Madame Serpent by Jean Plaidy

Author:Jean Plaidy [Plaidy, Jean]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9780425030240
Publisher: Arrow
Published: 1950-12-31T13:00:00+00:00

THE HOLE IN THE FLOOR

IT WAS APRIL at Fontainebleau. In her beautiful bed with its rich hangings of brocade and wonderfully woven tapestry, lay the Dauphine. Her eyes were

lustreless, her fair hair spread out on the pillows; her thick pale skin seemed almost yellow in the sunlight; otherwise she showed little sign of the ordeal through which she had recently passed. She was strong and young; childbearing was easy for her.

She was not discontented as she lay there, although she wished that her

Elizabeth had been another boy. Still, there would be boys yet. There would be many children. She allowed her lips to curl cynically, for Madalenna, sitting at her window seat, was intent on her work, and could not note her mistress’s expression. Diane had decreed that the Dauphin should be the father of many children; therefore it would be so. As for Catherine, she had proved, by

producing these two children, born within two years of each other, that she was no barren wife.

How lucky she was that her husband’s mistress had decided to allow his

wife to bear his children! He visited her apartments regularly― on his mistress’s instructions― albeit he came like a schoolboy going unwillingly to school; but nevertheless he came.

It was senseless to nourish this bitterness. She should congratulate herself.

She had a son and a daughter and there could no longer be any suggestion of divorce.

Everywhere in France― unpopular as she was― she was regarded as the

future Queen. She was― though still called the Italian woman― the Dauphin’s wife; and France was beginning to take its Dauphin to its heart.

Henry had proved himself an excellent soldier in the last few years, for the King could not leave his war with Charles V forever long and Henry took a big part in it. He was without much imagination, but he was as brave as a lion; he was kindly too, a just disciplinarian; he was the sort of leader men liked to follow; and eager as he was to prove a worthy general in his father’s eyes, he rarely erred on the side of recklessness. His men were fond of him and the sober backbone of the country liked him. France adored its licentious, charming, and artistic King; it was hoped that he would live long to enjoy his pleasures; it was gratifying to hear of the works of ort collected and to know that he employed the best artists in the world to beautify his palaces; it was amusing to hear of the erotic joys, of the beautiful women who delighted mirror-panelled chambers.

But the splendours of France were costly, and it was comforting to look forward to a more sober court under the King-to-be.

There would be, to some degree, a return to morality. The Dauphin, it was true, had a mistress; but the relations between them was like that of husband and wife. Nor did the people blame the young man for taking a mistress, for was he not married to the Italian, and that, in the eyes of good French men and women, was ample reason for choosing a French mistress.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.