speaks of
Margaret, he can find no trace either of the fancy ascribed to her for
the poet or of the passion which the latter may have felt for her. Like
all those who surrounded the Duchess of Alencon, Marot, he remarks,
exalted her beauty, art, and talent to the clouds; but whenever it is to
her that his verses are directly addressed, he does not depart from
the respect he owes to her. To give some likelihood to his conjectures,
Lenglet-Dufresnoy had to suppose that Marot addressed Margaret in
certain verses which were not intended for her. In the epistles
previously mentioned, and in several short pieces, rondeaux, epigrams,
new years' addresses, and epitaphs really written to or for the sister
of Francis I., one only finds respectful praise, such as the humble
courtier may fittingly offer to his patroness. There is nothing
whatever, adds M. Le Roux de Lincy, to promote the suspicion that a
passion, either unfortunate or favoured, inspired a single one of these
compositions.

The campaign in which Francis I. was engaged at the time when Marot's
connection with Margaret began, and concerning which the poet supplied
her with information, was destined to influence the whole reign, since
it furnished the occasion of the first open quarrel between Francis
I. and the companion of his childhood, Charles de Bourbon, Count of
Montpensier, and Constable of France. Yielding too readily on this
occasion to the persuasions of his mother, Francis intrusted to
Margaret's husband the command of the vanguard, a post which the
Constable considered his own by virtue of his office. He felt mortally
offended at the preference given to the Duke of Alencon, and from that
day forward he and Francis were enemies for ever.

Whilst the King was secretly jealous of Bourbon, who was one of the
handsomest, richest, and bravest men in the kingdom, Louise of Savoy,
although forty-four years of age, was in love with him. The Constable,
then thirty-two, had lost his wife, Susan de Bourbon, from whom he
had inherited vast possessions. To these Louise of Savoy, finding her
passion disregarded, laid claim, as being a nearer relative of the
deceased. A marriage, as Chancellor Duprat suggested, would have served
to reconcile the parties, but the Constable having rejected the proposed
alliance--with disdain, so it is said--the suit was brought before the
Parliament and decided in favour of Louise. Such satisfaction as she
may have felt was not, however, o