heart prefers to me." Monsieur de Cleves was melted upon



speaking these words, and could scarce make an end of them; his

wife was so moved, she burst into tears, and embraced him with a



tenderness and sorrow that put him into a condition not very

different from her own; they continued silent a while, and parted



without having the power to speak to one another.

All things were ready for the marriage of Madame, and the Duke of



Alva was arrived to espouse her; he was received with all the

ceremony and magnificence that could be displayed on such an



occasion; the King sent to meet him the Prince of Conde, the

Cardinals of Loraine and Guise, the Dukes of Loraine and Ferrara,



d'Aumale, de Bouillon, de Guise, and de Nemours; they had a great

number of gentlemen, and a great many pages in livery; the King



himself, attended with two hundred gentlemen, and the Constable

at their head, received the Duke of Alva at the first gate of the



Louvre; the Duke would have kneeled down, but the King refused

it, and made him walk by his side to the Queen's apartment, and



to Madame's, to whom the Duke of Alva had brought a magnificent

present from his master; he went thence to the apartment of Madam



Margaret the King's sister, to compliment her on the part of the

Duke of Savoy, and to assure her he would arrive in a few days;



there were great assemblies at the Louvre, the show the Duke of

Alva, and the Prince of Orange who accompanied him, the beauties



of the Court.

Madam de Cleves could not dispense with going to these



assemblies, however desirous she was to be absent, for fear of

disobliging her husband, who absolutely commanded her to be



there; and what yet more induced her to it, was the absence of

the Duke de Nemours; he was gone to meet the Duke of Savoy, and



after the arrival of that Prince, he was obliged to be almost

always with him, to assist him in everything relating to the



ceremonies of the nuptials; for this reason Madam de Cleves did

not meet him so often as she used to do, which gave her some sort



of ease.

The Viscount de Chartres had not forgot the conversation he had



had with the Duke de Nemours: it still ran in his mind that the

adventure the Duke had related" target="_blank" title="a.叙述的；有联系的">related to him was his own; and he



observed him so carefully that it is probable he would have

unravelled the business, if the arrival of the Duke of Alva and



of the Duke of Savoy had not made such an alteration in the

Court, and filled it with so much business, as left no



opportunities for a discovery of that nature; the desire he had

to get some information about it, or rather the natural



disposition one has to relate all one knows to those one loves,

made him acquaint Madam de Martigues with the extraordinary



action of that person who had confessed to her husband the

passion she had for another; he assured her the Duke de Nemours



was the man who had inspired so violent a love, and begged her

assistance in observing him. Madam de Martigues was glad to hear



what the Viscount told her, and the curiosity she had always

observed in the Queen-Dauphin for what concerned the Duke de



Nemours made her yet more desirous to search into the bottom of

the affair.



A few days before that which was fixed for the ceremony of the

marriage, the Queen-Dauphin entertained at supper the King her



father-in-law, and the Duchess of Valentinois. Madam de Cleves,

who had been busy in dressing herself, went to the Louvre later



than ordinary; as she was going, she met a gentleman that was

coming from the Queen-Dauphin to fetch her; as soon as she



entered the room, that Princess, who was sitting upon her bed,

told her aloud, that she had expected her with great impatience.



"I believe, Madam," answered she, "that I am not obliged to

you for it, and that your impatience was caused by something



else, and not your desire to see me." "You are in the right,"

answered the Queen-Dauphin, "but, nevertheless, you are obliged



to me; for I'll tell you an adventure, which I am sure you'll be

glad to know."



Madam de Cleves kneeled at her bedside, and, very luckily for

her, with her face from the light: "You know," said the Queen,



"how desirous we have been to find out what had caused so great

a change in the Duke de Nemours; I believe I know it, and it is



what will surprise you; he is desperately in love with, and as

much beloved by, one of the finest ladies of the Court." It is



easy to imagine the grief Madam de Cleves felt upon hearing these

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


• closet [´klɔzit] n.橱；私室；盥洗室 (初中英语单词)


• charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)


• monsieur [mə´sjə:] n.先生 (初中英语单词)


• acquaint [ə´kweint] vt.使….认识；告知 (初中英语单词)


• absolutely [´æbsəlu:tli] ad.绝对地；确实 (初中英语单词)


• virtue [´və:tʃu:] n.美德；贞操；长处 (初中英语单词)


• worthy [´wə:ði] a.有价值的；值得的 (初中英语单词)


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


• conceal [kən´si:l] vt.藏；隐瞒 (初中英语单词)


• curiosity [,kjuəri´ɔsiti] n.好奇；奇事；珍品 (初中英语单词)


• strengthen [´streŋθən, ´strenθən] vt.加强 vi.变强 (初中英语单词)


• confusion [kən´fju:ʒən] n.混乱(状态)；骚乱 (初中英语单词)


• temper [´tempə] n.韧度 v.锻炼；调和 (初中英语单词)


• severe [si´viə] a.严厉的；苛刻的 (初中英语单词)


• contrary [´kɔntrəri] a.相反的 n.相反 (初中英语单词)


• whatever [wɔt´evə] pron.&a.无论什么 (初中英语单词)


• willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)


• invention [in´venʃən] n.创造；发明；虚构 (初中英语单词)


• instant [´instənt] a.立即的 n.紧迫；瞬间 (初中英语单词)


• presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)


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


• complain [kəm´plein] vi.抱怨，叫屈；控诉 (初中英语单词)


• whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)


• pardon [´pɑ:dən] n.&vt.原谅；饶恕；赦免 (初中英语单词)


• sufficiently [sə´fiʃəntli] ad.充分地，足够地 (初中英语单词)


• learnt [lə:nt] learn 的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词)


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


• scarce [skeəs, skers] a.缺乏的；稀有的 (初中英语单词)


• prince [´prins] n.王子；亲王；君主 (初中英语单词)


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


• thence [ðens] ad.从那里；因此 (初中英语单词)


• absent [´æbsənt, əb´sent] a.不在的 vt.使缺席 (初中英语单词)


• absence [´æbsəns] n.不在，缺席；缺乏 (初中英语单词)


• arrival [ə´raivəl] n.到达；到达的人(物) (初中英语单词)


• assist [ə´sist] v.协助；援助；搀扶 (初中英语单词)


• probable [´prɔbəbəl] a.大概的n.很可能的事 (初中英语单词)


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


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


• ceremony [´seriməni] n.典礼；礼仪；客气 (初中英语单词)


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


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


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


• remedy [´remidi] n.药品 vt.医治；减轻 (高中英语单词)


• hereafter [hiər´ɑ:ftə] ad.&n.将来；来世 (高中英语单词)


• regulate [´regjuleit] vt.管理；调整；规定 (高中英语单词)


• lessen [´lesən] v.减少；缩小 (高中英语单词)


• restraint [ri´streint] n.抑制；管束；克制 (高中英语单词)


• mistaken [mis´teikən] mistake的过去分词 (高中英语单词)


• melancholy [´melənkəli] n.忧郁 a.忧郁的 (高中英语单词)


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


• violently [´vaiələntli] ad.强暴地；猛烈地 (高中英语单词)


• tenderly [´tendəli] ad.娇嫩地；柔和地 (高中英语单词)


• compliment [´kɔmplimənt] n.敬意 vt.赞美；祝贺 (高中英语单词)


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


• concerned [kən´sə:nd] a.有关的；担心的 (高中英语单词)


• duchess [´dʌtʃis] n.公爵夫人；女公爵 (高中英语单词)


• desperately [´despəritli] ad.绝望地；拼命地 (高中英语单词)


• hearing [´hiəriŋ] n.听力；听证会；审讯 (高中英语单词)


• acquit [ə´kwit] vt.无罪开释 (英语四级单词)


• embarrassment [im´bærəsmənt] n.窘迫；困惑；为难 (英语四级单词)


• unwilling [ʌn´wiliŋ] a.不愿意的；不情愿的 (英语四级单词)


• considering [kən´sidəriŋ] prep.就…而论 (英语四级单词)


• magnificence [mæg´nifisns] n.壮丽；宏伟；豪华 (英语四级单词)


• livery [´livəri] a.有肝病征象的 (英语四级单词)


• dispense [di´spens] v.分配；施与；执行 (英语四级单词)


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


• alteration [,ɔ:ltə´reiʃən] n.改变，变更 (英语四级单词)


• impatience [im´peiʃəns] n.不耐烦，急躁 (英语四级单词)


• bedside [´bedsaid] n.床边 a.护理的 (英语四级单词)


• improbable [im´prɔbəbəl] a.未必有的 (英语六级单词)


• affected [ə´fektid] a.做作的；假装的 (英语六级单词)


• pensive [´pensiv] a.沉思的；忧郁的 (英语六级单词)


• espouse [i´spauz] vt.拥护，支持；娶 (英语六级单词)


• assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)