“Even if he be your husband one hundred thousand times over, yet will I
punish him as a rascally servant who has deceived me.”
So saying, he went to the window and called out loudly to kill him,
which was speedily done before the eyes of himself and his sister. The
latter, on beholding the pitiful sight which no prayers on her part
had been able to prevent, spoke to her brother like a woman bereft of
reason.
“Brother,” she said, “I have neither father nor mother, and I am old
enough to marry according to my own pleasure. I chose one whom many a
time you said you would gladly have me marry, and for doing by your own
counsels that which the law permits me to do without them, you have put
to death the man whom you loved best of all the world. Well, since my
prayers have been of no avail to preserve his life, I implore you, by
all the love you have ever borne me, to make me now a sharer in his
death even as I have been a sharer in all his living fortunes. In this
way, while sating your unjust and cruel anger, you will give repose
to the body and soul of one who cannot and will not live without him.”
Although her brother was almost distracted with passion, (4) he had
pity upon his sister, and so, without granting or denying her request,
withdrew. After weighing well what he had done, and hearing that the
gentleman had in fact married his sister, he would gladly have undone
his grievous crime. Nevertheless, being afraid that his sister would
seek justice or vengeance for it, he caused a castle to be built in the
midst of a forest, (5) and, placing her therein, forbade that any should
have speech with her.
4 John II. of Rohan was a man of the most passionate,
resentful disposition, and the greater part of his life was
spent in furthering ambitious schemes, stirring up feuds and
factions, and desolating Brittany with civil war. In 1470 we
find him leaving the service of the Duke, his master, to
enter that of Louis XI., on whose side he fought till the
peace of Senlis in 1475. Four years later the Duke of
Brittany caused him to be arrested on the charge of
murdering the Count of Keradreux, and he appears to have
remained in prison till 1484, when it is recorded that he
fled to France, and thence to Lorraine. In 1487 he leagued
himself with several discontented nobles to drive away the
Chancellor of Brittany and various foreign favourites around
the Duke, and carried civil war into several parts of the
duchy. Then for a brief space he made his peace with the
Duke, but again took up arms for the French King, fought at
St. Aubin du Cormier, captured Dinan and besieged and
pillaged Guingamp. Charles VIII. appointed him Lieutenant-
general of Lower Brittany in 1491, and he was first
commissary of the King of France at the States of Brittany
held at Vannes in 1491 and 1501. In 1507 he witnessed the
marriage contract of the Princess Claude with Francis, Duke
of Valois, afterwards Francis I. (Anselme’s _Histoire
Généalogique_, vol. iv. p. 57). When Anne became Duchess of
Brittany, John II. vainly strove to compel her to marry his
son, James, and this was one of the causes of their life-
long enmity (_ante_ vol. iii. Tale XXI.) John II. died in
1516.--L. and Ed.
5 If this be the chateau of Josselin, as some previous
commentators think, Queen Margaret is in error here, for
records subsist which prove that Josselin, now classed among
the historical monuments of France, was built not by John
II., but by his father, Alan IX. It rises on a steep rock on
the bank of the Oust, at nine miles from Ploèrmel, and on
the sculptured work, both inside and out, the letters A. V.
(Alan, Viscount) are frequently repeated, with the arms of
Rohan and Brittany quartered together, and bearing the proud
device _A plus_. It seems to us evident that the incidents
recorded in the early part of Queen Margaret’s tale took
place at Josselin, and that Catherine de Rohan was
imprisoned in some other chateau expressly erected by her
brother.--D. and Ed.
Some time afterwards he sought, for the satisfaction of his conscience,
to win her back again, and spoke to her of marriage; but she sent him
word that he had given her too sorry a breakfast to make her willing to
sup off the same dish, and that she looked to live in such sort that he
should never murder a second husband of hers; for, she added, she could
scarcely believe that he would forgive another man after having so
cruelly used the one whom he had loved best of all the world.
And although weak and powerless for revenge, she placed her hopes in Him
who is the true Judge, and who suffers no wickedness to go unpunished;
and, relying upon His love alone, was minded to spend the rest of her
life in her hermitage. And this she did, for she never stirred from
that place so long as she lived, but dwelt there with such patience and
austerity that her tomb was visited by every one as that of a saint.
From the time that she died, her brother’s house came to such a ruinous
state, that of his six sons not one was left, but all died miserably;
(6) and at last the inheritance, as you heard in the former story,
passed into the possession of Rolandine, who succeeded to the prison
that had been built for her aunt.
6 Queen Margaret is in error here. Instead of six sons,
John II., according to the most reliable genealogical
accounts of the Rohan family, had but two, James, Viscount
of Rohan and Lord of Leon, who died childless in 1527, and
Claud, Bishop of Cornouailles, who succeeded him as Viscount
of Rohan (Anselme). These had two sisters, Anne, the
Rolandine of Tale XXI., and Mary, who died in June 1542
(Dillaye).--Ed.
“I pray God, ladies, that this example may be profitable to you, and
that none among you will seek to marry for her own pleasure without the
consent of those to whom obedience is due; for marriage is a state of
such long continuance that it should not be entered upon lightly and
without the advice of friends and kin. And, indeed, however wisely
one may act, there is always at least as much pain in it as there is
pleasure.”
“In good faith,” said Oisille, “were there neither God nor law to
teach maidens discretion, this example would suffice to give them more
reverence for their kindred, and not to seek marriage according to their
own pleasure.”
“Still, madam,” said Nomerfide, “whoso has but one good day in the year,
is not unhappy her whole life long. She had the pleasure of seeing and
speaking for a long time with him whom she loved better than herself,
and she moreover enjoyed the delights of marriage with him without
scruple of conscience. I consider such happiness so great, that in my
opinion it surpassed the sorrow that she bore.”
“You maintain, then,” said Saffredent, “that a woman has more pleasure
in lying with a husband, than pain in seeing him put to death before her
eyes.”
“That is not my meaning,” said Nomerfide, “for it would be contrary to
my experience of women. But I hold that an unwonted pleasure such as
that of marrying the man whom one loves best of all the world, must be
greater than that of losing him by death, which is common to all.”
“Yes,” said Geburon, “if the death be a natural one, but that in the
story was too cruel. And I think it very strange, considering he was
neither her father nor her husband but only her brother, and she had
reached an age when the law suffers maidens to marry according to their
own pleasure, that this lord should have had the daring to commit so
cruel a deed.”
“I do not think it at all strange,” said Hircan, “for he did not kill
his sister whom he dearly loved, and who was not subject to his control,
but dealt with the gentleman whom he had bred as his son and loved as
his brother. He had bestowed honour and wealth upon him in his service,
and in return for all this the other sought his sister in marriage, a
thing which was in nowise fitting for him to do.”
“Moreover,” said Nomerfide, “it was no ordinary or wonted pleasure for a
lady of such high lineage to marry a gentleman servant for love. If the
death was extraordinary, the pleasure also was novel, and it was the
greater seeing that it had against it the opinions of all wise folk, for
it was the happiness of a loving heart with tranquillity of soul, since
God was in no wise offended by it And as for the death that you call
cruel, it seems to me that, since death is unavoidable, the swifter it
comes the better; for we know that it is a road by which all of us must
travel. I deem those fortunate who do not long linger on the outksirts
of death, but who take a speedy flight from all that can be termed
happiness in this world to the happiness that is eternal.”
“What do you mean by the outskirts of death?” said Simontault.
“Such as have deep tribulation of spirit,” replied Nomerfide, “such,
too, as have long been ill, and in their extreme bodily or spiritual
pain have come to think lightly of death and find its approach too slow,
such, I say, as these have passed through the outskirts of death and
will tell you of the hostels where they knew more lamentation than rest.
The lady of the story could not help losing her husband through death,
but her brother’s wrath preserved her from seeing him a long time sick
or distressed in mind. And turning the gladness that she had had with
him to the service of Our Lord, she might well esteem herself happy.”
“Do you make no account,” said Longarine, “of the shame that she
endured, or of her imprisonment?”
“I consider,” said Nomerfide, “that a woman who lives perfectly, with a
love that is in keeping with the commands of her God, has no knowledge
of shame or dishonour except when they impair or lessen the perfection
of her love; for the glory of truly loving knows no shame. As for her
imprisonment, I imagine that, with her heart at large and devoted to God
and her husband, she thought nothing of it, but deemed her solitude
the greatest freedom. When one cannot see what one loves, the greatest
happiness consists in thinking constantly upon it, and there is no
prison so narrow that thought cannot roam in it at will.”
“Nothing can be truer than what Nomerfide says,” observed Simontault,
“but the man who in his passion brought this separation to pass must
have deemed himself unhappy indeed, seeing that he offended God, Love
and Honour.”
“In good sooth,” said Geburon, “I am amazed at the diversity of woman’s
love. I can see that those who have most love have most virtue; but
those who have less love conceal it in their desire to appear virtuous.”
“It is true,” said Parlamente, “that a heart which is virtuous towards
God and man loves more deeply than a vicious one, and fears not to have
its inmost purpose known.”
“I have always heard,” said Simontault, “that men should not be blamed
if they seek the love of women, for God has put into the heart of man
desire and boldness for asking, and in that of woman fear and chastity
for refusal. If, then, a man be punished for using the powers that have
been given him, he suffers wrong.”
“But it must be remembered,” said Longarine, “that he had praised this
gentleman for a long time to his sister. It seems to me that it would be
madness or cruelty in the keeper of a fountain to praise its fair waters
to one fainting with thirst, and then to kill him when he sought to
taste them.”
“The brother,” thereupon said Parlamente, “did indeed so kindle the
flame by gentle words of his own, that it was not meet he should beat it
out with the sword.”
“I am surprised,” said Saffredent, “to find it taken ill that a simple
gentleman should by dint of love alone, and without deceit, have come to
marry a lady of high lineage, seeing that the wisdom of the philosophers
accounts the least of men to be of more worth than the greatest and most
virtuous of women.”
“The reason is,” said Dagoucin, “that in order to preserve the
commonwealth in peace, account is only taken of the rank of families,
the age of persons, and the provisions of the laws, without regard to
the love and virtue of individuals, and all this so that the kingdom may
not be disturbed. Hence it comes to pass that, in marriages made between
equals and according to the judgment of kinsfolk and society, the
husband and wife often journey to the very outskirts of hell.”
“Indeed it has been seen,” said Geburon, “that those who, being alike in
heart, character and temperament, have married for love and paid no heed
to diversity of birth and lineage, have ofttime sorely repented of it;
for a deep unreasoning love is apt to turn to jealousy and rage.”
“It seems to me,” said Parlamente, “that neither course is worthy of
praise, but that folks should submit themselves to the will of God, and
pay no heed to glory, avarice or pleasure, and loving virtuously and
with the approval of their kinsfolk, seek only to live in the married
state as God and nature ordain. And although no condition be free from
tribulation, I have nevertheless seen such persons live together without
regret; and we of this company are not so unfortunate as to have none of
these married ones among the number.”
Hircan, Geburon, Simontault and Saffredent swore that they had wedded
after this sort, and had never repented since. Whatever the truth of
this declaration may have been, the ladies concerned were exceedingly
content with it, and thinking that they could hear nothing to please
them better, they rose up to go and give thanks for it to God, and found
the monks at the church, ready for vespers.
When the service was over they went to supper, but not without much
discourse concerning their marriages; and this lasted all the evening,
each one relating the fortune that had befallen him whilst he was wooing
his wife.
As it happened, however, that one was interrupted by another, it is not
possible to set down these stories in full, albeit they would have been
as pleasant to write as those which had been told in the meadow.
Such great delight did they take in the converse, and so well did it
entertain them, that, before they were aware of it, the hour for rest
had come.
The Lady Oisille made the company separate, and they betook themselves
to bed so joyously that, what with recounting the loves of the past,
and proving those of the present, the married folk, methinks, slept no
longer than the others.
And so the night was pleasantly spent until the morning.
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