other, and their thoughts went along a track which they both had
travelled in the past. At the end of this agreeable meeting the Duc was
left in a state of considerable happiness, and the Princess was not a
little moved to think that he truly loved her. However, in the privacy
of her room she became ashamed of the ease with which she had accepted
the Duc's excuses and reflected on the trouble into which she might be
plunged if she engaged in something she had always regarded with
distaste and on the frightening misery which a jealous husband might
inflict on her. These thoughts made her adopt new resolves, but they
disappeared the next day on the sight of the Duc de Guise.

The new alliance between their families gave the Duc many opportunities
to speak to her. He gave her an exact account of all that passed
between Madame and himself. He had difficulty in allaying the jealousy
to which the beauty of Madame gave rise and any number of promises
failed to reassure her. This jealousy enabled the Princess to defend
the remains of her heart against the advances of the Duc, who already
had won the greater part of it.

The marriage of the King to the daughter of the Emperor Maximilian
filled the Court with fetes and celebrations. The King put on a ballet
in which Madame and all the princesses were to dance; among them only
the Princess de Montpensier could rival Madame in beauty. The Duc
d'Anjou and four others were to make an appearance as Moors; their
costumes would all be identical, as was usual in this sort of
performance. On the first occasion on which the ballet was presented,
the Duc de Guise, before the dance began and before he had donned his
mask, said a few words to the Princess as he went past her. She saw
clearly that the Prince her husband had noticed this, which made her
feel uneasy. A little later, seeing the Duc d'Anjou in his mask and
Moorish costume, who was coming to speak to her, she mistook him for
the Duc de Guise and said to him "Do not have eyes for anyone but
Madame this evening: I shall not be in the least jealous. I am ordering
you. I am being watched. Do not come near me again." As soon as she had
said this she moved away.

The Duc d'Anjou stood there thunderstruck. He saw that he had a
successful rival: the reference to Madame made it obvious that this was
the Duc de Guise, and left him in no doubt that his sister was to play
second fiddle to the Princess de Montpensier. Jealousy, frustration an