py to hear of this resolve, but he was far from being sure about the
Duc de Guise. He earnestly warned the Princess of the danger of a
return to the previous situation should she have any change of heart,
though when he spoke of his devotion she adopted her invariable
attitude of looking on him as her closest friend but in no way a
possible suitor.

The armies were once more called up; all the Princes returned to their
posts and the Prince de Montpensier decided that his wife should come
with him to Paris so as to be further from the area where it was
expected that fighting would take place. The Huguenots besieged
Poitiers. The Duc de Guise went there to organise the defence and,
while there, enhanced his reputation by his conduct. The Duc d'Anjou
suffered from some illness, and left the army either on account of the
severity of this or because he wanted to return to the comfort and
security of Paris, where the presence of the Princess de Montpensier
was not the least of the attractions. The command of the army was taken
over by the Prince de Montpensier, and shortly after this, a peace
having been arranged, the Court assembled in Paris. Here the beauty of
the Princess eclipsed that of all her rivals. She charmed everyone by
her looks and personality. The Duc d'Anjou did not abandon the
sentiments she had inspired in him at Champigny, he took great care to
make her aware of this by all sorts of delicate considerations, being
careful at the same time not to make his attentions too obvious for
fear of arousing the jealousy of her husband. The Duc de Guise was now
fervently in love with her, but wishing, for a variety of reasons, to
keep this secret, he resolved to tell her so privately and avoid any
preliminaries which, as always, would give rise to talk and exposure.
One day when he was in the Queen's apartments where there were very few
people, the Queen having left to discuss affairs of state with Cardinal
de Lorraine, the Princess de Montpensier arrived. He decided to take
this opportunity to speak to her, and going up to her he said,
"Although it may surprise and displease you, I want you to know that I
have always felt for you that emotion which you once knew so well, and
that its power has been so greatly increased by seeing you again that
neither your disapproval, the hatred of your husband, nor the rivalry
of the first Prince in the kingdom can in the least diminish it. It
would perhaps have been more tactful to