om him, he remarking, 'Madam, you want to know too much about it,' and
he at once sent word of the matter to King Francis."

It was at Nerac that most of the divines protected by Margaret found a
refuge from the persecutions of the Sorbonne. Here she kept court in
a castle of which there now only remains a vaulted fifteenth-century
gallery formerly belonging to the northern wing. Nerac has, however,
retained intact a couple of quaint mediaeval bridges, which Margaret
must have ofttimes crossed in her many journeyings. Moreover, the
townsfolk still point out the so-called Palace of Marianne, said to have
been built by Margaret's husband for one of his mistresses, and also the
old royal baths, which the Queen no doubt frequented.

It was at the castle of Nerac that Margaret's favourite protege, the
venerable Lefevre d'Etaples, died at the age of one hundred and one, in
the presence of his patroness, to whom before expiring he declared that
he had never known a woman carnally in his life. However, he regretfully
added that in his estimation he had been guilty of a greater sin, for
he had neglected to lay down his life for his faith. Another partisan of
the Reform, Gerard Roussel, whom Margaret had almost snatched from the
stake and appointed Bishop of Oloron, had no occasion to express any
such regret. His own flock speedily espoused the doctrines of the
Reformation, but when he proceeded to Mauleon and tried to preach there,
the Basques refused to listen to him, and hacked the pulpit to pieces,
the Bishop being precipitated upon the flagstones, and so grievously
injured that he died.

Beside the divines who sought an asylum at Nerac, there were various
noted men of letters, foremost among whom we may class the Queen's two
secretaries, Clement Marot, the poet, and Peter Le Macon, the translator
of Boccaccio's _Decameron_. This translation was undertaken at the
Queen's request, as Le Macon states in his dedication to her, and it
has always been considered one of the most able literary works of the
period. With Marot and Le Macon, but in the more humble capacity of
valet, at the yearly wages of one hundred and ten livres, there came the
gay Bonaventure Desperiers, the author of _Les Joyeux Devis_; (1) other
writers, such as John Frotte, John de la Haye and Gabriel Chapuis, were
also among Margaret's retainers.

1 _Livre de Depenses de Marguerite d'Angouleme_.

She herself had long practised the writing of verses. It