The Princess of Cleves
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Madame de Lafayette >> The Princess of Cleves
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13 THE PRINCESS OF CLEVES by Madame de Lafayette
THE PRINCESS OF CLEVES
Grandeur and gallantry never appeared with more lustre in France,
than in the last years of Henry the Second's reign. This Prince
was amorous and handsome, and though his passion for Diana of
Poitiers Duchess of Valentinois, was of above twenty years
standing, it was not the less violent, nor did he give less
distinguishing proofs of it.
As he was happily turned to excel in bodily exercises, he took a
particular delight in them, such as hunting, tennis, running at
the ring, and the like diversions. Madam de Valentinois gave
spirit to all entertainments of this sort, and appeared at them
with grace and beauty equal to that of her grand-daughter, Madam
de la Marke, who was then unmarried; the Queen's presence seemed
to authorise hers.
The Queen was handsome, though not young; she loved grandeur,
magnificence and pleasure; she was married to the King while he
was Duke of Orleans, during the life of his elder brother the
Dauphin, a prince whose great qualities promised in him a worthy
successor of his father Francis the First.
The Queen's ambitious temper made her taste the sweets of
reigning, and she seemed to bear with perfect ease the King's
passion for the Duchess of Valentinois, nor did she express the
least jealousy of it; but she was so skilful a dissembler, that
it was hard to judge of her real sentiments, and policy obliged
her to keep the duchess about her person, that she might draw the
King to her at the same time. This Prince took great delight in
the conversation of women, even of such as he had no passion for;
for he was every day at the Queen's court, when she held her
assembly, which was a concourse of all that was beautiful and
excellent in either sex.
Never were finer women or more accomplished men seen in any
Court, and Nature seemed to have taken pleasure in lavishing her
greatest graces on the greatest persons. The Princess Elizabeth,
since Queen of Spain, began now to manifest an uncommon wit, and
to display those beauties, which proved afterwards so fatal to
her. Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, who had just married the
Dauphin, and was called the Queen-Dauphin, had all the
perfections of mind and body; she had been educated in the Court
of France, and had imbibed all the politeness of it; she was by
nature so well formed to shine in everything that was polite,
that notwithstanding her youth, none surpassed her in the most
refined accomplishments. The Queen, her mother-in-law, and the
King's sister, were also extreme lovers of music, plays and
poetry; for the taste which Francis the First had for the Belles
Lettres was not yet extinguished in France; and as his son was
addicted to exercises, no kind of pleasure was wanting at Court.
But what rendered this Court so splendid, was the presence of so
many great Princes, and persons of the highest quality and merit:
those I shall name, in their different characters, were the
admiration and ornament of their age.
The King of Navarre drew to himself the respect of all the world
both by the greatness of his birth, and by the dignity that
appeared in his person; he was remarkable for his skill and
courage in war. The Duke of Guise had also given proofs of
extraordinary valour, and had, been so successful, that there was
not a general who did not look upon him with envy; to his valour
he added a most exquisite genius and understanding, grandeur of
mind, and a capacity equally turned for military or civil
affairs. His brother, the Cardinal of Loraine, was a man of
boundless ambition, and of extraordinary wit and eloquence, and
had besides acquired a vast variety of learning, which enabled
him to make himself very considerable by defending the Catholic
religion, which began to be attacked at that time. The Chevalier
de Guise, afterwards called Grand Prior, was a prince beloved by
all the world, of a comely person, full of wit and address, and
distinguished through all Europe for his valour. The Prince of
Conde, though little indebted to Nature in his person, had a
noble soul, and the liveliness of his wit made him amiable even
in the eyes of the finest women. The Duke of Nevers,
distinguished by the high employments he had possessed, and by
the glory he had gained in war, though in an advanced age, was
yet the delight of the Court: he had three sons very
accomplished; the second, called the Prince of Cleves, was worthy
to support the honour of his house; he was brave and generous,
and showed a prudence above his years. The Viscount de Chartres,
descended of the illustrious family of Vendome, whose name the
Princes of the blood have thought it no dishonour to wear, was
equally distinguished for gallantry; he was genteel, of a fine
mien, valiant, generous, and all these qualities he possessed in
a very uncommon degree; in short, if anyone could be compared to
the Duke de Nemours, it was he. The Duke de Nemours was a
masterpiece of Nature; the beauty of his person, inimitable as it
was, was his least perfection; what placed him above other men,
was a certain agreeableness in his discourse, his actions, his
looks, which was observable in none beside himself: he had in his
behaviour a gaiety that was equally pleasing to men and women; in
his exercises he was very expert; and in dress he had a peculiar
manner, which was followed by all the world, but could never be
imitated: in fine, such was the air of his whole person, that it
was impossible to fix one's eye on anything else, wherever he
was. There was not a lady at Court, whose vanity would not have
been gratified by his address; few of those whom he addressed,
could boast of having resisted him; and even those for whom he
expressed no passion, could not forbear expressing one for him:
his natural gaiety and disposition to gallantry was so great,
that he could not refuse some part of his cares and attention to
those who made it their endeavour to please him; and accordingly
he had several mistresses, but it was hard to guess which of them
was in possession of his heart: he made frequent visits to the
Queen-Dauphin; the beauty of this princess, the sweetness of her
temper, the care she took to oblige everybody, and the particular
esteem she expressed for the Duke de Nemours, gave ground to
believe that he had raised his views even to her. Messieurs de
Guise, whose niece she was, had so far increased their authority
and reputation by this match, that their ambition prompted them
to aspire at an equality with the Princes of the blood, and to
share in power with the Constable Montmorency. The King
entrusted the Constable with the chief share in the
administration of the Government, and treated the Duke of Guise
and the Mareschal de St. Andre as his favourites; but whether
favour or business admitted men to his presence, they could not
preserve that privilege without the good-liking of the Duchess of
Valentinois; for though she was no longer in possession of either
of youth or beauty, she yet reigned so absolutely in his heart,
that his person and state seemed entirely at her disposal.
The King had such an affection for the Constable, that he was no
sooner possessed of the Government, but he recalled him from the
banishment he had been sent into by Francis the First: thus was
the Court divided between Messieurs de Guise, and the Constable,
who was supported by the Princes of the blood, and both parties
made it their care to gain the Duchess of Valentinois. The Duke
d'Aumale, the Duke of Guise's brother, had married one of her
daughters, and the Constable aspired to the fame alliance; he was
not contented with having married his eldest son with Madam
Diana, the King's daughter by a Piemontese lady, who turned nun
as soon as she was brought to bed. This marriage had met with a
great many obstacles from the promises which Monsieur Montmorency
had made to Madam de Piennes, one of the maids of honour to the
Queen; and though the King had surmounted them with extreme
patience and goodness, the Constable did not think himself
sufficiently established, unless he secured Madam de Valentinois
in his interest, and separated her from Messieurs de Guise, whose
greatness began to give her uneasiness. The Duchess had
obstructed as much as she could the marriage of the Dauphin with
the Queen of Scotland; the beauty and forward wit of that young
Queen, and the credit which her marriage gave to Messieurs de
Guise, were insupportable to her; she in particular hated the
Cardinal of Loraine, who had spoken to her with severity, and
even with contempt; she was sensible he took the party of the
Queen, so that the Constable found her very well disposed to
unite her interests with his and to enter into alliance with him,
by marrying her granddaughter Madam de la Marke with Monsieur
d'Anville, his second son, who succeeded him in his employment
under the reign of Charles the Ninth. The Constable did not
expect to find the same disinclination to marriage in his second
son which he had found in his eldest, but he proved mistaken.
The Duke d'Anville was desperately in love with the
Dauphin-Queen, and how little hope soever he might have of
succeeding in his passion, he could not prevail with himself to
enter into an engagement that would divide his cares. The
Mareschal de St. Andre was the only person in the Court that had
not listed in either party: he was a particular favourite, and
the King had a personal affection for him; he had taken a liking
to him ever since he was Dauphin, and created him a Mareschal of
France at an age in which others rarely obtain the least
dignities. His favour with the King gave him a lustre which he
supported by his merit and the agreeableness of his person, by a
splendour in his table and furniture, and by the most profuse
magnificence that ever was known in a private person, the King's
liberality enabling him to bear such an expense. This Prince was
bounteous even to prodigality to those he favoured, and though he
had not all the great qualities, he had very many; particularly
he took delight and had great skill in military affairs; he was
also successful, and excepting the Battle of St. Quintin, his
reign had been a continued series of victory; he won in person
the Battle of Renti, Piemont was conquered, the English were
driven out of France, and the Emperor Charles V found his good
fortune decline before the walls of Mets, which he besieged in
vain with all the forces of the Empire, and of Spain: but the
disgrace received at St. Quintin lessened the hopes we had of
extending our conquests, and as fortune seemed to divide herself
between two Kings, they both found themselves insensibly disposed
to peace.
The Duchess Dowager of Loraine had made some overtures about the
time of the Dauphin's marriage, since which a secret negotiation
had been constantly carried on; in fine, Coran in Artois was the
place appointed for the treaty; the Cardinal of Loraine, the
Constable Montmorency, and the Mareschal de St. Andre were
plenipotentaries for the King; the Duke of Alva, and the Prince
of Orange for Philip the II, and the Duke and Duchess of Loraine
were mediators. The principal articles were the marriage of the
Princess Elizabeth of France with Don Carlos the Infanta of
Spain, and that of his majesty's sister with the Duke of Savoy.
The King, during the Treaty, continued on the frontiers, where he
received the news of the death of Queen Mary of England; his
Majesty dispatched forthwith the Count de Randan to Queen
Elizabeth, to congratulate her on her accession to the Crown, and
they received him with great distinction; for her affairs were so
precarious at that time, that nothing could be more advantageous
to her, than to see her title acknowledged by the King. The
Count found she had a thorough knowledge of the interests of the
French Court, and of the characters of those who composed it; but
in particular, she had a great idea of the Duke of Nemours: she
spoke to him so often, and with so much ernestness concerning
him, that the Ambassador upon his return declared to the King,
that there was nothing which the Duke of Nemours might not expect
from that Princess, and that he made no question she might even
be brought to marry him. The King communicated it to the Duke
the same evening, and caused the Count de Randan to relate to him
all the conversations he had had with Queen Elizabeth, and in
conclusion advised him to push his fortune: the Duke of Nemours
imagined at first that the King was not in earnest, but when he
found to the contrary, "If, by your advice, Sir," said he, "I
engage in this chimerical undertaking for your Majesty's service,
I must entreat your Majesty to keep the affair secret, till the
success of it shall justify me to the public; I would not be
thought guilty of the intolerable vanity, to think that a Queen,
who has never seen me, would marry me for love." The King
promised to let nobody into the design but the Constable, secrecy
being necessary, he knew, to the success of it. The Count de
Randan advised the Duke to go to England under pretence of
travelling; but the Duke disapproving this proposal, sent Mr.
Lignerol, a sprightly young gentleman, his favourite, to sound
the Queen's inclinations, and to endeavour to make some steps
towards advancing that affair: in the meantime, he paid a visit
to the Duke of Savoy, who was then at Brussels with the King of
Spain. The death of Queen Mary brought great obstructions to the
Treaty; the Congress broke up at the end of November, and the
King returned to Paris.
There appeared at this time a lady at Court, who drew the eyes of
the whole world; and one may imagine she was a perfect beauty, to
gain admiration in a place where there were so many fine women;
she was of the same family with the Viscount of Chartres, and one
of the greatest heiresses of France, her father died young, and
left her to the guardianship of Madam de Chartres his wife, whose
wealth, virtue, and merit were uncommon. After the loss of her
husband she retired from Court, and lived many years in the
country; during this retreat, her chief care was bestowed in the
education of her daughter; but she did not make it her business
to cultivate her wit and beauty only, she took care also to
inculcate virtue into her tender mind, and to make it amiable to
her. The generality of mothers imagine, that it is sufficient to
forbear talking of gallantries before young people, to prevent
their engaging in them; but Madam de Chartres was of a different
opinion, she often entertained her daughter with descriptions of
love; she showed her what there was agreeable in it, that she
might the more easily persuade her wherein it was dangerous; she
related to her the insincerity, the faithlessness, and want of
candour in men, and the domestic misfortunes that flow from
engagements with them; on the other hand she made her sensible,
what tranquillity attends the life of a virtuous woman, and what
lustre modesty gives to a person who possesses birth and beauty;
at the same time she informed her, how difficult it was to
perserve this virtue, except by an extreme distrust of one's
self, and by a constant attachment to the only thing which
constitutes a woman's happiness, to love and to be loved by her
husband.
This heiress was, at that time, one of the greatest matches in
France, and though she was very young several marriages had been
proposed to her mother; but Madam de Chartres being ambitious,
hardly thought anything worthy of her daughter, and when she was
sixteen years of age she brought her to Court. The Viscount of
Chartres, who went to meet her, was with reason surprised at the
beauty of the young lady; her fine hair and lovely complexion
gave her a lustre that was peculiar to herself; all her features
were regular, and her whole person was full of grace.
The day after her arrival, she went to choose some jewels at a
famous Italian's; this man came from Florence with the Queen, and
had acquired such immense riches by his trade, that his house
seemed rather fit for a Prince than a merchant; while she was
there, the Prince of Cleves came in, and was so touched with her
beauty, that he could not dissemble his surprise, nor could
Mademoiselle de Chartres forbear blushing upon observing the
astonishment he was in; nevertheless, she recollected herself,
without taking any further notice of him than she was obliged to
do in civility to a person of his seeming rank; the Prince of
Cleves viewed her with admiration, and could not comprehend who
that fine lady was, whom he did not know. He found by her air,
and her retinue, that she was of the first quality; by her youth
he should have taken her to be a maid, but not seeing her mother,
and hearing the Italian call her madam, he did not know what to
think; and all the while he kept his eyes fixed upon her, he
found that his behaviour embarrassed her, unlike to most young
ladies, who always behold with pleasure the effect of their
beauty; he found too, that he had made her impatient to be going,
and in truth she went away immediately: the Prince of Cleves was
not uneasy at himself on having lost the view of her, in hopes of
being informed who she was; but when he found she was not known,
he was under the utmost surprise; her beauty, and the modest air
he had observed in her actions, affected him so, that from that
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 his elder brother,
the Count d'En, had just married a lady so nearly related to the
Royal family, that this apprehension was rather the effect of his
love, than grounded on any substantial reason. He had a great
number of rivals; the most formidable among them, for his birth,
his merit, and the lustre which Royal favour cast upon his house,
was the Chevalier de Guise; this gentleman fell in love with
Mademoiselle de Chartres the first day he saw her, and he
discovered the Prince of Cleves's passion as the Prince of Cleves
discovered his. Though they were intimate friends, their having
the same pretentions gradually created a coolness between them,
and their friendship grew into an indifference, without their
being able to come to an explanation on the matter. The Prince
of Cleves's good fortune in having seen Mademoiselle de Chartres
first seemed to be a happy presage, and gave him some advantage
over his rivals, but he foresaw great obstructions on the part of
the Duke of Nevers his father: the Duke was strictly attached to
the Duchess of Valentinois, and the Viscount de Chartres was her
enemy, which was a sufficient reason to hinder the Duke from
consenting to the marriage of his son, with a niece of the
Viscount's.
Madam de Chartres, who had taken so much care to inspire virtue
into her daughter, did not fail to continue the same care in a
place where it was so necessary, and where there were so many
dangerous examples. Ambition and gallantry were the soul of the
Court, and employed both sexes equally; there were so many
different interests and so many cabals, and the ladies had so
great a share in them, that love was always mixed with business,
and business with love: nobody was easy, or indifferent; their
business was to raise themselves, to be agreeable, to serve or
disserve; and intrigue and pleasure took up their whole time.
The care of the ladies was to recommend themselves either to the
Queen, the Dauphin-Queen, or the Queen of Navarre, or to Madame,
or the Duchess of Valentinois. Inclination, reasons of decorum,
resemblance of temper made their applications different; those
who found the bloom worn off, and who professed an austerity of
virtue, were attached to the Queen; the younger sort, who loved
pleasure and gallantry, made their Court to the Queen-Dauphin;
the Queen of Navarre too had her favourites, she was young, and
had great power with the King her husband, who was in the
interest of the Constable, and by that means increased his
authority; Madame was still very beautiful, and drew many ladies
into her party. And as for the Duchess of Valentinois, she could
command as many as she would condescend to smile upon; but very
few women were agreeable to her, and excepting some with whom she
lived in confidence and familiarity, and whose humour was
agreeable to her own, she admitted none but on days when she
gratified her vanity in having a Court in the same manner the
Queen had.
All these different cabals were full of emulation and envy
towards one another; the ladies, who composed them, had their
jealousies also among themselves, either as to favour or lovers:
the interests of ambition were often blended with concerns of
less importance, but which did not affect less sensibly; so that
in this Court there was a sort of tumult without disorder, which
made it very agreeable, but at the same time very dangerous for a
young lady. Madam de Chartres perceived the danger, and was
careful to guard her daughter from it; she entreated her, not as
a mother, but as her friend, to impart to her all the gallantry
she should meet withal, promising her in return to assist her in
forming her conduct right, as to things in which young people are
oftentimes embarrassed.
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