Brussels; during the illness of Madam de Chartres he frequently found
means to see the Princess of Cleves, pretending to want her husband, or
to come to take him out to walk; he enquired for him at such hours as
he knew very well he was not at home, and under pretence of waiting for
him stayed in Madam de Cleves's anti-chamber, where there were always a
great many people of quality; Madam de Cleves often came there, and her
grief did not make her seem less handsome in the eyes of the Duke de
Nemours; he made her sensible what interest he had in her affliction,
and spoke to her with so submissive an air, that he easily convinced
her, that the Queen-Dauphin was not the person he was in love with.

The seeing him at once gave her grief and pleasure; but when she no
longer saw him, and reflected that the charm he carried about him when
present, was an introduction to love, she was very near imagining she
hated him, out of the excessive grief which that thought gave her.

Madam de Chartres still grew worse and worse, so that they began to
despair of her life; she heard what the physicians told her concerning
the danger she was in with a courage worthy her virtue, and her piety.
After they were gone, she caused everybody to retire, and sent for
Madam de Cleves.

"We must part, my dear daughter," said she, stretching out her hand to
her; "the danger I leave you in, and the occasion you have for me, adds
to the regret I have to leave you: you have a passion for the Duke de
Nemours; I do not desire you to confess it; I am no longer in a
condition to make use of that sincerity for your good; I have perceived
this inclination a great while, but was not willing to speak to you of
it at first, for fear of making you discover it yourself; you know it
at present but too well; you are upon the brink of a precipice; great
efforts must be used, and you must do great violence to your heart to
save yourself: reflect what you owe to your husband; reflect what you
owe to yourself, and think that you are going to lose that reputation
which you have gained, and which I have so much at heart; call up, my
dear daughter, all your courage and constancy; retire from Court;
oblige your husband to carry you away; do not be afraid of taking such
resolutions, as being too harsh and difficult; however frightful they
may appear at first, they will become more pleasant in time, than the
misfortunes that follow gallantry: if any other motives than those o