quis of Mantua, (2) who had married the sister
of the Duke of Ferrara, there lived in the household of the Duchess
a damsel named Pauline, who was greatly loved by a gentleman in the
Marquis's service, and this to the astonishment of every one; for being
poor, albeit handsome and greatly beloved by his master, he ought, in
their estimation, to have wooed some wealthy dame, but he believed that
all the world's treasure centred in Pauline, and looked to his marriage
with her to gain and possess it.

1 The incidents related in this tale appear to have taken
place at Mantua and Ferrara. M. de Montaiglon, however,
believes that they happened at Lyons, and that Margaret laid
the scene of her story in Italy, so that the personages she
refers to might not be identified. The subject of the tale
is similar to that of the poem called _L'Amant rendu
Cordelier a l'Observance et Amour_, which may perhaps have
supplied the Queen of Navarre with the plot of her
narrative.--M. and Ed.

2 This was John Francis II. of Gonzaga, who was born in
1466, and succeeded his father, Frederic I., in 1484. He
took an active part in the wars of the time, commanding the
Venetian troops when Charles VIII. invaded Italy, and
afterwards supporting Ludovico Sforza in the defence of
Milan. When Sforza abandoned the struggle against France,
the Marquis of Mantua joined the French king, for whom he
acted as viceroy of Naples. Ultimately, however, he espoused
the cause of the Emperor Maximilian, when the latter was at
war with Venice in 1509, and being surprised and defeated
while camping on the island of La Scala, he fled in his
shirt and hid himself in a field, where, by the treachery of
a peasant who had promised him secrecy, he was found and
taken prisoner. By the advice of Pope Julius II., the
Venetians set him at liberty after he had undergone a year's
imprisonment. In 1490 John Francis married Isabella d'Este,
daughter of Hercules I. Duke of Ferrara, by whom he had
several children. He died at Mantua in March 1519, his widow
surviving him until 1539. Among the many dignities acquired
by the Marquis in the course of his singularly chequered
life was that of gonfalonier of the Holy Church, conferred
upon him by Julius II.--L. and En.

The Marchioness, who desired that Pauline should through her fa