beauty, and it

is remarkable that when she was the widow
of a duke of Longueville, three kings should
have wanted to marry her. It was her mis-
fortune to be married to the least important
of them all, and to be sent to a kingdom
where she has found nothing but unhappi-
8o The Princess of Cleves.

ness. I am told that I am like her ;

I dread
the same sad fate, and whatever happiness
seems to be awaiting me, I doubt if I ever

enjoy it."

Mademoiselle de Chartres assured the

crown princess that these gloomy presenti-
ments were so fantastic that they could not
long disturb her, and that she ought not
to doubt that her good fortune would give

the lie to her fears.

Henceforth no one dared to think of

Mademoiselle de Chartres, through fear of
displeasing the king or of not succeeding
in winning a young woman who had aspired
to a prince of the blood. None of these con-
siderations moved Monsieur de Cleves. The
death of his father, the Duke of Nevers,
'vhich happened at that time, left him free to

follow his own inclinations, and as soon as

the period of mourning had passed, he
thought of nothing but marrying Mademoi-
selle de Chartres. He was glad to make his
proposal at a time when circumstances had
 The Princess of CIeves. gj

driven away all rivals and when he felt al-

most sure that she would not refuse him.

What dimmed joy was the fear of not
his

being agreeable to her and he would have;

preferred the happiness of pleasing her to

the certainty of marrying her when she did
not love him.
The Chevalier de Guise had somewhat
aroused his jealousy; but since this was in-

spired more by his rival's merits than by

the conduct of Mademoiselle de Chartres, he

thought of nothing but ascertaining whether

by good fortune she would approve of his
designs. He met her only at the queen's
rooms or in company, yet he managed to
speak to her of his intentions and hopes in
the most respectful way; he begged her to
let him know how she felt towards him, and
told her that his feelings for her were such
that he should be forever unhappy if she
obeyed her mother only from a sense of duty.
Mademoiselle de Chartres, having a very
noble heart, was really grateful to the Prince
VOL. i. 6
82 The Princess of CIeves.
of Cleves for what he did. This gratitude
lent to her answer a certain gentleness, which
was quite sufficient to feed the hope of a
man as much in love as he was, and he
counted on attaining at least a part of what
he desired.
Mademoiselle repeated this conversation to

her mother, who said that Monsieur de Cleves

was of such high birth, possessed so many
fine qualities, and seemed so discreet for a

man of his age, that if she inclined to marry

him she would herself gladly give her consent.
Mademoiselle de Chartres replied that she
had noticed the samefine qualities, and that

she would rather marry him than any one else,

but that she had no special love for him.

The next day the prince had his offer

formally made to Madame de Chartres ;

she

accepted it, being willing to give her daugh-

ter a husband she did not love. The mar-
riage settlement was drawn up, the king was
told of it, and the marriage became known
to every one.
 The Princess of Cleves. 83

Monsieur de Cleves was very happy,

although not perfectly satisfied gave him ;
it

much pain to see that what Mademoiselle de

Chartres felt for him was only esteem and

gratitude, and he could not flatter himself

that she nourished any warmer feeling; for

had she done so, she would have readily

shown it in their closer intimacy. Within a
few days he complained to her of this.
" "
Is it
possible," he said, that I may
not be happy in my marriage ? Yet as-

suredly I am not happy. You have a sort

of kindly feeling for me which cannot satisfy
me; you are not impatient, uneasy, or

grieved :
you are as indifferent to my love
as if this were given to your purse, and not
to your charms."
"
You do wrong to complain," she re-
" I do
plied. not know what more you
can ask; it seems to me that you have no
right to demand anything more."
"It is true," he said, "that you have a
certain air with which I should be satisfied
84 The Princess of Cloves.

if there were anything behind it; but in-

stead of your being restrained by a sense of

propriety, it is a sense of propriety which

inspires your actions. I do not touch your
feelings or your heart; my presence causes
you neither pleasure nor pain."
"
You cannot doubt," she made answer,
" am see you, and blush
that I glad to I

so often when
do see you that you may be
I

sure that the sight of you affects me."

" I am not deceived by your blushes," he

urged; "they come from modesty, and not

from any thrill of your heart, and I do not
exaggerate their importance."
Mademoiselle de Chartres did not know
what to answer ;
these distinctions were out-
side of her experience. Monsieur de Cleves
saw only too well how far removed she was
from feeling for him as he should have liked,
when he saw that she had no idea of what
that feeling was.
The Chevalier de Guise returned from a

journey a few days before the wedding.

 The Princess of Cleves. 85

He had seen so
many insurmountable ob-
obstacles in way of his marrying
the
Mademoiselle de Chartres that he knew he
had no chance of success ; yet he was evi-

dently distressed at seeing her become the

wife of another. This grief did not ex-

tinguish his passion, and he remained quite

as much in love as before. Mademoiselle
de Chartres had not been ignorant of his de-
votion. On his return he let her know that
she was the cause of the deep gloom that
marked his face ;
and he had so much merit
and charm that it was almost impossible to
make him unhappy without regretting it.

Hence she was depressed but ;

this pity went
no further, and she told her mother how
much pain this prince's love caused her.
Madame de Chartres admired her daugh-
ter's frankness, and with good reason, for it

could not be fuller or simpler; she regretted,

however, that her heart was not touched, es-

pecially when she saw that the prince had
not affected it any more than the others.
86 The Princess of Cloves.

Hence she took great pains to attach her to

her future husband, and to impress upon her
what she owed him for the interest he had
taken in her before he knew who she was,
and for theproof he had given of his love
in choosing her at a time when no one
else ventured to think of her.

The marriage ceremony took place at the

Louvre, and in the evening the king and
queen, with all the court, supped at the
house of Madame de Chartres,who received
them with great splendor. The Chevalier de
Guise did not venture to make himself con-
spicuous by staying away, but his dejection
was evident.
Monsieur de Cleves did not find that Made-
moiselle de Chartres had altered her feelings
when she changed her name. His position as
her husband gave him greater privileges, but
no different place in her heart. Though he
had married her, he did not cease to be her
lover, because there was always left some-

thing for him to desire; and though she

 The Princess of CI eves. 87

lived on the best of terms with him, he was

not yet perfectly happy. He preserved for
her a violent and restless passion, which
marred Jealousy had no part in it,
his joy.

for never had a husband been further from

feeling it, or a wife from inspiring it. Yet

she was exposed to all the temptations of the

court, visiting the queen and the king's

sisterevery day. young and fashion-
All the
able men met her at her own house and at
that of her brother-in-law, the Duke of

Nevers, whose doors were always open ;

but
she always had an air that inspired respect,

and seemed so remote from gallantry that the

Marshal of Saint-Andre", though bold and

protected by the king's favor, was touched

by her beauty without venturing to show it

except by delicate attentions. There were

many others who felt as did the marshal;

and Madame de Chartres added to her

daughter's natural modesty such a keen

sense of propriety that she made her seem
like a woman to be sighed for in vain.
88 The Princess of Cleves.

The Duchess of Lorraine, while trying to

bring about peace, had also tried to arrange

the marriage of her son, the Duke of Lorraine,
and had succeeded he was to marry Madame
;

Claude of France, the king's second daugh-

ter. The wedding had been settled for the
month of February.
Meanwhile the Duke of Nemours had
remained at Brussels, completely taken up
with his plans for England. alwaysHe was
sending and receiving messengers. His hopes
grew from day to day, and at last Lignerolles
told him that it was time for him to appear

and finish in person what had been so well

begun. He received this news with all the
satisfaction that an ambitious man can feel

at seeing himself raised to a throne simply

through his reputation. He had gradually

grown so accustomed to the contemplation
of this great piece of good fortune that
whereas at first he had regarded it as an im-

possibility, all difficulties had vanished, and

he foresaw no obstacles.
 The Princess of Cteves. 89

He atonce despatched to Paris orders for

a magnificent outfit, that he might make his

appearance in England with a splendor pro-

portionate to his designs, and also hastened

to court to be present at the wedding of the

Duke of Lorraine. He arrived the day be-
fore the formal betrothal, and that same

evening went to report to the king the con-

dition of affairs and to receive his advice and

commands about his future conduct. Thence
he went to pay his respects to the queens.
Madame de Cleves was not there, so that she
did not see him, and was not even aware of
his arrival. She had heard every one speak
of this prince as the handsomest and most

agreeable man at court, and Madame the

Dauphiness had spoken of him so often and
in such terms that she felt some curiosity to

see him.
Madame de Cleves spent the day of the
betrothal at home dressing herself for the
ball in the evening at the Louvre. When she
made her appearance, her beauty and the
QO The Princess of Cleves.

splendor of her dress aroused general admira-

tion. The opened, and while she was
ball

dancing with Monsieur de Guise, there was a

certain commotion at the door of the ball-

room, as if some one were entering for whom

way was being made. Madame de Cleves
finished her dance, and while she was looking
about for another partner, the king called
out to her to take the gentleman who had

just [Link] turned, and saw a man,

who she thought must be Monsieur de Ne-
mours, stepping over some seats to reach the
place where the dancing was going on. No
one ever saw this prince for the first time

without amazement ;
and this evening he was
more striking than ever in the rich attire

which set off his natural beauty such

to

great advantage; and it was also hard to

see Madame de Cleves for the first time
without astonishment.
Monsieur de Nemours was so amazed by
her beauty that when he drew near her and
bowed to her he could not conceal his
 The Princess of Cleves. 91

wonder and delight. When they began

their dance, a murmur of admiration ran

through the ball-room. The king and the

queens remembered that the pair had never

met, and saw how strange it was that they
should be dancing together without being

acquainted. They summoned them when

they had finished the set, and without

giving them a chance to speak to any

one, asked if each would not like to know

who the other was, and whether either had

any idea.
" As Monsieur
for me, Madame," said
"
de Nemours, I have no doubts; but since
Madame de Cleves has not the same reasons
for guessing who I am
have for recog- that I

nizing her, I must beg your Majesty to be

good enough to tell her my name."
" " that she
I fancy," said the dauphiness,
knows it you know hers."
as well as
" I assure you, Madame," said Madame de

Cleves, who seemed a little embarrassed,

" that I cannot guess so well as you think."
92 The Princess of Cleves.

" You
can guess very well," replied the
" and
dauphiness, you are very kind to Mon-
sieur de Nemours in your unwillingness to

acknowledge that you recognize him with-

out ever having seen him before."
The queen interrupted the conversation,
that might go on, and Monsieur
the ball
de Nemours danced with the dauphiness-
This lady was a perfect beauty, and had
always appeared to be one in the eyes of
Monsieur de Nemours before he went to

Flanders; but all that evening he admired

no one but Madame de Cleves.

The Chevalier de Guise, who never ceased
worshipping her, was standing near, and this

incident caused him evident pain. He re-

garded it as a sure sign that fate meant that

Monsieur de Nemours should fall in love with
Madame de Cleves ;
and whether it was that
he saw something in her face, or that jealousy

sharpened his fears, he believed that she had

been moved by the sight of this prince, and
he could not keep from telling her that Mon-
 The Princess of Clives. 93

sieur de Nemours was very fortunate in

making her acquaintance in such a gallant

and unusual way.
Madame de Cleves went home so full of
what had happened at the ball that though
it was very late, she went to her mother's

room to tell her about it; and she praised

Monsieur de Nemours with a certain air that

made Madame de Chartres entertain the same

suspicion as the Chevalier de Guise.
The next day the wedding took place;
Madame de Cleves there saw the Duke of

Nemours, and was even more struck by his

admirable grace and dignity than before.
On succeeding days she met him at the
drawing-room of the dauphiness, saw him
playing tennis with the king and riding
at the ring, and heard him talk; and she
always found him so superior to every one
else, and so much outshining all in conversa-

tion wherever he might be, by the grace of

his person and the charm of his wit, that he
soon made a deep impression on her heart.
94 The Princess of Cleves.

Then, too, the desire to please made the

Duke of Nemours, who was already deeply
interested, more charming than ever; and
since they met often, and found each other
more attractive than any one else at court,

they naturally experienced great delight in

being together.
The Duchess of Valentinois took part in
all the merry-making, and the king showed
her all the interest and attention that he had
done when first in love with her. Madame
de Cleves, who was then of an age at which
it is usual to believe that no woman can

ever be loved after she is twenty-five years

old, regarded with great amazement the
king's attachment to this duchess, who was
a grandmother and had just married her

granddaughter. She often spoke of it to

" Is
Madame de Chartres. it
possible,"
she asked, " that the king has been in love
so long? How could he get interested in
a woman much older than himself, and
who had been his father's mistress, as well
 The Princess of Cleves. 95

as that of a great many other men, as I

"
have heard?
"
It is true," was the answer, " that neither
merit nor fidelity inspired the king's passion,
or has kept it alive. And this issomething
which is scarcely to be excused; for had
this woman had youth and beauty as well as

rank, had she loved no one else, had she

loved the king with untiring constancy, for
himself alone, and not solely for his wealth
and position, and had she used her power for
worthy objects such as the king desired, it
would have been easy to admire his great
devotion to her. If," Madame de Chartres

went on, " I were not afraid that you would

say of me what is always said of women of

my age, that we like to talk about old times,

I would tell you the beginning of the king's
love for this duchess ;
and many things that
happened at the court of the late king bear
much resemblance to what is now going on."
"
So far from accusing you of repeating old
stories," said Madame de Cleves, " I regret
96 The Princess of Cllves.

that you have told me so little about the

present, and that you have not taught me the
different interests and intrigues of the court.
I am so ignorant of them that a few days

ago I thought the constable was on the best

of terms with the queen."
" You were very far from the truth," re-
"
plied Madame de Chartres. The queen
hates the constable, and if she ever gets

any power he will learn it very quickly. She

knows that he has often told the king that
of all his children it is only his bastards who
look like him."
" I should never have imagined this hatred,"

interrupted Madame de Cleves, " after seeing

the zeal with which the queen wrote to the

constable when he was in prison, the joy she
manifested at his return, and the familiarity
of her address as regards him."
" If
you judge from appearances here," re-

Madame "
plied de Chartres, you will be
often mistaken ;
what appears is seldom the
truth.
 The Princess of Cleves. 97
" But to return to Madame de Valentinois :

you know her name is Diane de Poitiers.

She is of illustrious family, being descended

from the old dukes of Aquitaine her grand- ;

mother was a natural daughter of Louis XL,

in short, there is no common blood in her
veins. Saint-Vallier, her father, was impli-
cated in the affair of the Constable of Bour-

bon, of which you have heard, was condemned

to be beheaded, and was led to the scaffold.

His daughter, who was remarkably beauti-

ful, and had already pleased the late king,

managed, I don't know how, to save her

father's life. His pardon was granted him
when he was expecting the mortal stroke ;

but fear had so possessed him that he did

not recover consciousness, but died a few days
later. His daughter made her appearance
at court as the king's mistress. His journey
to Italy and his imprisonment interrupted
this passion. When he returned from Spain
and Madame Regente went to meet him at
Bayonne, she had with her all her young
VOL. I.
7
98 The Princess of Cloves.

women, among whom was Mademoiselle de

Pisseleu, afterwards Duchess of Estampes.
The king fell in love with her, though she was

inferior in birth, beauty, and intelligence to

Madame de Valentinois : the only advantage
she had was that she was younger. I have
often heard her say that she was born on
the day that Diane de Potiers was married ;

but that remark was more malicious than

truthful, for I am much mistaken if the

Duchess of Valentinois did not marry Mon-
sieurde Breze, grand seneschal of Normandy,
at the same time that the king fell in love

with Madame d'Estampes. Never was there

fiercer hatred than existed between those
two women. The Duchess of Valentinois

could not forgive Madame d'Estampes for

depriving her of the title of the king's

mistress. Madame d'Estampes was madly
jealous of Madame de Valentinois because
the king maintained his relations with her.
This king was never rigorously faithful to

his mistresses; there was always one who

 The Princess of Cleves. 99

had the title and the honors, but the ladies

of what was called the little band shared his

attentions. The death of his oldest son, it

was supposed by poison, at Tournon, was a

great blow to him. He had much less love
for his second son, the present king, who was
inevery way far less to his taste, and whom he
even regarded as lacking courage and spirit.
He was lamenting this one day to Madame
de Valentinois, whereupon she said she would
like to make him fall in love with her, that he

might become and more agreeable.

livelier

She succeeded, as you know. This love

has lasted more than twenty years, without

being dimmed by time or circumstances.

"At first the late king oLjected to it,

whether because he was still enough in love

with Madame de Valentinois to feel jealous,

or because he was influenced by Madame

d'Estampes, who was in despair when the dau-

phin became attached to her enemy, is uncer-

tain however that may be, he viewed this
;

passion with an anger and a disapproval that

ioo The Princess of Cloves.

were apparent every day. His son feared

neither his wrath nor his hate and since noth-
;

ing could induce him to abate or to conceal

his attachment, the king was forced to endure
it as best he could.
His son's opposition to
his wishes estranged him still more, and at-

tached him more closely to the Duke of

Orleans, his third son. This prince was
handsome, energetic, ambitious, of a some-
what tempestuous nature, which needed to
be controlled, but who in time would be-
come a really fine man.
"
The elder son's rank as dauphin and the

father's preference for the Duke of Orleans

inspired a rivalry between them which

amounted to hatred. This rivalry had be-

gun in their childhood, and lasted until the

death of the latter. When the emperor
entered French territory he gave his whole

preference to the Duke of Orleans. This so

pained the dauphin that when the emperor

was at Chantilly he tried to compel the con-
stable to arrest him, without waiting for the
 The Princess of Clives. 101

king's orders; but the constable refused.

Afterward the king blamed him for not

following his son's advice; and this had a

good deal to do with his leaving the court.
"
The division between the two brothers in-

duced the Duchess of Estampes to rely on

the Duke of Orleans for protection against
the influence which Madame de Valentinois
had over the king. In this she succeeded ;

the duke, without falling in love with her,

was as warm in defence of her interests as
was the dauphin in defence of those of
Madame de Valentinois. Hence there were
two cabals in the court such as you can

imagine; but the intrigues were not limited

to two women's quarrels.
" The emperor, who had maintained his
friendship for the Duke of Orleans, had fre-

quently offered him the duchy of Milan.

In the subsequent negotiations about peace,
he raised hopes in the breast of the duke
that he would give him the seventeen prov-
inces and his daughter's hand. The dau-
IO2 The Princess of Cteves.

phin, however, desired neither peace nor

this marriage. He made use of the con-

stable, whom he has always loved, to con-

vince the king how important t was not to

give to his successor a brother so powerful

as would be the Duke of Orleans in alliance

with the emperor and governing the seven-

teen provinces. The constable agreed the
more heartily with the dauphin's views
because he also opposed those of Madame

d'Estampes, who was his avowed enemy, and

ardently desired that the power of the Duke
of Orleans should be increased.
" At that time the
dauphin was in com-
mand of the king's army in Champagne, and
had reduced that of the emperor to such
extremities that
it would have utterly per-
ished had not the Duchess of Estampes,
fearing that too great success would pre-
vent our granting peace and consenting
to the marriage, secretly sent word to the

enemy surprise Epernay and Chateau-

to

Thierry, which were full of supplies. This

 The Princess of Cleves. 103

they did, and thereby saved their whole

army.
"
This duchess did not long profit by
her treason. Soon afterward the Duke of
Orleans died at Farmoutier of some conta-

gious disease. He loved one of the most

beautiful women of the court, and was be-
loved by her. I shall not tell you who it

was, because her life since that time has been

most decorous ;
and she has tried so hard to
have her affection for the prince forgotten
that she deserves to have her reputation left
untarnished. happened that she heard
It so

of her husband's death on the same day that

she heard of that of Monsieur d'Orleans;
consequently she was able to conceal her
real grief without an effort.
"
The king did not long survive his

son's decease, he died two years later. He

urged the dauphin to make use of the ser-
vices of the Cardinal of Tournon and of the
Amiral d'Annebauld, without saying a word
about the constable, who at that time was
IO4 The Princess of CIeves.
banished to Chantilly. Nevertheless, the
first thing the present king did after his

father's death was to call the constable

back and intrust him with the management
of affairs.
" Madame d'Estampes was sent away, and
became the victim of all the ill-treatment she

might have expected from an all-powerful

enemy. The Duchess of Valentinois took
full vengeance on this duchess and on all who

had displeased her. Her power over the king

seemed the greater because it had not ap-
peared while he was dauphin. During the
twelve years of his reign she has been in

everything absolute mistress. She disposes

of places and controls affairs of every sort ;

she secured the dismissal of the Cardinal of

Tournon, of the Chancelier Olivier, and of

Villeroy. Those who have endeavored to

open the king's eyes to her conduct have

been ruined for their pains. The Count of
Taix, commander-in-chief of the artillery,
who did not like her, could not keep from
 The Princess of Cleves. 105

talking about her love affairs, and especially

about one with the Count of Brissac, of
whom the king was already very jealous.
Yet she managed so well that the Count
of Taix was disgraced and deprived of his

position ;
and impossible as it may sound, he
was succeeded by the Count of Brissac, whom
she afterward made a marshal of France.
Still, the king's jealousy became so violent

that he could not endure having this marshal

remain at court; but though usually jeal-

ousy is a hot and violent passion, it is modi-

fied and tempered in him by his extreme re-

spect for his mistress, so that the only means

he ventured to use to rid himself of his rival
was by intrusting to him the government of
Piedmont. There he has spent several years ;

last winter, however, he returned, under the

pretext of asking for men and supplies for

the army under his command. Possibly
the desire of seeing Madame de Valentinois
and dread of being forgotten had something
to do with this journey. The king received
io(5 The Princess of Cteves,

him very coldly. The Guises, who do not

like him, did not dare betray their feelings,
on account of Madame de Valentinois, so
they made use of the Vidame, his open
enemy, to prevent his getting any of the
things he wanted. It was not hard to injure
him. The king hated him, and was made
uneasy by his presence consequently he
;

was obliged to go back without getting

any advantage from his journey, unless,

possibly, he had rekindled in the heart of

Madame de Valentinois feelings which ab-
sence had nearly extinguished. The king
has had many other
grounds for jealousy,

but either he has not known them, or he

has not dared to complain.
" I am not Madame
sure, my dear," added
"
de Chartres, that you may not think I have

toldyou more than you cared to hear."

" Not at
all," answered Madame de Cleves ;

" and if I were not afraid of tiring you, I

should ask you many more questions."

Monsieur de Nemours' love for Madame de
 The Princess of Cloves. 107

Cleves was at first so violent that he lost all

interest in thosehe had formerly loved, and

with whomhe had kept up relations during
his absence. He not merely did not seek
any excuses for deserting them, he would not
even listen to their complaints or reply to
their [Link] dauphiness, for whom
he had nourished very warm feelings, was
soon forgotten by the side of Madame de
Cleves. His impatience for his journey to

England began to abate, and he ceased to

hasten his preparations for departure. He
often visited thecrown princess, because
Madame de Cleves was frequently in her

apartments, and he was not unwilling to give

some justification to the widespread suspi-
cions about his feelings for the dauphiness.
Madame de Cleves seemed to him so rare
a prize that he decided to conceal all signs
of his love rather than let it be generally
known. He never spoke of it even to his
intimate friend the Vidame de Chartres, to
whom he usually confided everything. He
jo8 The Princess of CIeves.
was so cautious and discreet that no one
suspected his love for Madame de Cleves

except the Chevalier de Guise; and the

lady herself would scarcely have perceived

it had not her own interest in him made
her watch him very closely, so that she
became sure of it.

Madame de Cleves did not find herself so

disposed to tell her mother what she thought

of this prince's feelings as had been the case
with her other lovers and without definitely
;

deciding on reserve, she yet never spoke of

the subject. But Madame de Chartres soon

perceived this, as well as her daughter's in-

terest in him. This knowledge gave her

distinct pain, for she well understood how
dangerous it was for Madame de Cleves to
be loved by a man like Monsieur de
Nemours, especially when she was already
disposed to admire him. An incident that

happened a few days later confirmed her

suspicions of this liking.

The Marshal of Saint-Andre, who was
 The Princess of CIeves. 109

always on the look-out for opportunities to

display his magnificence, made a pretext of.

desiring to show his house, which had just

been finished, and invited the king to do
him the honor of supping there with the
queens. The marshal was also glad to be
able to show to Madame de Cleves his lavish

splendor.
A few days before the one of the supper,
the dauphin, whose health was delicate, had
been ailing and had seen no one. His wife,

the crown princess, had spent the whole

day with him, and toward evening, as he
felt better, he received all the persons of
quality who were in his ante-chamber. The
crown princess went to her own apartment,
where she found Madame de Cleves and a
few other ladies with whom she was most
intimate.

Since it was already late, and the crown

princess was not dressed, she did not go to
the queen, but sent word she could not
come ;
she then had her jewels brought, to
no The Princess of Cleves.

decide what she should wear at the Marshal

of Saint- Andre's ball, and to give some, ac-
cording to a promise she had made, to
Madame de Cleves. While they were thus
occupied, the Prince of Conde, whose rank
gave him free admission everywhere, en-
tered. The crown princess said to him that
he doubtless came from her husband, and
asked what was going on in his apartments.
" are having a discussion,
They Madame,
with Monsieur de Nemours," he answered.
" He defends the side he has taken so
eagerly
that he must have a personal interest in it.

I fancy he has a mistress who makes him

uneasy when she goes to a ball, for he main-

tains that it makes a lover unhappy to see

the woman he loves at such a place."

"What! " said the dauphiness, "Monsieur
de Nemours does not want his mistress to

go to a ball? I thought husbands might

object, but I never supposed that lovers

could have such a feeling."

"
Monsieur de Nemours," replied the Prince
 The Princess of Cloves. 1 1 1

of Conde, " declares that a ball is most distress-

ing to lovers, whether they are loved or not.

He says if their love is returned, they have

the pain of being loved less for several days ;

that there is not a woman in the world who

is not prevented from thinking of her lover

by the demands of her toilet, which entirely

engrosses her attention ;
that women dress
for every one as well as for those they love ;

that when they are at the ball they are anx-

ious to please all who look at them ;

that
when they are proud of their beauty, they
feel a pleasure in which the lover plays but
a small part. He says, too, that one who
sighs in vain suffers even more when he sees
his mistress at an entertainment; that the
more she is admired by the public, the more
one suffers at notbeing loved, through fear
lest her beauty should kindle some love hap-

pier than his own ; finally, that there is no

pain so keen as seeing one's mistress at a
ball, except knowing that she is there while
absent one's self."
H2 The Princess of Cleves.

Madame de Cleves, though pretending not

to hear what the Prince of Conde was say-
ing, listened attentively. She readily under-
stood her share in the opinion expressed by
Monsieur de Nemours, especially when he
spoke of his grief at not being at the ball
with his mistress, because he was not to be
at that given by the Marshal of Saint-Andre,

being ordered by the king to go to meet

the Duke of Ferrara.
The crown princess laughed with the

Prince of Conde, and expressed her disap-

proval of the views of Monsieur de Nemours.

"
There is only one condition, Madame,"
" on which Monsieur de
said the prince,
Nemours is willing that his mistress should

go to a ball, and that is that he himself

should give her permission. He said that

last year when he gave a ball to your Ma-

jesty, he thought that his mistress did him
a great favor in coming to it, though she
seemed to be there only as one of your suite ;

that it is always a kindness to a lover to take

 The Princess of Cloves. 113

part in any entertainment that he gives ;

and
that it is also agreeable to a lover to have
his mistress see him the host of the whole
court and doing the honors fittingly."
" Monsieur de Nemours did well," said the
"
dauphiness, with a smile, to let his mistress

go to that ball ;
for so many women claimed
that position that if they had not come, there

would have been scarcely any one there."

As soon as the Prince of Cond6 had begun
to speak of what Monsieur de Nemours

thought of the ball, Madame de Cleves

was very anxious not to go to that of the
Marshal of Saint-Andre. She readily agreed
that it was not fitting for a woman to go to
the house of a man who was in love with her,
and she was glad to have so good a reason
for doing a kindness to Monsieur de
Nemours. Nevertheless, she took away the
jewels which the crown princess had given
her; that evening, however, when she showed
them to her mother, she told her that she did

not mean to wear them, that the Marshal of

VOL. I. S
ii4 The Princess of CIeves.
Saint- Andr had made his love for her so

manifest that she felt sure he meant to have

it thought that she was to have some part in

the entertainment he was to give to the king,
and that under the pretext of doing honor
to the king he would pay her attentions

which might perhaps prove embarrassing.

Madame de Chartres argued for some time
against her daughter's decision, which she
thought singular, but at last yielded, and
told her she must pretend to be ill, in order
to have a good excuse for not going, because
her real reasons would not be approved and
should not be suspected. Madame de Cleves

gladly consented to stay at home for a few

days, in order not to meet Monsieur de
Nemours, who without having the pleas-
left

ure of knowing that she was not going to

the ball.

The duke returned the day after the ball,

and heard that she had not been there ;

but
inasmuch as he did not know that his talk
with the dauphin had been repeated to her.
 The Princess of Cleves. 115

he was far from thinking that he was for-

tunate enough to be the cause of her
absence.
The next day, when Monsieur de Nemours
was calling on the queen and talking with
the dauphiness, Madame de Chartres and
Madame de Cleves happened to come in
and approached this princess. Madame de
Cleves was not in full dress, as if she were
not very well, though her countenance be-
lied her attire.
"
You look so well," said the crown prin-
" can scarcely believe that you
cess, that I

have been ill. I fancy that the Prince of

Conde, when he told you what Monsieur de
Nemours thought about the ball, convinced
you that you would do a kindness to the
Marshal of Saint-Andre by going to his ball,
and that that was the reason you stayed
away."
Madame de Cleves blushed at the dau-

phiness's accurate guess which she thus ex-

pressed before Monsieur de Nemours.
n6 The Princess of Clevcs.

Madame de Chartres saw at once why her

daughter did not go to the ball, and in order

to throw Monsieur de Nemours off the track,

she at once addressed the dauphiness with an

air of sincerity. "I assure you, Madame,"
she said, "that your Majesty pays an honor
to my daughter which she does not deserve.
She was really ill ;
but I am sure that if I

had not forbidden it, she would have accom-

panied you, unfit as she was, to have the

pleasure of seeing the wonderful entertain-

ment last evening."

The dauphiness believed what Madame
de Chartres said, and Monsieur de Nemours
was vexed to see how probable her story
was nevertheless, the confusion of Madame
;

de Cleves made him suspect that the

dauphiness's conjecture was not without

some foundation in fact. At first Madame
de Cleves had been annoyed because Mon-
sieur de Nemours had reason to suppose
that it was he who had kept her from go-

ing to the b^ll, and then she felt regret

 The Princess of CIeves. 1 1
7

that her mother had entirely removed the

grounds for this supposition.

Although the attempt to make peace at

Cercamp had failed, negotiations still con-
tinued, and matters had assumed such a
shape that toward the end of February a
meeting was held at Cateau-Cambresis. The
same commissioners had assembled there,
and the departure of the Marshal of Saint-
Andr6 freed Monsieur de Nemours from a
rival who was more to be dreaded on ac-
count of his close observation of all those
who approached Madame de Cleves than
from any real success of his own.
Madame de Chartres did not wish to let

her daughter see that she knew her feeling

for this prince, lest she should make her
suspicious of the advice she wanted to give
her. One day she began to talk about him.
She spoke of him in warm terms, but craftily

praised his discretion in being unable to fall

really in love and in seeking only pleasure,

not a serious attachment, in his relations with
n8 The Princess of Cleves.

women. " To be sure," she went on, "

he has
been suspected of a great passion for the
dauphiness; I notice that he visits her very
often, and I advise you to avoid talking with

him as much as possible, especially in priv-

ate, because you are on such terms with the

crown princess that people would say that
you were their confidant, and you know how
disagreeable that would be. I think that if

the report continues, you would do well to

see less of the crown princess, that you may
not be connected with love-affairs of that
sort."

Madame de Cleves had never heard Mon-

sieur de Nemours and the dauphiness talked

about, and was much surprised by what her

mother said. She was so sure that she had
misunderstood the prince's feelings for her
that she changed color. Madame de Char-
tres noticed this, but company coming in at

that moment, Madame de Cleves went home

and locked herself up in her room.
It is impossible to express her grief when
 The Princess of Cloves. 119

her mother's words opened her eyes to the

Monsieur de Nemours;
interest she took in

she had never dared to acknowledge it to

herself. Then she saw that her feelings for
him were what Monsieur de Cleves had so
often supplicated, and she felt the mortifica-
tion of having them for another than a hus-

band who so well deserved them. She felt

hurt and embarrassed, fearing that Mon-

sieur de Nemours might have used her as

a pretext for seeing the dauphiness; and

this thought decided her to tell Madame
de Chartres what she had hitherto kept
secret.

The next morning she went to her mother

to carry out this decision; but Madame de
Chartres was a little feverish, and did not
care to talk with her. The illness seemed
so slight, however, that Madame de Cleves
called on the dauphiness after dinner, and
found her in her room with two or three
ladies with whom she was on intimate
terms.
I2O The Princess of Cleves.

"
We were talking about Monsieur de
Nemours," said the queen when she saw
"
her, and were surprised to see how
much he is changed since his return from
Brussels; before he went, he had an in-
finite number of mistresses, and it was a
positivedisadvantage to him, because he
used to be kind both to those who were

worthy and to those who were not. Since

his return, however, he will have nothing

to do with any of them. There has never

been such a change. His spirits, moreover,
seem to be affected, as he is much less
cheerful than usual."
Madame de Cleves made no answer; she

thought with a sense of shame that she would

have taken all that they said about the

change in him for a proof of his passion if

she had not been undeceived. She was

somewhat vexed with the dauphiness for
trying to explain and for expressing surprise
at something of which she must know the
real reason better than any one else. She
 The Princess of Cleves. 1 2 1

could not keep from showing her annoyance,

and when the other ladies withdrew, she went
up to the crown princess and said in a low
voice,
"Is it for my benefit that you have just

spoken, and do you want to hide from me

that you are the cause of the altered con-
duct of Monsieur de Nemours?"
"
You are unjust," said the crown prin-
"
cess ; you know that I never keep any-

thing from you. It is true that before he

went to Brussels, Monsieur de Nemours
meant to have me understand that he did
not hate me ;
but since his return he seems
to have forgotten all about it, and I confess
that I am a little curious about the reason
of this change. I shall probably find it out,"
she went on, "as the Vidame de Chartres,
his intimate friend, is in love with a young
woman over whomhave some power, and
I

I shall know from her what has made this

change."
The dauphiness spoke with an air that
122 The Princess of Cleves.

carried conviction to Madame de Cleves,

who found herself calmer and happier than

she had been before. When she went back

to her mother, she found her much worse
than when she had left her. She was more
feverish, and for some days it seemed as if

she were going to be really ill. Madame

de Cleves was in great distress, and did
not leave her mother's room. Monsieur de
Cleves spent nearly all his time there too,

both to comfort his wife and to have the

pleasure of seeing her: his love had not

lessened.

Monsieur de Nemours, who had always

been one of his friends, had not neglected
him since his return from Brussels. During
the illness of Madame de Chartres he found
it possible to see Madame de Cleves very

often, under pretence of calling on her hus-

band or of stopping to take him to walk.
He even sought him at hours when he knew
he was not in ;
then he would say that he
would wait for him, and used to stay in the
 The Princess of CIeves. 123

ante-chamber of Madame de Chartres, where

were assembled many persons of quality.
Madame de Cleves would often look in,

and although she was in great anxiety, she

seemed no less beautiful to Monsieur de
Nemours. He showed her how much he
sympathized with her distress, and soon
convinced her that it was not with the dau-

phiness that he was in love.

She could not keep from being embar-

rassed, and yet delighted to see him; but
when he was out of her sight and she re-
membered that this pleasure was the begin-

ning of an unhappy passion, she felt she

almost hated him, so much did the idea
of guilty love pain her.
Madame de Chartres rapidly grew worse,
and soon her life was despaired of; she
heard the doctors' opinion of her danger
with a courage proportionate to her virtue
and piety. After they had left her, she dis-

missed all who were present, and sent for

Madame de Cleves.
124 The Princess of CI eves.
" We have to part, my daughter," she said,
holding out her hand; "and the peril in
which you are and the need you have of me,
double my pain in leaving you. You have
an affection for Monsieur de Nemours ;
I do
not ask you to confess no longer
it, as I am
able to make use of your sincerity in order
to guide you. It is long since I perceived
this affection, but I have been averse to

speaking to you about it, lest you should

become aware of it yourself. Now you
know it only too well. You are on the edge

of a precipice : a great effort, a violent strug-

gle, alone can save you. Think of what

you owe your husband, think of what you
owe yourself, and remember that you are in
danger of losing that reputation which you
have acquired and which I have so ardently
desired for you. Take strength and courage,
my daughter: withdraw from the court;

compel your husband to take you away. Do

not be afraid of making a difficult decision.
Terrible as it may appear at first, it will in
 The Princess of CIeves. 125

the end be pleasanter than the consequences

of a love-affair. any other reasons than
If

virtue and duty can persuade you to what

I wish, let me say that if anything is capable

of destroying the happiness I hope for in

another world, it would be seeing you fall

like so many women ;

but if this misfortune
must come to you, I welcome death that I

may not see it."

Madame de Cleves's tears fell on her
mother's hand, which she held clasped in
her own, and Madame de Chartres saw that
"
she was moved. Good-by, my daughter,"
"
she said ;
let us put an end to a conversa-
tionwhich moves us both too deeply, and
remember, if you can, all I have just said
to you."

With these words she turned away and

bade her daughter call her women, without
hearing or saying more. Madame de Cleves
left her mother's room in a state that may be
imagined, and Madame de Chartres thought
126 The Princess of Cleves.

of nothing but preparing herself for death.

She lingered two days more, but refused
again to see her daughter, the only per-
son she loved.
Madame de Cleves was in sore distress ;

her husband never left her side, and as soon

as Madame de Chartres had died, he took
her into the country, to get her away from
a place which continually renewed her grief,

which was intense. Although her love and

gratitude to her mother counted for a great
deal, the need she felt of her support against
Monsieur de Nemours made the blow even
more painful. She lamented being left to

herselfwhen she had her emotions so little

under control, and when she so needed some
one to pity her and give her strength. Her
husband's kindness made her wish more
than ever to be always true to him. She
showed him more affection and kindli-

ness than she had ever done before, and

she wanted him always by her side; for it
 The Princess of CI eves. 127

seemed to her that her attachment to him

would prove a defence against Monsieur de
Nemours.
This prince went to visit Monsieur de
Cleves in the country, and did his best to
see Madame de Cleves; but she declined
to receive him, knowing that she could
not fail to find him charming. Moreover,
she resolutely determined to avoid every
occasion of meeting him, so far as she was
able.

Monsieur de Cleves repaired to Paris to

pay his respects at court, promising his wife
to return the next day; but he did not
return till the day after.
" I
expected you all day yesterday,"
Madame de Cleves said to him when he ar-
" and
rived, I ought to find fault with you
for not returning when you promised. You
know that if I feel a new sorrow in the
could
I am in, it would be at the death of
state

Madame de Tournon, of which I heard this

128 The Princess of Cleves.

morning. I should have been distressed by

it even if I had not known her. It is always
painful when a young and beautiful woman
like her dies after an illness of only two

days, and much more so when it is one

of the persons I liked best in the world,
and who seemed as modest as she was

worthy."
" I was sorry not to return yesterday,"
"
answered Monsieur de Cleves ;
but it was
so imperatively necessary that I should
console an unhappy man that I could
not possibly leave him. As for Madame
de Tournon, I advise you not to be too

profoundly distressed, ifyou mourn her as

an upright woman who deserved your
esteem."
"
surprise me," said Madame de
You
" as I have
Cleves, often heard you say that
there was no woman at court whom you
esteemed more highly."
" That is "
women
true," he answered ;
but
 The Princess of CIeves. 129

are incomprehensible, and the more I see of

them, the happier I feel that I have married

you, and I cannot be sufficiently grateful for
my good fortune."
" You think better of me than I deserve,"
exclaimed Madame de Cleves, with a sigh,
" and much me
it is too soon to think
worthy of you. But tell me, please, what
has undeceived you about Madame de
Tournon."
"
I havebeen undeceived in re-
long
"
gard to
her," he replied, and have long
known that she loved the Count of San-
cerre, to whom she held out hopes that she
would marry him."
" I can scarcely believe," interrupted
Madame de Cleves, " that Madame de Tour-
non, after the extraordinary reluctance to
matrimony which she showed after she be-
came a widow, and after her public assertions
that she would never marry again, should
have given Sancerre any hopes."
VOL. I. 9
130 The Princess of Cleves.

" If she had given them only to him,"

replied Monsieur de Cleves, "there would
be little occasion for surprise but what is
;

astounding is that she also gave them to

Estouteville at the same time, and I will
tell you the whole story."
 PART II.

"
"\7"OU know," Monsieur de Cleves con-
"
tinued, what good friends Sancerre
and I are ; yet when, about two years ago,
he fell in love with Madame de Tournon,
he took great pains to conceal it from me,
as well as from every one else, and I was

far from suspecting it. Madame de Tour-

non appeared still inconsolable for her hus-
band's death, and was still living in the most
absolute retirement. Sancerre's sister was
132 The Princess of Cfeves.

almost the only person she saw, and it was at

her house that the count fell in love with her.
"
One evening when there was to be a play
at the Louvre, and while they were waiting
for the king and Madame de Valentinois in
order to begin, word was brought that she
was and that the king would not come.
ill

Every one guessed that the duchess's illness

was some quarrel with the king. We knew
how jealous he had been of the Marshal of
Brissac during his stay at court; but the
marshal had gone back to Piedmont a few

days before, and we could not imagine the

cause of this falling-out.
" While was talking about
I it with San-
cerre, Monsieur d'Anville came into the hall

and whispered to me that the king was in

a state of distress and anger most piteous to

see ;
that when he and Madame de Valenti-
nois were reconciled a few days before, after

their quarrels about the Marshal of Brissac,

the king had given her a ring and asked her
to wear it. While she was dressing for the
play, he had noticed its absence, and had
 The Princess of CIeves. 133

asked her the reason. She seemed sur-

prised to miss it, and asked her women for

it; but they, unfortunately, perhaps because

tly had not been put on their guard, said

that it was some four or five days since

they had seen it.

" That
'

exactly corresponded with the date

of the Marshal of Brissac's departure,' Mon-
sieur d'Anville went on ;
'
and the king is con-
vinced that she gave him the ring when she
bade him good-by. This thought has so
aroused all his jealousy, which was by no
means wholly extinguished, that, contrary to
his usual custom, he flew into a rage and re-

proached her bitterly. He has gone back to

his room in great distress, whether because he
thinks that Madame de Valentinois has given

away his ring, or because he fears that he has

displeased her by his wrath, I do not know."

" As soon as
Monsieur d'Anville had
finished, I went up to Sancerre to tell him
the news, assuring him that it was a secret
that had just been told me, and was to go no

farther.
134 The Princess of Cloves.

"The next morning I called rather early

on my and found Madame de
sister-in-law,

Tournon there. She did not like Madame

de Valentinois, and knew very well that t.^<-
sister-in-lawalso had no reason for being fond

of her. Sancerre had seen her when he left

the play, and had told her about the king's

quarrel with the duchess ;

this she had come
to repeat to my sister-in-law, either not know-

ing or not remembering that it was I who

had told her lover.
"
When I came in, my sister-in-law said to
Madame de Tournon that I could be trusted
with what she had just told her, and with-
out waiting for permission she repeated to
me word for word everything I had told
Sancerre the previous evening. You will un-
derstand my surprise. I looked at Madame
de Tournon, who seemed embarrassed, and
her embarrassment aroused my suspicions.
I had mentioned the matter to no one but
Sancerre, who had left me after the play,

without saying where he was going; but

 The Princess of Cleves. 135

I remembered hearing him praise Madame

de Tournon very warmly. All these things

opened my eyes, and I soon decided that

there was a love-affair between them, and
that he had seen her after he left me.
" was so annoyed to find that he kept
I

the matter secret from me that I said a good

many things that made it clear to Madame

de Tournon that she had been imprudent as ;

I handed her to her

carriage, I assured her
that I envied the happiness of the person
who had informed her of the falling-out of
the king and Madame de Valentinois.
"
At once I went to see Sancerre ;
I re-

proached him, and said that I knew of his

passion for Madame de Tournon, but I did
not say how I had found it out. He felt
obliged to make a complete confession. I

then told him how it was I had discovered

his secret, and he told me all about the affair;
he said that inasmuch as he was a younger
son, and far from having any claims to such
an honor, she was yet determined to marry
136 The Princess of Cleves.

him. No one could be more surprised than

I was. I urged Sancerre to hasten his mar-
riage, and told him that he would be justified
in fearing anything from a woman who was
so full of craft that she could play so false a

part before the public. He said in reply that

her grief had been sincere, but that it had

yielded before her affection for him, and
that she could not suddenly make this great

change manifest. He brought up many

other things in her defence, which showed
me clearly how much in love he was; he
assured me that he would persuade her to
let me know all about the passion he had
for her, since it was she who had let out the

secret, and in fact he compelled her to

consent, though with much difficulty, and I

was from that time fully admitted to their

confidence.
" I have never seen a woman so honorable
and agreeable toward her lover; yet I was
always pained by her affectation of grief.

Sancerre was so much in love, and so well

 The Princess of Cloves. 137

satisfied with the way she treated him,

that he was almost afraid to urge their

marriage, lest she should think that he was

moved thereto by interest rather than pas-

sion. Still, he often talked to her about it,

and she seemed to have decided to marry

him ; she even began to leave her retirement
and to reappear in the world, she used to
come to my sister-in-law's at the time when

part of the court used to be there. Sancerre

came very seldom ;
but those who were there

every evening and met her often, found her

very charming.
" come out
Shortly after she began to

again into society, Sancerre

imagined that
he detected some coolness in her love for
him. He spoke to me about it several times

without rousing any anxiety in me by his com-

plaints but when at length he told me that
;

instead of hastening, she seemed to be post-

poning their marriage, I began to think that

he had good grounds for uneasiness. I said
that even if Madame de Tournon's passion
 138 The Princess of CIeves.
should lessen after lasting for two years, he

ought not to be surprised that even if it did

;

not lessen, and though it should not be

strong enough to persuade her to marry

him, he ought not to complain; since their

marriage would injure her much in the eyes

of the public, not only because he was not
a very good match for her, but because it

would affect her reputation: hence that all

he could reasonably desire was that she

should not deceive him and feed him with
false hopes. I also said that if she had not
the courage to marry him, or if she should
confess that she loved some one else,

he ought not to be angry or complain,

but preserve his esteem and gratitude for
her.

"'I give you the advice,' I said to him,

'
which I should take myself; for I am so

touched by sincerity that I believe that if

my mistress, or my wife, were to confess

that any one pleased her, I should be dis-
tressed without being angered, and should
 The Princess of CIeves. 139

lay aside the character of lover or husband

"
to advise and sympathize with her.'
At these words Madame de Cleves
blushed, finding a certain likeness to her own
%
condition which surprised her and distressed
her for some time.
"
Sancerre spoke to Madame de Tournon,"
Monsieur de Cleves went on, " telling her
everything I had advised ;
but she reassured
him with such tact and seemed so pained

by his suspicions that she entirely dispelled

them. Nevertheless she postponed their mar-

riage until after a long journey which he

was about to make ;
but her conduct was
so discreet
up to the time of his departure,

and she seemed so grieved at parting with

him, that I, as well as he, believed that she

truly loved him. Hewent away about three

months ago. During his absence I saw
Madame de Tournon very seldom; you have
taken up all my time, and I only knew that
Sancerre was to return soon.
"
The day before yesterday, on my arrival
 140 The Princess of Cleves.

m Paris, I heard that she was dead. I at

once sent to his house to find out if they

had heard from him, and was told that he
had arrived the day before, the very day
of Madame de Tournon's death. I went at

once to see him, knowing very well in what

a stateI should find him but his agony far ;

exceeded what had imagined. Never have

I

I seen such deep and tender grief. As soon

as he saw me, he embraced me, bursting into
'
tears. I shall never see her again,' he said,
'
I shall never see her again ;
she is dead !

I was not worthy of her; but I shall soon

follow her.'
"After that he was silent; then from time
to time he repeated :
'
She is dead, and I
'

shall never see her again !

Thereupon he
would again burst into tears, and seemed out
of his head. He told me he had received but
few letters from her while away, but that
this did not surprise him, because he well
knew her aversion to running any risk in
writing letters. He had no doubt that she
 The Princess of CIeves. 141

would have married him on his return; and

he looked upon her as the most amiable and
faithful woman who had ever lived he be- ;

lieved that she loved him tenderly, and that

he had lost her at the moment when he made
sure of winning her forever. These thoughts
plunged him into the deepest distress, by
which he was wholly overcome, and I con-
fess that I was deeply moved.
" I was obliged to leave him
Nevertheless,
to go to the king, but I promised to return
soon. I did but imagine my surprise
This ;

when found that

I he was in an entirely dif-
ferent mood. He was pacing up and down
his room with a wild face, and he stopped
'
as if he were beside himself and said : Come,
come ! see the most desperate man in the
world ;
I am ten thousand times unhappier
than I was before, and what I have just heard
of Madame de Tournon is worse than her
death.'
" I thought that his grief had crazed him,
for I could imagine nothing more terrible
142 The Princess of CIeves.
than the death of a loved mistress who re-

turns one's love. I told him that so long as

his grief had been within bounds I had un-
derstood and sympathized with it; but that
I should cease to pity him if he gave way
to despair and lost his mind.
'
I wish I

could lose it, and my life too/ he exclaimed.

'
Madame de Tournon was unfaithful to me ;

and I ascertained her infidelity and treachery

the day after I heard of her death, at a time
when my soul was filled with the deepest

grief and the tenderest love that were ever

felt, at a time when my heart was filled with

the thought of her as the most perfect crea-
ture that had ever and the most gener-
lived,

ous to me. I find that I was mistaken in

her, and that she does not deserve my tears ;

nevertheless, have the same grief from her

I

death as if she had been faithful to me, and

I suffer from her infidelity as if she were
not dead. Had I known of her changed feel-

ing before she died, I should have been wild

with wrath and jealousy, and should have
 The Princess of Cloves.
143

been in some way hardened against the blow

of her death ;
but now I can get no consola-
tion from it or hate her.'
" You may judge of my surprise at what
Sancerre told me; I asked him how he
found this out. He told me that the moment
I had left his room, Estouteville, an intimate
friend of his, though he knew nothing of his
love for Madame de Tournon, had come to
see him ;
that as soon as he had sat down,
he burst into tears and said he begged his

pardon for not having told him before what

he was about to say; that he begged him to
take pity on him ; that hehad come to open
his heart to him ;
and that he saw before
him man utterly crushed by
a the death of
Madame de Tournon.
" '
That name,' said Sancerre, surprised '

me so that my first impulse was to tell him

that I was much more distressed than he ;
but
I was unable to speak a word. He went on
and told me that he had been in love with
her for six months; that he had always
144 The Princess of CIeves.
meant to tell me, but she had forbidden it

so firmly that he had not dared to disobey

her; that almost ever since he fell in love

with her she had taken a tender interest in

him; that he only visited her secretly; that

he had had the pleasure of consoling her for
the loss of her husband ; and, finally, that he
was on the point of marrying her at the time
of her death, but that this marriage, which
would have been one of love, would have
appeared to be one of duty and obedience,
because she had won over her father to com-
mand this marriage, in order that there
should not be any great change in her con-
duct, which had indicated an unwillingness
to contract a second marriage.
" ' While Estouteville was
speaking,' San-
'
cerre went on, I fully believed him, because
what he said seemed likely, and the time he
had mentioned as that when he fell in love with
Madame de Tournon coincided with that of
her altered treatment of me. But a moment
after, I thought him a liar, or at least out of
 The Princess of Cleves. 145

his senses, was ready to tell him so.

and I

I thought, however, I would first make sure ;

hence I began to question him and to show

that I had my doubts. At last I was so per-
sistent in the search of my unhappiness that
he asked if I knew Madame de Tournon's
handwriting, and placed on my bed four of
her letters and her portrait. My brother

happened to come in at that moment. Es-

touteville's face was so stained with tears

that he had to go away in order not to be

seen in that state he told me that he would

;

come back that evening to get the things

he left. I sent my brother away, pretend-
ing that I was not feeling well, being im-
patient to read the letters, and still
hoping
to find something which would convince me
that Estouteville was mistaken. But, alas,
what did I not find ! What tenderness,
what protestations, what promises to marry
him, what letters ! She had never written
me any like them. So,' he went on, '
I

suffer at the same time grief for her death

VOL. i. 10
 146 The Princess of Clives.
and for her faithlessness, two misfortunes
which have often been compared, but have
never been felt at the same time by one

person. I confess, to my shame, that I

feel much more keenly her death than her

change ;
I cannot find her guilty enough
to deserve to die. If she were still alive,

I should have the pleasure of reproaching

her, of avenging myself by showing her
how great was her injustice. But I shall

never see her again.' He repeated,

'
I shall

never see her again, that is the bitterest

blow of all ;
I would gladly give up my
life for hers. What a wish ! If she were
to return, she would live for Estouteville.

How was yesterday

happy Ihe exclaimed, !
'

'
how happy I was then I was the most !

sorely distressed man in the world ;

but my
distress was in the order of nature, and I

drew some comfort from the thought that I

could never be consoled. To-day all my feel-

ings are false ones ;

I pay to the pretended

love she felt for me the same tribute that

 The Princess of Cleves. 147

I thought due to a real affection. I can

neither hate nor love her memory; I am
incapable of consolation or of grief. At
least,' he said, turning suddenly toward me,
1
let me, I beg of you, never see Estoute-
ville again ;
his very name fills me with
horror. I know very well that I have no
reason to blame him ;
it is my own fault for

concealing from him my love for Madame

de Tournon : if he had known of it, he would

perhaps have never cared for her, and she

would not have been unfaithful to me. He
came to see me to confide his grief; I really

pity him. Yes, and with good reason/ he

exclaimed ;
'
he loved Madame de Tournon
and was loved by her. He will never see
her again ; yet I feel cannot keep
that I

from hating him. Once more, I beg of you

never to let me see him again.'
" Sancerre burst into
Thereupon again
tears, mourning Madame de Tournon, say-
ing to her the tenderest things imaginable ;

thence he changed to hatred, complaints,

148 The Princess of CIeves.
reproaches, and denunciations of her conduct.
When I saw him in this desperate state I

knew that I should need some aid in calming

him, so I sent for his brother, whom I had
just left with the king. I went out to speak
to him in the hall before he came in, and I
told him what a state Sancerre was in. We
gave orders that he was not to see Estoute-
ville, and spent a good part of the night try-

ing persuade him to listen to reason.

to

This morning I found him in still deeper

distress; his brother is staying with him,
and I have returned to you."
" No one could be more surprised than I
"
am," said Madame de Cleves, for I
thought
Madame de Tournon incapable of both love
and deception."
"
Address and dissimulation," answered
Monsieur de Cleves, " could not go further.
Notice that when Sancerre thought she had

changed toward him, she really had, and

had begun to love Estouteville. She told

her new lover that he consoled her for her

 The Princess of Cloves. 149

husband's death, and that it was he who was

the cause of her returning to society; while
it seemed to Sancerre that it was because
we had decided that she should no longer

appear to be in such deep affliction. She

was able to persuade Estouteville to con-
ceal their relations, and to seem obliged to

marry him by her father's orders, as if it

were the result of her care for her reputa-
tion, and this in order to abandon Sancerre
without leaving him ground for complaint. I

must go back," continued Monsieur de Cleves,

"to see this unhappy man, and I think you
had better return to Paris. It is time for

you to see company and to begin to receive

the number of visits that await you."

Madamede Cleves gave her consent, and

they returned the next day. She found

herself more tranquil about Monsieur de

Nemours than she had been ;

Madame de
Chartres* dying words and her deep grief
had for a time dulled her feelings, and she

thought they had entirely changed.

 150 The Princess of CIeves.
The evening of Madame de Cleves's arri-
val the dauphiness came to see her, and
after expressing her sympathy with her
affliction, said that in order to drive away
her sad thoughts she would tell her every-

thing that had taken place at court during

her absence, and narrated many incidents.
"
But what I most want to tell you," she
"
added, is that it is certain that Monsieur
de Nemours is passionately in love, and
that his most intimate friends are not only

not in his confidence, but they can't even

guess whom it is whom he loves. Yet this

love is strong enough to make him neglect,

or rather give up, the hope of a crown."
The dauphiness then told Madame de
"
Cleves the whole plan about England. I

heard what I have just told you," she went

on, "from Monsieur d'Anville; and he said
to me this morning that the king sent last
evening for Monsieur de Nemours, after

reading some letters from Lignerolles, who

is anxious to return, and had written to the
 The Princess of CIeves. 151

king that he was unable to explain to the

Queen of England Monsieur de Nemours'
delay that she is beginning to be offended
; ;

and that although she has given no posi-

tive answer, she had said enough to war-

rant him in The king read this

starting.
letter to Monsieur de Nemours, who instead
of talking seriously, as he had done in the

beginning, only laughed and

joked about
Lignerolles' hopes. He said that the whole

of Europe would blame, his imprudence if

he were to presume to go to England as

a claimant for the queen's hand without

being assured of success.

'
It seems to

me too,' he went on, '

that I should not
choose the present time for my journey,
when the King of Spain doing his best to
is

marry her. In a love-affair he would not

be a very formidable rival ;

but I think that
in a question of marrying, your Majesty
would not advise me to try my chances
'

against him.' do advise you so in the

I

present circumstances,' answered the king.

 I5 2 The Princess of CIeves.
'

But you have no occasion to fear him. I

know that he has other thoughts, and even

if he had not, Queen Mary was too unhappy

under the Spanish yoke for one to believe that
her sister wishes to assume it, or would let her-
self be dazzled by the splendor of so many
'
united crowns.' If she does not let her-

self be dazzled by them,' went on Monsieur de

'
Nemours, probably she will wish to marry
for love; she has loved Lord Courtenay
for several years. Queen Mary also loved

him, and she would have married him, with

the consent of the whole of England, had
she not known that the youth and beauty
of her sister Elizabeth attracted him more
than the desire of reigning. Your Majesty
knows that her violent jealousy caused her

to throw them both into prison, then to

exile Lord Courtenay, and finally decided
her to marry the King of Spain. I be-
lieve that Elizabeth, now that she is on the
throne, will soon recall this lord and thus

choose a man she has loved, who is very

 The Princess of CIeves. 153

attractive, and who has suffered so much

for her, rather than another whom she has
'
never seen.' I should agree with you,'
'

replied the
king, Courtenay were still
if

living; but some days ago I heard that he

had died at Padua, where he was living
in banishment. I see very well,' he added,
as he left Monsieur de Nemours, '
that it

will be necessary to celebrate your mar-

riage as we should celebrate the dauphin's,

by sending ambassadors to marry the Queen

of England by procuration.'
"
Monsieur d'Anville and the Vidame, who
were present while the king was talking with
Monsieur de Nemours, are convinced that it

is great passion which has dissuaded

this

him from this plan. The Vidame, who is

more intimate than any one with him, said

to Madame de
Martigues that the prince
is changed beyond recognition; and what
amazes him still more is that he never finds
him engaged or absent, so that he supposes
he never meets the woman he loves; and
 154 The Princess of CIeves.
what is so surprising, is to see Monsieur
de Nemours in love with a woman who
does not return his passion."
All this story that the dauphiness told her
was as poison to Madame de Cleves. It was

impossible for her not to feel sure that she

was the woman whose name was unknown ;

and she was overwhelmed with gratitude and

tenderness when she learned from one who
had the best means of knowing that this
prince, who had already aroused her interest,
hid his passion from every one, and for love
of her gave up his chances of a crown. It is

impossible to describe her agitation. If the

dauphiness had observed her with any care,

she would at once have seen that the story
she had just repeated was by no means
without interest having no
to her; but

suspicion of the truth, she went on with-

. out noticing her. " Monsieur d'Anville," she
" me
added, who, as I said, told all this,

thinks that I know more about it than he

does, and he has so high an opinion of
 The Princess of Cleves. 155

my charms that he is convinced that I am

the only person who can make such a great

change in Monsieur de Nemours."

Madame de Cleves was agitated by this

last remark of the crown princess, though

not in the same way as a few moments be-
"
fore. I should readily agree with Monsieur
"
d'Anville," she replied, and it is certainly

probable, Madame, that no one but a prin-

cess like you could make him indifferent to

the Queen of England."

" I should
at once acknowledge it," said
" I knew
the dauphiness, if that was the
case, and I should know if it were true.

Love-affairs of that sort do not escape the

notice of those who inspire them ; they are
the first to perceive them. Monsieur de Ne-
mours has never paid ^ any but the most
insignificant attentions ;
but there is never-
theless so great a difference between his way
with me and his present conduct that I can
assure you I am not the cause of the indif-
ference he shows for the crown of England.
156 The Princess of Clives.
"
I forget everything while I am with you,"

she went on, " and it had slipped my mind

that I must go to see Madame Elisabeth.
You know that peace is nearly concluded ;

but what you don't know is that the King

of Spain would not agree to a single article

except on the condition that he, instead of

the prince Don Carlos, his son, should marry
this princess. The king had great difficulty
in agreeing to this; at last he yielded, and
has gone to tell Madame. I fancy she will
be inconsolable certainly cannot be pleas-
;
it

ant to marry a man of the age and temper

of the King of Spain, especially for her, who,
in all the pride of youth and beauty, ex-
pected to marry a young prince for whom
she has a fancy, though she has never seen
him. I don't know whether the king will
find her as docile as he wishes, and he has
asked me to go to see her; for he knows
that she is fond of me, and imagines that I

have some influence over her. I shall then

make a very different visit, for I must go to
 The Princess of Clives. 157

congratulate Madame, the king's sister.

Everything is arranged for her marriage with

Monsieur de Savoie, and he will be here
shortly. Never was a person of the age of
that princess so glad to marry. The court
will be finer and larger than it has ever been,
and in spite of your afflictions you must
come and help us show the foreigners that
we have some famous beauties here."
Then the dauphiness left Madame de
Cleves, and the next day Madame Elisabeth's
marriage was known to every one. A few

days later the king and the queens called on

Madame de Cleves. Monsieur de Nemours,
who had awaited her return with extreme

impatience, and was very desirous of speak-

ing to her alone, put off his call until every
one should have leffli and it was unlikely
that others would come in. His plan was
successful, and he arrived just as the latest

visitors were taking their departure.

The princess was still lyingdown it was ;

warm, and the sight of Monsieur de Nemours

158 The Princess of Cleves.

gave her face an additional color, which did

not lessen her beauty. He sat down oppo-
site her with the timidity and shyness that
real passion gives. It was some time before
he spoke; Madame de Cleves was equally
confused, so that they kept a long silence.
At last Monsieur de Nemours took courage,
and expressed his sympathy with her grief.
Madame de Cleves, who was glad to keep
the conversation on this safe topic, spoke
for some time about the loss she had experi-
enced; and finally she said that when time
should have dimmed the intensity of her

grief, it would
still leave a deep and lasting

impression, and that her whole nature had

been changed by it."

" Great and violent passions,"
afflictions
" do
replied Monsieur de Nemours, greatly
alter people ;
as for me, I am entirely

changed since I returned from Flanders.

Many persons have noticed this alteration,

and even the dauphiness spoke of it last

evening."
 The Princess of CIeves. 159
" It is said Madame de
true," Cleves,
" that she has noticed and I think I
it,

have heard her say something about it."

" I am
not sorry, Madame," Monsieur de
"
Nemours continued, that she perceived it,

but I should prefer that she should not

be the only one to notice it. There are
persons to whom
one does not dare to give
any other marks of the love one feels for
them than those which do not affect them
in any but an indirect way; and since one
does not dare to show one's love, one would
at least desire that they should see that one
by any one else. One
wishes not to be loved
would have the^ know that there is
like to

no beauty, of whatever rank, whom one

would not regard with indifference, and that
there is no crown which one would wish to

buy at the price of never seeing them.

Women generally judge the love one has
for them," he went on, " by the pains one
takes to please them and to pursue them;
but that is an easy matter, provided they
160 The Princess of Cleves.

are charming. What is difficult is not to

yield to the pleasure of pursuing them,

it is avoid them, from fear of showing
to

to the public or to them one's feelings and ;

the most distinctive mark of a true attach-

ment is to become entirely different from
what one was, to be indifferent to ambition

or pleasure after having devoted one's whole

life to one or the other."
Madame de Cleves readily understood the
reference to her in these words. It seemed
to her that she ought to answer them and

express her disapproval ;

it also seemed to

her that she ought not to listen to them or

show that she took his remarks to herself:
she believed that she ought to speak, and

ought to say nothing. The re-

also that she

marks of Monsieur de Nemours pleased and

offended her equally; she saw in them a

confirmation of what the crown princess had

made her think, she found them full of

gallantry and respect, but also bold and only

too clear. Her interest in the prince caused
 The Princess of Cleves. 161

an agitation which she could not control.

The vaguest words of a man one likes pro-
duce more emotion than the open declar-
ations of a man one does not like. Hence
she sat without saying a word, and Mon-
sieur de Nemours noticed her silence,
which would have seemed to him a happy
omen, if the arrival of Monsieur de Cleves
had not put an end to the talk and to his

visit.

The Prince de Cleves had come to tell

his wife the latest news about Sancerre ;

but
she had no great curiosity about the rest

of that affair. She wasS, > interested in

what had just happened that she could

hardly hide her inattention. When she

was able to think it all over, she perceived
that she had been mistaken when she fan-

cied that she had become indifferent to

Monsieur de Nemours. His words had

made all the impression he could desire, and
had thoroughly convinced her of his passion.
His actions harmonized too well with his
VOL. I. II
1 62 The Princess of Clives.
words for her tohave any further doubts on
the subject. She did not any longer indulge
in the hope of not loving him; she merely

determined to give him no further sign of it.

This was a difficult undertaking, how diffi-
cult she knew already. She was aware that

her only chance of success lay in avoiding

the prince, and her mourning enabled her
to live in retirement ;
she made it a pretext
for not going to places where she might
meet him. She was in great dejection ;
her
mother's death appeared to be the cause,
and she sought no other.
Monsieur de Nemours was in despair at
not seeing her oftener; and knowing that he
should not meet her at any assembly or en-
tertainment at which the whole court was

present, he could not make up his mind to

go to them; he pretended a great interest

in hunting, and made up hunting-parties on
the days of the queens' assemblies. For a
long time a slight indisposition served as a
pretext for staying at home, and thus escap-
 The Princess of CIeves. 163

ing going to places where he knew that

Madame de Cleves would not be.
Monsieur de Cleves was ailing at nearly
the same time, and Madame de Cleves never
left his room during his illness; but when he
was better and began to see company, and
among others Monsieur de Nemours, who,
under the pretext of being still weak, used
to spend agood part of every day with him,
she determined not to stay there. Neverthe-

less, she could not make up her mind to

leave during his was so long

first visits; it

since she had seen him that she was anxious

to meet him again. He toomanaged to

make her listen to him, by what seemed like
general talk; though she understood, from
its reference to what he had said in his pre-
vious to her, that he went hunting
visit

to get an opportunity for meditation, and

that he stayed away from the assemblies
because she was not there.
At last Madame de Cleves put into execu-
tion her decision to leave her husband's room
164 The Princess of Cleves.

when the duke should be there, though she

found it a difficult task. Monsieur de
Nemours observed that she avoided him,
and was much pained.
Monsieur de Cleves did not at first notice

his wife's conduct; but at last he saw that

she was unwilling to stay in his room when
company was present. He spoke to her
about it, and she replied that she did not
think it
quite proper that she should meet
every evening all the young men of the
court. She begged him to let her lead a
more retired life than she had done before,
because the presence of her mother, who
was renowned for her virtue, had authorized

many things impossible for a woman of

her age.
Monsieur de Cleves, who was generally
kind and pleasant to his wife, was not so on
this occasion ;
he told her he was averse to
any change in her conduct. She was
tempted to tell him that there was a report
that Monsieur de Nemours was in love with
 The Princess of CTeves, 165

her; but she did not feel able to mention

his name. She was also ashamed to assign

a false reason, and to hide the truth from a

man who had so good an opinion of her.

A few days later, the king happened to

be with the queen when she was receiving,
and the company was talking about horo-
scopes and predictions. Opinions were di-

vided about the credence that ought to be

given to them. The queen was inclined to

believe in them; she maintained that after

so many predictions had come true, it was

impossible to doubt the exactness of this

science. Others again held that the small

number of lucky hits out of the numerous

predictions that were made, proved that they

were merely the result of chance.
" In former " was
times," said the king, I

very curious about the future ;

but I was
told so much that was false or improbable
that I became convinced that we can know
nothing certain. A few years ago a famous

astrologer came here. Every one went to

1 66 The Princess of CIeves.
see him, I as well as the rest, but without

saying who I was; and I carried with me

Monsieur de Guise and D'Escars, sending
them into the room in front of me. Never-
theless the astrologer addressed me first, as

if he thought I was
perhaps their master;

he knew me, although he said something

to me which seemed to show that he did

not know who I was. He prophesied that

I should be killed in a duel then he
;

told Monsieur de Guise that he would be

killed from behind, and D'Escars that he
would have broken by a kick from
his skull

a horse. Monsieur de Guise was almost

angry at hearing this, as if he were accused
of running away; D'Escars was no more

pleased at learning that he was going to

perish by such an unfortunate accident, so

that we all left the astrologer in extreme dis-

content. I have no idea whathappen will

to Monsieur de Guise or to D'Escars, but it

is very unlikely that I shall be killed in a
duel. The King of Spain and I have just
 The Princess of CI eves. 167

made peace ;
and even if we had not, I doubt
if we should resort to a personal combat, and
it seems unlikely that I should challenge
him, as my father challenged Charles V."
After the king had mentioned the unhappy
end which had been foretold him, those who
had supported astrology gave up and agreed
that was unworthy of belief. " For my
it

"
part," said Monsieur de Nemours, I am the

last man in the world to place any confidence

in it;" and turning to Madame de Cleves,

near whom he was, he said in a low voice:
"
I was told that I should be made happy
by the kindness of the woman for whom
I should have the most violent and the
most respectful passion. You may judge,
Madame, whether I ought to believe in
predictions."
The dauphiness, who fancied, from what
Monsieur de Nemours had said aloud, that
he was mentioning some absurd prophecy
that had been made about him, asked him

what he was saying to Madame de Cleves.

1 68 The Princess of Cleves.

He would have been embarrassed by this

question if he had had less presence of mind ;

"
but he answered without hesitation : I was
saying, Madame, that it had been predicted
about me that I should rise to a lofty po-
sition to which I should not even dare to

aspire."
" If the
that is only prediction that
has been made about you," replied the

dauphiness, smiling, and thinking of the

"
English scheme, I do not advise you to

denounce astrology; you might find good

reasons for supporting it."

Madame de Cleves understood what the

crown princess referred to; but she also un-
derstood that the happiness of which Mon-
sieur de Nemours spoke, was not that of
being king of England.
As it was some time since her mother's
death, Madame Cleves had to appear
de

again in
society and to resume her visits

at court. She met Monsieur de Nemours

at the dauphiness's and at her own house,
 The Princess of Cleves. 169

whither he often came with young nobles

of his own age, in order not to be talked

about; but she never saw him without an

agitation which he readily perceived.
In spite of the care she took to escape
his glances and to talk less with him than
with others, certain things inadvertently
escaped her which this convinced prince
that she was not indifferent to him. A less

observant man than he would not, perhaps,

have noticed them ;
but so many women had
been in love with him that it was hard
for him not to know when he was loved.
He perceived that the Chevalier de Guise
was his rival, and that prince knew that
Monsieur de Nemours was his. He was
the only man at court who would have
discovered this truth; his interest had rend-
ered him more clear-sighted than the others.
The knowledge they had of each other's

feelings so embittered their relations that

although there was no open breach, they

were opposed in everything. In running at
17 The Princess of Cleves.

the ring and in all the amusements in which

the king took part they were always on dif-
ferent sides, and their rivalry was too intense
to be hidden.

The English scheme often recurred to Ma-

dame de Cleves, and she felt that Monsieur
de Nemours would not be able to withstand

the king's and Lignerolles' urging.

advice
She noticed with pain that this last had not
yet returned, and she awaited him with im-
patience. If she had followed his move-
ments, she would have learned the condition
of that matter ;
but the same feeling that in-

spired her curiosity compelled her to con-

ceal it, and she contented herself with mak-
ing inquiries about the beauty, intelligence,
and character of Queen Elizabeth. por- A
trait of her was carried to the palace, and

she found Elizabeth more beautiful than was

pleasant to her, and she could not refrain

from saying that it must flatter her.
" I don't think so," replied the dauphiness,
"
who was present. Elizabeth has a great
 The Princess of Clives. 171

reputation as a beauty and as the possessor

of a mind far above the common, and I

know that all my life she has been held up

to me as an example. She ought to be at-

tractive if she is like Anne Boleyn, her

mother. Never was there a more amiable
woman or one more charming both in ap-
pearance and disposition. I have been
told that her face was exceptionally viva-

cious, and that she in no way resembled

most English beauties."
"
It seems to me," said Madame de Cleves,
" that I have heard
that she was born in
France."
"
Those who think so," replied the crown
princess, are in error, "and I will tell you her

history in a few words. She was born of

a good English family. Henry VIII. had
been in love with her sister and her mother,
and it had even been suspected that she was
his daughter. She came here with the sister
of Henry VII., who married Louis XII. This

young and gallant princess found it very

1
72 The Princess of Cloves.

hard to leave the court of France after her

husband's death ;
but Anne Boleyn, who
shared her mistress's feelings, decided to

stay. The king was in love with her,

late

and she remained as maid of honor to Queen

Claude. This queen died, and Madame
Marguerite, the king's sister, the Duchess of

Alen^on, since then Queen of Navarre, whose

stories you have seen, added Anne to her
suite; it was from her that this queen re-
ceived her inclination toward the new reli-

gion. Then Anne returned to England,

where she delighted every one. She had
French manners, which please all nations;
she sang well, and danced charmingly. She
was made a lady in waiting to Queen
Catherine of Aragon, and King Henry
VIII. fell desperately in love with her.
"
Cardinal his favorite and
Wolsey, prime
minister, desired to be made pope ;
and

being dissatisfied with the emperor for not

supporting his claims, he resolved to avenge
himself by allying the king his master with
 The Princess of Cloves. 173

France. He suggested to Henry VIII. that

his marriage with the emperor's aunt was
null and void, and proposed to him to marry

the Duchess of Alengon, whose husband had

just died. Anne Boleyn, being an ambitious

woman, looked on this divorce as a possible

step to the throne. She began to instil into

the King of England the principles of Luth-

eranism, and persuaded the late king to urge
at Rome Henry's divorce, in the hope of his

marriage with Madame d'Alengon. Cardinal

Wolsey contrived to be sent to France on

other pretexts to arrange this affair ;
but his
master would not consent to have the propo-
sition made, and sent orders to Calais that

this marriage was not to be mentioned.

"
On his return from France, Cardinal Wol-

sey was received with honors equal to those

paid to the king himself; never did a favo-

rite display such and vanity.
haughtiness
He arranged an interview between the two
kings, which took place at Boulogne. Fran-
cis I. offered his hand to Henry VIII., who
174 The Princess of Cleves.

was unwilling to take it; they treated each

other with great splendor, each giving the
other clothes like those he himself wore.
I remember having heard that those the
late king sent to the King of England were
of crimson satin trimmed with pearls and

diamonds arranged in triangles, the cloak of

white velvet embroidered with gold. After

spending a few days at Boulogne, they went

to Calais. Anne Boleyn was quartered in
the house with Henry VIII. in the queen's
suite, and Francis I. made her the same pres-
ents and paid her the same honors as if she
had been a queen herself. At last, after be-

ing in love with her for nine years, Henry

married her, without waiting for the annul-
ment of his first marriage, which he had long
been asking of Rome. The pope at once ex-

communicated him; this so enraged Henry

that he declared himself the head of the
Church, and carried all England into the
unhappy change of religion in which you

now see it.

 The Princess of Cfeves. 175

"Anne Boleyn did not long enjoy her

grandeur, for one day, when she thought her

position assured by the death of Catherine

of Aragon, she happened to be present with
all the court when the Viscount Rochford,
her brother, was running at the ring. The
king was suddenly overwhelmed by such an
access of jealousy that he instantly left the

spot, hastened to London, and gave orders

for the arrest of the queen, the Viscount
Rochford, and many others whom he be-
lieved to be the queen's lovers or confidants.

Although this jealousy seemed the work of

a moment, it had for some time been insti-

gated by the Viscountess Rochford, who

could not endure her husband's intimacy
with the queen, and represented it to the

king as criminal intimacy; consequently he,

being already in love with
Jane Seymour,
thought only of getting rid of Anne Boleyn.
In less than three weeks he succeeded in

having the queen and her brother brought

to trial and beheaded, and he married Jane
176 The Princess of CIeves.
Seymour. He had afterward several wives,
whom he either divorced or put to death,

among others Catherine Howard, who had

been the confidant of the Viscountess of
Rochford, and was beheaded with her.

Hence she was punished for the crimes

with which she had blackened Anne Boleyn,
and Henry VIII., having reached a mon-
strous size, died."
All the ladies present thanked the dau-

phiness for teaching them so much about

the English court, and among others Madame
de Cleves, who could not refrain from asking
more questions about Queen Elizabeth.
The dauphiness had miniatures painted of
all the beauties of the court to send to the

queen her mother. The day when that of

Madame de Cleves was receiving the last
touches the crown princess came to spend
the afternoon with her. Monsieur de
Nemours was he neglected no
also there, for

opportunity of seeing Madame de Cleves,

although he never seemed to court her so-
 The Princess of Cloves. 177

ciety. She was so beautiful that day that he

would surely have fallen in love with her then
if he had not done so
already; but he did not
dare to sit with his eyes fixed on her, while
she feared lest he should show too plainly
the pleasure he found in looking at her.
The crown princess asked Monsieur de
Cleves for a miniature he had of his wife, to

compare it with the one that was painting.

All who were there expressed their opinion
of both, and Madame de Cleves asked the
painter to make a little correction in the
hair of the old one. The artist took the
miniature out of its case, and after working
on it, set it down on the table.
For a long time Monsieur de Nemours
had been desiring to have a portrait of
Madame de Cleves. When he saw this one,

though belonged to her husband, whom he

it

tenderly loved, he could not resist the temp-

tation to he thought that among
steal it;

the many persons present he should not be

suspected.
VOL. I 12
178 The Princess of CIeves.
The dauphiness was seated on the bed,
speaking low to Madame de Cleves, who was

standing in front of her. One of the curtains

was only partly closed, and Madame de
Cleves was able to see Monsieur de Nemours,
whose back was against the table at the foot

of the bed, without turning his head pick up

something from this table. She at once

it was her
guessed that portrait, and she was
so embarrassed that the crown princess
noticed she was not listening to her, and
asked her what she was looking at. At these
words Monsieur de Nemours turned round
and met Madame de Cleves' eyes fastened
on him ;
he felt sure that she must have
seen what he had just done.
Madame de was greatly embar-
Cleves
rassed. Her reason bade her ask for her
portrait; but if she asked for it
openly, she
would announce to everyone the prince's feel-
ings for her, and by asking for it privately,
she would give him an opportunity to speak
to her of his love, so that at last she judged
 The Princess of Cleves. 179

it better to let him keep it, and she was

very glad to be able to grant him a favor with-
out his knowing that she did it of her own
choice. Monsieur de Nemours, who ob-
served her embarrassment and guessed its

cause, came up to her and said in a low

"
voice : If you saw what I ventured to do,
be good enough, Madame, to let me suppose
that you know nothing about it; I do not
dare to ask anything more." Then he went
away, without waiting for an answer.
The dauphiness, accompanied by all her

ladies, went out for a walk. Monsieur de

Nemours locked himself up in his own room,
being unable to contain his joy at having in
his possession a portrait of Madame de
Cleves. He felt all the happiness that love
can give. He loved the most charming
woman of the court, and felt that in spite of
herself she loved him ;
he saw in everything
she did the agitation and embarrassment
which love evokes in the innocence of early

youth.
180 The Princess of Cloves.

That evening every one looked carefully

for the portrait; when they found the case,
no one supposed that it had been stolen,
but that it had been dropped somewhere.
Monsieur de Cleves was distressed at its loss,
and after hunting for it in vain, told his wife,

but evidently in jest, that she doubtless had

some mysterious lover to whom she had
given the portrait, or who had stolen it, for

no one but a lover would care for the por-

trait without the case.

Although these words were not said seri-

ously, they made a deep impression on the

mind of Madame de Cleves and filled her

with remorse. She thought of the violence
of her love for Monsieur de Nemours, and

perceived that she could not control either

her words or her face. She reflected that

Lignerolles had retunred, and that the Eng-

lish scheme had no terrors for her ;
that she

had no longer grounds for suspecting the

dauphiness; and finally, that, as she was

without further defence, her only safety was
 The Princess of Cleves. 181

in flight. Since, however, she knew she could

not go away, she saw that she was in a most

perilous condition, and ready to fall into what

she judged to be the greatest possible mis-

fortune, namely, betraying to Monsieur

de Nemours the interest she felt in him.
She recalled everything her mother had
said to her on her death-bed, and her ad-
vice to try everything rather than enter

upon a love-affair. She remembered what

her husband had said about her sincerity
when he was speaking about Madame de
Tournon, and it seemed to her that it was
her duty to confess her passion for Monsieur
de Nemours. She pondered over this for a

long time ;
then she was astonished that the

thought occurred to her: she deemed it

madness, and fell back into the agony of

indecision.

END OF VOL. I.
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