hence they came; they said they came
from Madam de Cleves, where they had spent part of the afternoon with a
great deal of company, and that they had left nobody there but the Duke
de Nemours. These words, which they thought so indifferent, were not
such with Monsieur de Cleves: though he might well imagine the Duke de
Nemours had frequent opportunities of speaking to his wife, yet the
thought that he was now with her, that he was there alone, and that he
might speak to her of his life, appeared to him at this time a thing so
new and insupportable, that jealousy kindled in his heart with greater
violence than ever. It was impossible for him to stay at the Queen's;
he returned from thence, without knowing why he returned, or if he
designed to go and interrupt the Duke de Nemours: he was no sooner come
home, but he looked about him to see if there was anything by which he
could judge if the Duke was still there; it was some comfort to him to
find he was gone, and it was a pleasure to reflect that he could not
have been long there: he fancied, that, perhaps, it was not the Duke de
Nemours of whom he had reason to be jealous; and though he did not
doubt of it, yet he endeavoured to doubt of it; but he was convinced of
it by so many circumstances, that he continued not long in that
pleasing uncertainty. He immediately went into his wife's room, and
after having talked to her for some time about indifferent matters, he
could not forbear asking her what she had done, and who she had seen,
and accordingly she gave him an account: when he found she did not name
the Duke de Nemours he asked her trembling, if those were all she had
seen, in order to give her an occasion to name the Duke, and that he
might not have the grief to see she made use of any evasion. As she
had not seen him, she did not name him; when Monsieur de Cleves with
accents of sorrow, said, "And have you not seen the Duke de Nemours, or
have you forgot him?" "I have not seen him indeed," answered she; "I
was ill, and I sent one of my women to make my excuses." "You was ill
then only for him," replied Monsieur de Cleves, "since you admitted the
visits of others: why this distinction with respect to the Duke de
Nemours? Why is not he to you as another man? Why should you be
afraid of seeing him? Why do you let him perceive that you are so? Why
do you show him that you make use of the power which his passion gives
you over him? Would you dare refuse to see h