He said, 'The whole world would censure his imprudence, if he ventured to go to

England, with the pretensions of marrying the Queen, without being

secure of success; I think,' added he, 'I should time my business very

ill to go to England now, when the King of Spain uses such pressing

instances to obtain the Queen in marriage; the Spanish King perhaps

would not be a very formidable rival in matters of gallantry, but in a

treaty of marriage I believe your Majesty would not advise me to be his

competitor.' 'I would advise you to it upon this occasion,' replied the

King; 'but however you will have no competitor in him; I know he has

quite other thoughts; and though he had not, Queen Mary found herself

so uneasy under the weight of the Spanish Crown, that I can't believe

her sister will be very desirous of it.'

'If she should not,' replied the Duke of Nemours,

'it is probable she will seek her happiness in

love; she has been in love with my Lord Courtenay for several years;

Queen Mary too was in love with him, and would have married him with

consent of the states of her kingdom, had not she known that the youth

and beauty of her sister Elizabeth had more charms for him than her

crown; your Majesty knows, that the violence of her jealousy carried

her so far, as to imprison them both, and afterwards to banish my Lord

Courtenay, and at last determined her to marry the King of Spain; I

believe Queen Elizabeth will soon recall that Lord, and make choice of

a man whom she loves, who deserves her love, and who has suffered so

much for her, in preference to another whom she never saw.' 'I should

be of that opinion,' replied the King, 'if my Lord Courtenay were

living, but I received advice some days ago, that he died at Padua,

whither he was banished:

I plainly see,' added the King, as he left the

Duke, 'that your marriage must be concluded the same way the Dauphin's

was, and that ambassadors must be sent to marry the Queen of England

for you.' "Monsieur d'Anville and the Viscount, who were with the King when he

spoke to the Duke of Nemours, are persuaded that it is the passion he

is so deeply engaged in, which diverts him from so great a design; the

Viscount, who sees deeper into him than anybody, told Madam de Martigny

that he was so changed he did not know him again; and what astonishes

him more is, that he does not find he has any private interviews, or

that he is ever missing at particular times, so that he believes he has

no correspondence with the person he is in love with; and that which

surprises him in the Duke is to see him in love with a woman who does

not return his love."




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024