Madam de Cleves, suspecting he might return, continued in her chamber;

she had reason to apprehend she should not always have the power to

avoid him, and she would not submit herself to the hazard of speaking

to him in a manner that would have been unsuitable to the conduct she

had hitherto observed.

Monsieur de Nemours, though he had no hopes of seeing her, could not

find in his heart soon to leave a place where she so often was; he

passed the whole night in the garden, and found some pleasure at least

in seeing the same objects which she saw every day; it was near sunrise

before he thought of retiring; but as last the fear of being discovered

obliged him to go away.

It was impossible for him to return to Court without seeing Madam de

Cleves; he made a visit to his sister the Duchess of Mercoeur, at her

house near Colomiers. She was extremely surprised at her brother's

arrival; but he invented so probable a pretence for his journey, and

conducted his plot so skilfully, that he drew her to make the first

proposal herself of visiting Madam de Cleves. This proposal was

executed that very day, and Monsieur de Nemours told his sister, that

he would leave her at Colomiers, in order to go directly to the King;

he formed this pretence of leaving her at Colomiers in hopes she would

take her leave before him, and he thought he had found out by that

means an infallible way of speaking to Madam de Cleves.

The Princess of Cleves, when they arrived, was walking in her garden

the sight of Monsieur de Nemours gave her no small uneasiness, and put

her out of doubt that it was he she had seen the foregoing night. The

certainty of his having done so bold and imprudent a thing gave her

some little resentment against him, and the Duke observed an air of

coldness in her face, which sensibly grieved him; the conversation

turned upon indifferent matters, and yet he had the skill all the while

to show so much wit, complaisance, and admiration for Madam de Cleves,

that part of the coldness she expressed towards him at first left her

in spite of herself.

When his fears were over and he began to take heart, he showed an

extreme curiosity to see the pavilion in the forest; he spoke of it as

of the most agreeable place in the world, and gave so exact a

description of it, that Madam de Mercoeur said he must needs have been

there several times to know all the particular beauties of it so well.

"And yet, I don't believe," replied Madam de Cleves, "that the Duke de

Nemours was ever there; it has been finished but a little while." "It

is not long since I was there," replied the Duke, looking upon her,

"and I don't know if I ought not to be glad you have forgot you saw me

there." Madam de Mercoeur, being taken up in observing the beauties of

the gardens, did not attend to what her brother said; Madam de Cleves

blushed, and with her eyes cast down, without looking on Monsieur de

Nemours, "I don't remember," said she, "to have seen you there; and if

you have been there, it was without my knowledge." "It is true,

Madam," replied he, "I was there without your orders, and I passed

there the most sweet and cruel moments of my life."




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