As for
herself, she never spoke to a man except in a loud voice, and with
much haughtiness, and was therefore reputed a deadly enemy to all love.
Nevertheless, it was quite otherwise with her heart, for there was a
gentleman in her mistress's service towards whom she entertained so
strong a passion that, at last, she could no longer endure it. (2)
2 Brantome writes as follows concerning the gentleman
referred to above: "According to what I have heard from my
mother, [Anne de Vivonne, wife of Francis de Bourdeille],
who was in the Queen of Navarre's service and knew some of
her secrets, and was herself one of the narrators [of the
_Heptameron_, i.e., Ennasuite], this gentleman was my late
uncle La Chastaigneraye, who was brusque, hasty, and rather
fickle. The tale, however, is so disguised as to hide this,
for my said uncle was never in the service of the great
Princess, who was mistress of the lady [Jambicque], but in
that of the King her brother." This shows the Princess to
have been Queen Margaret herself; and Jambicque, being
described by Brantome as a widow and lady of honour to the
Princess, might possibly be Blanche de Tournon ( Madame de
Chastillon), concerning whom see vol.
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