made one of the horsemen go into
the river as far as he could and shout to the lady that it was the Duc
d'Anjou who wished to cross to the other bank and who begged the lady
to take him in her boat. The lady, who was of course the Princess de
Montpensier, hearing that it was the Duc d'Anjou, and having no doubt
when she saw the size of his suite that it was indeed him, took her
boat over to the bank where he was. His fine figure made him easily
distinguishable from the others; she, however, distinguished even more
easily the figure of the Duc de Guise. This sight disturbed her and
caused her to blush a little which made her seem to the Princes to have
an almost supernatural beauty.

The Duc de Guise recognised her immediately in spite of the changes
which had taken place in her appearance in the three years since he had
last seen her. He told the Duc d'Anjou who she was and the Duc was at
first embarrassed at the liberty he had taken, but then, struck by the
Princess's beauty, he decided to venture a little further, and after a
thousand excuses and a thousand compliments he invented a serious
matter which required his presence on the opposite bank, and accepted
the 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 to
cross the river elsewhere and to join him at Champigny, which Madame de
Montpensier 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 they
owed this so pleasant encounter. Madame de Montpensier replied that
having left Champigny with the Prince her husband with the intention of
following the hunt, she had become tired and having reached the river
bank she had gone out in the boat to watch the landing of a salmon
which had been caught in a net. The Duc de Guise did not take part in
this conversation, but he was conscious of the re-awakening of all the
emotions which the Princess had once aroused in him, and thought to
himself that he would have difficulty in escaping from this meeting
without falling once more under her spell.

They arrived shortly at the bank where they found the Princess's horses
and her attendants who had been waiting for her. The two noblemen
helped her onto her horse where she sat with the greatest elegance.
During their journey back to Champigny they talked agreeably about a
number of subjects and her companions were no less charmed by her
conver