The Princess of Cleves | Page 7

moment he entertained a passion for her. In the evening he waited
on his Majesty's sister.
This Princess was in great consideration by reason of her interest with
the King her brother; and her authority was so great, that the King, on

concluding the peace, consented to restore Piemont, in order to marry
her with the Duke of Savoy. Though she had always had a disposition
to marry, yet would she never accept of anything beneath a sovereign,
and for this reason she refused the King of Navarre, when he was Duke
of Vendome, and always had a liking for the Duke of Savoy; which
inclination for him she had preserved ever since she saw him at Nice, at
the interview between Francis I, and Pope Paul III. As she had a great
deal of wit, and a fine taste of polite learning, men of ingenuity were
always about her, and at certain times the whole Court resorted to her
apartments.
The Prince of Cleves went there according to his custom; he was so
touched with the wit and beauty of Mademoiselle de Chartres, that he
could talk of nothing else; he related his adventure aloud, and was
never tired with the praises of this lady, whom he had seen, but did not
know; Madame told him, that there was nobody like her he described,
and that if there were, she would be known by the whole world. Madam
de Dampiere, one of the Princess's ladies of honour, and a friend of
Madam de Chartres, overhearing the conversation, came up to her
Highness, and whispered her in the ear, that it was certainly
Mademoiselle de Chartres whom the Prince had seen. Madame,
returning to her discourse with the Prince, told him, if he would give
her his company again the next morning, he should see the beauty he
was so much touched with. Accordingly Mademoiselle de Chartres
came the next day to Court, and was received by both Queens in the
most obliging manner that can be imagined, and with such admiration
by everybody else, that nothing was to be heard at Court but her praises,
which she received with so agreeable a modesty, that she seemed not to
have heard them, or at least not to be moved with them. She afterwards
went to wait upon Madame; that Princess, after having commended her
beauty, informed her of the surprise she had given the Prince of Cleves;
the Prince came in immediately after; "Come hither," said she to him,
"see, if I have not kept my word with you, and if at the same time that I
show you Mademoiselle de Chartres, I don't show you the lady you are
in search of. You ought to thank me, at least, for having acquainted her
how much you are her admirer."

The Prince of Cleves was overjoyed to find that the lady he admired
was of quality equal to her beauty; he addressed her, and entreated her
to remember that he was her first lover, and had conceived the highest
honour and respect for her, before he knew her.
The Chevalier de Guise, and the Prince, who were two bosom friends,
took their leave of Madame together. They were no sooner gone but
they began to launch out into the praises of Mademoiselle de Chartres,
without bounds; they were sensible at length that they had run into
excess in her commendation, and so both gave over for that time; but
they were obliged the next day to renew the subject, for this new-risen
beauty long continued to supply discourse to the whole Court; the
Queen herself was lavish in her praise, and showed her particular marks
of favour; the Queen-Dauphin made her one of her favourites, and
begged her mother to bring her often to her Court; the Princesses, the
King's daughters, made her a party in all their diversions; in short, she
had the love and admiration of the whole Court, except that of the
Duchess of Valentinois: not that this young beauty gave her umbrage;
long experience convinced her she had nothing to fear on the part of the
King, and she had to great a hatred for the Viscount of Chartres, whom
she had endeavoured to bring into her interest by marrying him with
one of her daughters, and who had joined himself to the Queen's party,
that she could not have the least favourable thought of a person who
bore his name, and was a great object of his friendship.
The Prince of Cleves became passionately in love with Mademoiselle
de Chartres, and ardently wished to marry her, but he was afraid the
haughtiness of her mother would not stoop to match her with one who
was not the head of his family: nevertheless his birth was illustrious,
and