what can she imagine? She will think, and not without reason,
that this letter concerns myself, and that there is something

between the Viscount and me; she will never be persuaded the
letter belonged to the Duke de Nemours." "I am very much

concerned," replied Madam de Cleves, "for the misfortune I have
occasioned, and I believe the difficulty I have brought you into

is very great; but 'twas Monsieur de Cleves's fault, and not
mine." "You are in fault," replied the Queen-Dauphin, "for

having given him the letter; and I believe you are the only woman
in the world that acquaints her husband with all she knows."

"I acknowledge myself in fault, Madam," replied the Princess of
Cleves, "but let us rather think of preventing the consequences

of what I have done, than insist on the fault itself." "Do you
remember, pretty near, what the letter contains?" says the

Queen-Dauphin. "Yes, Madam, I do," replied she, "for I have
read it over more than once." "If so," said the

Queen-Dauphin, "you must immediately get it written out in an
unknown hand, and I'll send it to the Queen; she'll not show it

those who have seen it already; and though she should, I'll stand
in it, that it is the same Chatelart gave me; and he'll not dare

to say otherwise."
Madam de Cleves approved of this expedient, and the more because

it gave her an opportunity of sending for the Duke de Nemours, to
have the letter itself again, in order to have it copied word for

word, imitating as near as may be the hand it was written in, and
she thought this would effectuallydeceive the Queen. As soon as

she was got home, she informed her husband of what had passed
between her and the Queen-Dauphin, and begged him to send for the

Duke de Nemours. The Duke was sent for, and came immediately;
Madam de Cleves told him all she had told her husband, and asked

for the letter; but the Duke answered, that he had already
returned it to the Viscount de Chartres, who was so overjoyed

upon having it again, and being freed from the danger he was in,
that he sent it immediately to Madam de Themines's friend. Madam

de Cleves was in a new embarrassment on this occasion: in short,
after having consulted together, they resolved to form the letter

by memory; and, in order to go about it, they locked themselves
up, and left orders that nobody should be admitted, and that all

the Duke de Nemours's attendants should be sent away. Such an
appearance of secret confidence was no small charm to Monsieur de

Nemours, and even to Madam de Cleves; her husband's presence, and
the interests of her uncle the Viscount de Chartres, were

considerations which in great measure removed her scruples, and
made this opportunity of seeing and being with the Duke de

Nemours so agreeable to her, that she never before experienced a
joy so pure and free from allay; this threw her into a freedom

and gaiety of spirit which the Duke had never observed in her
till now, and which made him still more passionately" target="_blank" title="ad.多情地；热烈地">passionately in love with

her: as he had never known such agreeable moments, his vivacity
was much heightened; and whenever Madam de Cleves was beginning

to recollect and write the letter, instead of assisting her
seriously, did nothing but interrupt her with wit and pleasantry.

Madam de Cleves was as gay as he, so that they had been locked up
a considerable time, and two messages had come from the

Queen-Dauphin to hasten Madam de Cleves, before they had half
finished the letter.

The Duke de Nemours was glad to prolong the time that was so
agreeable to him, and neglected the concerns of his friend; Madam

de Cleves was not at all tired, and neglected also the concerns
of her uncle: at last, with much ado, about four o'clock the

letter was finished, and was so ill done, and the copy so unlike
the original, as to the handwriting, that the queen must have

taken very little care to come at the truth of the matter, if she
had been imposed on by so ill a counterfeit. Accordingly she was

not deceived; and however industrious they were to persuade her,
that this letter was addressed to the Duke de Nemours, she

remained satisfied not only that it was addressed to the Viscount
de Chartres, but that the Queen-Dauphin was concerned in it, and

that there was a correspondence between them; this heightened her
hatred against that Princess to such a degree, that she never

forgave her, and never ceased persecuting her till she had driven
her out of France.

As for the Viscount de Chartres, his credit was entirely ruined
with her; and whether the Cardinal of Loraine had already

insinuated himself so far into her esteem as to govern her, or
whether the accident of this letter, which made it appear that

the Viscount had deceived her, enabled her to discover the other
tricks he had played her, it is certain he could never after

entirely reconcile himself to her; their correspondence was broke
off, and at length she ruined him by means of the conspiracy of

Amboise, in which he was involved.
After the letter was sent to the Queen-Dauphin, Monsieur de

Cleves and Monsieur de Nemours went away; Madam de Cleves
continued alone, and being no longer supported by the joy which

the presence of what one loves gives one, she seemed like one
newly waked from a dream; she beheld, with astonishment, the

difference between the condition she was in the night before, and
that she was in at this time: she called to mind, how cold and

sullen she was to the Duke de Nemours, while she thought Madam de
Themines's letter was addressed to him, and how calm and sweet a

situation of mind succeeded that uneasiness, as soon as he was
satisfied he was not concerned in that letter; when she

reflected, that she reproached herself as guilty for having given
him the foregoing day only some marks of sensibility, which mere

compassion might have produced, and that by her peevish humour
this morning, she had expressed such a jealousy as was a certain

proof of passion, she thought she was not herself; when she
reflected further, that the Duke de Nemours saw plainly that she

knew he was in love with her, and that, notwithstanding her
knowing it, she did not use him the worse for it, even in her

husband's presence; but that, on the contrary, she had never
behaved so favourably to him; when she considered, she was the

cause of Monsieur de Cleves's sending for him, and that she had
just passed an afternoon in private with him; when she considered

all this, she found, there was something within her that held
intelligence with the Duke de Nemours, and that she deceived a

husband who least deserved it; and she was ashamed to appear so
little worthy of esteem, even in the eyes of her lover; but what

she was able to support less than all the rest was, the
remembrance of the condition in which she spent the last night,

and the pricking griefs she felt from a suspicion that the Duke
de Nemours was in love with another, and that she was deceived by

him.
Never till then was she acquainted with the dreadful inquietudes

that flow from jealousy and distrust; she had applied all her
cares to prevent herself from falling in love with the Duke de

Nemours, and had not before had any fear of his being in love
with another: though the suspicions which this letter had given

her were effaced, yet they left her sensible of the hazard there
was of being deceived, and gave her impressions of distrust and

jealousy which she had never felt till that time; she was
surprised that she had never yet reflected how improbable it was

that a man of the Duke de Nemours's turn, who had showed so much
inconstancy towards women, should be capable of a lasting and

sincere passion; she thought it next to impossible for her to be
convinced of the truth of his love; "But though I could be

convinced of it," says she, "what have I to do in it? Shall I
permit it? Shall I make a return? Shall I engage in gallantry,