The Princess De Montpensier Read online

Princess had said, andseeing her the next day with her customary untroubled looks redoubledhis misery.

  The Princess continued to show him the same goodwill as before and evendiscussed her former attachment to the Duc de Guise, saying that shewas pleased that his increasing fame showed that he was worthy of theaffection she had once had for him. These demonstrations of confidence,which were once so dear to the Comte, he now found insupportable, buthe did not dare say as much to the Princess, though he did sometimesremind her of what he had so rashly confessed to her.

  After an absence of two years, peace having been declared, the Princede Montpensier returned to his wife, his renown enhanced by hisbehaviour at the siege of Paris and the battle of St. Denis. He wassurprised to find the beauty of the Princess blooming in suchperfection, and being of a naturally jealous disposition he was alittle put out of humour by the realisation that this beauty would beevident to others beside himself. He was delighted to see once more theComte, for whom his affection was in no way diminished. He asked himfor confidential details about his wife's character and temperament,for she was almost a stranger to him because of the little time duringwhich they had lived together. The Comte, with the utmost sincerity, asif he himself were not enamoured, told the Prince everything he knewabout the Princess which would encourage her husband's love of her, andhe also suggested to Madame de Montpensier all the measures she mighttake to win the heart and respect of her spouse. The Comte's devotionled him to think of nothing but what would increase the happiness andwell-being of the Princess and to forget without difficulty the interestwhich lovers usually have in stirring up trouble between the objects oftheir affection and their marital partners.

  The peace was only short-lived. War soon broke out again by reason of aplot by the King to arrest the Prince de Conde and Admiral Chatillon atNoyers. As a result of the military preparations the Prince deMontpensier was forced to leave his wife and report for duty.Chabannes, who had been restored to the Queen's favour, went with him.It was not without much sorrow that he left the Princess, while she,for her part, was distressed to think of the perils to which the warmight expose her husband.

  The leaders of the Huguenots retired to La Rochelle. They heldPoitou and Saintongne; the war flared up again and the King assembledall his troops. His brother, the Duc d'Anjou, who later became HenriIII, distinguished himself by his deeds in various actions, amongstothers the battle of Jarnac, in which the Prince de Conde was killed.It was during this fighting that the Duc de Guise began to play a moreimportant part and to display some of the great qualities which hadbeen expected of him. The Prince de Montpensier, who hated him, notonly as a personal enemy but as an enemy of his family, the Bourbons,took no pleasure in his successes nor in the friendliness shown towardhim by the Duc d'Anjou.

  After the two armies had tired themselves out in a series of minoractions, by common consent they were stood down for a time. The Ducd'Anjou stayed at Loches to restore to order all the places which hadbeen attacked. The Duc de Guise stayed with him and the Prince deMontpensier, accompanied by the Comte de Chabannes, went back toChampigny, which was not far away.

  The Duc d'Anjou frequently went to inspect places where fortificationswere being constructed. One day when he was returning to Loches by aroute which his staff did not know well, the Duc de Guise, who claimedto know the way, went to the head of the party to act as guide, butafter a time he became lost and arrived at the bank of a small riverwhich he did not recognise. The Duc d'Anjou had a few words to say tohim for leading them astray, but while they were held up there they sawa little boat floating on the river, in which--the river not being verywide--they could see the figures of three or four women, one of whom,very pretty and sumptuously dressed, was watching with interest theactivities of two men who were fishing nearby.

  This spectacle created something of a sensation amongst the Princes andtheir suite. It seemed to them like an episode from a romance. Somedeclared that it was fate that had led the Duc de Guise to bring themthere to see this lovely lady, and that they should now pay court toher. The Duc d'Anjou maintained that it was he who should be her suitor.

  To push the matter a bit further, they made one of the horsemen go intothe river as far as he could and shout to the lady that it was the Ducd'Anjou who wished to cross to the other bank and who begged the ladyto take him in her boat. The lady, who was of course the Princess deMontpensier, hearing that it was the Duc d'Anjou, and having no doubtwhen she saw the size of his suite that it was indeed him, took herboat over to the bank where he was. His fine figure made him easilydistinguishable from the others; she, however, distinguished even moreeasily the figure of the Duc de Guise. This sight disturbed her andcaused her to blush a little which made her seem to the Princes to havean almost supernatural beauty.

  The Duc de Guise recognised her immediately in spite of the changeswhich had taken place in her appearance in the three years since he hadlast seen her. He told the Duc d'Anjou who she was and the Duc was atfirst embarrassed at the liberty he had taken, but then, struck by thePrincess's beauty, he decided to venture a little further, and after athousand excuses and a thousand compliments he invented a seriousmatter which required his presence on the opposite bank, and acceptedthe offer which she made of a passage in her boat. He got in,accompanied only by the Duc de Guise, giving orders to his suite tocross the river elsewhere and to join him at Champigny, which Madame deMontpensier told him was not more than two leagues from there.

  As soon as they were in the boat the Duc d'Anjou asked to what theyowed this so pleasant encounter. Madame de Montpensier replied thathaving left Champigny with the Prince her husband with the intention offollowing the hunt, she had become tired and having reached the riverbank she had gone out in the boat to watch the landing of a salmonwhich had been caught in a net. The Duc de Guise did not take part inthis conversation, but he was conscious of the re-awakening of all theemotions which the Princess had once aroused in him, and thought tohimself that he would have difficulty in escaping from this meetingwithout falling once more under her spell.

  They arrived shortly at the bank where they found the Princess's horsesand her attendants who had been waiting for her. The two noblemenhelped her onto her horse where she sat with the greatest elegance.During their journey back to Champigny they talked agreeably about anumber of subjects and her companions were no less charmed by herconversation than they had been by her beauty. They offered her anumber of compliments to which she replied with becoming modesty, but alittle more coolly to those from M. de Guise, for she wished tomaintain a distance which would prevent him from founding anyexpectations on the feelings she had once had towards him.

  When they arrived at the outer courtyard of Champigny they encounteredthe Prince de Montpensier, who had just returned from the hunt. He wasgreatly astonished to see two men in the company of his wife, and hewas even more astonished when, on coming closer, he saw that these werethe Duc d'Anjou and the Duc de Guise. The hatred which he bore for thelatter, combined with his naturally jealous disposition made him findthe sight of these two Princes with his wife, without knowing how theycame to be there or why they had come to his house, so disagreeablethat he was unable to conceal his annoyance. He, however, adroitly putthis down to a fear that he could not receive so mighty a Prince as theKing's brother in a style befitting his rank. The Comte de Chabanneswas even more upset at seeing the Duc de Guise and Madame deMontpensier together than was her husband, it seemed to him a most evilchance which had brought the two of them together again, an augurywhich foretold disturbing sequels to follow this new beginning.

  In the evening Madame de Montpensier acted as hostess with the samegrace with which she did everything. In fact she pleased her guests alittle too much. The Duc d'Anjou who was very handsome and very much aladies man, could not see a prize so much worth winning without wishingardently to make it his own. He had a touch of the same sickness as theDuc de Guise, and continuing to invent important reasons, he stayed fortwo days at Champigny, without being
obliged to do so by anything butthe charms of Madame de Montpensier, for her husband did not make anynoticeable effort to detain him. The Duc de Guise did not leave withoutmaking it clear to Madame de Momtpensier that he felt towards her as hehad done in the past. As nobody knew of this former relationship hesaid to her several times, in front of everybody, that his affectionswere in no way changed. A remark which only she understood.

  Both he and the Duc d'Anjou left Champigny with regret. For a long timethey went along in silence; but at last it occurred to the Duc d'Anjouthat the reflections which occupied his thoughts might be echoed in themind of the Duc de Guise, and he asked him brusquely if he was thinkingabout the beauties of Madame de Montpensier. This blunt questioncombined with what he had already observed of the Prince's behaviourmade the Duc realise that he had a rival from whom it was essentialthat his own love for the Princess