"
"Fair niece, fair niece," replied the Duchess, with hateful spleen,
"there is no love so secret that it is not known, and no little dog so
well broken in and trained that it cannot be heard to bark."
I leave you to imagine, ladies, what sorrow the poor Lady du Vergier
felt in her heart on finding a matter, so long concealed, thus made
known to her great dishonour. Her honour, which had been so carefully
guarded and was now wofully lost, tortured her, but still more so her
suspicion that her lover had failed in his promise to her. This she did
not think he could have done, unless it were that he loved some lady
fairer than herself, to whom his love had constrained him to make the
whole matter known. Yet so great was her discretion that she gave no
sign, but replied laughing to the Duchess that she did not understand
the language of animals. However, beneath this prudent concealment her
heart was filled with sadness, so that she rose up, and, passing out of
the chamber, entered a closet in sight of the Duke, who was walking up
and down.
Having thus reached a place where she believed herself to be alone, the
poor lady let herself fall helplessly upon a bed, whereat a damsel, who
had sat down beside it to sleep, rose up and drew back the curtains
to see who this might be.
Pages:
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201