ording to His good pleasure;
nevertheless, I cannot deny the grace that God has shown me in
preserving me a virgin without ever a thought of marriage."

Forthwith her brother said to her--

"I offer you the precious Body of Jesus Christ, which you will take to
your damnation if it be not as you say; and the gentlemen here present
on behalf of my lord the Count shall be witnesses thereof."

The maiden, who was nearly thirty years of age, (3) then swore as
follows:--

"I take this Body of Our Lord, here present, to my damnation in the
presence of you, gentlemen, and of you, my brother, if ever man has
touched me any more than yourself."

And with these words she received the Body of Our Lord.

Having witnessed this, the Master of Requests and the Almoner went away
quite confounded, for they thought that no lie was possible with such an
oath. And they reported the matter to the Count, and tried to persuade
him even as they were themselves persuaded. But he was a man of wisdom,
(4) and, after pondering a long time, bade them again repeat the terms
of the oath. And after weighing them well, he said--

"She has told you the truth and yet she has deceived you. She said that
no man had ever touched her any more than her brother had done, and I
feel sure that her brother has begotten this child and now seeks to hide
his wickedness by a monstrous deception. We, however, who believe that
Jesus Christ has come, can look for none other. Go, therefore, and put
the priest in prison; I am sure that he will confess the truth."

3 In the MS. followed for this edition, as well as in
Boaistuau's-version of the _Heptameron_, the age is given as
"thirteen." We borrow the word "thirty" from MS. 1518
(Bethune).--L.

4 Charles of Angouleme, father of King Francis and Queen
Margaret, had received for the times a most excellent
education, thanks to the solicitude of his father, Count
John the Good, who further took upon himself to "instruct
him in morality, showing him by a good example how to live
virtuously and honestly, and teaching him to pray God and
obey His commandments."--_Vie de tres illustre et vertueux
Prince Jean, Comte d'Angouleme_, by Jean du Port, Angouleme,
1589, p. 66. That Count Charles profited by this teaching is
shown in the above tale.--ED.

This was done according to his command, though not without serious
remonstrances concerning the putti