At night great search was made for the picture; and having found the
case it used to be kept in, they never suspected it had been stolen but
thought it might have fallen out by chance. The Prince of Cleves was
very much concerned for the loss of it; and after having searched for
it a great while to no purpose, he told his wife, but with an air that
showed he did not think so, that without doubt she had some secret
lover, to whom she had given the picture, or who had stole it, and that
none but a lover would have been contented with the picture without the
case. These words, though spoke in jest, made a lively impression in the mind
of Madam de Cleves; they gave her remorse, and she reflected on the
violence of her inclination which hurried her on to love the Duke of
Nemours; she found she was no longer mistress of her words or
countenance; she imagined that Lignerolles was returned, that she had
nothing to fear from the affair of England, nor any cause to suspect
the Queen-Dauphin; in a word, that she had no refuge or defence against
the Duke de Nemours but by retiring; but as she was not at her liberty
to retire, she found herself in a very great extremity and ready to
fall into the last misfortune, that of discovering to the Duke the
inclination she had for him: she remembered all that her mother had
said to her on her death-bed, and the advice which she gave her, to
enter on any resolutions, however difficult they might be, rather than
engage in gallantry; she remembered also what Monsieur de Cleves had
told her, when he gave an account of Madam de Tournon; she thought she
ought to acknowledge to him the inclination she had for the Duke de
Nemours, and in that thought she continued a long time; afterwards she
was astonished to have entertained so ridiculous a design, and fell
back again into her former perplexity of not knowing what to choose.
The peace was signed; and the Lady Elizabeth, after a great deal of
reluctance, resolved to obey the King her father. The Duke of Alva was
appointed to marry her in the name of the Catholic King, and was very
soon expected.
The Duke of Savoy too, who was to marry the King's
sister, and whose nuptials were to be solemnised at the same time, was
expected every day. The King thought of nothing but how to grace these
marriages with such diversions as might display the politeness and
magnificence of his Court. Interludes and comedies of the best kind
were proposed, but the King thought those entertainments too private,
and desired to have somewhat of a more splendid nature: he resolved to
make a solemn tournament, to which strangers might be invited, and of
which the people might be spectators. The princes and young lords very
much approved the King's design, especially the Duke of Ferrara,
Monsieur de Guise, and the Duke de Nemours, who surpassed the rest in
these sorts of exercises. The King made choice of them to be together
with himself the four champions of the tournament.