" (2) These words have led to the belief that there
had been some question of a marriage between Margaret and the Constable;
however, there is no mention of any such alliance in the diplomatic
documents exchanged between France and Spain on the subject of the
King's release. These documents comprise an undertaking to restore the
Constable his estates, and even to arrange a match for him in France,
(3) but Margaret is never mentioned. She herself, in the numerous
letters handed down to us, does not once refer to the famous exile, and
the intrigue described by certain historians and romancers evidently
rests upon no solid foundation. (4)
1 Renee, the younger daughter of Louis XII. and Anne of
Brittany, subsequently celebrated as Renee of Ferrara.
2 This letter is preserved at the Bibliotheque Nationale,
Bethune MSS., No. 8496, fol. xiii.
3 _Captivite de Francois Ier, &c_., pp. 167-207.
4 Varillas is the principal historian who has mentioned
this supposed intrigue, which also furnished the subject of
a romance entitled _Histoire de Marguerite, Reine de
Navarre, &c.
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