Prev | Current Page 238 | Next

Margaret, Queen of Navarre, 1492-1549

"The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. I. (of V.)"

; and also of
two beautiful women's chemises in Holland linen "richly
worked with gold thread and silk, at the price of six crowns
apiece."--M.
"Beauty! now hast thou been rewarded according to thy deserts. By reason
of thy vain promises I attempted an impossible undertaking, and one
that, instead of increasing my happiness, will perchance double my
misfortune. I feel sure that if she knows I made this foolish attempt
contrary to the promise I gave her, I shall lose the honourable and
accustomed companionship which more than any other I have had with her.
And my folly has well deserved this, for if I was to turn my good
looks and grace to any account, I ought not to have hidden them in the
darkness. I should not have sought to take that chaste body by force,
but should have waited in long service and humble patience till love
had conquered her. Without love, all man's merits and might are of no
avail."
Thus he passed the night in tears, regrets, and sorrowings such as I
cannot describe; and in the morning, finding his face greatly torn, he
feigned grievous sickness and to be unable to endure the light, until
the company had left his house.


Pages:
226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250