swear to you that I have named
none who were not very beautiful, agreeable and accomplished,
and so endowed as to fire the whole world with passion. Indeed,
some of them in their zenith did set fire to a good part of it,
including those of us gentlemen of the Court who approached too
close to the flames. Also to many were they sweet, amiable,
favourable, and courteous. I allude now to certain ones of whom
I wish to relate good stories in this book before I have ended
it, and of others who are not included. But all will be told
so quietly and without scandal that none can take offence, for
the curtain of silence will cover their names; so that if any
of them should happen to read stories of themselves they will
not be displeased. For although the pleasures of love cannot
last forever, on account of too many hindrances, accidents and
changes, the memories of past joys delight us none the less.

Now, in order to give proper consideration to them, it would
be necessary to see for oneself all this lovely array of dames
and demoiselles, creatures more divine than human; it would be
necessary to represent them in their entrances into Paris and
other cities, or at the holy and splendid nuptials of the royal
family--such as those of the Dauphin, King Charles, King Henry
III, the King of Spain, Madame de Lorraine, the Queen of Navarre,
as well as other grand weddings of princes and princesses, such
as that of M. de Joyeuse, which would have surpassed them all
if the Queen of Navarre had been present. Nor must we forget
the interview at Bayonne, the Polish embassy, and an infinite
number of similar spectacles which I should never be able to
finish counting, where could be seen an array of these ladies, each
seemingly more beautiful than the rest, and some more handsomely
apparelled than others, since at such festivities, in addition
to their own wealth, the King or the Queen gave them splendid
liveries of different kinds.

In a word, no one ever saw anything finer, more dazzling, attractive,
superb. The glory of Niquee [in the enchanted palace of "Amadis"]
never approached it; for one could see all this glowing in the
ballrooms at the Palace or the Louvre, like the stars of heaven
in the clear sky. The Queen desired and commanded that they should
always appear in lovely and expensive apparel, although she herself,
during her widowhood, never dressed in worldly silks, unless of
subdued tints, but always in good taste and well-