1 The incidents of this story probably took place at
     Amboise, subsequent, however, to the month of August 1530,
     when Margaret was confined of her son John.—­L.

2 Amboise is on the left bank of the Loire, and there have never been any buildings on the opposite bank.  However, the bridge over the river intersects the island of St. Jean, which is covered with houses, and here the muleteer’s wife evidently resided.—­M.

Now it happened that one of her husband’s servants had long loved her exceedingly, and one day he could not refrain from speaking of it to her.  She, however, being a truly virtuous woman, rebuked him so severely, threatening to have him beaten and dismissed by her husband, that from that time forth he did not venture to speak to her in any such way again or to let his love be seen, but kept the fire hidden within his breast until the day when his master had gone from home and his mistress was at vespers at St. Florentin,(3) the castle church, a long way from the muleteer’s house.

3 The Church of St. Florentin here mentioned must not be confounded with that of the same name near one of the gates of Amboise.  Erected in the tenth century by Foulques Nera of Anjou, it was a collegiate church, and was attended by the townsfolk, although it stood within the precincts of the chateau.  For this reason Queen Margaret calls it the castle church.—­Ed.

Whilst he was alone the fancy took him that he might obtain by force what neither prayer nor service had availed to procure him, and accordingly he broke through a wooden partition which was between the chamber where his mistress slept and his own.  The curtains of his master’s bed on the one side and of the servant’s bed on the other so covered the walls as to hide the opening he had made; and thus his wickedness was not perceived until his mistress was in bed, together with a little girl eleven or twelve years old.

When the poor woman was in her first sleep, the servant, in his shirt and with his naked sword in his hand, came through the opening he had made in the wall into her bed; but as soon as she felt him beside her, she leaped out, addressing to him all such reproaches as a virtuous woman might utter.  His love, however, was but bestial, and he would have better understood the language of his mules than her honourable reasonings; indeed, he showed himself even more bestial than the beasts with whom he had long consorted.  Finding she ran so quickly round a table that he could not catch her, and that she was strong enough to break away from him twice, he despaired of ravishing her alive, and dealt her a terrible sword-thrust in the loins, thinking that, if fear and force had not brought her to yield, pain would assuredly do so.

The contrary, however, happened, for just as a good soldier, on seeing his own blood, is the more fired to take vengeance on his enemies and win renown, so her chaste heart gathered new strength as she ran fleeing from the hands of the miscreant, saying to him the while all she could think of to bring him to see his guilt.  But so filled was he with rage that he paid no heed to her words.  He dealt her several more thrusts, to avoid which she continued running as long as her legs could carry her.