man
of good intelligence and her secretary, and as she was telling him the
substance of a letter that she wished to write to a Princess of the
Court, to obtain from her some news of the King's health, she heard on
the other side of the cloister a nun, whose brain was somewhat turned,
lamenting and weeping loudly. Margaret, naturally inclined to pity,
hastened to this woman, asked her why she was weeping, and encouraged
her to tell her whether she wished for anything. Then the nun began to
lament still more loudly, and looking at the Queen, told her that she
was deploring her ill-fortune. When Margaret heard these words she
turned towards those who were with her, and said to them, 'You were
hiding the King's death from me, but the Spirit of God has revealed it
to me through this maniac.' This said, she turned to her room, knelt
down, and humbly thanked the Lord for all the goodness He was pleased to
show her." (1)

After losing her brother, Margaret remained in retirement at the convent
of Tusson. She stayed there, says Brantome, for four months, leading
a most austere life and discharging the duties of abbess. She still
continued in retirement on her return to Beam, mainly occupying herself
with literary work. It was in 1547, subsequent to the death of Francis,
that John de la Haye, her secretary, published at Lyons her _Marguerites
de la Marguerite_, poems which she had composed at various periods, and
which De la Haye probably transcribed at her dictation.(2)

1 _Oraison funebre, &c._, p. 103.

2 Sainte-Marthe states that she would sit with two
secretaries, one on either side, and dictate poetry to the
one and letters to the other.

Margaret's daughter Jane was at this period at the Court of France,
living in extravagant style, as is shown by the letters in which
Margaret declares that the Princess's expenditure is insupportable. She
herself spent but little money upon personal needs, though she devoted
considerable sums to charity. In October 1548 she emerged from her
seclusion to attend the second marriage of her daughter, who now became
the wife of Anthony de Bourbon, Duke of Vendome. From Moulins, where the
ceremony took place, Margaret repaired to the Court at Fontainebleau.
Here all was changed: there was a new King, and Diana of Poitiers
occupied the position of the Duchess of Etampes. After returning to Beam
for Christmas, Margaret spent the Lent of 1549 in retreat at Tusson,
where