said the Princess of Cleves, "after having seen her
assiduity in writing to the Constable during his imprisonment, the joy
she expressed at his return, and how she always calls him Compere, as
well as the King." "If you judge from appearances in a Court," replied
Madam de Chartres, "you will often be deceived; truth and appearances
seldom go together.

"But to return to the Duchess of Valentinois, you know her name is
Diana de Poitiers; her family is very illustrious, she is descended
from the ancient Dukes of Aquitaine, her grandmother was a natural
daughter of Lewis the XI, and in short she possesses everything that is
great in respect of birth. St. Valier, her father, had the unhappiness
to be involved in the affair of the Constable of Bourbon, which you
have heard of; he was condemned to lose his head, and accordingly was
conducted to the scaffold: his daughter, viz., the Duchess, who was
extremely beautiful, and who had already charmed the late King, managed
so well, I don't know by what means, that she obtained her father's
life; the pardon was brought him at the moment he was expecting the
fatal blow; but the pardon availed little, for fear had seized him so
deeply, that it bereft him of his senses, and he died a few days after.
His daughter appeared at Court as the King's mistress; but the Italian
expedition, and the imprisonment of the present Prince, were
interruptions to his love affair. When the late King returned from
Spain, and Madam the Regent went to meet him at Bayonne, she brought
all her maids of honour with her, among whom was Mademoiselle de
Pisselen, who was since Duchess d'Etampes; the King fell in love with
her, though she was inferior in birth, wit and beauty to the Duchess of
Valentinois, and had no advantage above her but that of being very
young. I have heard her say several times, that she was born the same
day Diana de Poitiers was married, but she spoke this in the malice of
her heart, and not as what she knew to be true; for I am much mistaken,
if the Duchess of Valentinois did not marry Monsieur de Breze, at the
same time that the King fell in love with Madam d'Etampes. Never was a
greater hatred than that between these two ladies; the Duchess could
not pardon Madam d'Etampes for having taken from her the title of the
King's mistress; and Madam d'Etampes was violently jealous of the
Duchess, because the King still kept correspondence with her. That
Prince was by no means constant t