ill you say of those women who have no sooner
done a deed of folly than they tell some one about it?"

"I think that a strange thing," answered Longarine, "and a sign that sin
is not displeasing to them. If, as I said, a sin is not covered by
the mercy of God, it cannot be denied before men; there are many who,
delighting in such talk, glory to make their vices known, whilst others
who contradict themselves in this way become their own accusers."

"If you know any such instance," said Saffredent, "I give you my place
and beg you to tell it us."

"Listen then," said Longarine.

[Illustration: 117.jpg Tailpiece]

[Illustration: 119a. The Gentleman's Spur catching in the Sheet]

[The Gentleman's Spur catching in the Sheet]

[Illustration: 119.jpg Page Image]

_TALE LXII_.

_A lady's tongue tripped so awkwardly whilst she was telling
a story, as if of another, to a dame of high degree, that
her honour thenceforward bore a stain which she could never
remove_.

In the time of King Francis the First there lived a lady of the blood
royal, who was endowed with honour, virtue and beauty, and well knew how
to tell a story with grace and to laugh at such as might be told to
her. (1) This lady being at one of her houses, all her subjects and
neighbours came to see her; for she was as much liked as it were
possible for woman to be.

1 M. de Lincy thinks that this lady may be Louise of Savoy,
who was very fond of listening to stories of an equivocal
character. This, it may be pointed out, is one of the
reasons why the commentators of the _Heptameron_ suppose her
to be Oisille, though the latter in the conversational
passages following the tales displays considerable prudery
and devoutness. That Louise was a woman of extremely amorous
tendency is well known; we need, indeed, no better proof of
it than her unseemly passion for the Constable de Bourbon
when she was five-and-forty years of age. If she be the lady
of royal blood spoken of above, the incidents of the tale
may have occurred in the Bourbonnais, a considerable portion
of which passed into her hands after the flight of the
Constable from France. It will be noted that allusion is
made to the lady's subjects, showing that she exercised a
feudal sway. As one of the commentators of the _Heptameron_
has pointed out, Queen Margaret always saw her mother--th