The time of her mourning being expired, the Princess of Cleves was
obliged to make her appearance again, and go to Court as usual; she saw
the Duke de Nemours at the Queen-Dauphin's apartment; she saw him at
the Prince of Cleves's, where he often came in company of other young
noblemen, to avoid being remarked; yet she never once saw him, but it
gave her a pain that could not escape his observation.
However industrious she was to avoid being looked at by him, and to
speak less to him than to any other, some things escaped her in an
unguarded moment, which convinced him he was not indifferent to her; a
man of less discernment than he would not have perceived it, but he had
already so often been the object of love, that it was easy for him to
know when he was loved; he found the Chevalier de Guise was his rival,
and the Chevalier knew that the Duke de Nemours was his; Monsieur de
Guise was the only man in the Court that had unravelled this affair,
his interest having made him more clear-sighted than others; the
knowledge they had of each other's sentiments created an opposition
between them in everything, which, however, did not break out into an
open quarrel; they were always of different parties at the running, at
the ring, at tournaments, and all diversions the King delighted in, and
their emulation was so great it could not be concealed.
Madam de Cleves frequently revolved in her mind the affair of England;
she believed the Duke de Nemours could not resist the advice of the
King, and the instances of Lignerolles; she was very much concerned to
find that Lignerolles was not yet returned, and she impatiently
expected him; her inclinations strongly swayed her to inform herself
exactly of the state of this affair; but the same reasons, which raised
in her that curiosity, obliged her to conceal it, and she only enquired
of the beauty, the wit, and the temper of Queen Elizabeth. A picture
of that Princess had been brought the King, which Madam de Cleves found
much handsomer than she could have wished for, and she could not
forbear saying, the picture flattered.
"I don't think so," replied the Queen-Dauphin;
"that Princess has the reputation of being very
handsome, and of having a very exalted genius, and I know she has
always been proposed to me as a model worthy my imitation; she can't
but be very handsome, if she resembles her mother, Anne Boleyn; never
had woman so many charms and allurements both in her person and her
humour; I have heard say she had something remarkably lively in her
countenance, very different from what is usually found in other English
beauties."