in an irresolution what to do, he found that the Duke de Nemours

was the only person whose assistance could draw him out of this



intricate affair.

Accordingly he went to the Duke's house, and entered his room



about break of day. What the Duke had discovered the day before

with respect to the Princess of Cleves had given him such



agreeable ideas, that he slept very sweetly; he was very much

surprised to find himself waked by the Viscount de Chartres, and



asked him if he came to disturb his rest so early, to be revenged

of him for what he had said last night at supper. The Viscount's



looks soon convinced him, that he came upon a serious business;

"I am come," said he, "to entrust you with the most important



affair of my life; I know very well, you are not obliged to me

for the confidence I place in you, because I do it at a time when



I stand in need of your assistance; but I know likewise, that I

should have lost your esteem, if I had acquainted you with all I



am now going to tell you, without having been forced to it by

absolute necessity: I have dropped the letter I spoke of last



night; it is of the greatest consequence to me, that nobody

should know it is addressed to me; it has been seen by abundance



of people, who were at the tennis court yesterday when I dropped

it; you was there too, and the favour I have to ask you, is, to



say it was you who lost it." "Sure you think," replied the

Duke de Nemours smiling, "that I have no mistress, by making



such a proposal, and that I have no quarrels or inconveniences to

apprehend by leaving it to be believed that I receive such



letters." "I beg you," said the Viscount, "to hear me

seriously; if you have a mistress, as I doubt not you have,



though I do not know who she is, it will be easy for you to

justify yourself, and I'll put you into an infallible way of



doing it. As for you, though you should fail in justifying

yourself, it can cost you nothing but a short falling out; but



for my part, this accident affects me in a very different manner,

I shall dishonour a person who has passionately loved me, and is



one of the most deserving women in the world; on the other side,

I shall draw upon myself an implacable hatred that will ruin my



fortune, and perhaps proceed somewhat further." "I do not

comprehend what you say," replied the Duke de Nemours, "but I



begin to see that the reports we have had of your interest in a

great Princess are not wholly without ground." "They are



not," replied the Viscount, "but I would to God they were: you

would not see me in the perplexity I am in; but I must relate the



whole affair to you, to convince you how much I have to fear.

"Ever since I came to Court, the Queen has treated me with a



great deal of favour and distinction, and I had grounds to

believe that she was very kindly disposed towards me: there was



nothing, however, particular in all this, and I never presumed to

entertain any thoughts of her but what were full of respect; so



far from it, that I was deeply in love with Madam de Themines;

anyone that sees her may easily judge, 'tis very possible for one



to be greatly in love with her, when one is beloved by her, and

so I was. About two years ago, the Court being at Fontainebleau,



I was two or three times in conversation with the Queen, at hours

when there were very few people in her apartment: it appeared to



me, that my turn of wit was agreeable to her, and I observed she

always approved what I said. One day among others she fell into



a discourseconcerning confidence. I said there was nobody in

whom I entirely confided, that I found people always repented of



having done so, and that I knew a great many things of which I

had never spoke: the Queen told me, she esteemed me the more for



it, that she had not found in France anyone that could keep a

secret, and that this was what had embarrassed her more than



anything else, because it had deprived her of the pleasure of

having a confidant; that nothing was so necessary in life as to



have somebody one could open one's mind to with safety,

especially for people of her rank. Afterwards she frequently



resumed the same discourse, and acquainted me with very

particular circumstances; at last I imagined she was desirous to



learn my secrets, and to entrust me with her own; this thought

engaged me strictly to her. I was so pleased with this



distinction that I made my court to her with greater assiduity

than usual. One evening the King and the ladies of the Court



rode out to take the air in the forest, but the Queen, being a

little indisposed did not go; I stayed to wait upon her, and she



walked down to the pond-side, and dismissed her gentlemen ushers,

that she might be more at liberty. After she had taken a few

• endeavour [in´devə] n.&v.努力，试图，尽力 (初中英语单词)


• conceal [kən´si:l] vt.藏；隐瞒 (初中英语单词)


• resolution [,rezə´lu:ʃən] n.决心；坚决；果断 (初中英语单词)


• execute [´eksikju:t] vt.执行；表演；演奏 (初中英语单词)


• disguise [dis´gaiz] vt.假装；隐瞒 n.伪装 (初中英语单词)


• apparent [ə´pærənt] a.显然的；表面上的 (初中英语单词)


• violence [´vaiələns] n.猛烈；暴力(行) (初中英语单词)


• affection [ə´fekʃən] n.友爱；慈爱 (初中英语单词)


• advanced [əd´vɑ:nst] a.先进的；高级的 (初中英语单词)


• proportion [prə´pɔ:ʃən] n.比率 vt.使成比例 (初中英语单词)


• plainly [´pleinli] ad.平坦地；简单地 (初中英语单词)


• spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• wholly [´həul-li] ad.完全，十足；统统 (初中英语单词)


• confirm [kən´fə:m] vt.证实；认可；加强 (初中英语单词)


• knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)


• violent [´vaiələnt] a.强暴的；猛烈的 (初中英语单词)


• passion [´pæʃən] n.激情；激怒；恋爱 (初中英语单词)


• beloved [bi´lʌvd] a.为….所爱的 n.爱人 (初中英语单词)


• mistress [´mistris] n.女主人；情妇；女能手 (初中英语单词)


• despair [di´speə] vi.&n.绝望 (初中英语单词)


• monsieur [mə´sjə:] n.先生 (初中英语单词)


• goodness [´gudnis] n.优良；美德；精华 (初中英语单词)


• sensible [´sensəbəl] a.感觉得到的 (初中英语单词)


• vanity [´væniti] n.虚荣；自负；空虚 (初中英语单词)


• utmost [´ʌtməust] a.最大的 n.极端 (初中英语单词)


• nevertheless [,nevəðə´les] conj.&ad.然而；不过 (初中英语单词)


• intimate [´intimit] a.亲密的 n.知己 (初中英语单词)


• assistance [ə´sistəns] n.协作；援助；帮助 (初中英语单词)


• princess [,prin´ses] n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人 (初中英语单词)


• disturb [di´stə:b] vt.扰乱；使不安；打乱 (初中英语单词)


• likewise [´laikwaiz] ad.同样地；也，又 (初中英语单词)


• consequence [´kɔnsikwəns] n.结果；后果；推断 (初中英语单词)


• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)


• hatred [´heitrid] n.憎恨，敌意 (初中英语单词)


• relate [ri´leit] v.阐明；使联系；涉及 (初中英语单词)


• convince [kən´vins] vt.使确信；使认识错误 (初中英语单词)


• distinction [di´stiŋkʃən] n.差别；特征；卓越 (初中英语单词)


• apartment [ə´pɑ:tmənt] n.一套房间 (初中英语单词)


• agreeable [ə´gri:əbəl] a.适合的；符合的 (初中英语单词)


• severely [si´viəli] ad.剧烈地；严格地 (高中英语单词)


• concerning [kən´sə:niŋ] prep.关于 (高中英语单词)


• jealousy [´dʒeləsi] n.妒忌；猜忌 (高中英语单词)


• repent [ri´pent] v.后悔；悔改；悔悟 (高中英语单词)


• inclination [,inkli´neiʃən] n.倾斜；爱好；天资 (高中英语单词)


• gratify [´grætifai] vt.使高兴；满足 (高中英语单词)


• befall [bi´fɔ:l] v.降临；发表(于) (高中英语单词)


• torment [´tɔ:ment] vt.(使)痛苦，折磨 (高中英语单词)


• ingenious [in´dʒi:niəs] a.富于创新的；巧妙的 (高中英语单词)


• tennis [´tenis] n.网球(运动) (高中英语单词)


• related [ri´leitid] a.叙述的；有联系的 (高中英语单词)


• sweetly [´swi:tli] ad.甜蜜地；美妙地 (高中英语单词)


• esteem [i´sti:m] n.尊重 vt.认为；感到 (高中英语单词)


• discourse [´diskɔ:s] n.论文；演说；说教 (高中英语单词)


• strictly [´striktli] ad.严格地 (高中英语单词)


• experienced [ik´spiəriənst] a.有经验的；熟练的 (英语四级单词)


• unworthy [ʌn´wə:ði] a.不值得的；不足道的 (英语四级单词)


• discretion [di´skreʃən] n.谨慎；判断(力) (英语四级单词)


• uneasiness [ʌn´i:zinis] n.不安，担忧；不自在 (英语四级单词)


• entrust [in´trʌst] vt.委托；信托 (英语四级单词)


• passionately [´pæʃənitli] ad.多情地；热烈地 (英语四级单词)


• perplexity [pə´pleksiti] n.困惑；为难；纷乱 (英语四级单词)


• desirous [di´zaiərəs] a.渴望的；想往的 (英语四级单词)


• forsaken [fə´seik] forsake的过去分词 (英语六级单词)


• abandoned [ə´bændənd] a.被抛弃的；无约束的 (英语六级单词)


• amends [ə´mendz] n.赔偿；赔罪 (英语六级单词)


• affliction [ə´flikʃən] n.痛苦，苦恼；折磨 (英语六级单词)


• brother-in-law [´brʌðəinlɔ:] n.姐夫；妹夫；内弟 (英语六级单词)


• infallible [in´fæləbəl] a.必然的；不会错的 (英语六级单词)