Grandeur and gallantry never appeared with more lustre in France, than
in the last years of Henry the Second's reign. This Prince was amorous
and handsome, and though his passion for Diana of Poitiers Duchess of
Valentinois, was of above twenty years standing, it was not the less
violent, nor did he give less distinguishing proofs of it.
As he was happily turned to excel in bodily exercises, he took a
particular delight in them, such as hunting, tennis, running at the
ring, and the like diversions. Madam de Valentinois gave spirit to all
entertainments of this sort, and appeared at them with grace and beauty
equal to that of her grand-daughter, Madam de la Marke, who was then
unmarried; the Queen's presence seemed to authorise hers.
The Queen was handsome, though not young; she loved grandeur,
magnificence and pleasure; she was married to the King while he was
Duke of Orleans, during the life of his elder brother the Dauphin, a
prince whose great qualities promised in him a worthy successor of his
father Francis the First.
The Queen's ambitious temper made her taste the sweets of reigning, and
she seemed to bear with perfect ease the King's passion for the Duchess
of Valentinois, nor did she express the least jealousy of it; but she
was so skilful a dissembler, that it was hard to judge of her real
sentiments, and policy obliged her to keep the duchess about her
person, that she might draw the King to her at the same time. This
Prince took great delight in the conversation of women, even of such as
he had no passion for; for he was every day at the Queen's court, when
she held her assembly, which was a concourse of all that was beautiful
and excellent in either sex.
Never were finer women or more accomplished men seen in any Court, and
Nature seemed to have taken pleasure in lavishing her greatest graces
on the greatest persons. The Princess Elizabeth, since Queen of Spain,
began now to manifest an uncommon wit, and to display those beauties,
which proved afterwards so fatal to her. Mary Stuart, Queen of
Scotland, who had just married the Dauphin, and was called the
Queen-Dauphin, had all the perfections of mind and body; she had been
educated in the Court of France, and had imbibed all the politeness of
it; she was by nature so well formed to shine in everything that was
polite, that notwithstanding her youth, none surpassed her in the most
refined accomplishments. The Queen, her mother-in-law, and the King's
sister, were also extreme lovers of music, plays and poetry; for the
taste which Francis the First had for the Belles Lettres was not yet
extinguished in France; and as his son was addicted to exercises, no
kind of pleasure was wanting at Court. But what rendered this Court so
splendid, was the presence of so many great Princes, and persons of the
highest quality and merit: those I shall name, in their different
characters, were the admiration and ornament of their age.
The King of Navarre drew to himself the respect of all the world both
by the greatness of his birth, and by the dignity that appeared in his
person; he was remarkable for his skill and courage in war. The Duke
of Guise had also given proofs of extraordinary valour, and had, been
so successful, that there was not a general who did not look upon him
with envy; to his valour he added a most exquisite genius and
understanding, grandeur of mind, and a capacity equally turned for
military or civil affairs. His brother, the Cardinal of Loraine, was a
man of boundless ambition, and of extraordinary wit and eloquence, and
had besides acquired a vast variety of learning, which enabled him to
make himself very considerable by defending the Catholic religion,
which began to be attacked at that time. The Chevalier de Guise,
afterwards called Grand Prior, was a prince beloved by all the world,
of a comely person, full of wit and address, and distinguished through
all Europe for his valour. The Prince of Conde, though little indebted
to Nature in his person, had a noble soul, and the liveliness of his
wit made him amiable even in the eyes of the finest women. The Duke of
Nevers, distinguished by the high employments he had possessed, and by
the glory he had gained in war, though in an advanced age, was yet the
delight of the Court: he had three sons very accomplished; the second,
called the Prince of Cleves, was worthy to support the honour of his
house; he was brave and generous, and showed a prudence above his
years. The Viscount de Chartres, descended of the illustrious family
of Vendome, whose name the Princes of the blood have thought it no
dishonour to wear, was equally distinguished for gallantry; he was
genteel, of a fine mien, valiant, generous, and all these qualities he
possessed in a very uncommon degree; in short, if anyone could be
compared to the Duke de Nemours, it was he. The Duke de Nemours was a
masterpiece of Nature; the beauty of his person, inimitable as it was,
was his least perfection; what placed him above other men, was a
certain agreeableness in his discourse, his actions, his looks, which
was observable in none beside himself: he had in his behaviour a gaiety
that was equally pleasing to men and women; in his exercises he was
very expert; and in dress he had a peculiar manner, which was followed
by all the world, but could never be imitated: in fine, such was the
air of his whole person, that it was impossible to fix one's eye on
anything else, wherever he was. There was not a lady at Court, whose
vanity would not have been gratified by his address; few of those whom
he addressed, could boast of having resisted him; and even those for
whom he expressed no passion, could not forbear expressing one for him:
his natural gaiety and disposition to gallantry was so great, that he
could not refuse some part of his cares and attention to those who made
it their endeavour to please him; and accordingly he had several
mistresses, but it was hard to guess which of them was in possession of
his heart: he made frequent visits to the Queen-Dauphin; the beauty of
this princess, the sweetness of her temper, the care she took to oblige
everybody, and the particular esteem she expressed for the Duke de
Nemours, gave ground to believe that he had raised his views even to
her. Messieurs de Guise, whose niece she was, had so far increased
their authority and reputation by this match, that their ambition
prompted them to aspire at an equality with the Princes of the blood,
and to share in power with the Constable Montmorency. The King
entrusted the Constable with the chief share in the administration of
the Government, and treated the Duke of Guise and the Mareschal de St.
Andre as his favourites; but whether favour or business admitted men to
his presence, they could not preserve that privilege without the
good-liking of the Duchess of Valentinois; for though she was no longer
in possession of either of youth or beauty, she yet reigned so
absolutely in his heart, that his person and state seemed entirely at
her disposal.
The King had such an affection for the Constable, that he was no sooner
possessed of the Government, but he recalled him from the banishment he
had been sent into by Francis the First: thus was the Court divided
between Messieurs de Guise, and the Constable, who was supported by the
Princes of the blood, and both parties made it their care to gain the
Duchess of Valentinois. The Duke d'Aumale, the Duke of Guise's
brother, had married one of her daughters, and the Constable aspired to
the fame alliance; he was not contented with having married his eldest
son with Madam Diana, the King's daughter by a Piemontese lady, who
turned nun as soon as she was brought to bed. This marriage had met
with a great many obstacles from the promises which Monsieur
Montmorency had made to Madam de Piennes, one of the maids of honour to
the Queen; and though the King had surmounted them with extreme
patience and goodness, the Constable did not think himself sufficiently
established, unless he secured Madam de Valentinois in his interest,
and separated her from Messieurs de Guise, whose greatness began to
give her uneasiness. The Duchess had obstructed as much as she could
the marriage of the Dauphin with the Queen of Scotland; the beauty and
forward wit of that young Queen, and the credit which her marriage gave
to Messieurs de Guise, were insupportable to her; she in particular
hated the Cardinal of Loraine, who had spoken to her with severity, and
even with contempt; she was sensible he took the party of the Queen, so
that the Constable found her very well disposed to unite her interests
with his and to enter into alliance with him, by marrying her
granddaughter Madam de la Marke with Monsieur d'Anville, his second
son, who succeeded him in his employment under the reign of Charles the
Ninth. The Constable did not expect to find the same disinclination to
marriage in his second son which he had found in his eldest, but he
proved mistaken. The Duke d'Anville was desperately in love with the
Dauphin-Queen, and how little hope soever he might have of succeeding
in his passion, he could not prevail with himself to enter into an
engagement that would divide his cares. The Mareschal de St. Andre was
the only person in the Court that had not listed in either party: he
was a particular favourite, and the King had a personal affection for
him; he had taken a liking to him ever since he was Dauphin, and
created him a Mareschal of France at an age in which others rarely
obtain the least dignities. His favour with the King gave him a lustre
which he supported by his merit and the agreeableness of his person, by
a splendour in his table and furniture, and by the most profuse
magnificence that ever was known in a private person, the King's
liberality enabling him to bear such an expense. This Prince was
bounteous even to prodigality to those he favoured, and though he had
not all the great qualities, he had very many; particularly he took
delight and had great skill in military affairs; he was also
successful, and excepting the Battle of St. Quintin, his reign had been
a continued series of victory; he won in person the Battle of Renti,
Piemont was conquered, the English were driven out of France, and the
Emperor Charles V found his good fortune decline before the walls of
Mets, which he besieged in vain with all the forces of the Empire, and
of Spain: but the disgrace received at St. Quintin lessened the hopes
we had of extending our conquests, and as fortune seemed to divide
herself between two Kings, they both found themselves insensibly
disposed to peace.
The Duchess Dowager of Loraine had made some overtures about the time
of the Dauphin's marriage, since which a secret negotiation had been
constantly carried on; in fine, Coran in Artois was the place appointed
for the treaty; the Cardinal of Loraine, the Constable Montmorency, and
the Mareschal de St. Andre were plenipotentaries for the King; the Duke
of Alva, and the Prince of Orange for Philip the II, and the Duke and
Duchess of Loraine were mediators. The principal articles were the
marriage of the Princess Elizabeth of France with Don Carlos the
Infanta of Spain, and that of his majesty's sister with the Duke of
Savoy.
The King, during the Treaty, continued on the frontiers, where he
received the news of the death of Queen Mary of England; his Majesty
dispatched forthwith the Count de Randan to Queen Elizabeth, to
congratulate her on her accession to the Crown, and they received him
with great distinction; for her affairs were so precarious at that
time, that nothing could be more advantageous to her, than to see her
title acknowledged by the King. The Count found she had a thorough
knowledge of the interests of the French Court, and of the characters
of those who composed it; but in particular, she had a great idea of
the Duke of Nemours: she spoke to him so often, and with so much
ernestness concerning him, that the Ambassador upon his return declared
to the King, that there was nothing which the Duke of Nemours might not
expect from that Princess, and that he made no question she might even
be brought to marry him. The King communicated it to the Duke the same
evening, and caused the Count de Randan to relate to him all the
conversations he had had with Queen Elizabeth, and in conclusion
advised him to push his fortune: the Duke of Nemours imagined at first
that the King was not in earnest, but when he found to the contrary,
"If, by your advice, Sir," said he, "I engage in this chimerical
undertaking for your Majesty's service, I must entreat your Majesty to
keep the affair secret, till the success of it shall justify me to the
public; I would not be thought guilty of the intolerable vanity, to
think that a Queen, who has never seen me, would marry me for love."
The King promised to let nobody into the design but the Constable,
secrecy being necessary, he knew, to the success of it. The Count de
Randan advised the Duke to go to England under pretence of travelling;
but the Duke disapproving this proposal, sent Mr. Lignerol, a sprightly
young gentleman, his favourite, to sound the Queen's inclinations, and
to endeavour to make some steps towards advancing that affair: in the
meantime, he paid a visit to the Duke of Savoy, who was then at
Brussels with the King of Spain. The death of Queen Mary brought great
obstructions to the Treaty; the Congress broke up at the end of
November, and the King returned to Paris.
There appeared at this time a lady at Court, who drew the eyes of the
whole world; and one may imagine she was a perfect beauty, to gain
admiration in a place where there were so many fine women; she was of
the same family with the Viscount of Chartres, and one of the greatest
heiresses of France, her father died young, and left her to the
guardianship of Madam de Chartres his wife, whose wealth, virtue, and
merit were uncommon. After the loss of her husband she retired from
Court, and lived many years in the country; during this retreat, her
chief care was bestowed in the education of her daughter; but she did
not make it her business to cultivate her wit and beauty only, she took
care also to inculcate virtue into her tender mind, and to make it
amiable to her. The generality of mothers imagine, that it is
sufficient to forbear talking of gallantries before young people, to
prevent their engaging in them; but Madam de Chartres was of a
different opinion, she often entertained her daughter with descriptions
of love; she showed her what there was agreeable in it, that she might
the more easily persuade her wherein it was dangerous; she related to
her the insincerity, the faithlessness, and want of candour in men, and
the domestic misfortunes that flow from engagements with them; on the
other hand she made her sensible, what tranquillity attends the life of
a virtuous woman, and what lustre modesty gives to a person who
possesses birth and beauty; at the same time she informed her, how
difficult it was to preserve this virtue, except by an extreme distrust
of one's self, and by a constant attachment to the only thing which
constitutes a woman's happiness, to love and to be loved by her husband.
This heiress was, at that time, one of the greatest matches in France,
and though she was very young several marriages had been proposed to
her mother; but Madam de Chartres being ambitious, hardly thought
anything worthy of her daughter, and when she was sixteen years of age
she brought her to Court. The Viscount of Chartres, who went to meet
her, was with reason surprised at the beauty of the young lady; her
fine hair and lovely complexion gave her a lustre that was peculiar to
herself; all her features were regular, and her whole person was full
of grace.
The day after her arrival, she went to choose some jewels at a famous
Italian's; this man came from Florence with the Queen, and had acquired
such immense riches by his trade, that his house seemed rather fit for
a Prince than a merchant; while she was there, the Prince of Cleves
came in, and was so touched with her beauty, that he could not
dissemble his surprise, nor could Mademoiselle de Chartres forbear
blushing upon observing the astonishment he was in; nevertheless, she
recollected herself, without taking any further notice of him than she
was obliged to do in civility to a person of his seeming rank; the
Prince of Cleves viewed her with admiration, and could not comprehend
who that fine lady was, whom he did not know. He found by her air, and
her retinue, that she was of the first quality; by her youth he should
have taken her to be a maid, but not seeing her mother, and hearing the
Italian call her madam, he did not know what to think; and all the
while he kept his eyes fixed upon her, he found that his behaviour
embarrassed her, unlike to most young ladies, who always behold with
pleasure the effect of their beauty; he found too, that he had made her
impatient to be going, and in truth she went away immediately: the
Prince of Cleves was not uneasy at himself on having lost the view of
her, in hopes of being informed who she was; but when he found she was
not known, he was under the utmost surprise; her beauty, and the modest
air he had observed in her actions, affected him so, that from that
moment he entertained a passion for her. In the evening he waited on
his Majesty's sister.
This Princess was in great consideration by reason of her interest with
the King her brother; and her authority was so great, that the King, on
concluding the peace, consented to restore Piemont, in order to marry
her with the Duke of Savoy. Though she had always had a disposition to
marry, yet would she never accept of anything beneath a sovereign, and
for this reason she refused the King of Navarre, when he was Duke of
Vendome, and always had a liking for the Duke of Savoy; which
inclination for him she had preserved ever since she saw him at Nice,
at the interview between Francis I, and Pope Paul III. As she had a
great deal of wit, and a fine taste of polite learning, men of
ingenuity were always about her, and at certain times the whole Court
resorted to her apartments.
The Prince of Cleves went there according to his custom; he was so
touched with the wit and beauty of Mademoiselle de Chartres, that he
could talk of nothing else; he related his adventure aloud, and was
never tired with the praises of this lady, whom he had seen, but did
not know; Madame told him, that there was nobody like her he described,
and that if there were, she would be known by the whole world. Madam
de Dampiere, one of the Princess's ladies of honour, and a friend of
Madam de Chartres, overhearing the conversation, came up to her
Highness, and whispered her in the ear, that it was certainly
Mademoiselle de Chartres whom the Prince had seen. Madame, returning
to her discourse with the Prince, told him, if he would give her his
company again the next morning, he should see the beauty he was so much
touched with. Accordingly Mademoiselle de Chartres came the next day
to Court, and was received by both Queens in the most obliging manner
that can be imagined, and with such admiration by everybody else, that
nothing was to be heard at Court but her praises, which she received
with so agreeable a modesty, that she seemed not to have heard them, or
at least not to be moved with them. She afterwards went to wait upon
Madame; that Princess, after having commended her beauty, informed her
of the surprise she had given the Prince of Cleves; the Prince came in
immediately after; "Come hither," said she to him, "see, if I have not
kept my word with you, and if at the same time that I show you
Mademoiselle de Chartres, I don't show you the lady you are in search
of. You ought to thank me, at least, for having acquainted her how
much you are her admirer."
The Prince of Cleves was overjoyed to find that the lady he admired was
of quality equal to her beauty; he addressed her, and entreated her to
remember that he was her first lover, and had conceived the highest
honour and respect for her, before he knew her.
The Chevalier de Guise, and the Prince, who were two bosom friends,
took their leave of Madame together. They were no sooner gone but they
began to launch out into the praises of Mademoiselle de Chartres,
without bounds; they were sensible at length that they had run into
excess in her commendation, and so both gave over for that time; but
they were obliged the next day to renew the subject, for this new-risen
beauty long continued to supply discourse to the whole Court; the Queen
herself was lavish in her praise, and showed her particular marks of
favour; the Queen-Dauphin made her one of her favourites, and begged
her mother to bring her often to her Court; the Princesses, the King's
daughters, made her a party in all their diversions; in short, she had
the love and admiration of the whole Court, except that of the Duchess
of Valentinois: not that this young beauty gave her umbrage; long
experience convinced her she had nothing to fear on the part of the
King, and she had to great a hatred for the Viscount of Chartres, whom
she had endeavoured to bring into her interest by marrying him with one
of her daughters, and who had joined himself to the Queen's party, that
she could not have the least favourable thought of a person who bore
his name, and was a great object of his friendship.
The Prince of Cleves became passionately in love with Mademoiselle de
Chartres, and ardently wished to marry her, but he was afraid the
haughtiness of her mother would not stoop to match her with one who was
not the head of his family: nevertheless his birth was illustrious, and
his elder brother, the Count d'En, had just married a lady so nearly
related to the Royal family, that this apprehension was rather the
effect of his love, than grounded on any substantial reason. He had a
great number of rivals; the most formidable among them, for his birth,
his merit, and the lustre which Royal favour cast upon his house, was
the Chevalier de Guise; this gentleman fell in love with Mademoiselle
de Chartres the first day he saw her, and he discovered the Prince of
Cleves's passion as the Prince of Cleves discovered his. Though they
were intimate friends, their having the same pretentions gradually
created a coolness between them, and their friendship grew into an
indifference, without their being able to come to an explanation on the
matter. The Prince of Cleves's good fortune in having seen
Mademoiselle de Chartres first seemed to be a happy presage, and gave
him some advantage over his rivals, but he foresaw great obstructions
on the part of the Duke of Nevers his father: the Duke was strictly
attached to the Duchess of Valentinois, and the Viscount de Chartres
was her enemy, which was a sufficient reason to hinder the Duke from
consenting to the marriage of his son, with a niece of the Viscount's.
Madam de Chartres, who had taken so much care to inspire virtue into
her daughter, did not fail to continue the same care in a place where
it was so necessary, and where there were so many dangerous examples.
Ambition and gallantry were the soul of the Court, and employed both
sexes equally; there were so many different interests and so many
cabals, and the ladies had so great a share in them, that love was
always mixed with business, and business with love: nobody was easy, or
indifferent; their business was to raise themselves, to be agreeable,
to serve or disserve; and intrigue and pleasure took up their whole
time. The care of the ladies was to recommend themselves either to the
Queen, the Dauphin-Queen, or the Queen of Navarre, or to Madame, or the
Duchess of Valentinois. Inclination, reasons of decorum, resemblance
of temper made their applications different; those who found the bloom
worn off, and who professed an austerity of virtue, were attached to
the Queen; the younger sort, who loved pleasure and gallantry, made
their Court to the Queen-Dauphin; the Queen of Navarre too had her
favourites, she was young, and had great power with the King her
husband, who was in the interest of the Constable, and by that means
increased his authority; Madame was still very beautiful, and drew many
ladies into her party. And as for the Duchess of Valentinois, she
could command as many as she would condescend to smile upon; but very
few women were agreeable to her, and excepting some with whom she lived
in confidence and familiarity, and whose humour was agreeable to her
own, she admitted none but on days when she gratified her vanity in
having a Court in the same manner the Queen had.
All these different cabals were full of emulation and envy towards one
another; the ladies, who composed them, had their jealousies also among
themselves, either as to favour or lovers: the interests of ambition
were often blended with concerns of less importance, but which did not
affect less sensibly; so that in this Court there was a sort of tumult
without disorder, which made it very agreeable, but at the same time
very dangerous for a young lady. Madam de Chartres perceived the
danger, and was careful to guard her daughter from it; she entreated
her, not as a mother, but as her friend, to impart to her all the
gallantry she should meet withal, promising her in return to assist her
in forming her conduct right, as to things in which young people are
oftentimes embarrassed.
The Chevalier de Guise was so open and unguarded with respect to his
passion for Mademoiselle de Chartres, that nobody was ignorant of it:
nevertheless he saw nothing but impossibilities in what he desired; he
was sensible that he was not a proper match for Mademoiselle de
Chartres, by reason of the narrowness of his fortune, which was not
sufficient to support his dignity; and he was sensible besides, that
his brothers would not approve of his marrying, the marriages of
younger brothers being looked upon as what tends to the lessening great
families; the Cardinal of Loraine soon convinced him, that he was not
mistaken; he condemned his attachment to Mademoiselle de Chartres with
warmth, but did not inform him of his true reasons for so doing; the
Cardinal, it seems, had a hatred to the Viscount, which was not known
at that time, but afterwards discovered itself; he would rather have
consented to any other alliance for his brother than to that of the
Viscount; and he declared his aversion to it in so public a manner,
that Madam de Chartres was sensibly disgusted at it. She took a world
of pains to show that the Cardinal of Loraine had nothing to fear, and
that she herself had no thoughts of this marriage; the Viscount
observed the same conduct, and resented that of the Cardinal more than
Madam de Chartres did, being better apprised of the cause of it.
The Prince of Cleves had not given less public proofs of his love, than
the Chevalier de Guise had done, which made the Duke of Nevers very
uneasy; however he thought that he needed only to speak to his son, to
make him change his conduct; but he was very much surprised to find him
in a settled design of marrying Mademoiselle de Chartres, and flew out
into such excesses of passion on that subject, that the occasion of it
was soon known to the whole Court, and among others to Madam de
Chartres: she never imagined that the Duke of Nevers would not think
her daughter a very advantageous match for his son, nor was she a
little astonished to find that the houses both of Cleves and Guise
avoided her alliance, instead of courting it. Her resentment on this
account put her upon finding out a match for her daughter, which would
raise her above those that imagined themselves above her; after having
looked about, she fixed upon the Prince Dauphin, son of the Duke de
Montpensier, one of the most considerable persons then at Court. As
Madam de Chartres abounded in wit, and was assisted by the Viscount,
who was in great consideration, and as her daughter herself was a very
considerable match, she managed the matter with so much dexterity and
success, that Monsieur de Montpensier appeared to desire the marriage,
and there was no appearance of any difficulties in it.
The Viscount, knowing the power the Dauphin-Queen had over Monsieur
d'Anville, thought it not amiss to employ the interest of that Princess
to engage him to serve Mademoiselle de Chartres, both with the King and
the Prince de Montpensier, whose intimate friend he was: he spoke to
the Dauphin-Queen about it, and she entered with joy into an affair
which concerned the promotion of a lady for whom she had a great
affection; she expressed as much to the Viscount, and assured him, that
though she knew she should do what was disagreeable to the Cardinal of
Loraine her uncle, she would pass over that consideration with
pleasure, because she had reasons of complaint against him, since he
every day more and more espoused the interest of the Queen against hers.
Persons of gallantry are always glad of an opportunity of speaking to
those who love them. No sooner was the Viscount gone, but the
Queen-Dauphin sent Chatelart to Monsieur d'Anville, to desire him from
her to be at Court that evening. Chatelart was his favourite, and
acquainted with his passion for this Princess, and therefore received
her commands with great pleasure and respect. He was a gentleman of a
good family in Dauphiny; but his wit and merit distinguished him more
than his birth: he was well received at Court. He was graceful in his
person, perfect at all sorts of exercises; he sung agreeably, he wrote
verses, and was of so amorous and gallant a temper, as endeared him to
Monsieur d'Anville in such a degree, that he made him the confidant of
his amours between the Queen-Dauphin and him; this confidence gave him
access to that Princess, and it was owing to the frequent opportunities
he had of seeing her, that he commenced that unhappy passion which
deprived him of his reason, and at last cost him his life.
Monsieur d'Anville did not fail to be at Court in the evening; he
thought himself very happy, that the Queen-Dauphin had made choice of
him to manage an affair she had at heart, and he promised to obey her
commands with the greatest exactness. But the Duchess of Valentinois
being warned of the design in view, had traversed it with so much care,
and prepossessed the King so much against it, that when Monsieur
d'Anville came to speak to his Majesty about it, he plainly showed he
did not approve of it, and commanded him to signify as much to the
Prince de Montpensier. One may easily judge what the sentiments of
Madam de Chartres were, upon the breaking off of an affair which she
had set her mind so much upon, and the ill success of which gave such
an advantage to her enemies, and was so great a prejudice to her
daughter.
The Queen-Dauphin declared to Mademoiselle de Chartres, in a very
friendly manner, the uneasiness she was in for not having been able to
serve her: "You see, Madam," said she to her, "that my interest is
small; I am upon so ill terms with the Queen and the Duchess of
Valentinois, that it is no wonder if they or their dependents still
succeed in disappointing my desires; nevertheless, I have constantly
used my endeavours to please them. Indeed, they hate me not for my own
sake, but for my mother's; she formerly gave them some jealousy and
uneasiness; the King was in love with her before he was in love with
the Duchess; and in the first years of his marriage, when he had no
issue, he appeared almost resolved to be divorced from the Queen, in
order to make room for my mother, though at the same time he had some
affection for the Duchess. Madam de Valentinois being jealous of a
lady whom he had formerly loved, and whose wit and beauty were capable
of lessening her interest, joined herself to the Constable, who was no
more desirous than herself that the King should marry a sister of the
Duke of Guise; they possessed the deceased King with their sentiments;
and though he mortally hated the Duchess of Valentinois, and loved the
Queen, he joined his endeavours with theirs to prevent the divorce; but
in order to take from the King all thoughts of marrying the Queen my
mother, they struck up a marriage between her and the King of Scotland,
who had had for his first wife the King's sister, and they did this
because it was the easiest to be brought to a conclusion, though they
failed in their engagements to the King of England, who was very
desirous of marrying her; and that failure wanted but little of
occasioning a rupture between the two Crowns: for Henry the Eighth was
inconsolable, when he found himself disappointed in his expectations of
marrying my mother; and whatever other Princess of France was proposed
to him, he always said, nothing could make him amends for her he had
been deprived of. It is certainly true, that my mother was a perfect
beauty; and what is very remarkable, is, that being the widow of the
Duke of Longueville, three Kings should court her in marriage. Her ill
fortune gave her to the least of them, and placed her in a kingdom
where she meets with nothing but trouble. They say I resemble her, but
I fear I shall resemble her only in her unhappy destiny; and whatever
fortune may seem to promise me at present, I can never think I shall
enjoy it."
Mademoiselle de Chartres answered the Queen, that these melancholy
presages were so ill-grounded, that they would not disturb her long,
and that she ought not to doubt but her good fortune would accomplish
whatever it promised.
No one now entertained any further thoughts of Mademoiselle de
Chartres, either fearing to incur the King's displeasure, or despairing
to succeed with a lady, who aspired to an alliance with a Prince of the
blood. The Prince of Cleves alone was not disheartened at either of
these considerations; the death of the Duke of Nevers his father, which
happened at that time, set him at entire liberty to follow his
inclination, and no sooner was the time of mourning expired, but he
wholly applied himself to the gaining of Mademoiselle de Chartres. It
was lucky for him that he addressed her at a time when what had
happened had discouraged the approaches of others. What allayed his
joy was his fear of not being the most agreeable to her, and he would
have preferred the happiness of pleasing to the certainty of marrying
her without being beloved.
The Chevalier de Guise had given him some jealousy, but as it was
rather grounded on the merit of that Prince than on any action of
Mademoiselle de Chartres, he made it his whole endeavour to discover,
if he was so happy as to have his addresses admitted and approved: he
had no opportunity of seeing her but at Court or public assemblies, so
that it was very difficult for him to get a private conversation with
her; at last he found means to do it, and informed her of his intention
and of his love, with all the respect imaginable. He urged her to
acquaint him what the sentiments were which she had for him, assuring
her, that those which he had for her were of such a nature as would
render him eternally miserable, if she resigned herself wholly up to
the will of her mother.
As Mademoiselle de Chartres had a noble and generous heart, she was
sincerely touched with gratitude for the Prince of Cleves's behaviour;
this gratitude gave a certain sweetness to her words and answers,
sufficient to furnish hopes to a man so desperately enamoured as the
Prince was, so that he flattered himself in some measure that he should
succeed in what he so much wished for.
She gave her mother an account of this conversation; and Madam de
Chartres told her, that the Prince of Cleves had so many good
qualities, and discovered a discretion so much above his years, that if
her inclination led her to marry him, she would consent to it with
pleasure. Mademoiselle de Chartres made answer, that she observed in
him the same good qualities; that she should have less reluctance in
marrying him than any other man, but that she had no particular
affection to his person.
The next day the Prince caused his thoughts to be communicated to Madam
de Chartres, who gave her consent to what was proposed to her; nor had
she the least distrust but that in the Prince of Cleves she provided
her daughter a husband capable of securing her affections. The
articles were concluded; the King was acquainted with it, and the
marriage made public.
The Prince of Cleves found himself happy, but yet not entirely
contented: he saw with a great deal of regret, that the sentiments of
Mademoiselle de Chartres did not exceed those of esteem and respect,
and he could not flatter himself that she concealed more obliging
thoughts of him, since the situation they were in permitted her to
discover them without the least violence done to modesty. It was not
long before he expostulated with her on this subject: "Is it
possible," says he, "that I should not be happy in marrying you? and
yet it is certain, I am not. You only show me a sort of civility which
is far from giving me satisfaction; you express none of those pretty
inquietudes, the concern, and impatience, which are the soul of love;
you are no further affected with my passion, than you would be with one
which flowed only from the advantage of your fortune, and not from the
beauty of your person." "It is unjust in you to complain," replied the
Princess, "I don't know what you can desire of me more; I think decency
will not allow me to go further than I do." "It's true," replied he,
"you show some appearances I should be satisfied with, were there
anything beyond; but instead of being restrained by decency, it is that
only which makes you act as you do; I am not in your heart and
inclinations, and my presence neither gives you pain nor pleasure."
"You can't doubt," replied she, "but it is a sensible pleasure to me to
see you, and when I do see you, I blush so often, that you can't doubt,
but the seeing you gives me pain also." "Your blushes, Madam," replied
he, "cannot deceive me; they are signs of modesty, but do not prove the
heart to be affected, and I shall conclude nothing more from hence than
what I ought."
Mademoiselle de Chartres did not know what to answer; these
distinctions were above her comprehension. The Prince of Cleves
plainly saw she was far from having that tenderness of affection for
him, which was requisite to his happiness; it was manifest she could
not feel a passion which she did not understand.
The Chevalier de Guise returned from a journey a few days before the
marriage. He saw so many insuperable difficulties in his design of
marrying Mademoiselle de Chartres, that he gave over all hopes of
succeeding in it; and yet he was extremely afflicted to see her become
the wife of another: his grief however did not extinguish his passion;
and his love was as great as ever. Mademoiselle de Chartres was not
ignorant of it; and he made her sensible at his return, that she was
the cause of that deep melancholy which appeared in his countenance.
He had so much merit and so much agreeableness, that it was almost
impossible to make him unhappy without pitying him, nor could she
forbear pitying him; but her pity did not lead to love. She acquainted
her mother with the uneasiness which the Chevalier's passion gave her.
Madam de Chartres admired the honour of her daughter, and she admired
it with reason, for never was anyone more naturally sincere; but she
was surprised, at the same time, at the insensibility of her heart, and
the more so, when she found that the Prince of Cleves had not been able
to affect her any more than others: for this reason, she took great
pains to endear her husband to her, and to make her sensible how much
she owed to the affection he had for her before he knew her, and to the
tenderness he since expressed for her, by preferring her to all other
matches, at a time when no one else durst entertain the least thoughts
of her.
The marriage was solemnised at the Louvre; and in the evening the King
and the two Queens, with the whole Court, supped at Madam de Chartres's
house, where they were entertained with the utmost magnificence. The
Chevalier de Guise durst not distinguish himself by being absent from
the ceremony, but he was so little master of himself that it was easy
to observe his concern.
The Prince of Cleves did not find that Mademoiselle de Chartres had
changed her mind by changing her name; his quality of a husband
entitled him to the largest privileges, but gave him no greater share
in the affections of his wife: hence it was, that though he was her
husband, he did not cease to be her lover, because he had always
something to wish beyond what he possessed; and though she lived
perfectly easy with him, yet he was not perfectly happy. He preserved
for her a passion full of violence and inquietude, but without
jealousy, which had no share in his griefs. Never was husband less
inclined to it, and never was wife farther from giving the least
occasion for it. She was nevertheless constantly in view of the Court;
she frequented the Courts of the two Queens, and of Madame: all the
people of gallantry saw her both there and at her brother-in-law the
Duke of Never's, whose house was open to the whole world; but she had
an air which inspired so great respect, and had in it something so
distant from gallantry, that the Mareschal de St. Andre, a bold man and
supported by the King's favour, became her lover without daring to let
her know it any otherwise than by his cares and assiduities. A great
many others were in the same condition: and Madam de Chartres had added
to her daughter's discretion so exact a conduct with regard to
everything of decorum, that everybody was satisfied she was not to be
come at.
The Duchess of Loraine, while she was employed in negotiating the
peace, had applied herself to settle the marriage of the Duke her son:
a marriage was agreed upon between him and Madam Claude of France, the
King's second daughter; and the month of February was appointed for the
nuptials.
In the meantime the Duke of Nemours continued at Brussels, his thoughts
being wholly employed on his design in England; he was continually
sending or receiving couriers from thence; his hopes increased every
day, and at last Lignerolly sent him word that it was time to finish by
his presence what was so well begun; he received this news with all the
joy a young ambitious man is capable of, who sees himself advanced to a
throne merely by the force of his personal merit; his mind insensibly
accustomed itself to the grandeur of a Royal State; and whereas he had
at first rejected this undertaking as an impracticable thing, the
difficulties of it were now worn out of his imagination, and he no
longer saw anything to obstruct his way.
He sent away in haste to Paris to give the necessary orders for
providing a magnificent equipage, that he might make his appearance in
England with a splendour suitable to the design he was to conduct; and
soon after he followed himself, to assist at the marriage of the Duke
of Loraine.
He arrived the evening before the espousals, and that very evening
waited on the King to give him an account of his affair, and to receive
his orders and advice how to govern himself in it. Afterwards he waited
on the Queens; but the Princess of Cleves was not there, so that she
did not see him, nor so much as know of his arrival. She had heard
everybody speak of this celebrated Prince, as of the handsomest and
most agreeable man at Court; and the Queen-Dauphin had described him in
such a manner, and spoke of him to her so often, that she had raised in
her a curiosity and even impatience to see him.
The Princess employed the day of the wedding in dressing herself, that
she might appear with the greater advantage at the ball and royal
banquet that were to be at the Louvre. When she came, everyone admired
both her beauty and her dress. The ball began, and while she was
dancing with the Duke of Guise, a noise was heard at the door of the
hall, as if way was making for some person of uncommon distinction.
She had finished her dance, and as she was casting her eyes round to
single out some other person, the King desired her to take him who came
in last; she turned about, and viewing him as he was passing over the
seats to come to the place where they danced, she immediately concluded
he was the Duke of Nemours. The Duke's person was turned in so
delicate a manner, that it was impossible not to express surprise at
the first sight of him, particularly that evening, when the care he had
taken to adorn himself added much to the fine air of his carriage. It
was as impossible to behold the Princess of Cleves without equal
admiration.
The Duke de Nemours was struck with such surprise at her beauty, that
when they approached and paid their respects to each other, he could
not forbear showing some tokens of his admiration. When they begun to
dance, a soft murmur of praises ran through the whole company. The
King and the two Queens, remembering that the Duke and Princess had
never seen one another before, found something very particular in
seeing them dance together without knowing each other; they called
them, as soon as they had ended their dance, without giving them time
to speak to anybody, and asked them if they had not a desire to know
each other, and if they were not at some loss about it. "As for me,
Madam," said the Duke to the Queen, "I am under no uncertainty in this
matter; but as the Princess of Cleves has not the same reasons to lead
her to guess who I am, as I have to direct me to know her, I should be
glad if your Majesty would be pleased to let her know my name." "I
believe," said the Queen-Dauphin, "that she knows your name as well as
you know hers." "I assure you, Madam," replied the Princess a little
embarrassed, "that I am not so good a guesser as you imagine." "Yes,
you guess very well," answered the Queen-Dauphin; "and your
unwillingness to acknowledge that you know the Duke of Nemours, without
having seen him before, carries in it something very obliging to him."
The Queen interrupted them, that the ball might go on; and the Duke de
Nemours took out the Queen-Dauphin. This Princess was a perfect
beauty, and such she appeared in the eyes of the Duke de Nemours,
before he went to Flanders; but all this evening he could admire
nothing but Madam de Cleves.
The Chevalier de Guise, whose idol she still was, sat at her feet, and
what had passed filled him with the utmost grief; he looked upon it as
ominous for him, that fortune had destined the Duke of Nemours to be in
love with the Princess of Cleves. And whether there appeared in
reality any concern in the Princess's face, or whether the Chevalier's
jealousy only led him to suspect it, he believed that she was touched
with the sight of the Duke, and could not forbear telling her, that
Monsieur de Nemours was very happy to commence an acquaintance with her
by an incident which had something very gallant and extraordinary in it.
Madam de Cleves returned home with her thoughts full of what had passed
at the ball; and though it was very late, she went into her mother's
room to give her a relation of it; in doing which she praised the Duke
of Nemours with a certain air, that gave Madam de Chartres the same
suspicion the Chevalier de Guise had entertained before.
The day following the ceremony of the Duke of Loraine's marriage was
performed; and there the Princess of Cleves observed so inimitable a
grace, and so fine a mien in the Duke of Nemours, that she was yet more
surprised.
She afterwards saw him at the Court of the Queen-Dauphin; she saw him
play at tennis with the King; she saw him run the ring; she heard him
discourse; still she found he far excelled everybody else, and drew the
attention of the company to him wherever he was; in short, the
gracefulness of his person, and the agreeableness of his wit soon made
a considerable impression on her heart.
The Duke de Nemours had an inclination no less violent for her; and
hence flowed all that gaiety and sweetness of behaviour, which the
first desires of pleasing ordinarily inspire a man with: hence he
became more amiable than ever he was before; so that by often seeing
one another, and by seeing in each other whatever was most accomplished
at Court, it could not be but that they must mutually receive the
greatest pleasure from such a commerce.
The Duchess of Valentinois made one in all parties of pleasure; and the
King was still as passionately fond of her as in the beginning of his
love. The Princess of Cleves being at those years, wherein people
think a woman is incapable of inciting love after the age of
twenty-five, beheld with the utmost astonishment the King's passion for
the Duchess, who was a grandmother, and had lately married her
granddaughter: she often spoke on this subject to Madam de Chartres.
"Is it possible, Madam," said she, "that the King should still continue
to love? How could he take a fancy to one, who was so much older than
himself, who had been his father's mistress, and who, as I have heard,
is still such to many others?" "'Tis certain," answered Madam de
Chartres," it was neither the merit nor the fidelity of the Duchess of
Valentinois, which gave birth to the King's passion, or preserved it;
and this is what he can't be justified in; for if this lady had had
beauty and youth suitable to her birth; and the merit of having had no
other lover; if she had been exactly true and faithful to the King; if
she had loved him with respect only to his person, without the
interested views of greatness and fortune, and without using her power
but for honourable purposes and for his Majesty's interest; in this
case it must be confessed, one could have hardly forbore praising his
passion for her. If I was not afraid," continued Madam de Chartres,
"that you would say the same thing of me which is said of most women of
my years, that they love to recount the history of their own times, I
would inform you how the King's passion for this Duchess began, and of
several particulars of the Court of the late King, which have a great
relation to things that are acted at present." "Far from blaming you,"
replied the Princess of Cleves, "for repeating the histories of past
times, I lament, Madam, that you have not instructed me in those of the
present, nor informed me as to the different interests and parties of
the Court. I am so entirely ignorant of them, that I thought a few
days ago, the Constable was very well with the Queen." "You was
extremely mistaken," answered Madam de Chartres, "the Queen hates the
Constable, and if ever she has power, he'll be but too sensible of it;
she knows, he has often told the King, that of all his children none
resembled him but his natural ones." "I should never have suspected
this hatred," said the Princess of Cleves, "after having seen her
assiduity in writing to the Constable during his imprisonment, the joy
she expressed at his return, and how she always calls him Compere, as
well as the King." "If you judge from appearances in a Court," replied
Madam de Chartres, "you will often be deceived; truth and appearances
seldom go together.
"But to return to the Duchess of Valentinois, you know her name is
Diana de Poitiers; her family is very illustrious, she is descended
from the ancient Dukes of Aquitaine, her grandmother was a natural
daughter of Lewis the XI, and in short she possesses everything that is
great in respect of birth. St. Valier, her father, had the unhappiness
to be involved in the affair of the Constable of Bourbon, which you
have heard of; he was condemned to lose his head, and accordingly was
conducted to the scaffold: his daughter, viz., the Duchess, who was
extremely beautiful, and who had already charmed the late King, managed
so well, I don't know by what means, that she obtained her father's
life; the pardon was brought him at the moment he was expecting the
fatal blow; but the pardon availed little, for fear had seized him so
deeply, that it bereft him of his senses, and he died a few days after.
His daughter appeared at Court as the King's mistress; but the Italian
expedition, and the imprisonment of the present Prince, were
interruptions to his love affair. When the late King returned from
Spain, and Madam the Regent went to meet him at Bayonne, she brought
all her maids of honour with her, among whom was Mademoiselle de
Pisselen, who was since Duchess d'Etampes; the King fell in love with
her, though she was inferior in birth, wit and beauty to the Duchess of
Valentinois, and had no advantage above her but that of being very
young. I have heard her say several times, that she was born the same
day Diana de Poitiers was married, but she spoke this in the malice of
her heart, and not as what she knew to be true; for I am much mistaken,
if the Duchess of Valentinois did not marry Monsieur de Breze, at the
same time that the King fell in love with Madam d'Etampes. Never was a
greater hatred than that between these two ladies; the Duchess could
not pardon Madam d'Etampes for having taken from her the title of the
King's mistress; and Madam d'Etampes was violently jealous of the
Duchess, because the King still kept correspondence with her. That
Prince was by no means constant to his mistresses; there was always one
among them that had the title and honours of mistress, but the ladies
of the small band, as they were styled, shared his favour by turns.
The loss of the Dauphin, his son, who died at Tournon, and was thought
to be poisoned, extremely afflicted him; he had not the same affection
and tenderness for his second son, the present King; he imagined he did
not see in him spirit and vivacity enough, and complained of it one day
to the Duchess of Valentinois, who told him she would endeavour to
raise a passion in him for her, in order to make him more sprightly and
agreeable. She succeeded in it, as you see, and this passion is now of
above twenty years' duration, without being changed either by time or
incidents.
"The late King at first opposed it; and whether he had still love
enough left for the Duchess of Valentinois to be jealous, or whether he
was urged on by the Duchess d'Etampes, who was in despair upon seeing
the Dauphin so much attached to her enemy, it is certain he beheld this
passion with an indignation and resentment, that showed itself every
day by something or other. The Dauphin neither valued his anger or his
hatred, nor could anything oblige him either to abate or conceal his
flame, so that the King was forced to accustom himself to bear it with
patience. This opposition of his to his father's will, withdrew his
affections from him more and more, and transferred them to his third
son, the Duke of Orleans, who was a Prince of a fine person full of
fire and ambition, and of a youthful heat which wanted to be moderated;
however, he would have made a very great Prince, had he arrived to a
more ripened age.
"The rank of eldest, which the Dauphin held, and the King's favour
which the Duke of Orleans was possessed of, created between them a sort
of emulation, that grew by degrees to hatred. This emulation began from
their infancy, and was still kept up in its height. When the Emperor
passed through France, he gave the preference entirely to the Duke of
Orleans, which the Dauphin resented so bitterly, that while the Emperor
was at Chantilli, he endeavoured to prevail with the Constable to
arrest him without waiting for the King's orders, but the Constable
refused to do it: however, the King afterwards blamed him for not
following his son's advice, and when he banished him the Court, that
was one of the principal reasons for it.
"The discord between the two brothers put Madam d'Etampes upon the
thought of strengthening herself with the Duke of Orleans, in order to
support her power with the King against the Duchess of Valentinois;
accordingly she succeeded in it, and that young Prince, though he felt
no emotions of love for her, entered no less into her interest, than
the Dauphin was in that of Madam de Valentinois. Hence rose two
factions at Court, of such a nature as you may imagine, but the
intrigues of them were not confined to the quarrels of women.
"The Emperor, who continued to have a great friendship for the Duke of
Orleans, had offered several times to make over to him the Duchy of
Milan. In the propositions which were since made for the peace, he
gave hopes of assigning him the seventeen provinces, with his daughter
in marriage. The Dauphin neither approved of the peace or the
marriage, and in order to defeat both he made use of the Constable, for
whom he always had an affection, to remonstrate to the King of what
importance it was not to give his successor a brother so powerful as
the Duke of Orleans would be with the alliance of the Emperor and those
countries; the Constable came the more easily into the Dauphin's
sentiments, as they were opposite to those of Madam d'Etampes, who was
his declared enemy, and who vehemently wished for the promotion of the
Duke of Orleans.
"The Dauphin commanded at that time the King's Army in Champaign, and
had reduced that of the Emperor to such extremities, that it must have
entirely perished, had not the Duchess d'Etampes, for fear too great
successes should make us refuse peace, and the Emperor's alliance in
favour of the Duke of Orleans, secretly advised the enemy to surprise
Espemai and Cheteau-Thieni, in which places were great magazines of
provisions; they succeeded in the attempt, and by that means saved
their whole army.
"This Duchess did not long enjoy the success of her treason. A little
after the Duke of Orleans died at Farmontiers of a kind of contagious
distemper: he was in love with one of the finest women of the Court,
and was beloved by her. I will not mention her name, because she has
since lived with so much discretion, and has so carefully concealed the
passion she had for that Prince, that one ought to be tender of her
reputation. It happened she received the news of her husband's death
at the same time as she heard of the Duke's, so that she had that
pretext to enable her to conceal her real sorrow, without being at the
trouble of putting any constraint upon herself.
"The King did not long survive the Prince his son; he died two years
after; he recommended to the Dauphin to make use of the Cardinal de
Tournon and the Admiral d'Annebault, but said nothing at all of the
Constable, who was then in banishment at Chantilli. Nevertheless the
first thing the King his son did was to recall him, and make him his
Prime Minister.
"Madam d'Etampes was discarded, and received all the ill treatment she
could possibly expect from an enemy so very powerful; the Duchess of
Valentinois amply revenged herself both of that lady, and all those who
had disobliged her; she seemed to reign more absolute in the King's
heart than she did even when he was Dauphin. During the twelve years'
reign of this Prince she has been absolute in everything; she disposes
of all governments and offices of trust and power; she has disgraced
the Cardinal de Tournon, the Chancellor, and Villeroy; those who have
endeavoured to open the King's mind with respect to her conduct, have
been undone in the attempt; the Count de Taix, great Master of the
Ordnance, who had no kindness for her, could not forbear speaking of
her gallantries, and particularly of that with the Count de Brissac, of
whom the King was already very jealous. Nevertheless she contrived
things so well, that the Count de Taix was disgraced, and his
employment taken from him; and what is almost incredible, she procured
it to be given to the Count de Brissac, and afterwards made him a
Mareschal of France. Notwithstanding, the King's jealousy increased to
such a height, that lie could no longer suffer him to continue at
Court: this passion of jealousy, which is fierce and violent in other
men, is gentle and moderate in him through the great respect he has for
his mistress, and therefore he did not go about to remove his rival,
but under the pretext of giving him the Government of Piemont. He has
lived there several years; last winter he returned to Paris, under
pretence of demanding troops and other necessaries for the Army he
commands; the desire of seeing the Duchess of Valentinois again, and
the fear of being forgotten by her, was perhaps the principal motive of
this journey. The King received him very coldly; Messieurs de Guise,
who have no kindness for him, but dare not show it on account of the
Duchess, made use of Monsieur the Viscount, her declared enemy, to
prevent his obtaining what he came to demand. It was no difficult
matter to do him hurt. The King hated him, and was uneasy at his
presence, so that he was obliged to return to Piemont without any
benefit from his journey, except perhaps that of rekindling in the
heart of the Duchess the flame which absence began to extinguish. The
King has had a great many other subjects of jealousy, but either he has
not been informed of them, or has not dared to complain of them.
"I don't know, daughter," added Madam de Chartres, "if I have not
already told you more of these things, than you desired to know." "I
am far, Madam, from complaining of that," replied the Princess of
Cleves, "and if it was not for fear of being importunate, I should yet
desire to be informed of several circumstances I am ignorant of."
The Duke de Nemours' passion for Madam de Cleves was at first so
violent, that he had no relish left for any of the ladies he paid his
addresses to before, and with whom he kept a correspondence during his
absence; he even lost all remembrance of his engagements with them, and
not only made it his business to find out excuses to break with them,
but had not the patience to hear their complaints, or make any answer
to the reproaches they laid upon him. The Queen-Dauphin herself, for
whom his regards had been very tender, could no longer preserve a place
in that heart which was now devoted to the Princess of Cleves. His
impatience of making a tour to England began to abate, and he showed no
earnestness in hastening his equipage. He frequently went to the
Queen-Dauphin's Court, because the Princess of Cleves was often there,
and he was very easy in leaving people in the opinion they had of his
passion for that Queen; he put so great a value on Madam de Cleves,
that he resolved to be rather wanting in giving proofs of his love,
than to hazard its being publicly known; he did not so much as speak of
it to the Viscount de Chartres, who was his intimate friend, and from
whom he concealed nothing; the truth is, he conducted this affair with
so much discretion, that nobody suspected he was in love with Madam de
Cleves, except the Chevalier de Guise; and she would scarcely have
perceived it herself, if the inclination she had for him had not led
her into a particular attention to all his actions, but which she was
convinced of it.
She no longer continued to have the same disposition to communicate to
her mother what she thought concerning the Duke de Nemours, as she had
to talk to her about her other lovers; though she had no settled design
of concealing it from her, yet she did not speak of it. Madam de
Chartres, however, plainly perceived the Duke's attachment to her
daughter, as well as her daughter's inclination for him; the knowledge
of this could not but sensibly afflict her, nor could she be ignorant
of the danger this young lady was in, in being beloved by, and loving
so accomplished a person as the Duke de Nemours: she was entirely
confirmed in the suspicion she had of this business, by an incident
which fell out a few days after.
The Mareschal de St. Andre, who took all opportunities to show his
magnificence, desired the King, under pretence of showing him his house
which was just finished, to do him the honour to sup there with the two
Queens. The Mareschal was also very glad to display, in the sight of
the Princess of Cleves, that splendid and expensive manner of life,
which he carried to so great a profusion.
Some days before that appointed for the entertainment, the Dauphin, who
had an ill state of health, found himself indisposed, and saw nobody;
the Queen-Dauphin had spent all that day with him; and in the evening,
upon his growing better, all the persons of quality that were in the
anti-chamber were admitted; the Queen-Dauphin returned to her own
apartment, where she found Madam de Cleves and some other ladies, with
whom she lived in familiarity.
It being already very late, and not being dressed, she did not wait
upon the Queen, but gave out that she was not to be seen, and ordered
her jewels to be brought, in order to choose out some for the Mareschal
de St. Andre's Ball, and present the Princess of Cleves with some, as
she had promised her. While they were thus employed, the Prince of
Conde entered; his great quality gave him free access everywhere.
"Doubtless," said the Queen-Dauphin, "you come from the King my
husband, what are they doing there?"
"Madam," said he, "they are maintaining a dispute against the Duke of
Nemours, and he defends the argument he undertook with so much warmth,
that he must needs be very much interested in it; I believe he has some
mistress that gives him uneasiness by going to balls, so well satisfied
he is that it is a vexatious thing to a lover to see the person he
loves in those places."
"How," replied the Queen-Dauphin, "would not the Duke de Nemours have
his mistress go to a ball? I thought that husbands might wish their
wives would not go there; but as for lovers, I never imagined they were
of that opinion." "The Duke de Nemours finds," answered the Prince of
Conde, "that nothing is so insupportable to lovers as balls, whether
they are beloved again, or whether they are not. He says, if they are
beloved they have the chagrin to be loved the less on this account for
several days; that there is no woman, whom her anxiety for dress does
not divert from thinking on her lover; that they are entirely taken up
with that one circumstance, that this care to adorn themselves is for
the whole world, as well as for the man they favour; that when they are
at a ball, they are desirous to please all who look at them; and that
when they triumph in their beauty, they experience a joy to which their
lovers very little contribute. He argues further, that if one is not
beloved, it is a yet greater torment to see one's mistress at an
assembly; that the more she is admired by the public, the more unhappy
one is not to be beloved, and that the lover is in continual fear lest
her beauty should raise a more successful passion than his own; lastly
he finds, there is no torment equal to that of seeing one's mistress at
a ball, unless it be to know that she is there, and not to be there
one's self."
Madam de Cleves pretended not to hear what the Prince of Conde said,
though she listened very attentively; she easily saw what part she had
in the Duke of Nemours's opinion, and particularly as to what he said
of the uneasiness of not being at a ball where his mistress was,
because he was not to be at that of the Mareschal de St. Andre, the
King having sent him to meet the Duke of Ferrara.
The Queen-Dauphin, and the Prince of Conde, not going into the Duke's
opinion, were very merry upon the subject. "There is but one occasion,
Madam," said the Prince to her, "in which the Duke will consent his
mistress should go to a ball, and that is when he himself gives it. He
says, that when he gave your Majesty one last year, his mistress was so
kind as to come to it, though seemingly only to attend you; that it is
always a favour done to a lover, to partake of an entertainment which
he gives; that it is an agreeable circumstance for him to have his
mistress see him preside in a place where the whole Court is, and see
him acquit himself well in doing the honours of it." "The Duke de
Nemours was in the right," said the Queen-Dauphin, smiling, "to approve
of his mistress's being at his own ball; there was then so great a
number of ladies, whom he honoured with the distinction of that name,
that if they had not come, the assembly would have been very thin."
The Prince of Conde had no sooner begun to relate the Duke de Nemours's
sentiments concerning assemblies, but Madam de Cleves felt in herself a
strong aversion to go to that of the Mareschal de St. Andre. She
easily came into the opinion, that a woman ought not to be at an
entertainment given by one that professed love to her, and she was very
glad to find out a reason of reservedness for doing a thing which would
oblige the Duke of Nemours. However, she carried away with her the
ornaments which the Queen-Dauphin had given her; but when she showed
them her mother, she told her that she did not design to make use of
them; that the Mareschal de St. Andre took a great deal of pains to
show his attachment to her, and she did not doubt he would be glad to
have it believed that a compliment was designed her in the
entertainment he gave the King, and that under the pretence of doing
the honours of his house, he would show her civilities which would be
uneasy to her.
Madam de Chartres for some time opposed her daughter's opinion, as
thinking it very singular; but when she saw she was obstinate in it,
she gave way, and told her, that in that case she ought to pretend an
indisposition as an excuse for not going to the ball, because the real
reasons which hindered her would not be approved of; and care ought to
be taken that they should not be suspected.
Madam de Cleves voluntarily consented to pass some days at her
mother's, in order not to go to any place where the Duke of Nemours was
not to be. However the Duke set out, without the pleasure of knowing
she would not be at the ball.
The day after the ball he returned, and was informed that she was not
there; but as he did not know the conversation he had at the Dauphin's
Court had been repeated to her, he was far from thinking himself happy
enough to have been the reason of her not going.
The day after, while he was at the Queen's apartments, and talking to
the Queen-Dauphin, Madam de Chartres and Madam de Cleves came in.
Madam de Cleves was dressed a little negligently, as a person who had
been indisposed, but her countenance did not at all correspond with her
dress. "You look so pretty," says the Queen-Dauphin to her, "that I
can't believe you have been ill; I think the Prince of Conde, when he
told us the Duke de Nemours's opinion of the ball, persuaded you, that
to go there would be doing a favour to the Mareschal de St. Andre, and
that that's the reason which hindered you from going." Madam de Cleves
blushed, both because the Queen-Dauphin had conjectured right, and
because she spoke her conjecture in the presence of the Duke de Nemours.
Madam de Chartres immediately perceived the true reason, why her
daughter refused to go to the ball; and to prevent the Duke de Nemours
discovering it, as well as herself, she took up the discourse after a
manner that gave what she said an air of truth.
"I assure you, Madam," said she to the Queen-Dauphin, "that your
Majesty has done my daughter more honour than she deserves; she was
really indisposed, but I believe, if I had not hindered her, she would
not have failed to wait on you, and to show herself under any
disadvantages, for the pleasure of seeing what there was extraordinary
at yesterday's entertainment." The Queen-Dauphin gave credit to what
Madam de Chartres said but the Duke de Nemours was sorry to find so
much probability in it nevertheless, the blushes of the Princess of
Cleves made him suspect, that what the Queen-Dauphin had said was not
altogether false. The Princess of Cleves at first was concerned the
Duke had any room to believe it was he who had hindered her from going
to the Mareschal de St. Andre; but afterwards she was a little
chagrined that her mother had entirely taken off the suspicion of it.
Though the Congress of Cercamp had been broken off, the negotiations
for the peace were continued, and things were so disposed, that towards
the latter end of February the conferences were reassumed at
Chateau-Cambresis; the same plenipotentiaries were sent as before, and
the Mareschal de St. Andre being one, his absence freed the Duke de
Nemours from a rival, who was formidable rather from his curiosity in
observing those who addressed to Madam de Cleves, than from any
advances he was capable of making himself in her favour.
Madam de Chartres was not willing to let her daughter see that she knew
her sentiments for the Duke, for fear of making herself suspected in
some things which she was very desirous to tell her.
One day she set herself to talk about him, and a great deal of good she
said of him, but mixed with it abundance of sham praises, as the
prudence he showed in never falling in love, and how wise he was to
make the affair of women and love an amusement instead of a serious
business: "It is not," added she, "that he is not suspected to have a
very uncommon passion for the Queen-Dauphin; I observe he visits her
very often; and I advise you to avoid, as much as possible, speaking to
him, and especially in private; because, since the Queen-Dauphin treats
you as she does, it would be said, that you are their confidant; and
you know how disagreeable that sort of reputation is: I'm of opinion,
if this report continues, that you should not visit the Queen-Dauphin
so often, in order to avoid involving yourself in adventures of
gallantry."
The Princess of Cleves had never heard before of the amour between the
Duke de Nemours and the Queen-Dauphin; she was so much surprised at
what her mother had told her, and seemed to see so plainly how she had
been mistaken in her thoughts about the Duke, that she changed
countenance. Madam de Chartres perceived it. Visitors came in that
moment; and the Princess of Cleves retired to her own apartment, and
shut herself up in her closet.
One can't express the grief she felt to discover, by what her mother
had been just saying, the interest her heart had in the Duke de
Nemours; she had not dared as yet to acknowledge it to her secret
thoughts; she then found, that the sentiments she had for him were such
as the Prince of Cleves had required of her; she perceived how shameful
it was to entertain them for another, and not for a husband that
deserved them; she found herself under the utmost embarrassment, and
was dreadfully afraid lest the Duke should make use of her only as a
means to come at the Queen-Dauphin, and it was this thought determined
her to impart to her mother something she had not yet told her.
The next morning she went into her mother's chamber to put her resolves
in execution, but she found Madam de Chartres had some touches of a
fever, and therefore did not think proper to speak to her: this
indisposition however appeared to insignificant, that Madam de Cleves
made no scruple after dinner to visit the Queen-Dauphin; she was in her
closet with two or three ladies of her most familiar acquaintance. "We
were speaking," said she to her, as soon as she saw her, "of the Duke
de Nemours, and were admiring how much he's changed since his return
from Brussels; before he went there, he had an infinite number of
mistresses, and it was his own fault, for he showed an equal regard to
those who had merit, and to those who had none; since his return he
neither knows the one nor the other; there never was so great a change;
I find his humour is changed too, and that he is less gay than he used
to be."
The Princess of Cleves made no answer; and it shocked her to think she
should have taken all that they said of the change in the Duke for
proofs of his passion for her, had she not been undeceived; she felt in
herself some little resentment against the Queen-Dauphin, for
endeavouring to find out reasons, and seeming surprised at a thing,
which she probably knew more of than anyone else; she could not forbear
showing something of it; and when the other ladies withdrew, she came
up and told her in a low voice, "And is it I, Madam, you have been
pointing at, and have you a mind to conceal, that you are she who has
made such an alteration in the conduct of the Duke of Nemours?" "You
do me injustice," answered the Queen-Dauphin, "you know I conceal
nothing from you; it is true the Duke of Nemours, before he went to
Brussels, had, I believe, an intention to let me know he did not hate
me; but since his return, it has not so much as appeared that he
remembers anything of what he has done; and I acknowledge I have a
curiosity to know what it is has changed him so: it would not be very
difficult for me to unravel this affair," added she; "the Viscount de
Chartres, his intimate friend, is in love with a lady with whom I have
some power, and I'll know by that means the occasion of this
alteration." The Queen-Dauphin spoke with an air of sincerity which
convinced the Princess of Cleves, and in spite of herself she found her
mind in a more calm and pleasing situation than it had been in before.
When she returned to her mother, she heard she was a great deal worse
than she had left her; her fever was redoubled, and the days following
it increased to so great a degree, that she was thought to be in
danger. Madam de Cleves was in extreme grief on this occasion, and
never stirred out of her mother's chamber. The Prince of Cleves was
there too almost every day and all day long, partly out of affection to
Madam de Chartres, and partly to hinder his lady from abandoning
herself to sorrow, but chiefly that he might have the pleasure of
seeing her, his passion not being at all diminished.
The Duke de Nemours, who had always had a great friendship for the
Prince of Cleves, had not failed to show it since his return from
Brussels; during the illness of Madam de Chartres he frequently found
means to see the Princess of Cleves, pretending to want her husband, or
to come to take him out to walk; he enquired for him at such hours as
he knew very well he was not at home, and under pretence of waiting for
him stayed in Madam de Cleves's anti-chamber, where there were always a
great many people of quality; Madam de Cleves often came there, and her
grief did not make her seem less handsome in the eyes of the Duke de
Nemours; he made her sensible what interest he had in her affliction,
and spoke to her with so submissive an air, that he easily convinced
her, that the Queen-Dauphin was not the person he was in love with.
The seeing him at once gave her grief and pleasure; but when she no
longer saw him, and reflected that the charm he carried about him when
present, was an introduction to love, she was very near imagining she
hated him, out of the excessive grief which that thought gave her.
Madam de Chartres still grew worse and worse, so that they began to
despair of her life; she heard what the physicians told her concerning
the danger she was in with a courage worthy her virtue, and her piety.
After they were gone, she caused everybody to retire, and sent for
Madam de Cleves.
"We must part, my dear daughter," said she, stretching out her hand to
her; "the danger I leave you in, and the occasion you have for me, adds
to the regret I have to leave you: you have a passion for the Duke de
Nemours; I do not desire you to confess it; I am no longer in a
condition to make use of that sincerity for your good; I have perceived
this inclination a great while, but was not willing to speak to you of
it at first, for fear of making you discover it yourself; you know it
at present but too well; you are upon the brink of a precipice; great
efforts must be used, and you must do great violence to your heart to
save yourself: reflect what you owe to your husband; reflect what you
owe to yourself, and think that you are going to lose that reputation
which you have gained, and which I have so much at heart; call up, my
dear daughter, all your courage and constancy; retire from Court;
oblige your husband to carry you away; do not be afraid of taking such
resolutions, as being too harsh and difficult; however frightful they
may appear at first, they will become more pleasant in time, than the
misfortunes that follow gallantry: if any other motives than those of
duty and virtue could have weight with you, I should tell you that if
anything were capable of disturbing the happiness I hope for in the
next world, it would be to see you fall like other women; but if this
calamity must necessarily happen, I shall meet death with joy, as it
will hinder me from being a witness of it."
Madam de Cleves bathed with tears her mother's hand, which she held
fast locked in her own; nor was Madam de Chartres less moved. "Adieu,
dear daughter," said she, "let us put an end to a conversation which
melts us both; and remember, if you are able, all that I have been
saying to you."
When she had spoke this, she turned herself on the other side, and
ordered her daughter to call her women, being unwilling either to hear
her reply, or to speak any more. Madam de Cleves went out of her
presence in a condition one need not describe; and Madam de Chartres
thought of nothing but preparing herself for death: she lived two days
longer, during which she would not see her daughter again; her daughter
was the only thing she had reluctance to part with.
Madam de Cleves was in the utmost affliction; her husband did not leave
her, and no sooner was her mother expired, but he carried her into the
country, that she might not have in her eye a place which could serve
only to sharpen her sorrow, which was scarce to be equalled. Though
tenderness and gratitude had the greatest share in her griefs, yet the
need which she found she had of her mother to guard her against the
Duke of Nemours added no small weight to them; she found she was
unhappy in being left to herself, at a time when she was so little
mistress of her own affections, and when she so much wished for
somebody to pity and encourage her. The Prince of Cleves's behaviour
to her on this occasion, made her wish more ardently than ever, never
to fail in her duty to him; she also expressed more friendship and
affection for him than she had done before; she would not suffer him to
leave her, and she seemed to think that his being constantly with her
could defend her against the Duke of Nemours.
The Duke came to see the Prince of Cleves in the country; he did what
he could to pay a visit also to Madam de Cleves, but she refused to
receive him; and being persuaded she could not help finding something
dangerously lovely in him, she made a strong resolution to forbear
seeing him, and to avoid all occasions of it that were in her power.
The Prince of Cleves went to Paris to make his Court, and promised his
lady to return the next day, but however he did not return till the day
after. "I expected you yesterday," said Madam de Cleves to him on his
arrival, "and I ought to chide you for not having come as you promised;
you know, if I was capable of feeling a new affliction in the condition
I am in, it would be the death of Madam de Tournon, and I have heard of
it this morning; I should have been concerned, though I had not known
her; it is a melting consideration to think that a lady so young and
handsome as she, should be dead in two days; but besides, she was the
person in the world that pleased me most, and who appeared to have
discretion equal to her beauty."
"I am sorry I could not return yesterday," replied the Prince of
Cleves, "but my presence was so necessary to the consolation of an
unhappy man, that it was impossible for me to leave him. As for Madam
de Tournon, I do not advise you not to be concerned for her, if you
lament her as a woman full of discretion, and worthy of your esteem."
"You surprise me," answered Madam de Cleves, "I have heard you say
several times, that there was not a lady at Court you had a greater
respect for." "It is true," replied he, "but women are
incomprehensible, and when I have seen them all, I think myself so
happy in having you, that I cannot enough admire my good fortune."
"You esteem me more than I deserve," answered Madam de Cleves, "you
have not had experience enough yet to pronounce me worthy of you; but
tell me, I beseech you, what it is has undeceived you with respect to
Madam de Tournon." "I have been undeceived a great while," replied he,
"and I know that she was in love with the Count de Sancerre, and that
she gave him room to hope she would marry him." "I can't believe,"
said Madam de Cleves, "that Madam de Tournon, after so extraordinary an
aversion as she has shown to marriage from the time she became a widow,
and after the public declarations she has made that she would never
marry again, should give hopes to Sancerre." "If she had given hopes
to him only," replied the Prince of Cleves, "the wonder had not been so
great; but what is surprising is, that she gave hopes likewise to
Etouteville at the same time: I'll let you know the whole history of
this matter."