3 The practice of cutting glass with diamonds does not seem
to have been resorted to until the close of the sixteenth
century. See _Les Subtiles et Plaisantes Inventions de J.
Prévost_, Lyons, 1584, part i. pp. 30, 31.
Margaret carried her complaisance for her brother so far as to excuse
his illicit amours, and she was usually on the best of terms with his
favourites. (1) It has been asserted that improper relations existed
between the brother and sister, but this charge rests solely upon
an undated letter from her to Francis, which may be interpreted in a
variety of ways. Count de la Ferrière, in his introduction to Margaret’s
record of her expenditure, (2) expresses the opinion that it was penned
in 1525, prior to her hasty departure from Spain; while M. Le Roux de
Lincy assigns it to a later date, remarking that it was probably written
during one of the frequent quarrels which arose between Margaret’s
brother and her husband. However, they are both of opinion that the
letter does not bear the interpretation which other writers have placed
upon it. (3)
1 E. Fournier’s _L’Esprit dans l’Histoire_, Paris,
1860, p. 132 _et seq_.
2 _Livre de Dépenses de Marguerite d’Angoulême, &c_.
(Introduction).