The Tales of the Heptameron, Vol. III | Page 2

(1)_
In the time of the Marquis of Mantua, (2) who had married the sister of
the Duke of Ferrara, there lived in the household of the Duchess a

damsel named Pauline, who was greatly loved by a gentleman in the
Marquis's service, and this to the astonishment of every one; for being
poor, albeit handsome and greatly beloved by his master, he ought, in
their estimation, to have wooed some wealthy dame, but he believed
that all the world's treasure centred in Pauline, and looked to his
marriage with her to gain and possess it.
1 The incidents related in this tale appear to have taken place at Mantua
and Ferrara. M. de Montaiglon, however, believes that they happened
at Lyons, and that Margaret laid the scene of her story in Italy, so that
the personages she refers to might not be identified. The subject of the
tale is similar to that of the poem called _L'Amant rendu Cordelier à
l'Observance et Amour_, which may perhaps have supplied the Queen
of Navarre with the plot of her narrative.--M. and Ed.
2 This was John Francis II. of Gonzaga, who was born in 1466, and
succeeded his father, Frederic I., in 1484. He took an active part in the
wars of the time, commanding the Venetian troops when Charles VIII.
invaded Italy, and afterwards supporting Ludovico Sforza in the
defence of Milan. When Sforza abandoned the struggle against France,
the Marquis of Mantua joined the French king, for whom he acted as
viceroy of Naples. Ultimately, however, he espoused the cause of the
Emperor Maximilian, when the latter was at war with Venice in 1509,
and being surprised and defeated while camping on the island of La
Scala, he fled in his shirt and hid himself in a field, where, by the
treachery of a peasant who had promised him secrecy, he was found
and taken prisoner. By the advice of Pope Julius II., the Venetians set
him at liberty after he had undergone a year's imprisonment. In 1490
John Francis married Isabella d'Esté, daughter of Hercules I. Duke of
Ferrara, by whom he had several children. He died at Mantua in March
1519, his widow surviving him until 1539. Among the many dignities
acquired by the Marquis in the course of his singularly chequered life
was that of gonfalonier of the Holy Church, conferred upon him by
Julius II.--L. and En.
The Marchioness, who desired that Pauline should through her favour
make a more wealthy marriage, discouraged her as much as she could

from wedding the gentleman, and often hindered the two lovers from
talking together, pointing out to them that, should the marriage take
place, they would be the poorest and sorriest couple in all Italy. But
such argument as this was by no means convincing to the gentleman,
and though Pauline, on her side, dissembled her love as well as she
could, she none the less thought about him as often as before.
With the hope that time would bring them better fortune, this love of
theirs continued for a long while, during which it chanced that a war
broke out (3) and that the gentleman was taken prisoner along with a
Frenchman, whose heart was bestowed in France even as was his own
in Italy.
3 This would be the expedition which Louis XII. made into Italy in
1503 in view of conquering the Kingdom of Naples, and which was
frustrated by the defeats that the French army sustained at Seminara,
Cerignoles, and the passage of the Garigliano.--D.
Finding themselves comrades in misfortune, they began to tell their
secrets to one another, the Frenchman confessing that his heart was a
fast prisoner, though he gave not the name of its prison-house.
However, as they were both in the service of the Marquis of Mantua,
this French gentleman knew right well that his companion loved
Pauline, and in all friendship for him advised him to lay his fancy aside.
This the Italian gentleman swore was not in his power, and he declared
that if the Marquis of Mantua did not requite him for his captivity and
his faithful service by giving him his sweetheart to wife, he would
presently turn friar and serve no master but God. This, however, his
companion could not believe, perceiving in him no token of devotion,
unless it were that which he bore to Pauline.
At the end of nine months the French gentleman obtained his freedom,
and by his diligence compassed that of his comrade also, who
thereupon used all his efforts with the Marquis and Marchioness to
bring about his marriage with Pauline. But all was of no avail; they
pointed out to him the poverty wherein they would both be forced to
live, as well as the unwillingness of the relatives