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The Princess of Cleves

M >> Madame de Lafayette >> The Princess of Cleves




In the meantime Monsieur de Nemours was gone away from the place,
in which he had overheard a conversation which so sensibly
affected him, and was got deep into the forest; what Madam de
Cleves said of her picture had revived him, since it was certain
from thence that he was the person she had an inclination for; at
first he gave a leap of joy, but his raptures were at an end as
soon as he began to reflect, that the same thing that convinced
him he had touched the heart of Madam de Cleves, ought to
convince him also that he should never receive any marks of it,
and that it would be impossible to engage a lady who had recourse
to so extraordinary a remedy; and yet he could not but be
sensibly pleased to have reduced her to that extremity; he
thought it glorious for him to have gained the affections of a
woman so different from the rest of her sex; in a word, he
thought himself very happy and very unhappy at the same time. He
was benighted in the forest, and was very much put to it to find
his way again to his sister's the Duchess of Mercoeur; he arrived
there at break of day, and was extremely at a loss what account
to give of his absence, but he made out the matter as well as he
could, and returned that very day to Paris with the Viscount.

The Duke was so taken up with his passion, and so surprised at
the conversation he had heard, that he fell into an indiscretion
very common, which is, to speak one's own particular sentiments
in general terms, and to relate one's proper adventures under
borrowed names. As they were travelling he began to talk of
love, and exaggerated the pleasure of being in love with a person
that deserved it; he spoke of the fantastical effects of this
passion, and at last not being able to contain within himself the
admiration he was in at the action of Madam de Cleves, he related
it to the Viscount without naming the person, or owning he had
any share in it; but he told it with so much warmth and surprise,
that the Viscount easily suspected the story concerned himself.
The Viscount urged him very much to confess it, and told him he
had known a great while that he was violently in love, and that
it was unjust in him to show a distrust of a man who had
committed to him a secret on which his life depended. The Duke
de Nemours was too much in love to own it, and had always
concealed it from the Viscount, though he valued him the most of
any man at Court; he answered that one of his friends had told
him this adventure, and made him promise not to speak of it; and
he also conjured the Viscount to keep the secret: the Viscount
assured him he would say nothing of it but notwithstanding
Monsieur de Nemours repented that he had told him so much.

In the meantime Monsieur de Cleves was gone to the King, with a
heart full of sorrow and affliction. Never had husband so
violent a passion for his wife, or so great an esteem; what she
had told him did not take away his esteem of her, but made it of
a different nature from that he had had before; what chiefly
employed his thoughts, was a desire to guess who it was that had
found out the secret to win her heart; the Duke de Nemours was
the first person he thought of on this occasion, as being the
handsomest man at Court; and the Chevalier de Guise, and the
Mareschal de St. Andre occurred next, as two persons who had made
it their endeavour to get her love, and who were still very
assiduous in courting her, so that he was fully persuaded it must
be one of the three. He arrived at the Louvre, and the King
carried him into his closet to inform him he had made choice of
him to conduct Madame into Spain, and that he believed nobody
could acquit himself better of that charge, nor that any lady
would do France greater honour than Madam de Cleves. Monsieur de
Cleves received the honour the King had done him by this choice
with the respect he ought, and he considered it also as what
would take his wife from Court, without leaving room to suspect
any change in her conduct; but the embarrassment he was under
required a speedier remedy than that journey, which was to be
deferred a great while, could afford; he immediately wrote to
Madam de Cleves to acquaint her with what the King had told him,
and gave her to understand he absolutely expected she should
return to Paris. She returned according to his orders, and when
they met, they found one another overwhelmed with melancholy.

Monsieur de Cleves spoke to her, as a man of the greatest honour
in the world, and the best deserving the confidence she had
reposed in him; "I am not alarmed as to your conduct," said
he,"you have more strength and virtue than you imagine; I am not
alarmed with fears of what may happen hereafter; what troubles me
is that I see you have those sentiments for another which you
want for me." "I don't know what to answer you," said she,
"I die with shame when I speak of this subject spare me, I
conjure you, such cruel conversations; regulate my conduct, and
never let me see anybody; this is all I desire of you; but take
it not ill of me, if I speak no more of a thing which makes me
appear so little worthy of you, and which I think so unbecoming
me." "You are in the right, Madam;" replied he, "I abuse
your goodness and your confidence in me; but have some compassion
also on the condition you have brought me to, and think that
whatever you have told me, you conceal from me a name, which
creates in me a curiosity I cannot live without satisfying; and
yet I ask you not to satisfy it; I cannot, however, forbear
telling you, that I believe the man I am to envy is the Mareschal
de St. Andre, the Duke de Nemours, or the Chevalier de Guise."
"I shall make you no answer," says she blushing, "nor give you
any ground from what I say, either to lessen or strengthen your
suspicions; but if you endeavour to inform yourself by observing
me, you will throw me into a confusion all the world will take
notice of, for God's sake," continued she, "allow me under
pretence of an indisposition to see nobody." "No, Madam,"
said he, "it will quickly be discovered to be a feigned
business; and besides, I am unwilling to trust you to anything
but yourself; my heart tells me this is the best way I can take,
and my reason tells me so also, considering the temper of mind
you are in, I cannot put a greater restraint upon you than by
leaving you to your liberty."

Monsieur de Cleves was not mistaken; the confidence he showed he
had in his wife, fortified her the more against Monsieur de
Nemours, and made her take more severe resolutions than any
restraint could have brought her to. She went to wait on the
Queen-Dauphin at the Louvre as she used to do, but avoided the
presence and eyes of Monsieur de Nemours with so much care, that
she deprived him of almost all the joy he had in thinking she
loved him; he saw nothing in her actions but what seemed to show
the contrary; he scarcely knew if what he had heard was not a
dream, so very improbable it seemed to him; the only thing which
assured him that he was not mistaken, was Madam de Cleves's
extreme melancholy, which appeared, whatever pains she took to
hide it; and perhaps kind words and looks would not have
increased the Duke of Nemours's love so much as this severe
conduct did.

One evening, as Monsieur and Madam de Cleves were at the Queen's
apartment, it was said there was a report that the King would
name another great lord to wait on Madame into Spain. Monsieur
de Cleves had his eye fixed on his wife, when it was further
said, the Chevalier de Guise, or the Mareschal de St. Andre, was
the person; he observed she was not at all moved at either of
those names, nor the discourse of their going along with her;
this made him believe, it was not either of them whose presence
she feared. In order to clear up his suspicions, he went into
the Queen's closet, where the King then was, and after having
stayed there some time came back to his wife, and whispered her,
that he had just heard the Duke de Nemours was the person
designed to go along with them to Spain.

The name of the Duke de Nemours, and the thought of being exposed
to see him every day, during a very long journey, in her
husband's presence, so affected Madam de Cleves, that she could
not conceal her trouble: and being willing to give other reasons
for it, "No choice," says she, "could have been made more
disagreeable for you; he will share all honours with you, and I
think you ought to endeavour to get some other chosen." "It is
not honour, Madam," replied Monsieur de Cleves, "that makes you
apprehensive of the Duke de Nemours's going with me, the
uneasiness you are in proceeds from another cause; and from this
uneasiness of yours I learn, that which I should have discovered
in another woman, by the joy she would have expressed on such an
occasion; but be not afraid; what I have told you is not true, it
was an invention of mine to assure myself of a thing which I
already believed but too much."

Having said this, he went out, being unwilling to increase, by
his presence, the concern he saw his wife in.

The Duke de Nemours came in that instant, and presently observed
Madam de Cleves's condition; he came up to her, and told her
softly, he had that respect for her, he durst not ask what it was
made her more pensive than usual. The voice of the Duke de
Nemours brought her to herself again, and looking at him, without
having heard what he had said to her, full of her own thoughts,
and afraid lest her husband should see him with her, "For God's
sake," says she, "leave me to myself in quiet." "Alas,
Madam," answered he, "I disturb you too little; what is it you
can complain of? I dare not speak to you, I dare not look upon
you, I tremble whenever I approach you. How have I drawn upon
myself what you have said to me, and why do you show me that I am
in part the cause of the trouble I see you in?" Madam de Cleves
was very sorry to have given the Duke an opportunity of
explaining himself more clearly than ever he had done before; she
left him without making any answer, and went home with her mind
more agitated than ever. Her husband perceived her concern was
increased, and that she was afraid he would speak to her of what
had passed, and followed her into her closet; "Do not shun me,
Madam," says he, "I will say nothing to you that shall
displease you; I ask pardon for the surprise I gave you a while
ago; I am sufficiently punished by what I have learnt from it;
the Duke de Nemours was of all men he whom I most feared; I see
the danger you are in; command yourself for your own sake, and,
if it is possible, for mine; I do not ask this of you as a
husband, but as a man whose happiness wholly depends on you, and
who loves you more violently and more tenderly than he whom your
heart prefers to me." Monsieur de Cleves was melted upon
speaking these words, and could scarce make an end of them; his
wife was so moved, she burst into tears, and embraced him with a
tenderness and sorrow that put him into a condition not very
different from her own; they continued silent a while, and parted
without having the power to speak to one another.

All things were ready for the marriage of Madame, and the Duke of
Alva was arrived to espouse her; he was received with all the
ceremony and magnificence that could be displayed on such an
occasion; the King sent to meet him the Prince of Conde, the
Cardinals of Loraine and Guise, the Dukes of Loraine and Ferrara,
d'Aumale, de Bouillon, de Guise, and de Nemours; they had a great
number of gentlemen, and a great many pages in livery; the King
himself, attended with two hundred gentlemen, and the Constable
at their head, received the Duke of Alva at the first gate of the
Louvre; the Duke would have kneeled down, but the King refused
it, and made him walk by his side to the Queen's apartment, and
to Madame's, to whom the Duke of Alva had brought a magnificent
present from his master; he went thence to the apartment of Madam
Margaret the King's sister, to compliment her on the part of the
Duke of Savoy, and to assure her he would arrive in a few days;
there were great assemblies at the Louvre, the show the Duke of
Alva, and the Prince of Orange who accompanied him, the beauties
of the Court.

Madam de Cleves could not dispense with going to these
assemblies, however desirous she was to be absent, for fear of
disobliging her husband, who absolutely commanded her to be
there; and what yet more induced her to it, was the absence of
the Duke de Nemours; he was gone to meet the Duke of Savoy, and
after the arrival of that Prince, he was obliged to be almost
always with him, to assist him in everything relating to the
ceremonies of the nuptials; for this reason Madam de Cleves did
not meet him so often as she used to do, which gave her some sort
of ease.

The Viscount de Chartres had not forgot the conversation he had
had with the Duke de Nemours: it still ran in his mind that the
adventure the Duke had related to him was his own; and he
observed him so carefully that it is probable he would have
unravelled the business, if the arrival of the Duke of Alva and
of the Duke of Savoy had not made such an alteration in the
Court, and filled it with so much business, as left no
opportunities for a discovery of that nature; the desire he had
to get some information about it, or rather the natural
disposition one has to relate all one knows to those one loves,
made him acquaint Madam de Martigues with the extraordinary
action of that person who had confessed to her husband the
passion she had for another; he assured her the Duke de Nemours
was the man who had inspired so violent a love, and begged her
assistance in observing him. Madam de Martigues was glad to hear
what the Viscount told her, and the curiosity she had always
observed in the Queen-Dauphin for what concerned the Duke de
Nemours made her yet more desirous to search into the bottom of
the affair.

A few days before that which was fixed for the ceremony of the
marriage, the Queen-Dauphin entertained at supper the King her
father-in-law, and the Duchess of Valentinois. Madam de Cleves,
who had been busy in dressing herself, went to the Louvre later
than ordinary; as she was going, she met a gentleman that was
coming from the Queen-Dauphin to fetch her; as soon as she
entered the room, that Princess, who was sitting upon her bed,
told her aloud, that she had expected her with great impatience.
"I believe, Madam," answered she, "that I am not obliged to
you for it, and that your impatience was caused by something
else, and not your desire to see me." "You are in the right,"
answered the Queen-Dauphin, "but, nevertheless, you are obliged
to me; for I'll tell you an adventure, which I am sure you'll be
glad to know."

Madam de Cleves kneeled at her bedside, and, very luckily for
her, with her face from the light: "You know," said the Queen,
"how desirous we have been to find out what had caused so great
a change in the Duke de Nemours; I believe I know it, and it is
what will surprise you; he is desperately in love with, and as
much beloved by, one of the finest ladies of the Court." It is
easy to imagine the grief Madam de Cleves felt upon hearing these
words, which she could not apply to herself, since she thought
nobody knew anything of her passion for the Duke; "I see nothing
extraordinary in that," replied she, "considering how young and
handsome a man the Duke de Nemours is." "No," replied the
Queen-Dauphin, "there is nothing extraordinary in it; but what
will surprise you is, that this lady, who is in love with the
Duke de Nemours, has never given him any mark of it, and that the
fear she was in lest she should not always be mistress of her
passion, has made her confess it to her husband, that he may take
her away from Court; and it is the Duke de Nemours himself who
has related what I tell you."

If Madam de Cleves was grieved at first through the thought that
she had no concern in this adventure, the Queen-Dauphin's last
words threw her into an agony, by making it certain she had too
much in it; she could not answer, but continued leaning her head
on the bed; meanwhile the Queen went on, and was so intent on
what she was saying, that she took no notice of her
embarrassment. When Madam de Cleves was a little come to
herself, "This story, Madam," says she, "does not seem very
probable to me, and I should be glad to know who told it you."
"It was Madam de Martigues," replied the Queen-Dauphin, "and
she heard it from the Viscount de Chartres; you know the Viscount
is in love with her; he entrusted this matter to her as a secret,
and he was told it by the Duke de Nemours himself; it is true the
Duke did not tell the lady's name, nor acknowledge that he was
the person she was in love with, but the Viscount makes no manner
of question of it." When the Queen-Dauphin had done speaking,
somebody came up to the bed; Madam de Cleves was so placed that
she could not see who it was, but she was presently convinced,
when the Queen-Dauphin cried out with an air of gaiety and
surprise, "Here he is himself, I'll ask him what there is in
it." Madam de Cleves knew very well it was the Duke de Nemours,
without turning herself, as it really was; upon which she went up
hastily to the Queen-Dauphin, and told her softly, that she ought
to be cautious of speaking to him of this adventure, which he had
entrusted to the Viscount de Chartres as a secret, and that it
was a thing which might create a quarrel between them. "You are
too wise," said the Queen-Dauphin smiling, and turned to the
Duke de Nemours. He was dressed for the evening assembly, and
taking up the discourse with that grace which was natural to him,
"I believe, Madam," says he, "I may venture to think you were
speaking of me as I came in, that you had a design to ask me
something, and that Madam de Cleves is against it." "It is
true," replied the Queen-Dauphin, "but I shall not be so
complaisant to her on this occasion as I was used to be; I would
know of you, whether a story I have been told is true, and
whether you are not the person who is in love with, and beloved
by a lady of the Court, who endeavours to conceal her passion
from you, and has confessed it to her husband."

The concern and confusion Madam de Cleves was in was above all
that can be imagined, and if death itself could have drawn her
out of this condition, she would have gladly embraced it; but the
Duke de Nemours was yet more embarrassed if possible: the
discourse of the Queen-Dauphin, by whom he had reason to believe
he was not hated, in the presence of Madam de Cleves, who was
confided in by her more than anybody of the Court, and who
confided more in her, threw him into such confusion and
extravagance of thought, that it was impossible for him to be
master of his countenance: the concern he saw Madam de Cleves in
through his fault, and the thought of having given her just cause
to hate him, so shocked him he could not speak a word. The
Queen-Dauphin, seeing how thunderstruck she was, "Look upon him,
look upon him," said she to Madam de Cleves, "and judge if this
adventure be not his own."

In the meantime the Duke de Nemours, finding of what importance
it was to him to extricate himself out of so dangerous a
difficulty, recovered himself from his first surprise, and became
at once master of his wit and looks. "I acknowledge, Madam,"
said he, "it is impossible to be more surprised and concerned
than I was at the treachery of the Viscount de Chartres, in
relating an adventure of a friend of mine, which I had in
confidence imparted to him. I know how to be revenged of him,"
continued he, smiling with a calm air, which removed the
suspicions the Queen-Dauphin had entertained of him: "He has
entrusted me with things of no very small importance; but I don't
know, Madam, why you do me the honour to make me a party in this
affair. The Viscount can't say I am concerned in it, for I told
him the contrary; I may very well be taken to be a man in love,
but I cannot believe, Madam, you will think me of the number of
those who are loved again." The Duke was glad to say anything
to the Queen-Dauphin, which alluded to the inclination he had
expressed for her formerly, in order to divert her thoughts from
the subject in question. She imagined she understood well enough
the drift of what he said, but without making any answer to it,
she continued to rally him upon the embarrassment he was in. "I
was concerned, Madam," said he, "for the interest of my friend,
and on account of the just reproaches he might make me for having
told a secret which is dearer to him than life. He has
nevertheless entrusted me but with one half of it, and has not
told me the name of the person he loves; all I know is, that he's
the most deeply in love of any man in the world, and has the most
reason to complain." "Do you think he has reason to
complain," replied the Queen-Dauphin, "when he is loved
again?" "Do you believe he is, Madam," replied he, "and that
a person who had a real passion could discover it to her husband?
That lady, doubtless, is not acquainted with love, and has
mistaken for it a slight acknowledgment of the fondness her lover
had for her. My friend can't flatter himself with the lent
hopes; but, unfortunate as he is, he thinks himself happy at
least in having made her afraid of falling in love with him, and
he would not change his condition for that of the happiest lover
in the world." "Your friend has a passion very easy to be
satisfied," said the Queen-Dauphin, "and I begin to believe it
is not yourself you are speaking of; I am almost," continued
she, "of the opinion of Madam de Cleves, who maintains that this
story cannot be true." "I don't really believe it can be
true," answered Madam de Cleves, who had been silent hitherto;
"and though it were possible to be true, how should it have been
known? It is very unlikely that a woman, capable of so
extraordinary a resolution, would have the weakness to publish
it; and surely her husband would not have told it neither, or he
must be a husband very unworthy to have been dealt with in so
generous a manner." The Duke de Nemours, who perceived the
suspicions Madam de Cleves had of her husband, was glad to
confirm her in them, knowing he was the most formidable rival he
had to overcome. "Jealousy," said he, "and a curiosity
perhaps of knowing more than a wife has thought fit to discover,
may make a husband do a great many imprudent things."

Madam de Cleves was put to the last proof of her power and
courage, and not being able to endure the conversation any
longer, she was going to say she was not well, when by good
fortune for her the Duchess of Valentinois came in, and told the
Queen-Dauphin that the King was just coming; the Queen-Dauphin
went into the closet to dress herself, and the Duke de Nemours
came up to Madam de Cleves as she was following her. "I would
give my life, Madam," said he, "to have a moment's conversation
with you; but though I have a world of important things to say to
you, I think nothing is more so, than to entreat you to believe,
that if I have said anything in which the Queen-Dauphin may seem
concerned, I did it for reasons which do not relate to her."
Madam de Cleves pretended not to hear him, and left him without
giving him a look, and went towards the King, who was just come
in. As there were abundance of people there, she trod upon her
gown, and made a false step, which served her as an excuse to go
out of a place she had not the power to stay in, and so
pretending to have received some hurt she went home.

Monsieur de Cleves came to the Louvre, and was surprised not to
find his wife there; they told him of the accident that had
befallen her, and he went immediately home to enquire after her;
he found her in bed, and perceived her hurt was not considerable.
When he had been some time with her, he found her so excessive
melancholy that he was surprised at it; "What ails you, Madam?"

says he; "you seem to have some other grief than that which you
complain of." "I feel the most sensible grief I can ever
experience," answered she; "what use have you made of that
extraordinary, or rather foolish confidence which I placed in
you? Did not I deserve to have my secret kept? and though I had
not deserved it, did not your own interest engage you to it?
Should your curiosity to know a name it was not reasonable for me
to tell you have obliged you to make a confidant to assist you in
the discovery? Nothing but that curiosity could have made you
guilty of so cruel an indiscretion; the consequences of it are as
bad as they possibly can be. This adventure is known, and I have
been told it by those who are not aware that I am principally
concerned in it." "What do you say, Madam?" answered he;
"you accuse me of having told what passed between you and me,
and you inform me that the thing is known; I don't go about to
clear myself from this charge, you can't think me guilty of it;
without doubt you have applied to yourself what was told you of
some other." "Ah! Sir," replied she, "the world has not an
adventure like mine, there is not another woman capable of such a
thing. The story I have heard could not have been invented by
chance; nobody could imagine any like it; an action of this
nature never entered any thoughts but mine. The Queen-Dauphin
has just told me the story; she had it from the Viscount de
Chartres, and the Viscount from the Duke de Nemours." "The
Duke de Nemours!" cried Monsieur de Cleves, like a man
transported and desperate: "How! does the Duke de Nemours know
that you are in love with him, and that I am acquainted with
it?" "You are always for singling out the Duke de Nemours
rather than any other," replied she; "I have told you I will
never answer you concerning your suspicions: I am ignorant
whether the Duke de Nemours knows the part I have in this
adventure, and that which you have ascribed to him; but he told
it to the Viscount de Chartres, and said he had it from one of
his friends, who did not name the lady: this friend of the Duke
de Nemours must needs be one of yours, whom you entrusted the
secret to, in order to clear up your suspicions." "Can one
have a friend in the world, in whom one would repose such a
confidence," replied Monsieur de Cleves, "and would a man clear
his suspicions at the price of informing another with what one
would wish to conceal from oneself? Think rather, Madam, to whom
you have spoken; it is more probable this secret should have
escaped from you than from me; you was not able alone to support
the trouble you found yourself in, and you endeavoured to comfort
yourself by complaining to some confidant who has betrayed you."

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