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.
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. 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. 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After her husband's death she had withdrawn from court for many years ; during this period she had devoted herself to the education of her daughter, not merely culti- vating her mind and her beauty, but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. 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: 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: 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. 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. 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.
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 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. 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: This new beauty was for a long time the general subject of conversation. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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. 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.
La Princesse de Clèves by Mme de Lafayette ( illus. Etienne DRIAN )
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.
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. Within a few days he complained to her of this. 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: I do not touch your feelings or your heart; my presence causes you neither pleasure nor pain. 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. 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.
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.
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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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.
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.
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. 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. 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.
I am so ignorant of them that a few days ago I thought the constable was on the best of terms with the queen. She knows that he has often told the king that of all his children it is only his bastards who look like him. 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.
- Basics of Oncology.
- Madame de La Fayette - La Princesse de Clèves. Illustré par A.-E. Marty - - Catawiki.
- Home at Last Chance;
- La Princesse De Cleves.
His journey to Italy and his imprisonment interrupted this passion. The king fell in love with her, though she was inferior in birth, beauty, and intelligence to Madame de Valentinois: 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. This The Princess of Cleves. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
La Princesse De Cleves by Fayette, Mme De La
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. 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.
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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. Mademoiselle de Chartres is a sheltered heiress, sixteen years old, whose mother has brought her to the court of Henri II to seek a husband with good financial and social prospects. After the wedding, she meets the dashing Duke de Nemours. The duke becomes enmeshed in a scandal at court that leads the Princess to believe he has been unfaithful in his affections.
He begs the Duke de Nemours to claim ownership of the letter, which ends up in the Princess' possession. The duke has to produce documents from the Vidame to convince the Princess that his heart has been true. She confesses as much. He becomes ill and dies either of his illness or of a broken heart. On his deathbed, he blames the Duke de Nemours for his suffering and begs the Princess not to marry him. Now free to pursue her passions, the Princess is torn between her duty and her love. The duke pursues her more openly, but she rejects him, choosing instead to enter a convent for part of each year.
After several years, the duke's love for her does finally fade, and she, still relatively young, passes away in obscurity. Black Cat Hill Books Published: Good with no dust jacket. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Better World Books Condition: La Princesse De Cleves: Waiting for extension Lot closed Open for bids in Lot closes in: Unfortunately, you were outbid. You have the highest bid! Your current bid falls below the reserve price for this lot. Place one more bid to match the reserve price!
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