Madam de Chartres still grew worse and worse, so that they began to
despair of her life; she heard what the physicians told her concerning
the danger she was in with a courage worthy her virtue, and her piety.
After they were gone, she caused everybody to retire, and sent for
Madam de Cleves.
"We must part, my dear daughter," said she, stretching out her hand to
her; "the danger I leave you in, and the occasion you have for me, adds
to the regret I have to leave you: you have a passion for the Duke de
Nemours; I do not desire you to confess it; I am no longer in a
condition to make use of that sincerity for your good; I have perceived
this inclination a great while, but was not willing to speak to you of
it at first, for fear of making you discover it yourself; you know it
at present but too well; you are upon the brink of a precipice; great
efforts must be used, and you must do great violence to your heart to
save yourself: reflect what you owe to your husband; reflect what you
owe to yourself, and think that you are going to lose that reputation
which you have gained, and which I have so much at heart; call up, my
dear daughter, all your courage and constancy; retire from Court;
oblige your husband to carry you away; do not be afraid of taking such
resolutions, as being too harsh and difficult; however frightful they
may appear at first, they will become more pleasant in time, than the
misfortunes that follow gallantry: if any other motives than those of
duty and virtue could have weight with you, I should tell you that if
anything were capable of disturbing the happiness I hope for in the
next world, it would be to see you fall like other women; but if this
calamity must necessarily happen, I shall meet death with joy, as it
will hinder me from being a witness of it."
Madam de Cleves bathed with tears her mother's hand, which she held
fast locked in her own; nor was Madam de Chartres less moved. "Adieu,
dear daughter," said she, "let us put an end to a conversation which
melts us both; and remember, if you are able, all that I have been
saying to you." When she had spoke this, she turned herself on the other side, and
ordered her daughter to call her women, being unwilling either to hear
her reply, or to speak any more. Madam de Cleves went out of her
presence in a condition one need not describe; and Madam de Chartres
thought of nothing but preparing herself for death: she lived two days
longer, during which she would not see her daughter again; her daughter
was the only thing she had reluctance to part with.