KS . 
 

 
 THE 
 
 PRINCESS OF CLEVES.
 
 MADAME DK l.AFAYF.TTF.
 
 THE 
 
 PRINCESS OF CLEVES. 
 
 BY 
 
 MADAME DE LA FAYETTE. 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 THOMAS SERGEANT PERRY. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS DRAWN BY JULES GARNIER. AND 
 ENGRAVED BY A. I.A.VOTTE. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 
 1891.
 
 Copyright, 1891, 
 BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 
 
 JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE.
 
 CONTENTS TO VOL. I. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 PREFACE 7 
 
 PART 1 47 
 
 PART II 131 
 
 2220756
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 "PRINCESS OFCLEVES" was pub- 
 lished in the spring of 1678 by 
 Claude Barbin, whose place of business 
 was on the second floor of the Sainte- 
 Chapelle. It was a good house, for 
 Barbin was the publisher of Boileau, La 
 Fontaine, and Racine. The " Phedre " 
 had appeared but a short time before ; 
 the first volume of a new edition of the 
 " Fables " had just been put on sale; and 
 for the autumn there was announced 
 a fifth edition, much enlarged, of the 
 "Maxims" of Monsieur de la Rochefou- 
 cauld. Barbin was no Elzevir ; he
 
 8 Preface. 
 
 wrought, not for students or for con- 
 noisseurs, but for the court and the 
 town. His books were printed without 
 elegance, and were designed for a wide 
 circulation. He had shrewdly printed 
 the " Princess of Cleves " in four small 
 volumes, in large type, doubtless in 
 order to be able to ask the highest pos- 
 sible price for a book long announced 
 and belauded ; possibly, too, in order 
 that ladies might be able to carry into 
 bowers and drawing-rooms the light 
 volumes of a book written for them by 
 one of themselves. 
 
 The " Princess of Cleves " bore no 
 author's name. Etiquette forbade that 
 there should be exposed on the stalls of 
 the Palais and of the Rue Saint-Jacques 
 the titlepage of a book bearing the 
 name of a lady of the court It was 
 commonly supposed that the Duke of
 
 Preface. 9 
 
 La Rochefoucauld, the lover of Madame 
 de la Fayette, had lent his aid, and that 
 perhaps Segrais had written part of it. 1 
 Segrais, a poor gentleman and an 
 academician, had for some time been a 
 member of the household of Madame 
 de la Fayette, occupying an humble po- 
 sition in an elegant and noble domes- 
 ticity. In 1670 he had put his name 
 to " Zaide : a Spanish Story," which 
 Monsieur Huet and all the duke's 
 friends freely attributed to Madame de 
 
 1 There was published this introductory note, from 
 "The Publisher to the Reader," which denied noth- 
 ing, confessed nothing, and contained an unfulfilled 
 promise : " In spite of the approval that readers have 
 expressed for this story, the author has not been able 
 to decide to set his name to it. He knows from 
 experience that books are often condemned from dis- 
 like for their author, and he also knows that an au- 
 thor's reputation gives a value to his work. Hence 
 he remains in his present obscurity to secure a freer 
 and juster verdict ; nevertheless, he will make himself 
 known if this story proves as agreeable to the public 
 as he hopes."
 
 i o Preface. 
 
 la Fayette, and which the worthy gentle- 
 man afterward called his " Zai'de," ap- 
 parently from an excess of friendly zeal. 
 It is, after all, very possible that he may 
 have devised the plot of " Zai'de," and 
 even that he may have written a few 
 pages of the story. It is easy to imagine 
 Segrais writing in the romantic style of 
 this Spanish story; but it is impossible 
 to see what he could have contributed 
 to the " Princess of Cleves," the note 
 of which is entirely different. Segrais' 
 taste always inclined to grace and pretti- 
 ness, which certainly are not the char- 
 acteristic qualities of the novel of 1678. 
 We cannot even be certain that Segrais 
 would in his heart have approved so 
 simple a tale ; he would have vastly pre- 
 ferred " Zai'de," his "Zai'de," with its ab- 
 ductions, its shipwrecks, its pirates, its 
 gloomy solitudes, where flawless lovers
 
 Preface. 1 1 
 
 breathed forth their sighs in palaces 
 adorned with allegorical paintings. The 
 " Princess of Cleves" appeared two years 
 after the return of Segrais to Caen, the 
 city of his birth. 
 
 The book was doubtless written be- 
 fore the academician left Madame de 
 la Fayette's house ; but even if he had 
 assisted in its preparation, it was not 
 his book, it was not his " Princess." As 
 for the Duke of La Rochefoucauld, he 
 was, as every one knows, the acknowl- 
 edged lover of Madame de la Fayette; 
 their relations were respected by every 
 one, and many things combined to 
 diminish the scandal of their intimacy. 
 The duke was an old man ; Madame de 
 la Fayette was no longer young, and 
 had never been beautiful ; they were 
 both ill, feeble, almost at the point of 
 death. Lastly, he was a prince, and
 
 1 2 Preface. 
 
 she was very devout. It was a natural 
 supposition that they wrote their novels 
 together, as Monsieur and Madame Da- 
 cier read Greek together. It was also 
 known that the duke liked to read 
 novels. He used to say, after having 
 been loved by Madame de Sable, by Ma- 
 dame de Longueville, and by Madame 
 de la Fayette, that he had never known 
 love outside of the pages of a novel. 
 He was credited with a share in the 
 " Princess of Cleves " only because it 
 was possible that he might have had 
 one ; but no one knew how large this 
 share was, or even whether there was 
 one. For my part, I do not believe that 
 he inspired or contributed a line. His 
 imagination was powerful, but its flight 
 was short ; he grasped at everything, 
 but everything slipped through his fin- 
 gers. Moreover, he was weary of life;
 
 Preface. 1 3 
 
 while Madame de la Fayette, although 
 she seemed almost at the last gasp, 
 never eating or sleeping, parched with 
 fever, withered, half dead, was yet very 
 active and an indefatigable writer. 
 Among other matters which she had 
 undertaken, she had for twelve years 
 been governing Savoy by letters, as 
 the secret agent of the Regent. Huet 
 testifies that he saw her write " Zai'de ; " 
 Madame de Sevigne, her most intimate 
 friend, assigns to her, without a mo- 
 ment's hesitation, both the " Princess 
 of Montpensier" and the "Princess of 
 Cleves ; " and I know no evidence that 
 can be urged against this most prob- 
 able statement except that of Madame 
 de la Fayette herself. 
 
 The relations of Madame de la Fay- 
 ette to the little court of Savoy were 
 hidden in France from even the most
 
 14 Preface. 
 
 intimate friends of that lady, and have 
 eluded all her biographers. Sainte- 
 Beuve himself, who seldom went astray, 
 had no suspicion of the political intri- 
 gues which played a prominent part in 
 a life which he supposed thoroughly 
 filled with works of piety, with literature, 
 and with an engrossing affection. It 
 is not yet twelve years since Monsieur 
 A. D. Perrero published the letters 
 of Madame de la Fayette which he 
 had discovered in the Turin archives. 1 
 These letters show us the sedate mis- 
 tress of La Rochefoucauld in a new 
 light, busier, more interested in poli- 
 tics, in statesmanship, than might seem 
 desirable. Doubtless she was working 
 for France, and asked the most trivial 
 
 1 Lettere inedite di Madame de Lafayette. Torino, 
 1880. See, too, the article by Arvede Barine in the 
 " Revue des Deux Mondes " for Sept. 15, 1880.
 
 Preface. 1 5 
 
 rewards for her services ; but it is a sur- 
 prise to detect in her such an intriguing 
 nature, and we must acknowledge that 
 the excellent Madame de Sevigne, who 
 called her so candid, did not know her 
 at all. I should be unwilling to say 
 that Madame de la Fayette was not 
 candid, but it is very certain that she 
 was extremely reserved and that she 
 deceived every one. All who had any- 
 thing to do with her imagined her con- 
 tinually lost in day-dreams ; they called 
 her misty : yet in reality she was most 
 precise, most practical. Truthful she 
 was, without doubt ; yet there is one 
 matter in which it is impossible to 
 believe her, and that is when she 
 denies having written the " Princess of 
 Cleves." 
 
 This denial is to be found in a letter, 
 written April 13, 1678, to the secre-
 
 1 6 Preface. 
 
 tary of the Regent of Savoy Les- 
 cheraine, with whom the countess was 
 carrying on a diplomatic correspon- 
 dence. We quote the interesting part 
 of this letter : 
 
 " A little book which had some vogue 
 fifteen years ago, and which the public was 
 pleased to ascribe to me, has earned me the 
 title of author of the 'Princess of Cleves.' 
 But I assure you that I have had no part in 
 it, and that Monsieur de la Rochefoucauld, 
 who has also been mentioned, has had as 
 little as I. He denies it so strenuously 
 that it is impossible not to believe him, 
 especially about a matter which can be con- 
 fessed without shame. As for me, I am 
 flattered at being suspected, and I think I 
 should acknowledge the book if I was sure 
 that the author would never claim it of me. 
 I find it very agreeable, well-written, with- 
 out being extremely polished, full of very 
 delicate touches, and well worth more than
 
 Preface. 1 7 
 
 a single reading ; and what I especially no- 
 tice is an exact representation of the persons 
 composing the court and of their manner 
 of life. It is without romanticism and exag- 
 geration, and so is not a romance; it is 
 more like a book of memoirs, and I hear 
 that was the first title of the book; but it 
 was changed. There you have my opinion 
 on the ' Princess of Cleves ; ' let me ask you 
 for yours, for people have almost come to 
 blows over it. Many blame what others 
 praise ; so, whatever you say, you will not 
 find yourself alone in your views." 
 
 This letter makes it clear that Ma- 
 dame de la Fayette was averse to hav- 
 ing it known, in Savoy at least, that 
 she was a writer of books, and that she 
 had been so called by Claude Barbin, 
 the bookseller of the Palais. With one 
 stroke of the pen she disclaims both 
 the " Princess of Cleves " and " Zaide," 
 which had been published fifteen, or, 
 
 VOL 12
 
 1 8 Preface. 
 
 more accurately, seventeen years. 1 She 
 disavows any share in it, as does Mon- 
 sieur de la Rochefoucauld, whose denial 
 she mentions. Yet she is far from con- 
 demning what she disclaims. She says 
 that if the " Princess of Cleves " is not 
 by her, she would be glad to have writ- 
 ten it, and she is almost tempted to steal 
 it from its true author. She praises the 
 book more warmly than we should be 
 able to do. Save in sincerity, she re- 
 minds us of the poor girl who sighed 
 and said: "Children are so lovely! What 
 a pity that they bring disgrace ! " Did 
 Madame de la Fayette look upon the 
 " Princess of Cleves " as a charming 
 sin, a sweet disgrace ? I should be 
 inclined to think that she did. Later, 
 Voltaire was to give us many exam- 
 
 1 We have said that "Za'ide " appeared in 1670. It 
 was reprinted in 1705 and 1719.
 
 Preface. 1 9 
 
 pies of disavowals of this sort. But 
 Voltaire lied with too much pleasure, 
 with an unction that betrayed a natu- 
 ral predisposition to falsehood. This 
 great enemy of prejudice never hesi- 
 tated to employ a lie in the service of 
 the truth. Sometimes he lied merely 
 for his own pleasure, thereby swerving 
 from the precept of a great master of the 
 art, Monsieur de Talleyrand, who used 
 to say : " Lying is such an excellent 
 thing that it should not be abused." 
 However that may be, it is easy to 
 understand why Voltaire denied this 
 or that one of his books. We are 
 more surprised by Madame de la Fay- 
 ette's disavowal, coming as it does 
 from the most " candid " of women, 
 and it is not easy to see what were 
 her real reasons. Arvede Barine in 
 the article in the " Revue des Deux
 
 2O Preface. 
 
 Mondes " already cited suggests that 
 possibly Madame de la Fayette was 
 afraid of offending the Regent of Savoy, 
 a Princess of Nemours, by acknowl- 
 edging herself to be the author of a 
 novel in which a Nemours is repre- 
 sented as the handsomest man of his 
 day, but as thoroughly devoted to 
 gallantry 
 
 This would be an excess of scrupu- 
 lousness for which there was no occa- 
 sion. The Regent, Marie de Nemours, 
 commonly called Madame Royale, was 
 also notorious for her many love affairs, 
 which, indeed, she took no pains to con- 
 ceal ; and Monsieur de Nemours would 
 no more have shocked her by his con- 
 duct than he would have displeased her 
 by his appearance. Moreover, even if 
 she had assumed a prudery which in 
 no way belonged to her, no woman
 
 Preface. 2 1 
 
 even of excessive religious sensitiveness 
 would ever have blushed at having had 
 a Nemours in her family. 
 
 I rather incline to think that Madame 
 de la Fayette, who took pleasure in writ- 
 ing because she wrote well, was unwill- 
 ing to be known as an author, especially 
 at courts. It was she, we must say, who 
 was prudish and pious. Now, about 
 1678 women writers enjoyed no very 
 high repute. By her epoch and by her 
 friendships Madame de la Fayette be- 
 longed to the brilliant society of the 
 Fronde. Ever since she had been 
 Mademoiselle de la Vergne, and showed 
 Menage how much more Latin she 
 knew than he, the Hotel de Rambouil- 
 let had set the fashion for a society 
 very eager for fame, and no less criti- 
 cal in matters of feeling than in those 
 of the intellect. At that time it was
 
 2 2 Preface. 
 
 customary for women to combine pure 
 morals with intellectual brilliancy. To 
 be learned was to be virtuous ; and 
 wisdom in the ancient sense, as it was 
 then understood, implied rhetoric, as- 
 tronomy, and chastity. That is the way 
 that Mademoiselle de la Vergne under- 
 stood it, and she was very anxious to 
 be thought learned. After her mar- 
 
 u 
 
 riage, which brought her no happiness, 
 she became intimate with the pre- 
 cieuses, who dealt in subtilties and 
 affected to scorn the pleasures of the 
 senses. Then it was that she brought 
 out the "Princess of Montpensier; " 
 but at that very moment public opinion 
 was changing. The new generation 
 showed itself severe toward those once 
 famous women, and with some rudeness 
 ordered them back to their domestic 
 duties. The pr'ecieuses were ridiculed
 
 Preface. 23 
 
 on all sides ; they were attacked by 
 Moliere and by the Abbe de Pure at 
 the same time. Madame de la Fayette, 
 like a discreet woman, concealed her 
 Latin and yielded to the new cur- 
 rent of thought, although she felt that 
 
 O O 
 
 she had a genius for writing. While 
 she risked "ZaTde" in the face of this 
 reaction, when even Madeleine de 
 Scudery, that illustrious Sappho, passed 
 for a tolerably ridiculous person, it 
 was with the precautions we have men- 
 tioned, and behind the mask of Mon- 
 sieur de Segrais. Eighteen years later, 
 a woman as sensitive of her reputation 
 as was Madame de la Fayette had still 
 to be cautious about appearing in print. 
 Women who wrote were looked upon 
 as improper characters, and not wholly 
 without reason. Madame Deshoulieres 
 had been loose in her life, Madame de
 
 24 Preface. 
 
 la Suze still was, and Mademoiselle de 
 Villedieu lived with an officer. Learned 
 women like Madame de la Sabliere 
 made great concessions to the emo- 
 tions. Madame de la Fayette was un- 
 willing to seem learned, and entered 
 the republic of letters only behind a 
 triple veil. Besides, she was a woman 
 of piety, and belonged to the little co- 
 terie of Port Royal, in which novels 
 were an abomination. Monsieur Nicole, 
 the gentlest of men, said at that time : 
 " A writer of novels or plays is a pub- 
 lic poisoner, not of men's bodies, but 
 of the souls of the faithful ; and he 
 ought to look upon himself as guilty 
 of numberless spiritual homicides, 
 whether, in fact, he has already caused 
 them, or only may cause them by his 
 pernicious writings." It is plain that 
 Madame de la Fayette had, after all,
 
 Preface. 25 
 
 some reasons for not too openly ac- 
 knowledging the " Princess of Cleves." 
 
 The book which appeared in this 
 mysterious way was at once success- 
 ful. For a whole season every one 
 was talking about it. Madame de la 
 Fayette scarcely exaggerated when she 
 spoke of people " coming to blows " 
 about it. Young Valincour, the friend 
 of Racine, wrote a criticism of it which 
 was ascribed to Father Bouhours, and 
 an Abbe de Charmes replied with an 
 apology which appeared under the 
 name of Barbier d'Aucour. Boursault 
 made a tragedy out of it, for in France 
 everything that acquires notoriety comes 
 at last upon the stage. 
 
 Never was success better deserved. 
 Madame de la Fayette was the first to 
 introduce naturalness into fiction, the 
 first to draw human beings and real
 
 26 Preface. 
 
 feelings ; and thereby she earned a place 
 among the true classics, fitly follow- 
 ing Moliere, La Fontaine, Boileau, and 
 Racine, who had brought back the 
 Muses to nature and truth. " Andro- 
 maque " belongs to 1667; the " Princess 
 of Cleves" to 1678: modern French 
 literature starts from those two dates. 
 The " Princess of Cleves " is the first 
 French novel in which the interest de- 
 pends on the truth of the passions. 
 
 But we must not forget that if this 
 novel shows, by the charming simplicity 
 of its style and thought, that Racine had 
 appeared, introducing Monime and Be- 
 renice, yet Madame de la Fayette, by 
 the very spirit of her work, belongs to 
 the generation of the Fronde and of 
 Corneille. She remains heroic in her 
 simplicity, and, like the author of 
 " Cinna," preserves a proud and noble
 
 Preface. 2 7 
 
 ideal of life. In the essential points of 
 her character her heroine is, like Emilie, 
 an "adorable fury," a fury of modesty, 
 it may be ; but none the less a few ser- 
 pents' heads appear to be concealed in 
 her beautiful blond hair. The philoso- 
 phy of Madame de la Fayette is like that 
 of Corneille, and she held to the past as 
 do women no longer young. Racine 
 and it was the great success of this 
 genius, who was both charming and pow- 
 erful represented his tragic heroines 
 as pathetic victims of their heart and of 
 their senses. Corneille had exalted the 
 will to a point of absurdity; Racine 
 showed the omnipotence of the passions, 
 and, without knowing it, he was in this 
 respect the boldest of innovators. He 
 introduced into poetry a new, unheard- 
 of, profound truth. His contemporaries 
 had no very clear vision of this ; even
 
 28 Preface. 
 
 those who, like Saint-Evremond, were to 
 enter most readily into this philosophy, 
 were restrained by their literary preju- 
 dices. Hence we need not be sur- 
 prised that Madame de Sevigne felt a 
 frivolous contempt for works so great 
 that she was incompetent to understand 
 them. Her intimate friend, Madame 
 de la Fayette, was far more thoughtful 
 and of keener intellect ; she understood 
 things whose existence the marchioness 
 never even suspected. Nevertheless, in 
 her study of the passions she clung, and 
 insisted on clinging, to the psychology 
 of Corneille and of the precieuses. 
 What did she really think ? No one 
 will ever know. Her real personality 
 was impenetrable ; even her confessor 
 did not know her. A prude, pious, 
 with a high position at court, I can 
 almost suspect her of having doubted of
 
 Preface. 29 
 
 virtue, of having believed only faintly 
 in God, and what was more astonish- 
 ing at that period of having hated 
 the king. I am convinced that she 
 was a great freethinker. She never 
 told her secret, not even in the " Prin- 
 cess of Cleves." 
 
 I shall not analyze this novel, which 
 is familiar even to those who have not 
 read it. It is well known that the scene 
 is laid in the court of Henri II., but 
 that in fact the manners described are 
 those, somewhat idealized, of people of 
 quality who lived at the same period 
 as the author. Writers of the seven- 
 teenth century had no true sense of 
 the past, and unconsciously delineated 
 themselves under ancient or foreign 
 names : thus Madame de la Fayette 
 with perfect simplicity ascribes to the 
 contemporaries of the Valois the Ian-
 
 30 Preface. 
 
 guage and manners of the courtiers of 
 Louis XIV. I do not say that she was 
 not familiar with the epoch of the Valois, 
 I do say that she but dimly understood 
 it ; and we should be glad that she did 
 not undertake to describe it, that 
 would have been only a work of erudi- 
 tion, while, as it was, she gave free play 
 to her genius. It is scarcely worth while 
 to recall the simple story that is the 
 basis of this charming book. Madame 
 de Cleves, the most beautiful woman of 
 the court, is loved by Monsieur de Ne- 
 mours, the most accomplished gentle- 
 man of the whole kingdom. Monsieur 
 de Nemours, though he had led a life 
 of gallantry, becomes timid as soon as 
 he is really in love. He hides his pas- 
 sion, but Madame de Cleves detects it, 
 and involuntarily shares it. To defend 
 herself from the danger to which her
 
 Preface. 3 1 
 
 heart exposes her, she finally decides 
 to tell her husband that she loves Mon- 
 sieur de Nemours, that she fears him 
 and fears herself. Her husband at first 
 reassures and consoles her ; but through 
 the imprudence and an indiscretion of 
 the Duke of Nemours he imagines him- 
 self wronged, and dies of grief. His 
 widow does not judge that she has there- 
 by regained her liberty ; she remains 
 faithful to the memory of a husband 
 whom she had never lovect. 
 
 That in many ways seems admirable. 
 It is true that Madame de Cleves sets a 
 high value on virtue, for she does not 
 think it is paid too high a price by the 
 death of the husband and the despair of 
 a lover, taking this last word in the 
 sense that it had in the seventeenth 
 century. " What do you think of it ? " 
 I asked a woman whose honest and in-
 
 32 Preface. 
 
 telligent mind I admire. This was what 
 she was good enough to reply : 
 
 " Except for her preciosity, the Princess of 
 Cleves is a true heroine of the Hotel de Ram- 
 bouillet. She is divine like Clelie and Arthe- 
 nice. Her beauty is unrivalled, her soul 
 knows no weakness. But Madame de Cleves 
 is no artificial heroine, and the motives that 
 inspire her have their roots in reality, and do 
 not depend on fiction. Her principles are 
 very human, and wholly without any ideal; 
 propriety and reason, which are transient 
 virtues, control her life and regulate her feel- 
 ings. And even more than propriety, the 
 notion of her worldly position fills and pro- 
 tects her. She has the pr foundest respect 
 for appearances, and her aristocratic pride 
 mitigates many of her secret sufferings. I 
 fancy that to this woman, whose psychology, 
 and especially whose moral nature, was so 
 much less complicated than ours, the world 
 must have seemed like a well-lighted drawing-
 
 Preface. 33 
 
 room, and that her duty consisted in passing 
 through it with dignity and grace; then 
 with a majestic courtesy she withdrew, and all 
 was over. It is the triumph of etiquette, and 
 of etiquette which may amount to heroism ; 
 for it sometimes takes more courage and more 
 firmness to smile in the midst of a ball than 
 on the battle-field. The Princess of Cleves 
 possesses that sort of courage, she possesses 
 it to such an extent that she forgets herself 
 and sacrifices herself; she has no weakness, 
 but she also has no pity. She gives over to 
 despair and death two men, one of whom at 
 least she loves. She has no remorse, because 
 she has given no cause for scandal, and noth- 
 ing has seriously marred the happy harmony 
 of her conduct. She is an excellent example 
 of what is produced by very rigid social 
 principles and a very severe rule of life with 
 nothing higher than these principles. She is 
 also an edifying, though discouraging, instance 
 of what morality and virtue can do for men's 
 
 happiness. In contrast with this loyal and 
 VOL. i. 3
 
 34 Preface. 
 
 
 
 unflinching soul, we recall those other hero- 
 ines who were weak, who were guilty, but 
 were gentle ; and we ask if, underlying lofty 
 virtue, there was not a feeling of pride which 
 consoled her for everything, even for the harm 
 she wrought." 
 
 Doubtless what is most original in 
 the conduct of Madame de Cleves is 
 her confession to her husband of her 
 love for another man. This cannot be 
 regarded as a kind action, for this con- 
 fession is the primary cause of the death 
 of Monsieur de Cleves. If she had not 
 spoken, Monsieur de Cleves would not 
 have died ; he would have lived on, tran- 
 quilly, happily, in an agreeable delusion : 
 but truth was required at all hazards. 
 This was also the opinion of a famous 
 woman who a hundred years later re- 
 peated this confession. Madame Roland, 
 when thirty-nine years old, felt " the
 
 Preface. 35 
 
 strong affections of a powerful mind con- 
 trolling a robust body." The man she 
 loved had, like her, a lofty feeling of duty. 
 He was the Deputy Buzot. They loved, 
 but that was all. Madame Roland had 
 a husband twenty years older than she, 
 and decrepit. She thought it her duty, 
 following the example of Madame de 
 Cleves, to confess to him that she loved 
 another man ; but the confession once 
 made, this half-dead husband could not 
 take it tragically, so that perhaps in this 
 respect Madame Roland will seem less 
 imprudent than Madame de Cleves. 
 In spite of that, she had no reason to 
 be satisfied with her confession of the 
 state of affairs to him, as she acknowl- 
 edges in her Memoirs : 
 
 " I honor and cherish my husband as an 
 affectionate daughter adores a virtuous father 
 for whom she would sacrifice even a lover;
 
 36 Preface. 
 
 but I have found the man who might be this 
 lover, and while I remained faithful to my 
 duties my ingenuity has not been able to hide 
 the feelings that I sacrificed to them. My 
 husband, whose susceptibility and self-love 
 were both easily roused, could not endure the 
 idea of the slightest modification in sway ; he 
 imagined dark things ; his jealousy annoyed 
 me ; happiness fled far from us. He adored 
 me ; I sacrificed myself to him, and we were 
 wretched. Were I free, I would follow him 
 anywhere, to soothe his sufferings and to 
 console his old age : a soul like mine is 
 contented with no imperfect sacrifice. But 
 Roland detests the thought of a sacrifice ; and 
 having once perceived that I am making one 
 for him, the knowledge destroys all his hap- 
 piness. It pains him to receive such a sacri- 
 fice, and yet he cannot do without it." 
 
 Roland did not die of this. Every 
 one says that he was sublime ; and he 
 promised some time to make way for
 
 Preface. 37 
 
 the man who was loved, if his wife's 
 new affection should continue. Ma- 
 dame Roland was also sublime, and 
 refused to hear of this generous sacri- 
 fice. But sublime as they were, they 
 quarrelled and grew more bitter. The 
 household was most unhappy when the 
 3ist of May brought them other cares, 
 and swept away their domestic bicker- 
 ings in the public disaster. 
 
 So far as I know, the cruel frank- 
 ness of Madame de Cleves has been 
 imitated by no other woman than 
 Madame Roland. I do not dare to 
 say that this is to be regretted ; but 
 however it may be, we must in jus- 
 tice remember that for acting as she 
 did, Madame Roland had not such 
 good reasons as Madame de Cleves. 
 Madame de Cleves when she confided 
 in her husband asked for his aid in
 
 38 Preface. 
 
 her distress, she implored his support; 
 Madame Roland merely wanted to ex- 
 pose her passion, and those are two 
 very different things. As for Madame 
 de la Fayette, she was so delighted 
 with these tragic confessions that she 
 afterward wrote a novel simply to show 
 another woman making the same con- 
 fession under still more painful circum- 
 stances ; for she is guilty, and confesses 
 to her husband that she has deceived 
 him. The Countess of Tende, who 
 takes her husband for the confidant of 
 her weaknesses, outdoes even Madame 
 Roland in heroic sincerity. 
 
 She is another candid woman. It 
 is amusing that these candid women 
 should have sprung from the imagina- 
 tion of a woman who never confessed 
 even to her confessor. 
 
 ANATOLE FRANCE.
 
 Preface. 39 
 
 P. S. I thought that I had kept within 
 bounds, that I had justly admired the " Prin- 
 cess of Cleves " and justly esteemed Madame 
 de la Fayette ; but justice is not everything. 
 To a masterpiece, to a woman, something 
 besides justice is due, and I became uneasy. 
 I feared that I had been deficient in that 
 politeness, that courtesy, without which even 
 the belles-lettres remain rude and unpol- 
 ished. Hence, remembering that Auguste 
 Comte had admitted the "Princess of Cleves" 
 into the Positivist Library, I took the lib- 
 erty of asking the heir of the founder, the 
 venerable leader of the Positivists, to be good 
 enough to write for me a few words about 
 this princess, which he admires, as I know, 
 with an intelligent fervor. Monsieur Pierre 
 Laffitte was kind enough to reply; and here 
 is his letter, which will correct my preface. 
 This letter is just what I expected from a 
 philosopher animated, like the ancient Epicu- 
 rus, by an ardent enthusiasm for reason.
 
 4O Preface. 
 
 PARIS, December 28, 1888. 
 [28 Bichat, too Gall ] 
 
 MY DEAR MONSIEUR FRANCE, I am glad to 
 see that you have written about the " Princess of 
 Cleves," and I am sure that you will not take amiss 
 a few observations, not on its literary qualities, for 
 there would be but little propriety in my addressing 
 you on this score, but merely on the state of mind 
 which this masterpiece indicates, all the more 
 that it does this without premeditation. 
 
 What has always struck me in reading this dis- 
 tinguished product of the female mind is the 
 complete absence of everything supernatural. The 
 name of God is not once mentioned ; and yet the 
 inner working of human life, and more especially 
 of a woman's life, is portrayed without any appear- 
 ance of strangeness or want of logic ; and that is so 
 true that no one before me, so far as I know, has 
 ever noticed this absence of God. Read more 
 particularly that wonderful discussion in which 
 Madame de Cleves sets forth her reasons for refus- 
 ing to marry Monsieur de Nemours. The reasons 
 influencing her in forming this most important 
 decision are all of a perfectly natural sort ; she
 
 Preface. 4 1 
 
 succeeds in overcoming a deep and lawful attach- 
 ment by delicate and wise motives. The absence 
 of the supernatural is all the more striking here, 
 from the fact that human motives assure the supe- 
 riority of reason over the passions, and not their 
 mere brutal victory. 
 
 It is evident that a work of this sort portrays 
 a new state of mental equilibrium attained by a 
 woman, it is true, by a very superior woman, 
 in whom life is controlled by the appreciation of 
 the consequences of our actions, without thought 
 of any supernatural interference. Women of a rare 
 type have reached this lofty state, in which life 
 has become wise, dignified, and delicate, void of 
 fear as well as of what, for the sake of politeness, 
 I will not call a chimerical, but at least a doubt- 
 ful, hope. For this is not peculiar to Madame 
 de la Fayette ; read Madame de Lambert's "Advice 
 to my Son," and you will see that, with the excep- 
 tion of a few formulas of politeness toward God, 
 every motive for living with dignity is of a human 
 sort. Is not this a practical demonstration of the 
 possibility of conceiving of a life, not only honor- 
 able but lofty and delicate, by considerations of a
 
 42 Preface. 
 
 merely natural order? The demonstration is all 
 the more striking because it is in no way systema- 
 tic, no attempt is made to prove anything ; it is 
 merely described. The slow evolution of human- 
 ity has produced such a condition in superior 
 souls, which, after all, are only in advance of the 
 rest ; the systematization will follow later. 
 
 Doubtless I shall be told that the supernatural 
 scaffolding was necessary at first. I grant it ; 
 but they at least have succeeded in doing without 
 it. Thus man does not really belong to the ani- 
 mal kingdom. This becomes serious in large 
 societies ; consequently, the leaders of our race 
 sought at first to provide against it. But they 
 had to invoke both a God and a Devil to per- 
 suade men to act nobly. At the present time 
 the West gets along without fear of hell or hope 
 of paradise. Why may not the evolution accom- 
 plished by civilized peoples in a simple case be 
 also attained in more complicated cases? The 
 " Princess of Cleves " furnishes us with the demon- 
 stration, not by scholastic rules, but by a living 
 figure, in an aesthetic masterpiece ; and this ab- 
 sence of God helps to portray the final victory
 
 Preface. 43 
 
 of reason over passion, which is the normal type 
 of our species. 
 
 But let us consider the opposite opinion, and 
 by discussing art, not science. Jean- Jacques 
 Rousseau, in a period of reaction, introduced 
 God again ; read the " Nouvelle Heloise," and see 
 what a part he makes him play there : it must 
 be said, with all possible politeness, that it is a 
 sorry one. God intervenes to justify tender weak- 
 nesses, or at least to accept them with a smiling 
 tolerance. And in the nineteenth century how 
 this tendency has developed ! In George Sand, 
 when women wish to yield gracefully, God is 
 always there to make things easy for them. He 
 has to play a singular part. We are very far from 
 those momentous decisions in which the soul 
 exercises control, such as Madame de la Fayette 
 described with a thorough knowledge of human 
 nature. 
 
 On the whole, the " Princess of Cleves " seems to 
 me the most perfect work that ever issued from 
 a woman's hand. She did not try works of vast 
 strength in any direction, but in her own field 
 Madame de la Fayette had complete mastery.
 
 44 Preface. 
 
 Her book will be read so long as there shall sur- 
 vive men of taste and intelligence ; it is a pleas- 
 ure to feel one's self m communion with the 
 chosen spirits who, since the seventeenth century, 
 have enjoyed this delightful masterpiece, and 
 to think of the others who, after us, will still 
 enjoy it. 
 
 P. LAFFITTE.
 
 THE PRINCESS OF CLEVES.
 
 PART I. 
 
 r I "HERE never was in France so brilliant 
 a display of magnificence and gal- 
 lantry as during the last years of the reign of 
 Henri II. This monarch was gallant, hand- 
 some, and susceptible; although his love for 
 Diane de Poitiers, Duchess of Valentinois, 
 had lasted twenty years, its ardor had not 
 diminished, as his conduct testified. 
 
 He was remarkably skilful in physical ex- 
 ercises, and devoted much attention to them ; 
 every day was filled with hunting and tennis,
 
 48 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 dancing, running at the ring, and sports of 
 that kind. The favorite colors and the 
 initials of Madame de Valentinois were to be 
 seen everywhere, and she herself used to 
 appear dressed as richly as Mademoiselle de 
 la Marck, her granddaughter, who was then 
 about to be married. 
 
 The fact that the queen was there, accounted 
 for her presence. This princess, although she 
 had passed her first youth, was still beautiful ; 
 she was fond of splendor, magnificence, and 
 pleasure. The king had married her while 
 still Duke of Orleans, in the lifetime of his 
 elder brother, the dauphin, who afterward 
 died at Tournon, mourned as a worthy heir 
 to the position of Francis I., his father. 
 
 The queen's ambition made her like to 
 reign. She seemed indifferent to the king's 
 attachment to the Duchess of Valentinois, 
 and never betrayed any jealousy; but she 
 was so skilled a dissembler that it was hard 
 to discover her real feelings, and she was 
 compelled by policy to keep the duchess
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 49 
 
 near her if she wanted to see anything of the 
 king. As for him, he liked the society of 
 women, even of those with whom he was not 
 at all in love. He was with the queen every 
 day at her audience, when all the most at- 
 tractive lords and ladies were sure to appear. 
 At no court had there ever been gathered 
 together so many lovely women and brave 
 men. It seemed as if Nature had made an 
 effort to show her highest beauty in the 
 greatest lords and ladies. Madame Elisa- 
 beth of France, afterwards queen of Spain, 
 began to show her wonderful intelligence 
 and that unrivalled beauty which was so 
 fatal to her. Mary Stuart, the queen of 
 Scotland, who had just married the dauphin 
 and was called the crown princess, or dau- 
 phiness, was faultless in mind and body. 
 She had been brought up at the French 
 court and had acquired all its polish; she 
 was endowed by Nature with so strong a 
 love for the softer graces that in spite of her 
 youth she admired and understood them 
 
 VOL. I. 4
 
 50 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 perfectly. Her mother-in-law, the queen, 
 and Madame, the king's sister, were also fond 
 of poetry, of comedy, and of music. The 
 interest which King Francis I. had felt in 
 poetry and letters still prevailed in France, 
 and since the king, his son, was devoted to 
 physical exercise, pleasures of all sorts were 
 to be found at the court. But what rendered 
 the court especially fine and majestic was the 
 great number of princes and lords of excep- 
 tional merit ; those I am about to name were, 
 in their different ways, the ornament and the 
 admiration of their age. 
 
 The King of Navarre inspired universal re- 
 spect by his exalted rank and his royal 
 bearing. He excelled in the art of war; but 
 the Duke of Guise had shown himself so 
 strong a rival that he had often laid aside his 
 command to enter the duke's service as a 
 private soldier in the most dangerous battles. 
 This duke had manifested such admirable 
 bravery with such remarkable success that 
 he was an object of envy to every great
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 51 
 
 commander. He had many conspicuous 
 qualities besides his personal courage, he 
 possessed a vast and profound intelligence, 
 a noble, lofty mind, and equal capacity for 
 war and affairs. His brother, the Cardinal 
 of Lorraine, was born with an unbridled am- 
 bition, and had acquired vast learning; this he 
 turned to his profit by using it in defence of 
 Catholicism, which had begun to be attacked. 
 The Chevalier de Guise, afterwards known 
 as the Grand Prior, was loved by all ; he was 
 handsome, witty, clever, and his courage was 
 renowned throughout Europe. The short, 
 ill-favored body of the Prince of Conde held 
 a great and haughty soul, and an intelligence 
 that endeared him to even the most beautiful 
 women. The Duke of Nevers, famous for 
 his military prowess and his important ser- 
 vices to the state, though somewhat advanced 
 in years was adored by all the court. He had 
 three handsome sons, the second, known as 
 the Prince of Cleves, was worthy to bear that 
 proud title; he was brave and grand, and
 
 52 The Princess of Cloves. 
 
 was withal endowed with a prudence rare in 
 the young. The Vidame of Chartres, a scion 
 of the old house of Vend6me, a name not de- 
 spised by princes of the blood, had won equal 
 triumphs in war and gallantry ; he was hand- 
 some, attractive, brave, hardy, generous ; all 
 his good qualities were distinct and striking, 
 in short, he was the only man fit to be com- 
 pared, if such comparison be possible, with 
 the Duke of Nemours. This nobleman was 
 a masterpiece of Nature ; the least of his fas- 
 cinations was his extreme beauty; he was the 
 handsomest man in the world. What made 
 him superior to every one else was his un- 
 rivalled courage and a charm manifested in 
 his mind, his expression, and his actions, 
 such as no other showed. He possessed a 
 certain playfulness that was equally attractive 
 to men and women ; he was unusually skil- 
 ful in physical exercises; and he dressed in 
 a way that every one tried in vain to imi- 
 tate ; moreover, his bearing was such that all 
 eyes followed him wherever he appeared.
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 53 
 
 There was no lady in the court who would 
 not have been flattered by his attentions; 
 few of those to whom he had devoted himself 
 could boast of having resisted him ; and even 
 many in whom he had shown no interest 
 made very clear their affection for him. He 
 was so gentle and courteous that he could 
 not refuse some attentions to those who tried 
 to please him, hence he had many mis- 
 tresses; but it was hard to say whom he 
 really loved. He was often to be seen with 
 the dauphiness; her beauty, her gentleness, 
 her desire to please every one, and the es- 
 pecial regard she showed for this prince, 
 made some imagine that he dared to raise 
 his eyes to her. The Guises, whose niece 
 she was, had acquired influence and position 
 by her marriage ; they aspired to an equality 
 with the princes of the blood and to a share 
 of the power exercised by the Constable of 
 Montmorency. It was to the constable that 
 the king confided the greater part of the cares 
 of state, while he treated the Duke of Guise
 
 54 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 and the Marshal of Saint-Andre as his favor- 
 ites. But those attached to his person by 
 favor or position could only keep their place 
 by submitting to the Duchess of Valentinois, 
 who, although no longer young or beautiful, 
 ruled him so despotically that she may be 
 said to have been the mistress of his person 
 and of the state. 
 
 The king had always loved the constable, 
 and at the beginning of his reign had sum- 
 moned him from the exile into which he 
 had been sent by Francis I. The court 
 was divided between the Guises and the 
 constable, who was the favorite of the 
 princes of the blood. Both parties had 
 always struggled for the favor of the 
 Duchess of Valentinois. The Duke of Au- 
 male, brother of the Duke of Guise, had 
 married one of her daughters. The con- 
 stable aspired to the same alliance, not sat- 
 isfied with having married his eldest son to 
 Madame Diane, a daughter of the king by 
 a lady of Piedmont who entered a convent
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 55 
 
 after the birth of her child. The promises 
 which Monsieur de Montmorency had made 
 to Mademoiselle de Piennes, one of the 
 queen's maids-of-honor, had proved a seri- 
 ous obstacle to this match ; and although 
 the king had removed it with extreme pa- 
 tience and kindness, the constable still felt 
 insecure until he had won over the Duchess 
 of Valentinois and had separated her from 
 the Guises, whose greatness had begun to 
 alarm her. She had delayed in every way 
 in her power the marriage between the 
 dauphin and the Queen of Scotland; this 
 young queen's beauty and intelligence, and 
 the position given to the Guises by this mar- 
 riage, were very odious to her. She espe- 
 cially detested the Cardinal of Lorraine, who 
 had addressed her in bitter, even contemptu- 
 ous terms. She saw that he was intriguing 
 with the queen ; hence the constable found her 
 ready to join forces with him by bringing about 
 the marriage of Mademoiselle de la Marck, 
 her granddaughter, to Monsieur d'Anville,
 
 56 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 his second son, who succeeded to his post 
 in the reign of Charles IX. The constable 
 did not expect that Monsieur d'Anville would 
 have any objections to this marriage, as had 
 been the case with Monsieur de Montmo- 
 rency ; but though the reasons were more 
 hidden, the difficulties were no less obstinate. 
 Monsieur d'Anville was desperately in love 
 with the crown princess; and although his 
 passion was hopeless, he could not persuade 
 himself to contract other ties. The Marshal 
 of Saint-Andre" was almost the only courtier 
 who had taken sides with neither faction ; 
 he was one of the favorites, but this position 
 he held simply by his own merits. Ever 
 since he had been the dauphin, the king 
 had been attached to this nobleman, and later 
 had made him marshal of France, at an age 
 when men are satisfied with lesser honors. 
 His advance gave him a distinction which 
 he maintained by his personal worth and 
 charm, by a costly table and rich surround- 
 ings, and by more splendor than any private
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 57 
 
 individual had yet displayed. The king's 
 generosity warranted this sumptuousness. 
 There was no limit to this monarch's gen- 
 erosity to those he loved. He did not pos- 
 sess every great quality, but he had many, 
 and among them the love of war and a 
 good knowledge of it. This accounted for 
 his many successes ; and if we except the 
 battle of St. Quentin, his reign was an un- 
 broken series of victories. He had won the 
 battle of Renty in person, Piedmont had 
 been conquered, the English had been 
 driven from France, and the Emperor 
 Charles V. had seen his good fortune desert 
 him before the city of Metz, which he had 
 besieged in vain with all the forces of the 
 Empire and of Spain. Nevertheless, since 
 the defeat of St. Quentin had diminished our 
 hope of conquest, and fortune seemed to 
 favor one king as much as the other, they 
 were gradually led to favor peace. 
 
 The Dowager Duchess of Lorraine had be- 
 gun to lead the way to a cessation of hos-
 
 58 The Princess of Cloves. 
 
 tilities at the time of the dauphin's marriage, 
 and ever since then there had been secret 
 negotiations. At last Cercamp, in the Pro- 
 vince of Artois, was chosen as the place of 
 meeting. The Cardinal of Lorraine, the 
 constable, and the Marshal of Saint-Andre 
 appeared in behalf of the King of France ; 
 the Duke of Alvaand the Prince of Orange in 
 behalf of Philip II. The Duke and Duchess 
 of Lorraine were the mediators. The leading 
 articles were the marriage of Madame Elisa- 
 beth of France to Don Carlos, Infanta of 
 Spain, and that of Madame, the king's sister, 
 with Monsieur de Savoie. 
 
 Meanwhile the king remained on the fron- 
 tier, and there heard of the death of Mary, 
 queen of England. He sent the Count of 
 Randan to Elizabeth to congratulate her on 
 ascending the throne. She was very glad to 
 receive him, because her rights were so inse- 
 cure that it was of great service to her to 
 have them acknowledged by the king. The 
 count found her well informed about the
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 59 
 
 interests of France and the capabilities of 
 those who composed the court, but especially 
 familiar with the reputation of the Duke of 
 Nemours. She spoke of this nobleman so 
 often and with such warmth that when Mon- 
 sieur de Randan returned and recounted his 
 journey to the king, he told him that there 
 was nothing to which Monsieur de Nemours 
 could not aspire, and that she would be 
 capable of marrying him. That very eve- 
 ning the king spoke to this nobleman, and 
 made Monsieur de Randan repeat to him 
 his conversation with Elizabeth, urging him 
 to essay this great fortune. At first Mon- 
 sieur de Nemours thought that the king was 
 jesting; but when he saw his mistake he 
 said, 
 
 " At any rate, sire, if I undertake a fan- 
 tastic enterprise under the advice and in 
 behalf of your Majesty, I beg of you to 
 keep it secret until success shall justify me 
 before the public, and to guard me from 
 appearing vain enough to suppose that a
 
 60 The Princess of Cloves. 
 
 queen who has never seen me should wish 
 to marry me from love." 
 
 The king promised to speak of the plan 
 to no one but the constable, and agreed 
 that secrecy was essential for its success. 
 Monsieur de Randan advised Monsieur de 
 Nemours to visit England as a simple trav- 
 eller; but the latter could not make up his 
 mind to do this. He sent Lignerolles, an in- 
 telligent young man, one of his favorites, 
 to ascertain the queen's feeling and to try 
 to open the matter. Meanwhile he went to 
 see the Duke of Savoy, who was then at 
 Brussels with the King of Spain. The death 
 of Mary of England raised great obstacles to 
 any treaty of peace ; the commission broke 
 up at the end of November, and the king 
 returned to Paris. 
 
 At that moment there appeared at court a 
 young lady to whom all eyes were turned, and 
 we may well believe that she was possessed of 
 faultless beauty, since she aroused admiration 
 where all were well accustomed to the sight
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 61 
 
 of handsome women. Of the same family 
 as the Vidame of Chartres, she was one of 
 the greatest heiresses in France. Her father 
 had died young, leaving her under the charge 
 of his wife, Madame de Chartres, whose 
 kindness, virtue, and worth were beyond 
 praise. After her husband's death she had 
 withdrawn from court for many years ; during 
 this period she had devoted herself to the 
 education of her daughter, not merely culti- 
 vating her mind and her beauty, but also 
 seeking to inspire her with the love of virtue 
 and to make her attractive. Most mothers 
 imagine that it is enough never to speak of 
 gallantry to their daughters to guard them 
 from it forever. Madame de Chartres was 
 of a very different opinion ; she often drew 
 pictures of love to her daughter, showing 
 her its fascinations, in order to give her a 
 better understanding of its perils. She told 
 her how insincere men are, how false and de- 
 ceitful ; she described the domestic miseries 
 which illicit love-affairs entail, and, on the
 
 62 The Princess of Cloves. 
 
 other hand, pictured to her the peaceful hap- 
 piness of a virtuous woman's life, as well as 
 the distinction and elevation which virtue 
 gives to a woman of rank and beauty. She 
 taught her, too, how hard it was to preserve 
 this virtue without extreme care, and with- 
 out that one sure means of securing a wife's 
 happiness, which is to love her husband and 
 to be loved by him. 
 
 This heiress was, then, one of the greatest 
 matches in France, and although she was 
 very young, many propositions of marriage 
 had been made to her. Madame de Chartres, 
 who was extremely proud, found almost 
 nothing worthy of her daughter, and the 
 girl being in her sixteenth year, she was 
 anxious to take her to court. The Vidame 
 went to welcome her on her arrival, and 
 was much struck by the marvellous beauty 
 of Mademoiselle de Chartres, and with 
 good reason : her delicate complexion 
 and her blond hair gave her a unique bril- 
 liancy; her features were regular, and her
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 63 
 
 face and person were full of grace and 
 charm. 
 
 The day after her arrival she went to match 
 some precious stones at the house of an 
 Italian who dealt in them. He had come 
 from Florence with the queen, and had 
 grown so rich by his business that his 
 house seemed that of some great nobleman 
 rather than of a merchant. The Prince of 
 Cleves happened to come in while she was 
 there ; he was so struck by her beauty that 
 he could not conceal his surprise, and Made- 
 moiselle de Chartres could not keep from 
 blushing when she saw his astonishment: she 
 succeeded, however, in regaining her com- 
 posure without paying any further atten- 
 tion to the prince than civility required for a 
 man of his evident importance. Monsieur de 
 Cleves gazed at her admiringly, wondering 
 who this beauty was whom he did not know. 
 He perceived from her bearing and her suite 
 that she must be a lady of high rank. She 
 was so young that he thought she must be
 
 64 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 unmarried; but since she had not her 
 mother with her, and the Italian, who did 
 not know her, addressed her as " madame," 
 he was in great doubt, and stared at her 
 with continual surprise. He saw that his 
 glances embarrassed her, unlike most young 
 women, who always take pleasure in seeing 
 the effect of their beauty ; it even seemed to 
 him that his presence made her anxious to 
 go away, and in fact she left very soon. Mon- 
 sieur de Cleves consoled himself for her de- 
 parture with the hope of finding out who she 
 was, and was much disappointed to learn 
 that no one knew. He was so struck by her 
 beauty and evident modesty that from that 
 moment he conceived for her the greatest 
 love and esteem. That evening he called 
 on Madame, the king's sister. 
 
 This princess was held in high esteem on 
 account of her influence with the king, her 
 brother; and this influence was so great that 
 when the king made peace he consented to 
 restore Piedmont to enable her to marry
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 65 
 
 Monsieur de Savoie. Although she had 
 always meant to marry, she had determined 
 to give her hand to none but a sovereign, 
 and had for that reason refused the King of 
 Navarre when he was Duke of Vend6me, and 
 had always felt an interest in Monsieur de 
 Savoie after seeing him at Nice on the oc- 
 casion of the interview between Francis I. 
 and Pope Paul III. Since she possessed 
 great intelligence and a fine taste, she drew 
 pleasant persons about her, and at certain 
 hours the whole court used to visit her. 
 
 Thither Monsieur de Cleves went, as was 
 his habit. He was so full of the wit and 
 beauty of Mademoiselle de Chartres that he 
 could speak of nothing else ; he talked freely 
 of his adventure, and set no limit to his praise 
 of the young woman he had seen but did not 
 know. Madame said to him that there was 
 no such person as he described, and that if 
 there were, every one would have known 
 about her. Madame de Dampierre, her lady- 
 in-waiting and a friend of Madame de Chartres, 
 VOL. i. 5
 
 66 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 when she heard the conversation moved near 
 the princess and said to her in a low voice that 
 doubtless it was Mademoiselle de Chartres 
 whom Monsieur de Cleves had seen. Madame 
 turned towards him and said that if he would 
 return the next day, she would show him this 
 beauty who had so impressed him. Made- 
 moiselle de Chartres made her appearance the 
 next day. The queen received her with every 
 imaginable attention, and she was greeted with 
 such admiration by every one that she heard 
 around her nothing but praise. This she re- 
 ceived with such noble modesty that she 
 seemed not to hear it, or at least not to be 
 affected by it. Then she visited the apart- 
 ments of Madame, the king's sister. The 
 princess, after praising her beauty, told her 
 the surprise she had given to Monsieur 
 de Cleves. A moment after, that person 
 appeared. 
 
 " Come," she said to him, " see if I have 
 not kept my word, and if, when I point out 
 Mademoiselle de Chartres to you, I do not
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 67 
 
 show you the beauty you sought; at any 
 rate, thank me for telling her how much 
 you already admire her." 
 
 Monsieur de Cleves was filled with joy to 
 find that this young woman whom he had 
 found so attractive was of a rank proportionate 
 to her beauty. He went up to her and asked 
 her to remember that he had been the first to 
 admire her, and that without knowing her 
 he had felt all the respect and esteem that 
 were her due. 
 
 The Chevalier de Guise, his friend, and he 
 left the house together. At first they praised 
 Mademoiselle de Chartres without stint ; then 
 they found that they were praising her too 
 much, and both stopped saying what they 
 thought of her: but they were compelled to 
 talk about her on the following days wherever 
 they met. This new beauty was for a long 
 time the general subject of conversation. 
 The queen praised her warmly and showed 
 an extraordinary regard for her; the dau- 
 phiness made her one of her favorites, and
 
 68 T/ie Princess of Cleves. 
 
 begged Madame de Chartres to bring her to 
 see her very often ; the daughters of the 
 king invited her to all their entertainments, 
 in short, she was loved and admired by the 
 whole court, except by Madame de Valen- 
 tinois. It was not that this new beauty gave 
 her any uneasiness, her long experience 
 had made her sure of the king, but she so 
 hated the Vidame of Chartres, whom she had 
 desired to ally with herself by the marriage 
 of one of her daughters, while he had joined 
 the queen's party, that she could not look 
 with favor on any one who bore his name 
 and seemed to enjoy his friendship. 
 
 The Prince of Cloves fell passionately in 
 love with Mademoiselle de Chartres, and was 
 eager to marry her; but he feared lest the 
 pride of Madame de Chartres should prevent 
 her from giving her daughter to a man who 
 was not the eldest of his family. Yet this 
 family was so distinguished, and the Count 
 of Eu, who was the head of the house, had 
 just married a woman so near to royalty, that
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 69 
 
 it was timidity rather than any true reason 
 that inspired the fear of Monsieur de Cleves. 
 He had many rivals ; the Chevalier de Guise 
 seemed to him the most formidable, on 
 account of his birth, his ability, and the 
 brilliant position of his family. This prince 
 had fallen in love with Mademoiselle de 
 Chartres the first day he saw her; he had 
 noticed the passion of Monsieur de Cleves 
 just as the latter had noticed his. Though 
 the two men were friends, the separation 
 which resulted from this rivalry gave them 
 no chance to explain themselves, and their 
 friendship cooled without their having cour- 
 age to come to an understanding. The 
 good fortune of Monsieur de Cleves in 
 being the first to see Mademoiselle de 
 Chartres seemed to him a happy omen, and 
 to promise him some advantage over his 
 rivals ; but he foresaw serious obstacles on 
 the part of the Duke of Nevers, his father. 
 This duke was bound to the Duchess of 
 Valentinois by many ties ; she was an
 
 70 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 enemy of the Vidame, and this was reason 
 enough to prevent the Duke of Nevers from 
 consenting that his son should think of that 
 nobleman's niece. 
 
 Madame de Chartres, who had already 
 taken such pains to fill her daughter with a 
 love of virtue, did not remit them in this 
 place where they were still so necessary, and 
 bad examples were so frequent. Ambi- 
 tion and gallantry were the sole occupation 
 of the court, busying men and women alike. 
 There were so many interests and so many 
 different intrigues in which women took part 
 that love was always mingled with politics, 
 and politics with love. No one was calm 
 or indifferent; every one sought to rise, to 
 please, to serve, or to injure; no one was 
 weary or idle, every one was taken up with 
 pleasure or intrigue. The ladies had their 
 special interest in the queen, in the crown 
 princess, in the Queen of Navarre, in Madame 
 the king's sister, or in the Duchess of Va- 
 lentinois, according to their inclinations, their
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 71 
 
 sense of right, or their humor. Those who 
 had passed their first youth and assumed 
 an austere virtue, were devoted to the queen ; 
 those who were younger and sought pleasure 
 and gallantry, paid their court to the crown 
 princess. The Queen of Navarre had her 
 favorites; she was young, and had much 
 influence over her husband the king, who 
 was allied with the constable, and hence 
 highly esteemed. Madame the king's sister 
 still preserved some of her beauty, and 
 gathered several ladies about herself. The 
 Duchess of Valentinois was sought by all 
 those whom she deigned to regard ; but the 
 women she liked were few, and with the 
 exception of those who enjoyed her inti- 
 macy and confidence, and whose disposi- 
 tion bore some likeness to her own, she 
 received only on the days when she as- 
 sumed to hold a court like the queen. 
 
 All these different cliques were separated 
 by rivalry and envy. Then, too, the women 
 who belonged to each one of them were
 
 72 The Princess of Cloves. 
 
 also jealous of one another, either about their 
 chances of advancement, or about their lov- 
 ers; often their interests were complicated 
 by other pettier, but no less important ques- 
 tions. Hence there was in this court a sort 
 of well-ordered agitation, which rendered it 
 very charming, but also very dangerous, for 
 a young woman. Madame de Chartres saw 
 this peril, and thought only of protecting 
 her daughter from it. She besought her, 
 not as a mother, but as a friend, to confide 
 to her all the sweet speeches that might 
 be made to her, and promised her aid in 
 all those matters which so often embarrass 
 the young. 
 
 The Chevalier de Guise made his feelings for 
 Mademoiselle de Chartres and his intentions 
 so manifest that every one could see them; 
 yet he well knew the very grave difficulties 
 that stood in his way. He was aware that 
 he was not a desirable match, because his 
 fortune was too small for his rank. He knew, 
 too, that his brothers would disapprove of his
 
 The Princess of Cleves. .73 
 
 marrying, through fear of the loss of posi- 
 tion which sometimes befalls great families 
 through the marriage of younger sons. The 
 Cardinal of Lorraine soon proved to him 
 that his fears were well grounded, for he de- 
 nounced the chevalier's love for Mademoiselle 
 de Chartres very warmly, though he concealed 
 his true reasons. The cardinal nourished a 
 hatred for the Vidame, which was hidden at 
 the time, and only broke out later. He 
 would have preferred to see his brother ally 
 himself with any other family than that of 
 the Vidame, and gave such public expression 
 to his dislike that Madame de Chartres was 
 plainly offended. She took great pains to 
 show that the Cardinal of Lorraine had no 
 cause for fear, and that she herself never con- 
 templated the match. The Vidame adopted 
 the same course, and with a better under- 
 standing of the cardinal's objection, because 
 he knew the underlying reason. 
 
 The Prince of Cleves had concealed his 
 passion quite as little as had the Chevalier de
 
 74 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 Guise. The Duke of Nevers was sorry to 
 hear of this attachment, but thought that his 
 son would forget it at a word from him ; 
 great was his surprise when he found him 
 determined to marry Mademoiselle de Char- 
 tres. He opposed this determination with 
 a warmth so ill concealed that the whole 
 court soon had wind of it, and it came to 
 the knowledge of her mother. She had 
 never doubted that Monsieur de Nevers 
 would regard this match as an advantageous 
 one for his son, and was much surprised that 
 both the house of Cleves and that of Guise 
 dreaded the alliance instead of desiring it. 
 She was so chagrined that she sought to 
 marry her daughter to some one who could 
 raise her above those who fancied them- 
 selves superior to her; and after carefully 
 going over the ground, pitched on the prince 
 dauphin, the son of the Duke of Montpen- 
 sier. He was of the right age to marry, and 
 held the highest position at court. Since 
 Madame de Chartres was a very clever
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 75 
 
 woman, and was aided by the Vidame, 
 who at that time had great influence, while 
 her daughter was in every way a good 
 match, she played her cards so cleverly and 
 successfully that Monsieur de Montpensier 
 appeared to desire the marriage, and it 
 seemed as if nothing could stand in its 
 way. 
 
 The Vidame, though aware of Monsieur 
 d'Anville's devotion to the crown princess, 
 still thought that he might make use of the in- 
 fluence which she had over him to induce him 
 to speak well of Mademoiselle de Chartres to 
 the king and to the Prince of Montpensier, 
 whose intimate friend he was. He men- 
 tioned this to the princess, who took up the 
 matter eagerly, since it promised advance- 
 ment to a young woman of whom she had be- 
 come very fond. This she told the Vidame, 
 assuring him that though she knew she 
 should offend her uncle, the Cardinal of 
 Lorraine, this would be no objection, be- 
 cause she had good grounds for disliking
 
 7 6 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 him, since he every day furthered the 
 queen's interests in opposition to her own. 
 
 Persons in love are always glad of any ex- 
 cuse for talking about the object of their 
 affection. As soon as the Vidame had gone, 
 the crown princess ordered Chatelart, the 
 favorite of Monsieur d'Anville and the confi- 
 dant of his love for her, to tell him to be at the 
 queen's reception that evening. Chatelart 
 received this command with great delight. 
 He belonged to a good family of Dauphin6, 
 but his merit and intelligence had raised him 
 to a higher place than his birth warranted. 
 He was received and treated with kindness 
 by all the great lords at the court, and the 
 favor of the family of Montmorency had at- 
 tached him especially to Monsieur d'Anville. 
 He was handsome and skilled in all physical 
 exercises; he sang agreeably, wrote verses, 
 and had a gallant, ardent nature, which so at- 
 tracted Monsieur d'Anville that he made him 
 a confidant of his love for the crown princess. 
 The confidence brought him into the society
 
 The Princess of C lives. 77 
 
 of that lady, and thus began that unhappy 
 passion, which robbed him of his reason and 
 finally cost him his life. 
 
 Monsieur d'Anville did not fail to make 
 his appearance that evening in the queen's 
 drawing-room ; he was pleased that the 
 dauphiness had chosen him to aid her, and 
 he promised faithfully to obey her commands. 
 But Madame de Valentinois had heard of the 
 contemplated marriage and had laid her 
 plans to thwart it; she had been so success- 
 ful in arousing the king's opposition that 
 when Monsieur d'Anville spoke of it, he 
 showed his disapproval, and commanded him 
 to apprise the Prince of Montpensier of it. 
 It is easy to imagine the feelings of Ma- 
 dame de Chartres at the failure of a plan 
 she had so much desired, especially when her 
 ill-success gave so great an advantage to 
 her enemies and did so much harm to her 
 daughter. 
 
 The crown princess kindly expressed to 
 Mademoiselle de Chartres her regrets at not
 
 78 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 being able to further her interests. " You 
 see," she said, " I have but very little 
 power; I am so detested by the queen and 
 the Duchess of Valentinois that they or 
 their attendants always oppose everything 
 I desire. Still," she added, " I have always 
 tried to please them, and they hate me only 
 on account of my mother, who used to fill 
 them with uneasiness and jealousy. The 
 king had been in love with her before 
 he loved Madame de Valentinois, and 
 in his early married life, before he had 
 any children, though he loved this duchess, 
 he seemed bent on dissolving that marriage 
 to marry the queen my mother. Madame 
 de Valentinois dreaded the woman he had 
 loved so well, lest her wit and beauty should 
 diminish her own power, and entered into an 
 alliance with the constable, who was also op- 
 posed to the king's marrying a sister of the 
 Guises. They won over the late king; and 
 though he hated the Duchess of Valentinois 
 as much as he loved the queen, he joined with
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 79 
 
 them in preventing the king from dissolving 
 his marriage. In order to make this impos- 
 sible, they arranged my mother's marriage 
 with the King of Scotland, whose first wife 
 had been Madame Magdeleine, the king's 
 sister, this they did because it was the first 
 thing that offered; though they broke the 
 promises that had been made to the King of 
 England, who was deeply in love with her. 
 In fact, this matter nearly caused a falling 
 out between the two kings. Henry VIII. 
 could not be consoled for not marrying my 
 mother; and whenever any other French 
 princess was proposed to him, he used to say 
 
 that she would never take the place of the 
 
 r 
 one they had taken from him. It is true 
 
 that my mother was a perfect beauty, and it 
 is remarkable that when she was the widow 
 of a duke of Longueville, three kings should 
 have wanted to marry her. It was her mis- 
 fortune to be married to the least important 
 of them all, and to be sent to a kingdom 
 where she has found nothing but unhappi-
 
 8o The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 ness. I am told that I am like her ; I dread 
 the same sad fate, and whatever happiness 
 seems to be awaiting me, I doubt if I ever 
 enjoy it." 
 
 Mademoiselle de Chartres assured the 
 crown princess that these gloomy presenti- 
 ments were so fantastic that they could not 
 long disturb her, and that she ought not 
 to doubt that her good fortune would give 
 the lie to her fears. 
 
 Henceforth no one dared to think of 
 Mademoiselle de Chartres, through fear of 
 displeasing the king or of not succeeding 
 in winning a young woman who had aspired 
 to a prince of the blood. None of these con- 
 siderations moved Monsieur de Cleves. The 
 death of his father, the Duke of Nevers, 
 'vhich happened at that time, left him free to 
 follow his own inclinations, and as soon as 
 the period of mourning had passed, he 
 thought of nothing but marrying Mademoi- 
 selle de Chartres. He was glad to make his 
 proposal at a time when circumstances had
 
 The Princess of C I eves. gj 
 
 driven away all rivals and when he felt al- 
 most sure that she would not refuse him. 
 What dimmed his joy was the fear of not 
 being agreeable to her ; and he would have 
 preferred the happiness of pleasing her to 
 the certainty of marrying her when she did 
 not love him. 
 
 The Chevalier de Guise had somewhat 
 aroused his jealousy; but since this was in- 
 spired more by his rival's merits than by 
 the conduct of Mademoiselle de Chartres, he 
 thought of nothing but ascertaining whether 
 by good fortune she would approve of his 
 designs. He met her only at the queen's 
 rooms or in company, yet he managed to 
 speak to her of his intentions and hopes in 
 the most respectful way; he begged her to 
 let him know how she felt towards him, and 
 told her that his feelings for her were such 
 that he should be forever unhappy if she 
 obeyed her mother only from a sense of duty. 
 
 Mademoiselle de Chartres, having a very 
 
 noble heart, was really grateful to the Prince 
 VOL. i. 6
 
 82 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 of Cleves for what he did. This gratitude 
 lent to her answer a certain gentleness, which 
 was quite sufficient to feed the hope of a 
 man as much in love as he was, and he 
 counted on attaining at least a part of what 
 he desired. 
 
 Mademoiselle repeated this conversation to 
 her mother, who said that Monsieur de Cleves 
 was of such high birth, possessed so many 
 fine qualities, and seemed so discreet for a 
 man of his age, that if she inclined to marry 
 him she would herself gladly give her consent. 
 Mademoiselle de Chartres replied that she 
 had noticed the same fine qualities, and that 
 she would rather marry him than any one else, 
 but that she had no special love for him. 
 
 The next day the prince had his offer 
 formally made to Madame de Chartres ; she 
 accepted it, being willing to give her daugh- 
 ter a husband she did not love. The mar- 
 riage settlement was drawn up, the king was 
 told of it, and the marriage became known 
 to every one.
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 83 
 
 Monsieur de Cleves was very happy, 
 although not perfectly satisfied ; it gave him 
 much pain to see that what Mademoiselle de 
 Chartres felt for him was only esteem and 
 gratitude, and he could not flatter himself 
 that she nourished any warmer feeling; for 
 had she done so, she would have readily 
 shown it in their closer intimacy. Within a 
 few days he complained to her of this. 
 
 " Is it possible," he said, " that I may 
 not be happy in my marriage ? Yet as- 
 suredly I am not happy. You have a sort 
 of kindly feeling for me which cannot satisfy 
 me; you are not impatient, uneasy, or 
 grieved : you are as indifferent to my love 
 as if this were given to your purse, and not 
 to your charms." 
 
 " You do wrong to complain," she re- 
 plied. " I do not know what more you 
 can ask; it seems to me that you have no 
 right to demand anything more." 
 
 "It is true," he said, "that you have a 
 certain air with which I should be satisfied
 
 84 The Princess of Cloves. 
 
 if there were anything behind it; but in- 
 stead of your being restrained by a sense of 
 propriety, it is a sense of propriety which 
 inspires your actions. I do not touch your 
 feelings or your heart; my presence causes 
 you neither pleasure nor pain." 
 
 " You cannot doubt," she made answer, 
 " that I am glad to see you, and I blush 
 so often when I do see you that you may be 
 sure that the sight of you affects me." 
 
 " I am not deceived by your blushes," he 
 urged; "they come from modesty, and not 
 from any thrill of your heart, and I do not 
 exaggerate their importance." 
 
 Mademoiselle de Chartres did not know 
 what to answer ; these distinctions were out- 
 side of her experience. Monsieur de Cleves 
 saw only too well how far removed she was 
 from feeling for him as he should have liked, 
 when he saw that she had no idea of what 
 that feeling was. 
 
 The Chevalier de Guise returned from a 
 journey a few days before the wedding.
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 85 
 
 He had seen so many insurmountable ob- 
 obstacles in the way of his marrying 
 Mademoiselle de Chartres that he knew he 
 had no chance of success ; yet he was evi- 
 dently distressed at seeing her become the 
 wife of another. This grief did not ex- 
 tinguish his passion, and he remained quite 
 as much in love as before. Mademoiselle 
 de Chartres had not been ignorant of his de- 
 votion. On his return he let her know that 
 she was the cause of the deep gloom that 
 marked his face ; and he had so much merit 
 and charm that it was almost impossible to 
 make him unhappy without regretting it. 
 Hence she was depressed ; but this pity went 
 no further, and she told her mother how 
 much pain this prince's love caused her. 
 
 Madame de Chartres admired her daugh- 
 ter's frankness, and with good reason, for it 
 could not be fuller or simpler; she regretted, 
 however, that her heart was not touched, es- 
 pecially when she saw that the prince had 
 not affected it any more than the others.
 
 86 The Princess of Cloves. 
 
 Hence she took great pains to attach her to 
 her future husband, and to impress upon her 
 what she owed him for the interest he had 
 taken in her before he knew who she was, 
 and for the proof he had given of his love 
 in choosing her at a time when no one 
 else ventured to think of her. 
 
 The marriage ceremony took place at the 
 Louvre, and in the evening the king and 
 queen, with all the court, supped at the 
 house of Madame de Chartres, who received 
 them with great splendor. The Chevalier de 
 Guise did not venture to make himself con- 
 spicuous by staying away, but his dejection 
 was evident. 
 
 Monsieur de Cleves did not find that Made- 
 moiselle de Chartres had altered her feelings 
 when she changed her name. His position as 
 her husband gave him greater privileges, but 
 no different place in her heart. Though he 
 had married her, he did not cease to be her 
 lover, because there was always left some- 
 thing for him to desire; and though she
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 87 
 
 lived on the best of terms with him, he was 
 not yet perfectly happy. He preserved for 
 her a violent and restless passion, which 
 marred his joy. Jealousy had no part in it, 
 for never had a husband been further from 
 feeling it, or a wife from inspiring it. Yet 
 she was exposed to all the temptations of the 
 court, visiting the queen and the king's 
 sister every day. All the young and fashion- 
 able men met her at her own house and at 
 that of her brother-in-law, the Duke of 
 Nevers, whose doors were always open ; but 
 she always had an air that inspired respect, 
 and seemed so remote from gallantry that the 
 Marshal of Saint-Andre", though bold and 
 protected by the king's favor, was touched 
 by her beauty without venturing to show it 
 except by delicate attentions. There were 
 many others who felt as did the marshal; 
 and Madame de Chartres added to her 
 daughter's natural modesty such a keen 
 sense of propriety that she made her seem 
 like a woman to be sighed for in vain.
 
 88 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 The Duchess of Lorraine, while trying to 
 bring about peace, had also tried to arrange 
 the marriage of her son, the Duke of Lorraine, 
 and had succeeded ; he was to marry Madame 
 Claude of France, the king's second daugh- 
 ter. The wedding had been settled for the 
 month of February. 
 
 Meanwhile the Duke of Nemours had 
 remained at Brussels, completely taken up 
 with his plans for England. He was always 
 sending and receiving messengers. His hopes 
 grew from day to day, and at last Lignerolles 
 told him that it was time for him to appear 
 and finish in person what had been so well 
 begun. He received this news with all the 
 satisfaction that an ambitious man can feel 
 at seeing himself raised to a throne simply 
 through his reputation. He had gradually 
 grown so accustomed to the contemplation 
 of this great piece of good fortune that 
 whereas at first he had regarded it as an im- 
 possibility, all difficulties had vanished, and 
 he foresaw no obstacles.
 
 The Princess of Cteves. 89 
 
 He at once despatched to Paris orders for 
 a magnificent outfit, that he might make his 
 appearance in England with a splendor pro- 
 portionate to his designs, and also hastened 
 to court to be present at the wedding of the 
 Duke of Lorraine. He arrived the day be- 
 fore the formal betrothal, and that same 
 evening went to report to the king the con- 
 dition of affairs and to receive his advice and 
 commands about his future conduct. Thence 
 he went to pay his respects to the queens. 
 Madame de Cleves was not there, so that she 
 did not see him, and was not even aware of 
 his arrival. She had heard every one speak 
 of this prince as the handsomest and most 
 agreeable man at court, and Madame the 
 Dauphiness had spoken of him so often and 
 in such terms that she felt some curiosity to 
 see him. 
 
 Madame de Cleves spent the day of the 
 betrothal at home dressing herself for the 
 ball in the evening at the Louvre. When she 
 made her appearance, her beauty and the
 
 QO The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 splendor of her dress aroused general admira- 
 tion. The ball opened, and while she was 
 dancing with Monsieur de Guise, there was a 
 certain commotion at the door of the ball- 
 room, as if some one were entering for whom 
 way was being made. Madame de Cleves 
 finished her dance, and while she was looking 
 about for another partner, the king called 
 out to her to take the gentleman who had 
 just arrived. She turned, and saw a man, 
 who she thought must be Monsieur de Ne- 
 mours, stepping over some seats to reach the 
 place where the dancing was going on. No 
 one ever saw this prince for the first time 
 without amazement ; and this evening he was 
 more striking than ever in the rich attire 
 which set off his natural beauty to such 
 great advantage; and it was also hard to 
 see Madame de Cleves for the first time 
 without astonishment. 
 
 Monsieur de Nemours was so amazed by 
 her beauty that when he drew near her and 
 bowed to her he could not conceal his
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 91 
 
 wonder and delight. When they began 
 their dance, a murmur of admiration ran 
 through the ball-room. The king and the 
 queens remembered that the pair had never 
 met, and saw how strange it was that they 
 should be dancing together without being 
 acquainted. They summoned them when 
 they had finished the set, and without 
 giving them a chance to speak to any 
 one, asked if each would not like to know 
 who the other was, and whether either had 
 any idea. 
 
 " As for me, Madame," said Monsieur 
 de Nemours, " I have no doubts; but since 
 Madame de Cleves has not the same reasons 
 for guessing who I am that I have for recog- 
 nizing her, I must beg your Majesty to be 
 good enough to tell her my name." 
 
 " I fancy," said the dauphiness, " that she 
 knows it as well as you know hers." 
 
 " I assure you, Madame," said Madame de 
 Cleves, who seemed a little embarrassed, 
 " that I cannot guess so well as you think."
 
 92 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 " You can guess very well," replied the 
 dauphiness, " and you are very kind to Mon- 
 sieur de Nemours in your unwillingness to 
 acknowledge that you recognize him with- 
 out ever having seen him before." 
 
 The queen interrupted the conversation, 
 that the ball might go on, and Monsieur 
 de Nemours danced with the dauphiness- 
 This lady was a perfect beauty, and had 
 always appeared to be one in the eyes of 
 Monsieur de Nemours before he went to 
 Flanders; but all that evening he admired 
 no one but Madame de Cleves. 
 
 The Chevalier de Guise, who never ceased 
 worshipping her, was standing near, and this 
 incident caused him evident pain. He re- 
 garded it as a sure sign that fate meant that 
 Monsieur de Nemours should fall in love with 
 Madame de Cleves ; and whether it was that 
 he saw something in her face, or that jealousy 
 sharpened his fears, he believed that she had 
 been moved by the sight of this prince, and 
 he could not keep from telling her that Mon-
 
 The Princess of C lives. 93 
 
 sieur de Nemours was very fortunate in 
 making her acquaintance in such a gallant 
 and unusual way. 
 
 Madame de Cleves went home so full of 
 what had happened at the ball that though 
 it was very late, she went to her mother's 
 room to tell her about it; and she praised 
 Monsieur de Nemours with a certain air that 
 made Madame de Chartres entertain the same 
 suspicion as the Chevalier de Guise. 
 
 The next day the wedding took place; 
 Madame de Cleves there saw the Duke of 
 Nemours, and was even more struck by his 
 admirable grace and dignity than before. 
 
 On succeeding days she met him at the 
 drawing-room of the dauphiness, saw him 
 playing tennis with the king and riding 
 at the ring, and heard him talk; and she 
 always found him so superior to every one 
 else, and so much outshining all in conversa- 
 tion wherever he might be, by the grace of 
 his person and the charm of his wit, that he 
 soon made a deep impression on her heart.
 
 94 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 Then, too, the desire to please made the 
 Duke of Nemours, who was already deeply 
 interested, more charming than ever; and 
 since they met often, and found each other 
 more attractive than any one else at court, 
 they naturally experienced great delight in 
 being together. 
 
 The Duchess of Valentinois took part in 
 all the merry-making, and the king showed 
 her all the interest and attention that he had 
 done when first in love with her. Madame 
 de Cleves, who was then of an age at which 
 it is usual to believe that no woman can 
 ever be loved after she is twenty-five years 
 old, regarded with great amazement the 
 king's attachment to this duchess, who was 
 a grandmother and had just married her 
 granddaughter. She often spoke of it to 
 Madame de Chartres. " Is it possible," 
 she asked, " that the king has been in love 
 so long? How could he get interested in 
 a woman much older than himself, and 
 who had been his father's mistress, as well
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 95 
 
 as that of a great many other men, as I 
 have heard? " 
 
 " It is true," was the answer, " that neither 
 merit nor fidelity inspired the king's passion, 
 or has kept it alive. And this is something 
 which is scarcely to be excused; for had 
 this woman had youth and beauty as well as 
 rank, had she loved no one else, had she 
 loved the king with untiring constancy, for 
 himself alone, and not solely for his wealth 
 and position, and had she used her power for 
 worthy objects such as the king desired, it 
 would have been easy to admire his great 
 devotion to her. If," Madame de Chartres 
 went on, " I were not afraid that you would 
 say of me what is always said of women of 
 my age, that we like to talk about old times, 
 I would tell you the beginning of the king's 
 love for this duchess ; and many things that 
 happened at the court of the late king bear 
 much resemblance to what is now going on." 
 
 " So far from accusing you of repeating old 
 stories," said Madame de Cleves, " I regret
 
 96 The Princess of Cllves. 
 
 that you have told me so little about the 
 present, and that you have not taught me the 
 different interests and intrigues of the court. 
 I am so ignorant of them that a few days 
 ago I thought the constable was on the best 
 of terms with the queen." 
 
 " You were very far from the truth," re- 
 plied Madame de Chartres. " The queen 
 hates the constable, and if she ever gets 
 any power he will learn it very quickly. She 
 knows that he has often told the king that 
 of all his children it is only his bastards who 
 look like him." 
 
 " I should never have imagined this hatred," 
 interrupted Madame de Cleves, " after seeing 
 the zeal with which the queen wrote to the 
 constable when he was in prison, the joy she 
 manifested at his return, and the familiarity 
 of her address as regards him." 
 
 " If you judge from appearances here," re- 
 plied Madame de Chartres, " you will be 
 often mistaken ; what appears is seldom the 
 truth.
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 97 
 
 " But to return to Madame de Valentinois : 
 you know her name is Diane de Poitiers. 
 She is of illustrious family, being descended 
 from the old dukes of Aquitaine ; her grand- 
 mother was a natural daughter of Louis XL, 
 in short, there is no common blood in her 
 veins. Saint-Vallier, her father, was impli- 
 cated in the affair of the Constable of Bour- 
 bon, of which you have heard, was condemned 
 to be beheaded, and was led to the scaffold. 
 His daughter, who was remarkably beauti- 
 ful, and had already pleased the late king, 
 managed, I don't know how, to save her 
 father's life. His pardon was granted him 
 when he was expecting the mortal stroke ; 
 but fear had so possessed him that he did 
 not recover consciousness, but died a few days 
 later. His daughter made her appearance 
 at court as the king's mistress. His journey 
 to Italy and his imprisonment interrupted 
 this passion. When he returned from Spain 
 and Madame Regente went to meet him at 
 Bayonne, she had with her all her young 
 
 VOL. I. 7
 
 98 The Princess of Cloves. 
 
 women, among whom was Mademoiselle de 
 Pisseleu, afterwards Duchess of Estampes. 
 The king fell in love with her, though she was 
 inferior in birth, beauty, and intelligence to 
 Madame de Valentinois : the only advantage 
 she had was that she was younger. I have 
 often heard her say that she was born on 
 the day that Diane de Potiers was married ; 
 but that remark was more malicious than 
 truthful, for I am much mistaken if the 
 Duchess of Valentinois did not marry Mon- 
 sieur de Breze, grand seneschal of Normandy, 
 at the same time that the king fell in love 
 with Madame d'Estampes. Never was there 
 fiercer hatred than existed between those 
 two women. The Duchess of Valentinois 
 could not forgive Madame d'Estampes for 
 depriving her of the title of the king's 
 mistress. Madame d'Estampes was madly 
 jealous of Madame de Valentinois because 
 the king maintained his relations with her. 
 This king was never rigorously faithful to 
 his mistresses; there was always one who
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 99 
 
 had the title and the honors, but the ladies 
 of what was called the little band shared his 
 attentions. The death of his oldest son, it 
 was supposed by poison, at Tournon, was a 
 great blow to him. He had much less love 
 for his second son, the present king, who was 
 in every way far less to his taste, and whom he 
 even regarded as lacking courage and spirit. 
 He was lamenting this one day to Madame 
 de Valentinois, whereupon she said she would 
 like to make him fall in love with her, that he 
 might become livelier and more agreeable. 
 She succeeded, as you know. This love 
 has lasted more than twenty years, without 
 being dimmed by time or circumstances. 
 
 "At first the late king oLjected to it, 
 whether because he was still enough in love 
 with Madame de Valentinois to feel jealous, 
 or because he was influenced by Madame 
 d'Estampes, who was in despair when the dau- 
 phin became attached to her enemy, is uncer- 
 tain ; however that may be, he viewed this 
 passion with an anger and a disapproval that
 
 ioo The Princess of Cloves. 
 
 were apparent every day. His son feared 
 neither his wrath nor his hate ; and since noth- 
 ing could induce him to abate or to conceal 
 his attachment, the king was forced to endure 
 it as best he could. His son's opposition to 
 his wishes estranged him still more, and at- 
 tached him more closely to the Duke of 
 Orleans, his third son. This prince was 
 handsome, energetic, ambitious, of a some- 
 what tempestuous nature, which needed to 
 be controlled, but who in time would be- 
 come a really fine man. 
 
 " The elder son's rank as dauphin and the 
 father's preference for the Duke of Orleans 
 inspired a rivalry between them which 
 amounted to hatred. This rivalry had be- 
 gun in their childhood, and lasted until the 
 death of the latter. When the emperor 
 entered French territory he gave his whole 
 preference to the Duke of Orleans. This so 
 pained the dauphin that when the emperor 
 was at Chantilly he tried to compel the con- 
 stable to arrest him, without waiting for the
 
 The Princess of C lives. 101 
 
 king's orders; but the constable refused. 
 Afterward the king blamed him for not 
 following his son's advice; and this had a 
 good deal to do with his leaving the court. 
 
 " The division between the two brothers in- 
 duced the Duchess of Estampes to rely on 
 the Duke of Orleans for protection against 
 the influence which Madame de Valentinois 
 had over the king. In this she succeeded ; 
 the duke, without falling in love with her, 
 was as warm in defence of her interests as 
 was the dauphin in defence of those of 
 Madame de Valentinois. Hence there were 
 two cabals in the court such as you can 
 imagine; but the intrigues were not limited 
 to two women's quarrels. 
 
 " The emperor, who had maintained his 
 friendship for the Duke of Orleans, had fre- 
 quently offered him the duchy of Milan. 
 In the subsequent negotiations about peace, 
 he raised hopes in the breast of the duke 
 that he would give him the seventeen prov- 
 inces and his daughter's hand. The dau-
 
 IO2 The Princess of Cteves. 
 
 phin, however, desired neither peace nor 
 this marriage. He made use of the con- 
 stable, whom he has always loved, to con- 
 vince the king how important t was not to 
 give to his successor a brother so powerful 
 as would be the Duke of Orleans in alliance 
 with the emperor and governing the seven- 
 teen provinces. The constable agreed the 
 more heartily with the dauphin's views 
 because he also opposed those of Madame 
 d'Estampes, who was his avowed enemy, and 
 ardently desired that the power of the Duke 
 of Orleans should be increased. 
 
 " At that time the dauphin was in com- 
 mand of the king's army in Champagne, and 
 had reduced that of the emperor to such 
 extremities that it would have utterly per- 
 ished had not the Duchess of Estampes, 
 fearing that too great success would pre- 
 vent our granting peace and consenting 
 to the marriage, secretly sent word to the 
 enemy to surprise Epernay and Chateau- 
 Thierry, which were full of supplies. This
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 103 
 
 they did, and thereby saved their whole 
 army. 
 
 " This duchess did not long profit by 
 her treason. Soon afterward the Duke of 
 Orleans died at Farmoutier of some conta- 
 gious disease. He loved one of the most 
 beautiful women of the court, and was be- 
 loved by her. I shall not tell you who it 
 was, because her life since that time has been 
 most decorous ; and she has tried so hard to 
 have her affection for the prince forgotten 
 that she deserves to have her reputation left 
 untarnished. It so happened that she heard 
 of her husband's death on the same day that 
 she heard of that of Monsieur d'Orleans; 
 consequently she was able to conceal her 
 real grief without an effort. 
 
 " The king did not long survive his 
 son's decease, he died two years later. He 
 urged the dauphin to make use of the ser- 
 vices of the Cardinal of Tournon and of the 
 Amiral d'Annebauld, without saying a word 
 about the constable, who at that time was
 
 IO4 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 banished to Chantilly. Nevertheless, the 
 first thing the present king did after his 
 father's death was to call the constable 
 back and intrust him with the management 
 of affairs. 
 
 " Madame d'Estampes was sent away, and 
 became the victim of all the ill-treatment she 
 might have expected from an all-powerful 
 enemy. The Duchess of Valentinois took 
 full vengeance on this duchess and on all who 
 had displeased her. Her power over the king 
 seemed the greater because it had not ap- 
 peared while he was dauphin. During the 
 twelve years of his reign she has been in 
 everything absolute mistress. She disposes 
 of places and controls affairs of every sort ; 
 she secured the dismissal of the Cardinal of 
 Tournon, of the Chancelier Olivier, and of 
 Villeroy. Those who have endeavored to 
 open the king's eyes to her conduct have 
 been ruined for their pains. The Count of 
 Taix, commander-in-chief of the artillery, 
 who did not like her, could not keep from
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 105 
 
 talking about her love affairs, and especially 
 about one with the Count of Brissac, of 
 whom the king was already very jealous. 
 Yet she managed so well that the Count 
 of Taix was disgraced and deprived of his 
 position ; and impossible as it may sound, he 
 was succeeded by the Count of Brissac, whom 
 she afterward made a marshal of France. 
 Still, the king's jealousy became so violent 
 that he could not endure having this marshal 
 remain at court; but though usually jeal- 
 ousy is a hot and violent passion, it is modi- 
 fied and tempered in him by his extreme re- 
 spect for his mistress, so that the only means 
 he ventured to use to rid himself of his rival 
 was by intrusting to him the government of 
 Piedmont. There he has spent several years ; 
 last winter, however, he returned, under the 
 pretext of asking for men and supplies for 
 the army under his command. Possibly 
 the desire of seeing Madame de Valentinois 
 and dread of being forgotten had something 
 to do with this journey. The king received
 
 io(5 The Princess of Cteves, 
 
 him very coldly. The Guises, who do not 
 like him, did not dare betray their feelings, 
 on account of Madame de Valentinois, so 
 they made use of the Vidame, his open 
 enemy, to prevent his getting any of the 
 things he wanted. It was not hard to injure 
 him. The king hated him, and was made 
 uneasy by his presence ; consequently he 
 was obliged to go back without getting 
 any advantage from his journey, unless, 
 possibly, he had rekindled in the heart of 
 Madame de Valentinois feelings which ab- 
 sence had nearly extinguished. The king 
 has had many other grounds for jealousy, 
 but either he has not known them, or he 
 has not dared to complain. 
 
 " I am not sure, my dear," added Madame 
 de Chartres, " that you may not think I have 
 told you more than you cared to hear." 
 
 " Not at all," answered Madame de Cleves ; 
 " and if I were not afraid of tiring you, I 
 should ask you many more questions." 
 
 Monsieur de Nemours' love for Madame de
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 107 
 
 Cleves was at first so violent that he lost all 
 interest in those he had formerly loved, and 
 with whom he had kept up relations during 
 his absence. He not merely did not seek 
 any excuses for deserting them, he would not 
 even listen to their complaints or reply to 
 their reproaches. The dauphiness, for whom 
 he had nourished very warm feelings, was 
 soon forgotten by the side of Madame de 
 Cleves. His impatience for his journey to 
 England began to abate, and he ceased to 
 hasten his preparations for departure. He 
 often visited the crown princess, because 
 Madame de Cleves was frequently in her 
 apartments, and he was not unwilling to give 
 some justification to the widespread suspi- 
 cions about his feelings for the dauphiness. 
 Madame de Cleves seemed to him so rare 
 a prize that he decided to conceal all signs 
 of his love rather than let it be generally 
 known. He never spoke of it even to his 
 intimate friend the Vidame de Chartres, to 
 whom he usually confided everything. He
 
 jo8 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 was so cautious and discreet that no one 
 suspected his love for Madame de Cleves 
 except the Chevalier de Guise; and the 
 lady herself would scarcely have perceived 
 it had not her own interest in him made 
 her watch him very closely, so that she 
 became sure of it. 
 
 Madame de Cleves did not find herself so 
 disposed to tell her mother what she thought 
 of this prince's feelings as had been the case 
 with her other lovers ; and without definitely 
 deciding on reserve, she yet never spoke of 
 the subject. But Madame de Chartres soon 
 perceived this, as well as her daughter's in- 
 terest in him. This knowledge gave her 
 distinct pain, for she well understood how 
 dangerous it was for Madame de Cleves to 
 be loved by a man like Monsieur de 
 Nemours, especially when she was already 
 disposed to admire him. An incident that 
 happened a few days later confirmed her 
 suspicions of this liking. 
 
 The Marshal of Saint-Andre, who was
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 109 
 
 always on the look-out for opportunities to 
 display his magnificence, made a pretext of. 
 desiring to show his house, which had just 
 been finished, and invited the king to do 
 him the honor of supping there with the 
 queens. The marshal was also glad to be 
 able to show to Madame de Cleves his lavish 
 splendor. 
 
 A few days before the one of the supper, 
 the dauphin, whose health was delicate, had 
 been ailing and had seen no one. His wife, 
 the crown princess, had spent the whole 
 day with him, and toward evening, as he 
 felt better, he received all the persons of 
 quality who were in his ante-chamber. The 
 crown princess went to her own apartment, 
 where she found Madame de Cleves and a 
 few other ladies with whom she was most 
 intimate. 
 
 Since it was already late, and the crown 
 princess was not dressed, she did not go to 
 the queen, but sent word she could not 
 come ; she then had her jewels brought, to
 
 no The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 decide what she should wear at the Marshal 
 of Saint- Andre's ball, and to give some, ac- 
 cording to a promise she had made, to 
 Madame de Cleves. While they were thus 
 occupied, the Prince of Conde, whose rank 
 gave him free admission everywhere, en- 
 tered. The crown princess said to him that 
 he doubtless came from her husband, and 
 asked what was going on in his apartments. 
 
 " They are having a discussion, Madame, 
 with Monsieur de Nemours," he answered. 
 " He defends the side he has taken so eagerly 
 that he must have a personal interest in it. 
 I fancy he has a mistress who makes him 
 uneasy when she goes to a ball, for he main- 
 tains that it makes a lover unhappy to see 
 the woman he loves at such a place." 
 
 "What! " said the dauphiness, "Monsieur 
 de Nemours does not want his mistress to 
 go to a ball? I thought husbands might 
 object, but I never supposed that lovers 
 could have such a feeling." 
 
 " Monsieur de Nemours," replied the Prince
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 1 1 1 
 
 of Conde, " declares that a ball is most distress- 
 ing to lovers, whether they are loved or not. 
 He says if their love is returned, they have 
 the pain of being loved less for several days ; 
 that there is not a woman in the world who 
 is not prevented from thinking of her lover 
 by the demands of her toilet, which entirely 
 engrosses her attention ; that women dress 
 for every one as well as for those they love ; 
 that when they are at the ball they are anx- 
 ious to please all who look at them ; that 
 when they are proud of their beauty, they 
 feel a pleasure in which the lover plays but 
 a small part. He says, too, that one who 
 sighs in vain suffers even more when he sees 
 his mistress at an entertainment; that the 
 more she is admired by the public, the more 
 one suffers at not being loved, through fear 
 lest her beauty should kindle some love hap- 
 pier than his own ; finally, that there is no 
 pain so keen as seeing one's mistress at a 
 ball, except knowing that she is there while 
 absent one's self."
 
 H2 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 Madame de Cleves, though pretending not 
 to hear what the Prince of Conde was say- 
 ing, listened attentively. She readily under- 
 stood her share in the opinion expressed by 
 Monsieur de Nemours, especially when he 
 spoke of his grief at not being at the ball 
 with his mistress, because he was not to be 
 at that given by the Marshal of Saint-Andre, 
 being ordered by the king to go to meet 
 the Duke of Ferrara. 
 
 The crown princess laughed with the 
 Prince of Conde, and expressed her disap- 
 proval of the views of Monsieur de Nemours. 
 " There is only one condition, Madame," 
 said the prince, " on which Monsieur de 
 Nemours is willing that his mistress should 
 go to a ball, and that is that he himself 
 should give her permission. He said that 
 last year when he gave a ball to your Ma- 
 jesty, he thought that his mistress did him 
 a great favor in coming to it, though she 
 seemed to be there only as one of your suite ; 
 that it is always a kindness to a lover to take
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 113 
 
 part in any entertainment that he gives ; and 
 that it is also agreeable to a lover to have 
 his mistress see him the host of the whole 
 court and doing the honors fittingly." 
 
 " Monsieur de Nemours did well," said the 
 dauphiness, with a smile, " to let his mistress 
 go to that ball ; for so many women claimed 
 that position that if they had not come, there 
 would have been scarcely any one there." 
 
 As soon as the Prince of Cond6 had begun 
 to speak of what Monsieur de Nemours 
 thought of the ball, Madame de Cleves 
 was very anxious not to go to that of the 
 Marshal of Saint-Andre. She readily agreed 
 that it was not fitting for a woman to go to 
 the house of a man who was in love with her, 
 and she was glad to have so good a reason 
 for doing a kindness to Monsieur de 
 Nemours. Nevertheless, she took away the 
 jewels which the crown princess had given 
 her; that evening, however, when she showed 
 them to her mother, she told her that she did 
 not mean to wear them, that the Marshal of 
 
 VOL. I. S
 
 ii4 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 Saint- Andr had made his love for her so 
 manifest that she felt sure he meant to have 
 it thought that she was to have some part in 
 the entertainment he was to give to the king, 
 and that under the pretext of doing honor 
 to the king he would pay her attentions 
 which might perhaps prove embarrassing. 
 
 Madame de Chartres argued for some time 
 against her daughter's decision, which she 
 thought singular, but at last yielded, and 
 told her she must pretend to be ill, in order 
 to have a good excuse for not going, because 
 her real reasons would not be approved and 
 should not be suspected. Madame de Cleves 
 gladly consented to stay at home for a few 
 days, in order not to meet Monsieur de 
 Nemours, who left without having the pleas- 
 ure of knowing that she was not going to 
 the ball. 
 
 The duke returned the day after the ball, 
 and heard that she had not been there ; but 
 inasmuch as he did not know that his talk 
 with the dauphin had been repeated to her.
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 115 
 
 he was far from thinking that he was for- 
 tunate enough to be the cause of her 
 absence. 
 
 The next day, when Monsieur de Nemours 
 was calling on the queen and talking with 
 the dauphiness, Madame de Chartres and 
 Madame de Cleves happened to come in 
 and approached this princess. Madame de 
 Cleves was not in full dress, as if she were 
 not very well, though her countenance be- 
 lied her attire. 
 
 " You look so well," said the crown prin- 
 cess, " that I can scarcely believe that you 
 have been ill. I fancy that the Prince of 
 Conde, when he told you what Monsieur de 
 Nemours thought about the ball, convinced 
 you that you would do a kindness to the 
 Marshal of Saint-Andre by going to his ball, 
 and that that was the reason you stayed 
 away." 
 
 Madame de Cleves blushed at the dau- 
 phiness's accurate guess which she thus ex- 
 pressed before Monsieur de Nemours.
 
 n6 The Princess of Clevcs. 
 
 Madame de Chartres saw at once why her 
 daughter did not go to the ball, and in order 
 to throw Monsieur de Nemours off the track, 
 she at once addressed the dauphiness with an 
 air of sincerity. "I assure you, Madame," 
 she said, "that your Majesty pays an honor 
 to my daughter which she does not deserve. 
 She was really ill ; but I am sure that if I 
 had not forbidden it, she would have accom- 
 panied you, unfit as she was, to have the 
 pleasure of seeing the wonderful entertain- 
 ment last evening." 
 
 The dauphiness believed what Madame 
 de Chartres said, and Monsieur de Nemours 
 was vexed to see how probable her story 
 was ; nevertheless, the confusion of Madame 
 de Cleves made him suspect that the 
 dauphiness's conjecture was not without 
 some foundation in fact. At first Madame 
 de Cleves had been annoyed because Mon- 
 sieur de Nemours had reason to suppose 
 that it was he who had kept her from go- 
 ing to the b^ll, and then she felt regret
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 1 1 7 
 
 that her mother had entirely removed the 
 grounds for this supposition. 
 
 Although the attempt to make peace at 
 Cercamp had failed, negotiations still con- 
 tinued, and matters had assumed such a 
 shape that toward the end of February a 
 meeting was held at Cateau-Cambresis. The 
 same commissioners had assembled there, 
 and the departure of the Marshal of Saint- 
 Andr6 freed Monsieur de Nemours from a 
 rival who was more to be dreaded on ac- 
 count of his close observation of all those 
 who approached Madame de Cleves than 
 from any real success of his own. 
 
 Madame de Chartres did not wish to let 
 her daughter see that she knew her feeling 
 for this prince, lest she should make her 
 suspicious of the advice she wanted to give 
 her. One day she began to talk about him. 
 She spoke of him in warm terms, but craftily 
 praised his discretion in being unable to fall 
 really in love and in seeking only pleasure, 
 not a serious attachment, in his relations with
 
 n8 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 women. " To be sure," she went on, " he has 
 been suspected of a great passion for the 
 dauphiness; I notice that he visits her very 
 often, and I advise you to avoid talking with 
 him as much as possible, especially in priv- 
 ate, because you are on such terms with the 
 crown princess that people would say that 
 you were their confidant, and you know how 
 disagreeable that would be. I think that if 
 the report continues, you would do well to 
 see less of the crown princess, that you may 
 not be connected with love-affairs of that 
 sort." 
 
 Madame de Cleves had never heard Mon- 
 sieur de Nemours and the dauphiness talked 
 about, and was much surprised by what her 
 mother said. She was so sure that she had 
 misunderstood the prince's feelings for her 
 that she changed color. Madame de Char- 
 tres noticed this, but company coming in at 
 that moment, Madame de Cleves went home 
 and locked herself up in her room. 
 
 It is impossible to express her grief when
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 119 
 
 her mother's words opened her eyes to the 
 interest she took in Monsieur de Nemours; 
 she had never dared to acknowledge it to 
 herself. Then she saw that her feelings for 
 him were what Monsieur de Cleves had so 
 often supplicated, and she felt the mortifica- 
 tion of having them for another than a hus- 
 band who so well deserved them. She felt 
 hurt and embarrassed, fearing that Mon- 
 sieur de Nemours might have used her as 
 a pretext for seeing the dauphiness; and 
 this thought decided her to tell Madame 
 de Chartres what she had hitherto kept 
 secret. 
 
 The next morning she went to her mother 
 to carry out this decision; but Madame de 
 Chartres was a little feverish, and did not 
 care to talk with her. The illness seemed 
 so slight, however, that Madame de Cleves 
 called on the dauphiness after dinner, and 
 found her in her room with two or three 
 ladies with whom she was on intimate 
 terms.
 
 I2O The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 " We were talking about Monsieur de 
 Nemours," said the queen when she saw 
 her, " and were surprised to see how 
 much he is changed since his return from 
 Brussels; before he went, he had an in- 
 finite number of mistresses, and it was a 
 positive disadvantage to him, because he 
 used to be kind both to those who were 
 worthy and to those who were not. Since 
 his return, however, he will have nothing 
 to do with any of them. There has never 
 been such a change. His spirits, moreover, 
 seem to be affected, as he is much less 
 cheerful than usual." 
 
 Madame de Cleves made no answer; she 
 thought with a sense of shame that she would 
 have taken all that they said about the 
 change in him for a proof of his passion if 
 she had not been undeceived. She was 
 somewhat vexed with the dauphiness for 
 trying to explain and for expressing surprise 
 at something of which she must know the 
 real reason better than any one else. She
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 1 2 1 
 
 could not keep from showing her annoyance, 
 and when the other ladies withdrew, she went 
 up to the crown princess and said in a low 
 voice, 
 
 "Is it for my benefit that you have just 
 spoken, and do you want to hide from me 
 that you are the cause of the altered con- 
 duct of Monsieur de Nemours?" 
 
 " You are unjust," said the crown prin- 
 cess ; " you know that I never keep any- 
 thing from you. It is true that before he 
 went to Brussels, Monsieur de Nemours 
 meant to have me understand that he did 
 not hate me ; but since his return he seems 
 to have forgotten all about it, and I confess 
 that I am a little curious about the reason 
 of this change. I shall probably find it out," 
 she went on, "as the Vidame de Chartres, 
 his intimate friend, is in love with a young 
 woman over whom I have some power, and 
 I shall know from her what has made this 
 change." 
 
 The dauphiness spoke with an air that
 
 122 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 carried conviction to Madame de Cleves, 
 who found herself calmer and happier than 
 she had been before. When she went back 
 to her mother, she found her much worse 
 than when she had left her. She was more 
 feverish, and for some days it seemed as if 
 she were going to be really ill. Madame 
 de Cleves was in great distress, and did 
 not leave her mother's room. Monsieur de 
 Cleves spent nearly all his time there too, 
 both to comfort his wife and to have the 
 pleasure of seeing her: his love had not 
 lessened. 
 
 Monsieur de Nemours, who had always 
 been one of his friends, had not neglected 
 him since his return from Brussels. During 
 the illness of Madame de Chartres he found 
 it possible to see Madame de Cleves very 
 often, under pretence of calling on her hus- 
 band or of stopping to take him to walk. 
 He even sought him at hours when he knew 
 he was not in ; then he would say that he 
 would wait for him, and used to stay in the
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 123 
 
 ante-chamber of Madame de Chartres, where 
 were assembled many persons of quality. 
 Madame de Cleves would often look in, 
 and although she was in great anxiety, she 
 seemed no less beautiful to Monsieur de 
 Nemours. He showed her how much he 
 sympathized with her distress, and soon 
 convinced her that it was not with the dau- 
 phiness that he was in love. 
 
 She could not keep from being embar- 
 rassed, and yet delighted to see him; but 
 when he was out of her sight and she re- 
 membered that this pleasure was the begin- 
 ning of an unhappy passion, she felt she 
 almost hated him, so much did the idea 
 of guilty love pain her. 
 
 Madame de Chartres rapidly grew worse, 
 and soon her life was despaired of; she 
 heard the doctors' opinion of her danger 
 with a courage proportionate to her virtue 
 and piety. After they had left her, she dis- 
 missed all who were present, and sent for 
 Madame de Cleves.
 
 124 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 " We have to part, my daughter," she said, 
 holding out her hand; "and the peril in 
 which you are and the need you have of me, 
 double my pain in leaving you. You have 
 an affection for Monsieur de Nemours ; I do 
 not ask you to confess it, as I am no longer 
 able to make use of your sincerity in order 
 to guide you. It is long since I perceived 
 this affection, but I have been averse to 
 speaking to you about it, lest you should 
 become aware of it yourself. Now you 
 know it only too well. You are on the edge 
 of a precipice : a great effort, a violent strug- 
 gle, alone can save you. Think of what 
 you owe your husband, think of what you 
 owe yourself, and remember that you are in 
 danger of losing that reputation which you 
 have acquired and which I have so ardently 
 desired for you. Take strength and courage, 
 my daughter: withdraw from the court; 
 compel your husband to take you away. Do 
 not be afraid of making a difficult decision. 
 Terrible as it may appear at first, it will in
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 125 
 
 the end be pleasanter than the consequences 
 of a love-affair. If any other reasons than 
 virtue and duty can persuade you to what 
 I wish, let me say that if anything is capable 
 of destroying the happiness I hope for in 
 another world, it would be seeing you fall 
 like so many women ; but if this misfortune 
 must come to you, I welcome death that I 
 may not see it." 
 
 Madame de Cleves's tears fell on her 
 mother's hand, which she held clasped in 
 her own, and Madame de Chartres saw that 
 she was moved. " Good-by, my daughter," 
 she said ; " let us put an end to a conversa- 
 tion which moves us both too deeply, and 
 remember, if you can, all I have just said 
 to you." 
 
 With these words she turned away and 
 bade her daughter call her women, without 
 hearing or saying more. Madame de Cleves 
 left her mother's room in a state that may be 
 imagined, and Madame de Chartres thought
 
 126 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 of nothing but preparing herself for death. 
 She lingered two days more, but refused 
 again to see her daughter, the only per- 
 son she loved. 
 
 Madame de Cleves was in sore distress ; 
 her husband never left her side, and as soon 
 as Madame de Chartres had died, he took 
 her into the country, to get her away from 
 a place which continually renewed her grief, 
 which was intense. Although her love and 
 gratitude to her mother counted for a great 
 deal, the need she felt of her support against 
 Monsieur de Nemours made the blow even 
 more painful. She lamented being left to 
 herself when she had her emotions so little 
 under control, and when she so needed some 
 one to pity her and give her strength. Her 
 husband's kindness made her wish more 
 than ever to be always true to him. She 
 showed him more affection and kindli- 
 ness than she had ever done before, and 
 she wanted him always by her side; for it
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 127 
 
 seemed to her that her attachment to him 
 would prove a defence against Monsieur de 
 Nemours. 
 
 This prince went to visit Monsieur de 
 Cleves in the country, and did his best to 
 see Madame de Cleves; but she declined 
 to receive him, knowing that she could 
 not fail to find him charming. Moreover, 
 she resolutely determined to avoid every 
 occasion of meeting him, so far as she was 
 able. 
 
 Monsieur de Cleves repaired to Paris to 
 pay his respects at court, promising his wife 
 to return the next day; but he did not 
 return till the day after. 
 
 " I expected you all day yesterday," 
 Madame de Cleves said to him when he ar- 
 rived, " and I ought to find fault with you 
 for not returning when you promised. You 
 know that if I could feel a new sorrow in the 
 state I am in, it would be at the death of 
 Madame de Tournon, of which I heard this
 
 128 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 morning. I should have been distressed by 
 it even if I had not known her. It is always 
 painful when a young and beautiful woman 
 like her dies after an illness of only two 
 days, and much more so when it is one 
 of the persons I liked best in the world, 
 and who seemed as modest as she was 
 worthy." 
 
 " I was sorry not to return yesterday," 
 answered Monsieur de Cleves ; " but it was 
 so imperatively necessary that I should 
 console an unhappy man that I could 
 not possibly leave him. As for Madame 
 de Tournon, I advise you not to be too 
 profoundly distressed, if you mourn her as 
 an upright woman who deserved your 
 esteem." 
 
 " You surprise me," said Madame de 
 Cleves, " as I have often heard you say that 
 there was no woman at court whom you 
 esteemed more highly." 
 
 " That is true," he answered ; " but women
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 129 
 
 are incomprehensible, and the more I see of 
 them, the happier I feel that I have married 
 you, and I cannot be sufficiently grateful for 
 my good fortune." 
 
 " You think better of me than I deserve," 
 exclaimed Madame de Cleves, with a sigh, 
 " and it is much too soon to think me 
 worthy of you. But tell me, please, what 
 has undeceived you about Madame de 
 Tournon." 
 
 " I have long been undeceived in re- 
 gard to her," he replied, " and have long 
 known that she loved the Count of San- 
 cerre, to whom she held out hopes that she 
 would marry him." 
 
 " I can scarcely believe," interrupted 
 Madame de Cleves, " that Madame de Tour- 
 non, after the extraordinary reluctance to 
 matrimony which she showed after she be- 
 came a widow, and after her public assertions 
 that she would never marry again, should 
 have given Sancerre any hopes." 
 
 VOL. I. 9
 
 130 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 " If she had given them only to him," 
 replied Monsieur de Cleves, "there would 
 be little occasion for surprise ; but what is 
 astounding is that she also gave them to 
 Estouteville at the same time, and I will 
 tell you the whole story."
 
 PART II. 
 
 " "\7"OU know," Monsieur de Cleves con- 
 tinued, " what good friends Sancerre 
 and I are ; yet when, about two years ago, 
 he fell in love with Madame de Tournon, 
 he took great pains to conceal it from me, 
 as well as from every one else, and I was 
 far from suspecting it. Madame de Tour- 
 non appeared still inconsolable for her hus- 
 band's death, and was still living in the most 
 absolute retirement. Sancerre's sister was
 
 132 The Princess of Cfeves. 
 
 almost the only person she saw, and it was at 
 her house that the count fell in love with her. 
 
 " One evening when there was to be a play 
 at the Louvre, and while they were waiting 
 for the king and Madame de Valentinois in 
 order to begin, word was brought that she 
 was ill and that the king would not come. 
 Every one guessed that the duchess's illness 
 was some quarrel with the king. We knew 
 how jealous he had been of the Marshal of 
 Brissac during his stay at court; but the 
 marshal had gone back to Piedmont a few 
 days before, and we could not imagine the 
 cause of this falling-out. 
 
 " While I was talking about it with San- 
 cerre, Monsieur d'Anville came into the hall 
 and whispered to me that the king was in 
 a state of distress and anger most piteous to 
 see ; that when he and Madame de Valenti- 
 nois were reconciled a few days before, after 
 their quarrels about the Marshal of Brissac, 
 the king had given her a ring and asked her 
 to wear it. While she was dressing for the 
 play, he had noticed its absence, and had
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 133 
 
 asked her the reason. She seemed sur- 
 prised to miss it, and asked her women for 
 it; but they, unfortunately, perhaps because 
 tly had not been put on their guard, said 
 that it was some four or five days since 
 they had seen it. 
 
 " ' That exactly corresponded with the date 
 of the Marshal of Brissac's departure,' Mon- 
 sieur d'Anville went on ; ' and the king is con- 
 vinced that she gave him the ring when she 
 bade him good-by. This thought has so 
 aroused all his jealousy, which was by no 
 means wholly extinguished, that, contrary to 
 his usual custom, he flew into a rage and re- 
 proached her bitterly. He has gone back to 
 his room in great distress, whether because he 
 thinks that Madame de Valentinois has given 
 away his ring, or because he fears that he has 
 displeased her by his wrath, I do not know." 
 
 " As soon as Monsieur d'Anville had 
 finished, I went up to Sancerre to tell him 
 the news, assuring him that it was a secret 
 that had just been told me, and was to go no 
 farther.
 
 134 The Princess of Cloves. 
 
 "The next morning I called rather early 
 on my sister-in-law, and found Madame de 
 Tournon there. She did not like Madame 
 de Valentinois, and knew very well that t.^<- 
 sister-in-lawalso had no reason for being fond 
 of her. Sancerre had seen her when he left 
 the play, and had told her about the king's 
 quarrel with the duchess ; this she had come 
 to repeat to my sister-in-law, either not know- 
 ing or not remembering that it was I who 
 had told her lover. 
 
 " When I came in, my sister-in-law said to 
 Madame de Tournon that I could be trusted 
 with what she had just told her, and with- 
 out waiting for permission she repeated to 
 me word for word everything I had told 
 Sancerre the previous evening. You will un- 
 derstand my surprise. I looked at Madame 
 de Tournon, who seemed embarrassed, and 
 her embarrassment aroused my suspicions. 
 I had mentioned the matter to no one but 
 Sancerre, who had left me after the play, 
 without saying where he was going; but
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 135 
 
 I remembered hearing him praise Madame 
 de Tournon very warmly. All these things 
 opened my eyes, and I soon decided that 
 there was a love-affair between them, and 
 that he had seen her after he left me. 
 
 " I was so annoyed to find that he kept 
 the matter secret from me that I said a good 
 many things that made it clear to Madame 
 de Tournon that she had been imprudent ; as 
 I handed her to her carriage, I assured her 
 that I envied the happiness of the person 
 who had informed her of the falling-out of 
 the king and Madame de Valentinois. 
 
 " At once I went to see Sancerre ; I re- 
 proached him, and said that I knew of his 
 passion for Madame de Tournon, but I did 
 not say how I had found it out. He felt 
 obliged to make a complete confession. I 
 then told him how it was I had discovered 
 his secret, and he told me all about the affair; 
 he said that inasmuch as he was a younger 
 son, and far from having any claims to such 
 an honor, she was yet determined to marry
 
 136 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 him. No one could be more surprised than 
 I was. I urged Sancerre to hasten his mar- 
 riage, and told him that he would be justified 
 in fearing anything from a woman who was 
 so full of craft that she could play so false a 
 part before the public. He said in reply that 
 her grief had been sincere, but that it had 
 yielded before her affection for him, and 
 that she could not suddenly make this great 
 change manifest. He brought up many 
 other things in her defence, which showed 
 me clearly how much in love he was; he 
 assured me that he would persuade her to 
 let me know all about the passion he had 
 for her, since it was she who had let out the 
 secret, and in fact he compelled her to 
 consent, though with much difficulty, and I 
 was from that time fully admitted to their 
 confidence. 
 
 " I have never seen a woman so honorable 
 and agreeable toward her lover; yet I was 
 always pained by her affectation of grief. 
 Sancerre was so much in love, and so well
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 137 
 
 satisfied with the way she treated him, 
 that he was almost afraid to urge their 
 marriage, lest she should think that he was 
 moved thereto by interest rather than pas- 
 sion. Still, he often talked to her about it, 
 and she seemed to have decided to marry 
 him ; she even began to leave her retirement 
 and to reappear in the world, she used to 
 come to my sister-in-law's at the time when 
 part of the court used to be there. Sancerre 
 came very seldom ; but those who were there 
 every evening and met her often, found her 
 very charming. 
 
 " Shortly after she began to come out 
 again into society, Sancerre imagined that 
 he detected some coolness in her love for 
 him. He spoke to me about it several times 
 without rousing any anxiety in me by his com- 
 plaints ; but when at length he told me that 
 instead of hastening, she seemed to be post- 
 poning their marriage, I began to think that 
 he had good grounds for uneasiness. I said 
 that even if Madame de Tournon's passion
 
 138 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 should lessen after lasting for two years, he 
 ought not to be surprised ; that even if it did 
 not lessen, and though it should not be 
 strong enough to persuade her to marry 
 him, he ought not to complain; since their 
 marriage would injure her much in the eyes 
 of the public, not only because he was not 
 a very good match for her, but because it 
 would affect her reputation: hence that all 
 he could reasonably desire was that she 
 should not deceive him and feed him with 
 false hopes. I also said that if she had not 
 the courage to marry him, or if she should 
 confess that she loved some one else, 
 he ought not to be angry or complain, 
 but preserve his esteem and gratitude for 
 her. 
 
 "'I give you the advice,' I said to him, 
 ' which I should take myself; for I am so 
 touched by sincerity that I believe that if 
 my mistress, or my wife, were to confess 
 that any one pleased her, I should be dis- 
 tressed without being angered, and should
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 139 
 
 lay aside the character of lover or husband 
 to advise and sympathize with her.' " 
 
 At these words Madame de Cleves 
 blushed, finding a certain likeness to her own 
 
 % 
 
 condition which surprised her and distressed 
 her for some time. 
 
 " Sancerre spoke to Madame de Tournon," 
 Monsieur de Cleves went on, " telling her 
 everything I had advised ; but she reassured 
 him with such tact and seemed so pained 
 by his suspicions that she entirely dispelled 
 them. Nevertheless she postponed their mar- 
 riage until after a long journey which he 
 was about to make ; but her conduct was 
 so discreet up to the time of his departure, 
 and she seemed so grieved at parting with 
 him, that I, as well as he, believed that she 
 truly loved him. He went away about three 
 months ago. During his absence I saw 
 Madame de Tournon very seldom; you have 
 taken up all my time, and I only knew that 
 Sancerre was to return soon. 
 
 " The day before yesterday, on my arrival
 
 140 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 m Paris, I heard that she was dead. I at 
 once sent to his house to find out if they 
 had heard from him, and was told that he 
 had arrived the day before, the very day 
 of Madame de Tournon's death. I went at 
 once to see him, knowing very well in what 
 a state I should find him ; but his agony far 
 exceeded what I had imagined. Never have 
 I seen such deep and tender grief. As soon 
 as he saw me, he embraced me, bursting into 
 tears. ' I shall never see her again,' he said, 
 ' I shall never see her again ; she is dead ! 
 I was not worthy of her; but I shall soon 
 follow her.' 
 
 "After that he was silent; then from time 
 to time he repeated : ' She is dead, and I 
 shall never see her again ! ' Thereupon he 
 would again burst into tears, and seemed out 
 of his head. He told me he had received but 
 few letters from her while away, but that 
 this did not surprise him, because he well 
 knew her aversion to running any risk in 
 writing letters. He had no doubt that she
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 141 
 
 would have married him on his return; and 
 he looked upon her as the most amiable and 
 faithful woman who had ever lived ; he be- 
 lieved that she loved him tenderly, and that 
 he had lost her at the moment when he made 
 sure of winning her forever. These thoughts 
 plunged him into the deepest distress, by 
 which he was wholly overcome, and I con- 
 fess that I was deeply moved. 
 
 " Nevertheless, I was obliged to leave him 
 to go to the king, but I promised to return 
 soon. This I did ; but imagine my surprise 
 when I found that he was in an entirely dif- 
 ferent mood. He was pacing up and down 
 his room with a wild face, and he stopped 
 as if he were beside himself and said : ' Come, 
 come ! see the most desperate man in the 
 world ; I am ten thousand times unhappier 
 than I was before, and what I have just heard 
 of Madame de Tournon is worse than her 
 death.' 
 
 " I thought that his grief had crazed him, 
 for I could imagine nothing more terrible
 
 142 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 than the death of a loved mistress who re- 
 turns one's love. I told him that so long as 
 his grief had been within bounds I had un- 
 derstood and sympathized with it; but that 
 I should cease to pity him if he gave way 
 to despair and lost his mind. ' I wish I 
 could lose it, and my life too/ he exclaimed. 
 ' Madame de Tournon was unfaithful to me ; 
 and I ascertained her infidelity and treachery 
 the day after I heard of her death, at a time 
 when my soul was filled with the deepest 
 grief and the tenderest love that were ever 
 felt, at a time when my heart was filled with 
 the thought of her as the most perfect crea- 
 ture that had ever lived, and the most gener- 
 ous to me. I find that I was mistaken in 
 her, and that she does not deserve my tears ; 
 nevertheless, I have the same grief from her 
 death as if she had been faithful to me, and 
 I suffer from her infidelity as if she were 
 not dead. Had I known of her changed feel- 
 ing before she died, I should have been wild 
 with wrath and jealousy, and should have
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 143 
 
 been in some way hardened against the blow 
 of her death ; but now I can get no consola- 
 tion from it or hate her.' 
 
 " You may judge of my surprise at what 
 Sancerre told me; I asked him how he 
 found this out. He told me that the moment 
 I had left his room, Estouteville, an intimate 
 friend of his, though he knew nothing of his 
 love for Madame de Tournon, had come to 
 see him ; that as soon as he had sat down, 
 he burst into tears and said he begged his 
 pardon for not having told him before what 
 he was about to say; that he begged him to 
 take pity on him ; that he had come to open 
 his heart to him ; and that he saw before 
 him a man utterly crushed by the death of 
 Madame de Tournon. 
 
 " ' That name,' said Sancerre, ' surprised 
 me so that my first impulse was to tell him 
 that I was much more distressed than he ; but 
 I was unable to speak a word. He went on 
 and told me that he had been in love with 
 her for six months; that he had always
 
 144 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 meant to tell me, but she had forbidden it 
 so firmly that he had not dared to disobey 
 her; that almost ever since he fell in love 
 with her she had taken a tender interest in 
 him; that he only visited her secretly; that 
 he had had the pleasure of consoling her for 
 the loss of her husband ; and, finally, that he 
 was on the point of marrying her at the time 
 of her death, but that this marriage, which 
 would have been one of love, would have 
 appeared to be one of duty and obedience, 
 because she had won over her father to com- 
 mand this marriage, in order that there 
 should not be any great change in her con- 
 duct, which had indicated an unwillingness 
 to contract a second marriage. 
 
 " ' While Estouteville was speaking,' San- 
 cerre went on, ' I fully believed him, because 
 what he said seemed likely, and the time he 
 had mentioned as that when he fell in love with 
 Madame de Tournon coincided with that of 
 her altered treatment of me. But a moment 
 after, I thought him a liar, or at least out of
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 145 
 
 his senses, and I was ready to tell him so. 
 I thought, however, I would first make sure ; 
 hence I began to question him and to show 
 that I had my doubts. At last I was so per- 
 sistent in the search of my unhappiness that 
 he asked if I knew Madame de Tournon's 
 handwriting, and placed on my bed four of 
 her letters and her portrait. My brother 
 happened to come in at that moment. Es- 
 touteville's face was so stained with tears 
 that he had to go away in order not to be 
 seen in that state ; he told me that he would 
 come back that evening to get the things 
 he left. I sent my brother away, pretend- 
 ing that I was not feeling well, being im- 
 patient to read the letters, and still hoping 
 to find something which would convince me 
 that Estouteville was mistaken. But, alas, 
 what did I not find ! What tenderness, 
 what protestations, what promises to marry 
 him, what letters ! She had never written 
 me any like them. So,' he went on, ' I 
 
 suffer at the same time grief for her death 
 VOL. i. 10
 
 146 The Princess of C lives. 
 
 and for her faithlessness, two misfortunes 
 which have often been compared, but have 
 never been felt at the same time by one 
 person. I confess, to my shame, that I 
 feel much more keenly her death than her 
 change ; I cannot find her guilty enough 
 to deserve to die. If she were still alive, 
 I should have the pleasure of reproaching 
 her, of avenging myself by showing her 
 how great was her injustice. But I shall 
 never see her again.' He repeated, ' I shall 
 never see her again, that is the bitterest 
 blow of all ; I would gladly give up my 
 life for hers. What a wish ! If she were 
 to return, she would live for Estouteville. 
 How happy I was yesterday ! ' he exclaimed, 
 ' how happy I was then ! I was the most 
 sorely distressed man in the world ; but my 
 distress was in the order of nature, and I 
 drew some comfort from the thought that I 
 could never be consoled. To-day all my feel- 
 ings are false ones ; I pay to the pretended 
 love she felt for me the same tribute that
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 147 
 
 I thought due to a real affection. I can 
 neither hate nor love her memory; I am 
 incapable of consolation or of grief. At 
 least,' he said, turning suddenly toward me, 
 1 let me, I beg of you, never see Estoute- 
 ville again ; his very name fills me with 
 horror. I know very well that I have no 
 reason to blame him ; it is my own fault for 
 concealing from him my love for Madame 
 de Tournon : if he had known of it, he would 
 perhaps have never cared for her, and she 
 would not have been unfaithful to me. He 
 came to see me to confide his grief; I really 
 pity him. Yes, and with good reason/ he 
 exclaimed ; ' he loved Madame de Tournon 
 and was loved by her. He will never see 
 her again ; yet I feel that I cannot keep 
 from hating him. Once more, I beg of you 
 never to let me see him again.' 
 
 " Thereupon Sancerre burst again into 
 tears, mourning Madame de Tournon, say- 
 ing to her the tenderest things imaginable ; 
 thence he changed to hatred, complaints,
 
 148 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 reproaches, and denunciations of her conduct. 
 When I saw him in this desperate state I 
 knew that I should need some aid in calming 
 him, so I sent for his brother, whom I had 
 just left with the king. I went out to speak 
 to him in the hall before he came in, and I 
 told him what a state Sancerre was in. We 
 gave orders that he was not to see Estoute- 
 ville, and spent a good part of the night try- 
 ing to persuade him to listen to reason. 
 This morning I found him in still deeper 
 distress; his brother is staying with him, 
 and I have returned to you." 
 
 " No one could be more surprised than I 
 am," said Madame de Cleves, " for I thought 
 Madame de Tournon incapable of both love 
 and deception." 
 
 " Address and dissimulation," answered 
 Monsieur de Cleves, " could not go further. 
 Notice that when Sancerre thought she had 
 changed toward him, she really had, and 
 had begun to love Estouteville. She told 
 her new lover that he consoled her for her
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 149 
 
 husband's death, and that it was he who was 
 the cause of her returning to society; while 
 it seemed to Sancerre that it was because 
 we had decided that she should no longer 
 appear to be in such deep affliction. She 
 was able to persuade Estouteville to con- 
 ceal their relations, and to seem obliged to 
 marry him by her father's orders, as if it 
 were the result of her care for her reputa- 
 tion, and this in order to abandon Sancerre 
 without leaving him ground for complaint. I 
 must go back," continued Monsieur de Cleves, 
 "to see this unhappy man, and I think you 
 had better return to Paris. It is time for 
 you to see company and to begin to receive 
 the number of visits that await you." 
 
 Madame de Cleves gave her consent, and 
 they returned the next day. She found 
 herself more tranquil about Monsieur de 
 Nemours than she had been ; Madame de 
 Chartres* dying words and her deep grief 
 had for a time dulled her feelings, and she 
 thought they had entirely changed.
 
 150 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 The evening of Madame de Cleves's arri- 
 val the dauphiness came to see her, and 
 after expressing her sympathy with her 
 affliction, said that in order to drive away 
 her sad thoughts she would tell her every- 
 thing that had taken place at court during 
 her absence, and narrated many incidents. 
 " But what I most want to tell you," she 
 added, " is that it is certain that Monsieur 
 de Nemours is passionately in love, and 
 that his most intimate friends are not only 
 not in his confidence, but they can't even 
 guess whom it is whom he loves. Yet this 
 love is strong enough to make him neglect, 
 or rather give up, the hope of a crown." 
 
 The dauphiness then told Madame de 
 Cleves the whole plan about England. " I 
 heard what I have just told you," she went 
 on, "from Monsieur d'Anville; and he said 
 to me this morning that the king sent last 
 evening for Monsieur de Nemours, after 
 reading some letters from Lignerolles, who 
 is anxious to return, and had written to the
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 151 
 
 king that he was unable to explain to the 
 Queen of England Monsieur de Nemours' 
 delay ; that she is beginning to be offended ; 
 and that although she has given no posi- 
 tive answer, she had said enough to war- 
 rant him in starting. The king read this 
 letter to Monsieur de Nemours, who instead 
 of talking seriously, as he had done in the 
 beginning, only laughed and joked about 
 Lignerolles' hopes. He said that the whole 
 of Europe would blame, his imprudence if 
 he were to presume to go to England as 
 a claimant for the queen's hand without 
 being assured of success. ' It seems to 
 me too,' he went on, ' that I should not 
 choose the present time for my journey, 
 when the King of Spain is doing his best to 
 marry her. In a love-affair he would not 
 be a very formidable rival ; but I think that 
 in a question of marrying, your Majesty 
 would not advise me to try my chances 
 against him.' ' I do advise you so in the 
 present circumstances,' answered the king.
 
 I5 2 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 ' But you have no occasion to fear him. I 
 know that he has other thoughts, and even 
 if he had not, Queen Mary was too unhappy 
 under the Spanish yoke for one to believe that 
 her sister wishes to assume it, or would let her- 
 self be dazzled by the splendor of so many 
 united crowns.' ' If she does not let her- 
 self be dazzled by them,' went on Monsieur de 
 Nemours, ' probably she will wish to marry 
 for love; she has loved Lord Courtenay 
 for several years. Queen Mary also loved 
 him, and she would have married him, with 
 the consent of the whole of England, had 
 she not known that the youth and beauty 
 of her sister Elizabeth attracted him more 
 than the desire of reigning. Your Majesty 
 knows that her violent jealousy caused her 
 to throw them both into prison, then to 
 exile Lord Courtenay, and finally decided 
 her to marry the King of Spain. I be- 
 lieve that Elizabeth, now that she is on the 
 throne, will soon recall this lord and thus 
 choose a man she has loved, who is very
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 153 
 
 attractive, and who has suffered so much 
 for her, rather than another whom she has 
 never seen.' ' I should agree with you,' 
 replied the king, ' if Courtenay were still 
 living; but some days ago I heard that he 
 had died at Padua, where he was living 
 in banishment. I see very well,' he added, 
 as he left Monsieur de Nemours, ' that it 
 will be necessary to celebrate your mar- 
 riage as we should celebrate the dauphin's, 
 by sending ambassadors to marry the Queen 
 of England by procuration.' 
 
 " Monsieur d'Anville and the Vidame, who 
 were present while the king was talking with 
 Monsieur de Nemours, are convinced that it 
 is this great passion which has dissuaded 
 him from this plan. The Vidame, who is 
 more intimate than any one with him, said 
 to Madame de Martigues that the prince 
 is changed beyond recognition; and what 
 amazes him still more is that he never finds 
 him engaged or absent, so that he supposes 
 he never meets the woman he loves; and
 
 154 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 what is so surprising, is to see Monsieur 
 de Nemours in love with a woman who 
 does not return his passion." 
 
 All this story that the dauphiness told her 
 was as poison to Madame de Cleves. It was 
 impossible for her not to feel sure that she 
 was the woman whose name was unknown ; 
 and she was overwhelmed with gratitude and 
 tenderness when she learned from one who 
 had the best means of knowing that this 
 prince, who had already aroused her interest, 
 hid his passion from every one, and for love 
 of her gave up his chances of a crown. It is 
 impossible to describe her agitation. If the 
 dauphiness had observed her with any care, 
 she would at once have seen that the story 
 she had just repeated was by no means 
 without interest to her; but having no 
 suspicion of the truth, she went on with- 
 . out noticing her. " Monsieur d'Anville," she 
 added, " who, as I said, told me all this, 
 thinks that I know more about it than he 
 does, and he has so high an opinion of
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 155 
 
 my charms that he is convinced that I am 
 the only person who can make such a great 
 change in Monsieur de Nemours." 
 
 Madame de Cleves was agitated by this 
 last remark of the crown princess, though 
 not in the same way as a few moments be- 
 fore. " I should readily agree with Monsieur 
 d'Anville," she replied, " and it is certainly 
 probable, Madame, that no one but a prin- 
 cess like you could make him indifferent to 
 the Queen of England." 
 
 " I should at once acknowledge it," said 
 the dauphiness, " if I knew that was the 
 case, and I should know if it were true. 
 Love-affairs of that sort do not escape the 
 notice of those who inspire them ; they are 
 the first to perceive them. Monsieur de Ne- 
 mours has never paid ^ any but the most 
 
 insignificant attentions ; but there is never- 
 theless so great a difference between his way 
 with me and his present conduct that I can 
 assure you I am not the cause of the indif- 
 ference he shows for the crown of England.
 
 156 The Princess of C lives. 
 
 " I forget everything while I am with you," 
 she went on, " and it had slipped my mind 
 that I must go to see Madame Elisabeth. 
 You know that peace is nearly concluded ; 
 but what you don't know is that the King 
 of Spain would not agree to a single article 
 except on the condition that he, instead of 
 the prince Don Carlos, his son, should marry 
 this princess. The king had great difficulty 
 in agreeing to this; at last he yielded, and 
 has gone to tell Madame. I fancy she will 
 be inconsolable ; it certainly cannot be pleas- 
 ant to marry a man of the age and temper 
 of the King of Spain, especially for her, who, 
 in all the pride of youth and beauty, ex- 
 pected to marry a young prince for whom 
 she has a fancy, though she has never seen 
 him. I don't know whether the king will 
 find her as docile as he wishes, and he has 
 asked me to go to see her; for he knows 
 that she is fond of me, and imagines that I 
 have some influence over her. I shall then 
 make a very different visit, for I must go to
 
 The Princess of C lives. 157 
 
 congratulate Madame, the king's sister. 
 Everything is arranged for her marriage with 
 Monsieur de Savoie, and he will be here 
 shortly. Never was a person of the age of 
 that princess so glad to marry. The court 
 will be finer and larger than it has ever been, 
 and in spite of your afflictions you must 
 come and help us show the foreigners that 
 we have some famous beauties here." 
 
 Then the dauphiness left Madame de 
 Cleves, and the next day Madame Elisabeth's 
 marriage was known to every one. A few 
 days later the king and the queens called on 
 Madame de Cleves. Monsieur de Nemours, 
 who had awaited her return with extreme 
 impatience, and was very desirous of speak- 
 ing to her alone, put off his call until every 
 one should have leffli and it was unlikely 
 that others would come in. His plan was 
 successful, and he arrived just as the latest 
 visitors were taking their departure. 
 
 The princess was still lying down ; it was 
 warm, and the sight of Monsieur de Nemours
 
 158 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 gave her face an additional color, which did 
 not lessen her beauty. He sat down oppo- 
 site her with the timidity and shyness that 
 real passion gives. It was some time before 
 he spoke; Madame de Cleves was equally 
 confused, so that they kept a long silence. 
 At last Monsieur de Nemours took courage, 
 and expressed his sympathy with her grief. 
 Madame de Cleves, who was glad to keep 
 the conversation on this safe topic, spoke 
 for some time about the loss she had experi- 
 enced; and finally she said that when time 
 should have dimmed the intensity of her 
 grief, it would still leave a deep and lasting 
 impression, and that her whole nature had 
 been changed by it." 
 
 " Great afflictions and violent passions," 
 replied Monsieur de Nemours, " do greatly 
 alter people ; as for me, I am entirely 
 changed since I returned from Flanders. 
 Many persons have noticed this alteration, 
 and even the dauphiness spoke of it last 
 evening."
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 159 
 
 " It is true," said Madame de Cleves, 
 " that she has noticed it, and I think I 
 have heard her say something about it." 
 
 " I am not sorry, Madame," Monsieur de 
 Nemours continued, " that she perceived it, 
 but I should prefer that she should not 
 be the only one to notice it. There are 
 persons to whom one does not dare to give 
 any other marks of the love one feels for 
 them than those which do not affect them 
 in any but an indirect way; and since one 
 does not dare to show one's love, one would 
 at least desire that they should see that one 
 wishes not to be loved by any one else. One 
 would like to have the^ know that there is 
 no beauty, of whatever rank, whom one 
 would not regard with indifference, and that 
 there is no crown which one would wish to 
 buy at the price of never seeing them. 
 Women generally judge the love one has 
 for them," he went on, " by the pains one 
 takes to please them and to pursue them; 
 but that is an easy matter, provided they
 
 160 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 are charming. What is difficult is not to 
 yield to the pleasure of pursuing them, 
 it is to avoid them, from fear of showing 
 to the public or to them one's feelings ; and 
 the most distinctive mark of a true attach- 
 ment is to become entirely different from 
 what one was, to be indifferent to ambition 
 or pleasure after having devoted one's whole 
 life to one or the other." 
 
 Madame de Cleves readily understood the 
 reference to her in these words. It seemed 
 to her that she ought to answer them and 
 express her disapproval ; it also seemed to 
 her that she ought not to listen to them or 
 show that she took his remarks to herself: 
 she believed that she ought to speak, and 
 also that she ought to say nothing. The re- 
 marks of Monsieur de Nemours pleased and 
 offended her equally; she saw in them a 
 confirmation of what the crown princess had 
 made her think, she found them full of 
 gallantry and respect, but also bold and only 
 too clear. Her interest in the prince caused
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 161 
 
 an agitation which she could not control. 
 The vaguest words of a man one likes pro- 
 duce more emotion than the open declar- 
 ations of a man one does not like. Hence 
 she sat without saying a word, and Mon- 
 sieur de Nemours noticed her silence, 
 which would have seemed to him a happy 
 omen, if the arrival of Monsieur de Cleves 
 had not put an end to the talk and to his 
 visit. 
 
 The Prince de Cleves had come to tell 
 his wife the latest news about Sancerre ; but 
 she had no great curiosity about the rest 
 of that affair. She wasS, > interested in 
 what had just happened that she could 
 hardly hide her inattention. When she 
 was able to think it all over, she perceived 
 that she had been mistaken when she fan- 
 cied that she had become indifferent to 
 Monsieur de Nemours. His words had 
 made all the impression he could desire, and 
 had thoroughly convinced her of his passion. 
 His actions harmonized too well with his 
 
 VOL. I. II
 
 1 62 The Princess of C lives. 
 
 words for her to have any further doubts on 
 the subject. She did not any longer indulge 
 in the hope of not loving him; she merely 
 determined to give him no further sign of it. 
 This was a difficult undertaking, how diffi- 
 cult she knew already. She was aware that 
 her only chance of success lay in avoiding 
 the prince, and her mourning enabled her 
 to live in retirement ; she made it a pretext 
 for not going to places where she might 
 meet him. She was in great dejection ; her 
 mother's death appeared to be the cause, 
 and she sought no other. 
 
 Monsieur de Nemours was in despair at 
 not seeing her oftener; and knowing that he 
 should not meet her at any assembly or en- 
 tertainment at which the whole court was 
 present, he could not make up his mind to 
 go to them; he pretended a great interest 
 in hunting, and made up hunting-parties on 
 the days of the queens' assemblies. For a 
 long time a slight indisposition served as a 
 pretext for staying at home, and thus escap-
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 163 
 
 ing going to places where he knew that 
 Madame de Cleves would not be. 
 
 Monsieur de Cleves was ailing at nearly 
 the same time, and Madame de Cleves never 
 left his room during his illness; but when he 
 was better and began to see company, and 
 among others Monsieur de Nemours, who, 
 under the pretext of being still weak, used 
 to spend a good part of every day with him, 
 she determined not to stay there. Neverthe- 
 less, she could not make up her mind to 
 leave during his first visits; it was so long 
 since she had seen him that she was anxious 
 to meet him again. He too managed to 
 make her listen to him, by what seemed like 
 general talk; though she understood, from 
 its reference to what he had said in his pre- 
 vious visit to her, that he went hunting 
 to get an opportunity for meditation, and 
 that he stayed away from the assemblies 
 because she was not there. 
 
 At last Madame de Cleves put into execu- 
 tion her decision to leave her husband's room
 
 164 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 when the duke should be there, though she 
 found it a difficult task. Monsieur de 
 Nemours observed that she avoided him, 
 and was much pained. 
 
 Monsieur de Cleves did not at first notice 
 his wife's conduct; but at last he saw that 
 she was unwilling to stay in his room when 
 company was present. He spoke to her 
 about it, and she replied that she did not 
 think it quite proper that she should meet 
 every evening all the young men of the 
 court. She begged him to let her lead a 
 more retired life than she had done before, 
 because the presence of her mother, who 
 was renowned for her virtue, had authorized 
 many things impossible for a woman of 
 her age. 
 
 Monsieur de Cleves, who was generally 
 kind and pleasant to his wife, was not so on 
 this occasion ; he told her he was averse to 
 any change in her conduct. She was 
 tempted to tell him that there was a report 
 that Monsieur de Nemours was in love with
 
 The Princess of CTeves, 165 
 
 her; but she did not feel able to mention 
 his name. She was also ashamed to assign 
 a false reason, and to hide the truth from a 
 man who had so good an opinion of her. 
 
 A few days later, the king happened to 
 be with the queen when she was receiving, 
 and the company was talking about horo- 
 scopes and predictions. Opinions were di- 
 vided about the credence that ought to be 
 given to them. The queen was inclined to 
 believe in them; she maintained that after 
 so many predictions had come true, it was 
 impossible to doubt the exactness of this 
 science. Others again held that the small 
 number of lucky hits out of the numerous 
 predictions that were made, proved that they 
 were merely the result of chance. 
 
 " In former times," said the king, " I was 
 very curious about the future ; but I was 
 told so much that was false or improbable 
 that I became convinced that we can know 
 nothing certain. A few years ago a famous 
 astrologer came here. Every one went to
 
 1 66 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 see him, I as well as the rest, but without 
 saying who I was; and I carried with me 
 Monsieur de Guise and D'Escars, sending 
 them into the room in front of me. Never- 
 theless the astrologer addressed me first, as 
 if he thought I was their master; perhaps 
 he knew me, although he said something 
 to me which seemed to show that he did 
 not know who I was. He prophesied that 
 I should be killed in a duel ; then he 
 told Monsieur de Guise that he would be 
 killed from behind, and D'Escars that he 
 would have his skull broken by a kick from 
 a horse. Monsieur de Guise was almost 
 angry at hearing this, as if he were accused 
 of running away; D'Escars was no more 
 pleased at learning that he was going to 
 perish by such an unfortunate accident, so 
 that we all left the astrologer in extreme dis- 
 content. I have no idea what will happen 
 to Monsieur de Guise or to D'Escars, but it 
 is very unlikely that I shall be killed in a 
 duel. The King of Spain and I have just
 
 The Princess of C I eves. 167 
 
 made peace ; and even if we had not, I doubt 
 if we should resort to a personal combat, and 
 it seems unlikely that I should challenge 
 him, as my father challenged Charles V." 
 
 After the king had mentioned the unhappy 
 end which had been foretold him, those who 
 had supported astrology gave up and agreed 
 that it was unworthy of belief. " For my 
 part," said Monsieur de Nemours, " I am the 
 last man in the world to place any confidence 
 in it;" and turning to Madame de Cleves, 
 near whom he was, he said in a low voice: 
 " I was told that I should be made happy 
 by the kindness of the woman for whom 
 I should have the most violent and the 
 most respectful passion. You may judge, 
 Madame, whether I ought to believe in 
 predictions." 
 
 The dauphiness, who fancied, from what 
 Monsieur de Nemours had said aloud, that 
 he was mentioning some absurd prophecy 
 that had been made about him, asked him 
 what he was saying to Madame de Cleves.
 
 1 68 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 He would have been embarrassed by this 
 question if he had had less presence of mind ; 
 but he answered without hesitation : " I was 
 saying, Madame, that it had been predicted 
 about me that I should rise to a lofty po- 
 sition to which I should not even dare to 
 aspire." 
 
 " If that is the only prediction that 
 has been made about you," replied the 
 dauphiness, smiling, and thinking of the 
 English scheme, " I do not advise you to 
 denounce astrology; you might find good 
 reasons for supporting it." 
 
 Madame de Cleves understood what the 
 crown princess referred to; but she also un- 
 derstood that the happiness of which Mon- 
 sieur de Nemours spoke, was not that of 
 being king of England. 
 
 As it was some time since her mother's 
 death, Madame de Cleves had to appear 
 again in society and to resume her visits 
 at court. She met Monsieur de Nemours 
 at the dauphiness's and at her own house,
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 169 
 
 whither he often came with young nobles 
 of his own age, in order not to be talked 
 about; but she never saw him without an 
 agitation which he readily perceived. 
 
 In spite of the care she took to escape 
 his glances and to talk less with him than 
 with others, certain things inadvertently 
 escaped her which convinced this prince 
 that she was not indifferent to him. A less 
 observant man than he would not, perhaps, 
 have noticed them ; but so many women had 
 been in love with him that it was hard 
 for him not to know when he was loved. 
 He perceived that the Chevalier de Guise 
 was his rival, and that prince knew that 
 Monsieur de Nemours was his. He was 
 the only man at court who would have 
 discovered this truth; his interest had rend- 
 ered him more clear-sighted than the others. 
 The knowledge they had of each other's 
 feelings so embittered their relations that 
 although there was no open breach, they 
 were opposed in everything. In running at
 
 17 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 the ring and in all the amusements in which 
 the king took part they were always on dif- 
 ferent sides, and their rivalry was too intense 
 to be hidden. 
 
 The English scheme often recurred to Ma- 
 dame de Cleves, and she felt that Monsieur 
 de Nemours would not be able to withstand 
 the king's advice and Lignerolles' urging. 
 She noticed with pain that this last had not 
 yet returned, and she awaited him with im- 
 patience. If she had followed his move- 
 ments, she would have learned the condition 
 of that matter ; but the same feeling that in- 
 spired her curiosity compelled her to con- 
 ceal it, and she contented herself with mak- 
 ing inquiries about the beauty, intelligence, 
 and character of Queen Elizabeth. A por- 
 trait of her was carried to the palace, and 
 she found Elizabeth more beautiful than was 
 pleasant to her, and she could not refrain 
 from saying that it must flatter her. 
 
 " I don't think so," replied the dauphiness, 
 who was present. " Elizabeth has a great
 
 The Princess of C lives. 171 
 
 reputation as a beauty and as the possessor 
 of a mind far above the common, and I 
 know that all my life she has been held up 
 to me as an example. She ought to be at- 
 tractive if she is like Anne Boleyn, her 
 mother. Never was there a more amiable 
 woman or one more charming both in ap- 
 pearance and disposition. I have been 
 told that her face was exceptionally viva- 
 cious, and that she in no way resembled 
 most English beauties." 
 
 " It seems to me," said Madame de Cleves, 
 " that I have heard that she was born in 
 France." 
 
 " Those who think so," replied the crown 
 princess, are in error, "and I will tell you her 
 history in a few words. She was born of 
 a good English family. Henry VIII. had 
 been in love with her sister and her mother, 
 and it had even been suspected that she was 
 his daughter. She came here with the sister 
 of Henry VII., who married Louis XII. This 
 young and gallant princess found it very
 
 1 7 2 The Princess of Cloves. 
 
 hard to leave the court of France after her 
 husband's death ; but Anne Boleyn, who 
 shared her mistress's feelings, decided to 
 stay. The late king was in love with her, 
 and she remained as maid of honor to Queen 
 Claude. This queen died, and Madame 
 Marguerite, the king's sister, the Duchess of 
 Alen^on, since then Queen of Navarre, whose 
 stories you have seen, added Anne to her 
 suite; it was from her that this queen re- 
 ceived her inclination toward the new reli- 
 gion. Then Anne returned to England, 
 where she delighted every one. She had 
 French manners, which please all nations; 
 she sang well, and danced charmingly. She 
 was made a lady in waiting to Queen 
 Catherine of Aragon, and King Henry 
 VIII. fell desperately in love with her. 
 
 " Cardinal Wolsey, his favorite and prime 
 minister, desired to be made pope ; and 
 being dissatisfied with the emperor for not 
 supporting his claims, he resolved to avenge 
 himself by allying the king his master with
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 173 
 
 France. He suggested to Henry VIII. that 
 his marriage with the emperor's aunt was 
 null and void, and proposed to him to marry 
 the Duchess of Alengon, whose husband had 
 just died. Anne Boleyn, being an ambitious 
 woman, looked on this divorce as a possible 
 step to the throne. She began to instil into 
 the King of England the principles of Luth- 
 eranism, and persuaded the late king to urge 
 at Rome Henry's divorce, in the hope of his 
 marriage with Madame d'Alengon. Cardinal 
 Wolsey contrived to be sent to France on 
 other pretexts to arrange this affair ; but his 
 master would not consent to have the propo- 
 sition made, and sent orders to Calais that 
 this marriage was not to be mentioned. 
 
 " On his return from France, Cardinal Wol- 
 sey was received with honors equal to those 
 paid to the king himself; never did a favo- 
 rite display such haughtiness and vanity. 
 He arranged an interview between the two 
 kings, which took place at Boulogne. Fran- 
 cis I. offered his hand to Henry VIII., who
 
 174 The Princess of Cleves. 
 
 was unwilling to take it; they treated each 
 other with great splendor, each giving the 
 other clothes like those he himself wore. 
 I remember having heard that those the 
 late king sent to the King of England were 
 of crimson satin trimmed with pearls and 
 diamonds arranged in triangles, the cloak of 
 white velvet embroidered with gold. After 
 spending a few days at Boulogne, they went 
 to Calais. Anne Boleyn was quartered in 
 the house with Henry VIII. in the queen's 
 suite, and Francis I. made her the same pres- 
 ents and paid her the same honors as if she 
 had been a queen herself. At last, after be- 
 ing in love with her for nine years, Henry 
 married her, without waiting for the annul- 
 ment of his first marriage, which he had long 
 been asking of Rome. The pope at once ex- 
 communicated him; this so enraged Henry 
 that he declared himself the head of the 
 Church, and carried all England into the 
 unhappy change of religion in which you 
 now see it.
 
 The Princess of Cfeves. 175 
 
 "Anne Boleyn did not long enjoy her 
 grandeur, for one day, when she thought her 
 position assured by the death of Catherine 
 of Aragon, she happened to be present with 
 all the court when the Viscount Rochford, 
 her brother, was running at the ring. The 
 king was suddenly overwhelmed by such an 
 access of jealousy that he instantly left the 
 spot, hastened to London, and gave orders 
 for the arrest of the queen, the Viscount 
 Rochford, and many others whom he be- 
 lieved to be the queen's lovers or confidants. 
 Although this jealousy seemed the work of 
 a moment, it had for some time been insti- 
 gated by the Viscountess Rochford, who 
 could not endure her husband's intimacy 
 with the queen, and represented it to the 
 king as criminal intimacy; consequently he, 
 being already in love with Jane Seymour, 
 thought only of getting rid of Anne Boleyn. 
 In less than three weeks he succeeded in 
 having the queen and her brother brought 
 to trial and beheaded, and he married Jane
 
 176 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 Seymour. He had afterward several wives, 
 whom he either divorced or put to death, 
 among others Catherine Howard, who had 
 been the confidant of the Viscountess of 
 Rochford, and was beheaded with her. 
 Hence she was punished for the crimes 
 with which she had blackened Anne Boleyn, 
 and Henry VIII., having reached a mon- 
 strous size, died." 
 
 All the ladies present thanked the dau- 
 phiness for teaching them so much about 
 the English court, and among others Madame 
 de Cleves, who could not refrain from asking 
 more questions about Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 The dauphiness had miniatures painted of 
 all the beauties of the court to send to the 
 queen her mother. The day when that of 
 Madame de Cleves was receiving the last 
 touches the crown princess came to spend 
 the afternoon with her. Monsieur de 
 Nemours was also there, for he neglected no 
 opportunity of seeing Madame de Cleves, 
 although he never seemed to court her so-
 
 The Princess of Cloves. 177 
 
 ciety. She was so beautiful that day that he 
 would surely have fallen in love with her then 
 if he had not done so already; but he did not 
 dare to sit with his eyes fixed on her, while 
 she feared lest he should show too plainly 
 the pleasure he found in looking at her. 
 
 The crown princess asked Monsieur de 
 Cleves for a miniature he had of his wife, to 
 compare it with the one that was painting. 
 All who were there expressed their opinion 
 of both, and Madame de Cleves asked the 
 painter to make a little correction in the 
 hair of the old one. The artist took the 
 miniature out of its case, and after working 
 on it, set it down on the table. 
 
 For a long time Monsieur de Nemours 
 had been desiring to have a portrait of 
 Madame de Cleves. When he saw this one, 
 though it belonged to her husband, whom he 
 tenderly loved, he could not resist the temp- 
 tation to steal it; he thought that among 
 the many persons present he should not be 
 suspected. 
 
 VOL. I 12
 
 178 The Princess of C I eves. 
 
 The dauphiness was seated on the bed, 
 speaking low to Madame de Cleves, who was 
 standing in front of her. One of the curtains 
 was only partly closed, and Madame de 
 Cleves was able to see Monsieur de Nemours, 
 whose back was against the table at the foot 
 of the bed, without turning his head pick up 
 something from this table. She at once 
 guessed that it was her portrait, and she was 
 so embarrassed that the crown princess 
 noticed she was not listening to her, and 
 asked her what she was looking at. At these 
 words Monsieur de Nemours turned round 
 and met Madame de Cleves' eyes fastened 
 on him ; he felt sure that she must have 
 seen what he had just done. 
 
 Madame de Cleves was greatly embar- 
 rassed. Her reason bade her ask for her 
 portrait; but if she asked for it openly, she 
 would announce to everyone the prince's feel- 
 ings for her, and by asking for it privately, 
 she would give him an opportunity to speak 
 to her of his love, so that at last she judged
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 179 
 
 it better to let him keep it, and she was 
 very glad to be able to grant him a favor with- 
 out his knowing that she did it of her own 
 choice. Monsieur de Nemours, who ob- 
 served her embarrassment and guessed its 
 cause, came up to her and said in a low 
 voice : " If you saw what I ventured to do, 
 be good enough, Madame, to let me suppose 
 that you know nothing about it; I do not 
 dare to ask anything more." Then he went 
 away, without waiting for an answer. 
 
 The dauphiness, accompanied by all her 
 ladies, went out for a walk. Monsieur de 
 Nemours locked himself up in his own room, 
 being unable to contain his joy at having in 
 his possession a portrait of Madame de 
 Cleves. He felt all the happiness that love 
 can give. He loved the most charming 
 woman of the court, and felt that in spite of 
 herself she loved him ; he saw in everything 
 she did the agitation and embarrassment 
 which love evokes in the innocence of early 
 youth.
 
 180 The Princess of Cloves. 
 
 That evening every one looked carefully 
 for the portrait; when they found the case, 
 no one supposed that it had been stolen, 
 but that it had been dropped somewhere. 
 Monsieur de Cleves was distressed at its loss, 
 and after hunting for it in vain, told his wife, 
 but evidently in jest, that she doubtless had 
 some mysterious lover to whom she had 
 given the portrait, or who had stolen it, for 
 no one but a lover would care for the por- 
 trait without the case. 
 
 Although these words were not said seri- 
 ously, they made a deep impression on the 
 mind of Madame de Cleves and filled her 
 with remorse. She thought of the violence 
 of her love for Monsieur de Nemours, and 
 perceived that she could not control either 
 her words or her face. She reflected that 
 Lignerolles had retunred, and that the Eng- 
 lish scheme had no terrors for her ; that she 
 had no longer grounds for suspecting the 
 dauphiness; and finally, that, as she was 
 without further defence, her only safety was
 
 The Princess of Cleves. 181 
 
 in flight. Since, however, she knew she could 
 not go away, she saw that she was in a most 
 perilous condition, and ready to fall into what 
 she judged to be the greatest possible mis- 
 fortune, namely, betraying to Monsieur 
 de Nemours the interest she felt in him. 
 She recalled everything her mother had 
 said to her on her death-bed, and her ad- 
 vice to try everything rather than enter 
 upon a love-affair. She remembered what 
 her husband had said about her sincerity 
 when he was speaking about Madame de 
 Tournon, and it seemed to her that it was 
 her duty to confess her passion for Monsieur 
 de Nemours. She pondered over this for a 
 long time ; then she was astonished that the 
 thought occurred to her: she deemed it 
 madness, and fell back into the agony of 
 indecision. 
 
 END OF VOL. I.
 
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