: 079a.jpg Hurrying to her Mistress's Assistance]

[The Princess's Lady of Honour hurrying to her Mistress's Assistance]

[Illustration: 079.jpg Page Image]

_TALE IV_.

_A young gentleman sought to discover whether the offer of
an honour-able love would be displeasing to his master's
sister, a lady of the most illustrious lineage in Flanders,
who had been twice widowed, and was a woman of muck spirit.
Meeting with a reply contrary to his desires, he attempted
to possess her by force; but she resisted him successfully,
and by the advice of her lady of honour, without seeming to
take notice of his designs and efforts, gradually ceased to
regard him with the favour with which she had been wont to
treat him. Thus, by his foolhardy presumption, he lost the
honourable and habitual companionship which, more than
others, he had had with her_.(1)

1 This story is historical, and the incidents must have
occurred between 1520 and 1525.--L.

There lived in the land of Flanders a lady of such high lineage, that
none more illustrious could be found. She was a widow, both her first
and second husbands being dead, and she had no children living. During
her widowhood she lived in retirement with her brother, by whom she was
greatly loved, and who was a very great lord and married to the daughter
of a King. This young Prince was a man much given to pleasure, fond of
hunting, pastimes, and women, as his youth inclined him. He had a
wife, however, who was of a very froward disposition, (2) and found no
pleasure in her husband's pursuits; wherefore this Lord always took
his sister along with his wife, for she was a most joyous and pleasant
companion, and withal a discreet and honourable woman.

In this Lord's household there was a gentleman who, for stature,
comeliness, and grace, surpassed all his fellows. This gentleman, (3)
perceiving that his master's sister was of merry mood and always ready
for a laugh, was minded to try whether the offer of an honourable love
would be displeasing to her.

2 The young prince here mentioned is Francis I., who at
this period was between twenty-five and thirty years old.
The froward wife is Claude of France (daughter of Louis XII.
and Anne of Brittany), whom Francis married in 1514, and who
died of consumption at Blois ten years later, while the King
was on his way to conquer Milan. (See