Margaret, Queen Of Navarre - The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. IV. (of V.)

M >> Margaret, Queen Of Navarre >> The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. IV. (of V.)

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"You may be sure, ladies, that there are but few husbands whom a wife's
love and patience cannot win at last, unless they be harder even than
stone, which weak and yielding water will in time make hollow."

"That woman," said Parlamente, "had neither heart, gall nor liver."

"What would you have had her do?" said Longarine. "She practised what
God commands, and returned good for evil." (3)

3 "Recompense to no man evil for evil."--_Rom_. xii. 17.
"Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing."--1
_Pet_. iii. 9.--Ed.

"I think," said Hircan, "she must have been in love with some Grey
Friar, who had laid upon her the penance of having her husband well
treated in the country, so that, meantime, she might be free to
entertain herself well in the town."

"Therein," said Oisille, "you clearly show the wickedness of your own
heart, judging ill of a good deed. I rather believe her to have been so
subdued by the love of God that she cared for naught save the salvation
of her husband's soul."

"It seems to me," said Simontault, "that he had more reason to return
to his wife when he was so cold at the farm than afterwards when he was
treated so well."

"From what I can see," said Saffredent, "you are not of the same opinion
as the rich man of Paris who, when he lay with his wife, could not put
off his gear without being chilled, but who never felt the worse when
he went without cap or shoes, in the depth of winter, to see his
servant-maid in the cellar. Yet his wife was very beautiful and the maid
very ugly."

"Have you not heard," said Geburon, "that God always aids lunatics,
lovers and sots? Perhaps he was all three in one."

"Do you thence conclude," said Pariamente, "that God recks not of the
wise, the chaste and the temperate? Help is not needed by those who can
help themselves. He who said that He had come for the sick and not for
the whole, (4) came by the law of His mercy to succour our infirmities,
thereby annulling the decrees of His rigorous justice; and he that deems
himself wise is a fool in the sight of God. But, to end the sermon, to
whom will Longarine give her vote?"

4 "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but
they that are sick."--_St. Mark_ ii. 17. See also _St.
Luke_ v. 31.--Ed.

"I give it," she said, "to Saffredent."

"Then I hope," said Saffredent, "to prove to you that God does not
favour lovers. For although it has already been said, ladies, that vice
is common to men and women alike, yet will a subtle artifice be more
readily and adroitly devised by a woman than by a man Of this I am now
about to give you an instance."

[Illustration: 088.jpg Tailpiece]

[Illustration: 089a.jpg The Lord of Grignaulx catching the Pretended Ghost]

[The Lord of Grignaulx catching the Pretended Ghost]

[Illustration: 089.jpg Page Image]

_TALE XXXIX_.

_The Lord of Grignaulx freed his house from a ghost which
had so tormented his wife that for the space of two years
she had dwelt elsewhere_.

A certain Lord of Grignaulx (1) who was gentleman of honour to the Queen
of France, Anne, Duchess of Brittany, on returning to his house whence
he had been absent during more than two years, found his wife at another
estate, near by, and when he inquired the reason of this, she told him
that a ghost was wont to haunt the house, and tormented them so much
that none could dwell there. (2) Monsieur de Grig-naulx, who had no
belief in such absurdities, replied that were it the devil himself he
was not afraid of him, and so brought his wife home again.

At night he caused many candles to be lighted that he might see the
ghost more clearly, and, after watching for a long time without hearing
anything, he fell asleep; but immediately afterwards he was awaked by a
buffet upon the cheek, and heard a voice crying, "Brenigne, Brenigne,"
which had been the name of his grandmother. (3) Then he called to the
serving-woman, who lay near them, (4) to light the candle, for all were
now extinguished, but she durst not rise. And at the same time the Lord
of Grig-naulx felt the covering pulled from off him, and heard a great
noise of tables, trestles and stools falling about the room; and this
lasted until morning. However, the Lord of Grignaulx was more displeased
at losing his rest than afraid of the ghost, for indeed he never
believed it to be any such thing.

1 This is John de Talleyrand, knight, lord of Grignols and
Fouquerolles, Prince of Chalais, Viscount of Fronsac, mayor
and captain of Bordeaux, chamberlain of Charles VIII., first
majordomo and gentleman of honour in turn to two French
Queens, Anne of Brittany and Mary of England. His wife was
Margaret de la Tour, daughter of Anne de la Tour, Viscount
of Turenne, and Mary de Beaufort. She bore him several
children. It was John de Talleyrand who warned Louise of
Savoy that her son Francis, then Count of Angouleme, was
paying court to the young Queen, Mary of England, wife to
Louis XII. Apprehensive lest this intrigue should destroy
her son's prospects, Louise prevailed on him to relinquish
it (Brantome's _Dames Illustres_).--L. 4 89

2 The house haunted by the ghost would probably be
Talleyrand's chateau at Grignols, in the department of the
Gironde. His lordship of Fouquerolles was only a few miles
distant, in the Dordogne, and this would be the estate to
which his wife had retired.--Ed.

3 Talleyrand's grandmother on the paternal side was Mary of
Brabant; the reference may be to his maternal grandmother,
whose Christian name was possibly "Benigne." On the other
hand, Boaistuau gives the name as Revigne, and among the old
French _noblesse_ were the Revigne and Revigny families.--
Ed.

4 See _ante_, note 2 to Tale XXXVII.

On the following night he resolved to capture this ghost, and so, when
he had been in bed a little while, he pretended to snore very loudly,
and placed his open hand close to his face. Whilst he was in this wise
waiting for the ghost, he felt that something was coming near him, and
accordingly snored yet louder than before, whereat the ghost was
so encouraged as to deal him a mighty blow. Forthwith, the Lord of
Grignaulx caught the ghost's hand as it rested on his face, and cried
out to his wife--

"I have the ghost!"

His wife immediately rose up and lit the candle, and found that it was
the serving-woman who slept in their room; and she, throwing herself
upon her knees, entreated forgiveness and promised to confess the truth.
This was, that she had long loved a serving-man of the house, and
had taken this fine mystery in hand in order to drive both master and
mistress away, so that she and her lover, having sole charge of the
house, might be able to make good cheer as they were wont to do when
alone. My Lord of Grignaulx, who was a somewhat harsh man, commanded
that they should be soundly beaten so as to prevent them from ever
forgetting the ghost, and this having been done, they were driven away.
In this fashion was the house freed from the plaguy ghosts who for two
years long had played their pranks in it. (5)

5 Talleyrand, who passes for having been the last of the
"Rois des Ribauds" (see the Bibliophile Jacob's historical
novel of that title), was, like his descendant the great
diplomatist, a man of subtle and caustic humour. Brantome,
in his article on Anne of Brittany in _Les Dames Illustres_,
repeatedly refers to him, and relates that on an occasion
when the Queen wished to say a few words in Spanish to the
Emperor's ambassador--there was a project of marrying her
daughter Claude to Charles V.--she applied to Grignols to
teach her a sentence or two of the Castilian language. He,
however, taught her some dirty expression, but was careful
to warn Louis XII., who laughed at it, telling his wife on
no account to use the Spanish words she had learnt. On
discovering the truth, Anne was so greatly vexed, that
Grignols was obliged to withdraw from Court for some time,
and only with difficulty obtained the Queen's forgiveness.--
L. and Ed.

"It is wonderful, ladies, to think of the effects wrought by the mighty
god of Love. He causes women to put aside all fear, and teaches them to
give every sort of trouble to man in order to work their own ends. But
if the purpose of the serving-woman calls for blame, the sound sense
of the master is no less worthy of praise. He knew that when the spirit
departs, it returns no more." (6)

6 "A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again."--_Psalm_
lxxviii. 39.--M.

"In sooth," said Geburon, "love showed little favour to the man and
the maid, but I agree that the sound sense of the master was of great
advantage to him."

"Nevertheless," said Ennasuite, "the maid through her cunning lived for
a long time at her ease."

"'Tis but a sorry ease," said Oisille, "that is founded upon sin and
that ends in shame and chastisement."

"That is true, madam," said Ennasuite, "but many persons reap pain
and sorrow by living righteously, and lacking wit enough to procure
themselves in all their lives as much pleasure as these two."

"It is nevertheless my opinion," said Oisille, "that there can be no
perfect pleasure unless the conscience be at rest."

"Nay," said Simontault, "the Italian maintains that the greater the sin
the greater the pleasure." (7)

7 This may be a reference to Boccaccio or Castiglione, but
the expression is of a proverbial character in many
languages.--Ed.

"In very truth," said Oisille, "he who invented such a saying must be
the devil himself. Let us therefore say no more of him, but see to whom
Saffredent will give his vote."

"To whom?" said he. "Only Parlamente now remains; but if there were a
hundred others, she should still receive my vote, as being the one from
whom we shall certainly learn something."

"Well, since I am to end the day," said Parlamente, "and since I
promised yesterday to tell you why Rolandine's father built the castle
in which he kept her so long a prisoner, I will now relate it to you."

[Illustration: 094.jpg Tailpiece]

[Illustration: 095a.jpg The Count of Jossebelin murdering his Sister's Husband]

[The Count of Jossebelin murdering his Sister's Husband]

[Illustration: 095.jpg Page Image]

_TALE XL_.

_The sister of the Count of Jossebelin, after marrying
unknown to her brother a gentleman whom he caused to be put
to death (albeit except for his lowlier rank he had often
desired him for his brother-in-law) did, with great patience
and austerity of life, spend the remainder of her days in a
hermitage_. (1)

This lord, who was the father of Rolandine and was called the Count of
Jossebelin, had several sisters, some of whom were married to wealthy
husbands, others becoming nuns, whilst one, who was beyond comparison
fairer than all the rest, dwelt unwedded in his house. (2)

1 The events here narrated would have occurred in or about
1479.--L.

2 The so-called Count of Jossebelin is John II., Viscount
de Rohan, previously referred to in Tale XXI. He was the son
of Alan IX., Vicount of Rohan, by his second wife, Mary of
Lorraine. Alan, by a first marriage with Margaret of
Brittany, had three daughters, Jane, Margaret and Catherine,
all three of whom were married advantageously. Contrary to
Queen Margaret's assertion above, none of them became nuns;
Alan may, however, have had illegitimate daughters who took
the veil. By his second wife he had a son, John II., and a
daughter christened Catherine, like her half-sister. She
died unmarried, says Anselme's _Histoire Genealogique_ (vol.
iv. p. 57), and would appear to be the heroine of Queen
Margaret's tale.--L. and B. J.

And so dearly did she love her brother that he, for his part, preferred
her even to his wife and children.

She was asked in marriage by many of good estate, but her brother would
never listen to them through dread of losing her, and also because he
loved his money too well. She therefore spent a great part of her life
un-wedded, living very virtuously in her brother's house. Now there was
a young and handsome gentleman who had been reared from childhood in
this same house, and who, growing in comeliness and virtue as well as in
years, had come to have a complete and peaceful rule over his master,
in such sort that whenever the latter desired to give any charge to his
sister he always did so by means of this young gentleman, (3) and he
allowed him so much influence and intimacy, sending him morning and
evening to his sister, that at last a great love sprang up between the
two.

3 This is possibly a Count of Keradreux, whom John II. is
known to have put to death, though the Breton and French
chroniclers do not relate the circumstances of the crime.--
See_post_, p. 100, note 4.--Ed.

But as the gentleman feared for his life if he should offend his master,
and the lady feared also for her honour, their love found gladness in
speech alone, until the Lord of Jossebelin had often said to his sister
that he wished the gentleman were rich and of as good a house as her
own, for he had never known a man whom he would so gladly have had for
his brother-in-law.

He repeated these sayings so often that, after debating them together,
the lovers concluded that if they wedded one another they would readily
be forgiven. Love, which easily believes what it desires, persuaded them
that nothing but good could come of it; and in this hope they celebrated
and consummated the marriage without the knowledge of any save a priest
and certain women.

After they had lived for a few years in the delight that man and woman
can have together in marriage, and as one of the handsomest and most
loving couples in Christendom, Fate, vexed to find two persons so
much at their ease, would no longer suffer them to continue in it, but
stirred up against them an enemy, who, keeping watch upon the lady, came
to a knowledge of her great happiness, and, ignorant the while of her
marriage, went and told the Lord of Jossebelin that the gentleman in
whom he had so much trust, went too often to his sister's room, and that
moreover at hours when no man should enter it. This the Count would
not at first believe for the trust that he had in his sister and in the
gentleman.

But the other, like one careful for the honour of the house, repeated
the charge so often that a strict watch was set, and the poor folk,
who suspected nothing, were surprised. For one evening the Lord of
Jossebelin was advised that the gentleman was with his sister, and,
hastening thither, found the poor love-blinded pair lying in bed
together. His anger at the sight robbed him of speech, and, drawing
his sword, he ran after the gentleman to kill him. But the other, being
nimble of body, fled in nothing but his shirt, and, being unable to
escape by the door, leaped through a window into the garden.

Then the poor lady, clad only in her chemise, threw herself upon her
knees before her brother and said to him--

"Sir, spare the life of my husband, for I have indeed married him;
and if you are offended punish only me, for what he did was done at my
request."

Her brother, beside himself with wrath, could only reply--

"Even if he be your husband one hundred thousand times over, yet will I
punish him as a rascally servant who has deceived me."

So saying, he went to the window and called out loudly to kill him,
which was speedily done before the eyes of himself and his sister. The
latter, on beholding the pitiful sight which no prayers on her part
had been able to prevent, spoke to her brother like a woman bereft of
reason.

"Brother," she said, "I have neither father nor mother, and I am old
enough to marry according to my own pleasure. I chose one whom many a
time you said you would gladly have me marry, and for doing by your own
counsels that which the law permits me to do without them, you have put
to death the man whom you loved best of all the world. Well, since my
prayers have been of no avail to preserve his life, I implore you, by
all the love you have ever borne me, to make me now a sharer in his
death even as I have been a sharer in all his living fortunes. In this
way, while sating your unjust and cruel anger, you will give repose
to the body and soul of one who cannot and will not live without him."
Although her brother was almost distracted with passion, (4) he had
pity upon his sister, and so, without granting or denying her request,
withdrew. After weighing well what he had done, and hearing that the
gentleman had in fact married his sister, he would gladly have undone
his grievous crime. Nevertheless, being afraid that his sister would
seek justice or vengeance for it, he caused a castle to be built in the
midst of a forest, (5) and, placing her therein, forbade that any should
have speech with her.

4 John II. of Rohan was a man of the most passionate,
resentful disposition, and the greater part of his life was
spent in furthering ambitious schemes, stirring up feuds and
factions, and desolating Brittany with civil war. In 1470 we
find him leaving the service of the Duke, his master, to
enter that of Louis XI., on whose side he fought till the
peace of Senlis in 1475. Four years later the Duke of
Brittany caused him to be arrested on the charge of
murdering the Count of Keradreux, and he appears to have
remained in prison till 1484, when it is recorded that he
fled to France, and thence to Lorraine. In 1487 he leagued
himself with several discontented nobles to drive away the
Chancellor of Brittany and various foreign favourites around
the Duke, and carried civil war into several parts of the
duchy. Then for a brief space he made his peace with the
Duke, but again took up arms for the French King, fought at
St. Aubin du Cormier, captured Dinan and besieged and
pillaged Guingamp. Charles VIII. appointed him Lieutenant-
general of Lower Brittany in 1491, and he was first
commissary of the King of France at the States of Brittany
held at Vannes in 1491 and 1501. In 1507 he witnessed the
marriage contract of the Princess Claude with Francis, Duke
of Valois, afterwards Francis I. (Anselme's _Histoire
Genealogique_, vol. iv. p. 57). When Anne became Duchess of
Brittany, John II. vainly strove to compel her to marry his
son, James, and this was one of the causes of their life-
long enmity (_ante_ vol. iii. Tale XXI.) John II. died in
1516.--L. and Ed.

5 If this be the chateau of Josselin, as some previous
commentators think, Queen Margaret is in error here, for
records subsist which prove that Josselin, now classed among
the historical monuments of France, was built not by John
II., but by his father, Alan IX. It rises on a steep rock on
the bank of the Oust, at nine miles from Ploermel, and on
the sculptured work, both inside and out, the letters A. V.
(Alan, Viscount) are frequently repeated, with the arms of
Rohan and Brittany quartered together, and bearing the proud
device _A plus_. It seems to us evident that the incidents
recorded in the early part of Queen Margaret's tale took
place at Josselin, and that Catherine de Rohan was
imprisoned in some other chateau expressly erected by her
brother.--D. and Ed.

Some time afterwards he sought, for the satisfaction of his conscience,
to win her back again, and spoke to her of marriage; but she sent him
word that he had given her too sorry a breakfast to make her willing to
sup off the same dish, and that she looked to live in such sort that he
should never murder a second husband of hers; for, she added, she could
scarcely believe that he would forgive another man after having so
cruelly used the one whom he had loved best of all the world.

And although weak and powerless for revenge, she placed her hopes in Him
who is the true Judge, and who suffers no wickedness to go unpunished;
and, relying upon His love alone, was minded to spend the rest of her
life in her hermitage. And this she did, for she never stirred from
that place so long as she lived, but dwelt there with such patience and
austerity that her tomb was visited by every one as that of a saint.

From the time that she died, her brother's house came to such a ruinous
state, that of his six sons not one was left, but all died miserably;
(6) and at last the inheritance, as you heard in the former story,
passed into the possession of Rolandine, who succeeded to the prison
that had been built for her aunt.

6 Queen Margaret is in error here. Instead of six sons,
John II., according to the most reliable genealogical
accounts of the Rohan family, had but two, James, Viscount
of Rohan and Lord of Leon, who died childless in 1527, and
Claud, Bishop of Cornouailles, who succeeded him as Viscount
of Rohan (Anselme). These had two sisters, Anne, the
Rolandine of Tale XXI., and Mary, who died in June 1542
(Dillaye).--Ed.

"I pray God, ladies, that this example may be profitable to you, and
that none among you will seek to marry for her own pleasure without the
consent of those to whom obedience is due; for marriage is a state of
such long continuance that it should not be entered upon lightly and
without the advice of friends and kin. And, indeed, however wisely
one may act, there is always at least as much pain in it as there is
pleasure."

"In good faith," said Oisille, "were there neither God nor law to
teach maidens discretion, this example would suffice to give them more
reverence for their kindred, and not to seek marriage according to their
own pleasure."

"Still, madam," said Nomerfide, "whoso has but one good day in the year,
is not unhappy her whole life long. She had the pleasure of seeing and
speaking for a long time with him whom she loved better than herself,
and she moreover enjoyed the delights of marriage with him without
scruple of conscience. I consider such happiness so great, that in my
opinion it surpassed the sorrow that she bore."

"You maintain, then," said Saffredent, "that a woman has more pleasure
in lying with a husband, than pain in seeing him put to death before her
eyes."

"That is not my meaning," said Nomerfide, "for it would be contrary to
my experience of women. But I hold that an unwonted pleasure such as
that of marrying the man whom one loves best of all the world, must be
greater than that of losing him by death, which is common to all."

"Yes," said Geburon, "if the death be a natural one, but that in the
story was too cruel. And I think it very strange, considering he was
neither her father nor her husband but only her brother, and she had
reached an age when the law suffers maidens to marry according to their
own pleasure, that this lord should have had the daring to commit so
cruel a deed."

"I do not think it at all strange," said Hircan, "for he did not kill
his sister whom he dearly loved, and who was not subject to his control,
but dealt with the gentleman whom he had bred as his son and loved as
his brother. He had bestowed honour and wealth upon him in his service,
and in return for all this the other sought his sister in marriage, a
thing which was in nowise fitting for him to do."

"Moreover," said Nomerfide, "it was no ordinary or wonted pleasure for a
lady of such high lineage to marry a gentleman servant for love. If the
death was extraordinary, the pleasure also was novel, and it was the
greater seeing that it had against it the opinions of all wise folk, for
it was the happiness of a loving heart with tranquillity of soul, since
God was in no wise offended by it And as for the death that you call
cruel, it seems to me that, since death is unavoidable, the swifter it
comes the better; for we know that it is a road by which all of us must
travel. I deem those fortunate who do not long linger on the outksirts
of death, but who take a speedy flight from all that can be termed
happiness in this world to the happiness that is eternal."

"What do you mean by the outskirts of death?" said Simontault.

"Such as have deep tribulation of spirit," replied Nomerfide, "such,
too, as have long been ill, and in their extreme bodily or spiritual
pain have come to think lightly of death and find its approach too slow,
such, I say, as these have passed through the outskirts of death and
will tell you of the hostels where they knew more lamentation than rest.
The lady of the story could not help losing her husband through death,
but her brother's wrath preserved her from seeing him a long time sick
or distressed in mind. And turning the gladness that she had had with
him to the service of Our Lord, she might well esteem herself happy."

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