The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. IV. (of V.)
Page 12
_TALE XXXIX_.
_The Lord of Grignaulx freed his house from a ghost which had so tormented his wife that for the space of two years she had dwelt elsewhere_.
A certain Lord of Grignaulx (1) who was gentleman of honour to the Queenof France, Anne, Duchess of Brittany, on returning to his house whencehe had been absent during more than two years, found his wife at anotherestate, near by, and when he inquired the reason of this, she told himthat a ghost was wont to haunt the house, and tormented them so muchthat none could dwell there. (2) Monsieur de Grig-naulx, who had nobelief in such absurdities, replied that were it the devil himself hewas not afraid of him, and so brought his wife home again.
At night he caused many candles to be lighted that he might see theghost more clearly, and, after watching for a long time without hearinganything, he fell asleep; but immediately afterwards he was awaked by abuffet upon the cheek, and heard a voice crying, "Brenigne, Brenigne,"which had been the name of his grandmother. (3) Then he called to theserving-woman, who lay near them, (4) to light the candle, for all werenow extinguished, but she durst not rise. And at the same time the Lordof Grig-naulx felt the covering pulled from off him, and heard a greatnoise of tables, trestles and stools falling about the room; and thislasted until morning. However, the Lord of Grignaulx was more displeasedat losing his rest than afraid of the ghost, for indeed he neverbelieved it to be any such thing.
1 This is John de Talleyrand, knight, lord of Grignols and Fouquerolles, Prince of Chalais, Viscount of Fronsac, mayor and captain of Bordeaux, chamberlain of Charles VIII., first majordomo and gentleman of honour in turn to two French Queens, Anne of Brittany and Mary of England. His wife was Margaret de la Tour, daughter of Anne de la Tour, Viscount of Turenne, and Mary de Beaufort. She bore him several children. It was John de Talleyrand who warned Louise of Savoy that her son Francis, then Count of Angouleme, was paying court to the young Queen, Mary of England, wife to Louis XII. Apprehensive lest this intrigue should destroy her son's prospects, Louise prevailed on him to relinquish it (Brantome's _Dames Illustres_).--L. 4 89
2 The house haunted by the ghost would probably be Talleyrand's chateau at Grignols, in the department of the Gironde. His lordship of Fouquerolles was only a few miles distant, in the Dordogne, and this would be the estate to which his wife had retired.--Ed.
3 Talleyrand's grandmother on the paternal side was Mary of Brabant; the reference may be to his maternal grandmother, whose Christian name was possibly "Benigne." On the other hand, Boaistuau gives the name as Revigne, and among the old French _noblesse_ were the Revigne and Revigny families.-- Ed.
4 See _ante_, note 2 to Tale XXXVII.
On the following night he resolved to capture this ghost, and so, whenhe had been in bed a little while, he pretended to snore very loudly,and placed his open hand close to his face. Whilst he was in this wisewaiting for the ghost, he felt that something was coming near him, andaccordingly snored yet louder than before, whereat the ghost wasso encouraged as to deal him a mighty blow. Forthwith, the Lord ofGrignaulx caught the ghost's hand as it rested on his face, and criedout to his wife--
"I have the ghost!"
His wife immediately rose up and lit the candle, and found that it wasthe serving-woman who slept in their room; and she, throwing herselfupon her knees, entreated forgiveness and promised to confess the truth.This was, that she had long loved a serving-man of the house, andhad taken this fine mystery in hand in order to drive both master andmistress away, so that she and her lover, having sole charge of thehouse, might be able to make good cheer as they were wont to do whenalone. My Lord of Grignaulx, who was a somewhat harsh man, commandedthat they should be soundly beaten so as to prevent them from everforgetting the ghost, and this having been done, they were driven away.In this fashion was the house freed from the plaguy ghosts who for twoyears long had played their pranks in it. (5)
5 Talleyrand, who passes for having been the last of the "Rois des Ribauds" (see the Bibliophile Jacob's historical novel of that title), was, like his descendant the great diplomatist, a man of subtle and caustic humour. Brantome, in his article on Anne of Brittany in _Les Dames Illustres_, repeatedly refers to him, and relates that on an occasion when the Queen wished to say a few words in Spanish to the Emperor's ambassador--there was a project of marrying her daughter Claude to Charles V.--she applied to Grignols to teach her a sentence or two of the Castilian language. He, however, taught her some dirty expression, but was careful to warn Louis XII., who laughed at it, telling his wife on no account to use the Spanish words she had learnt. On discovering the truth, Anne was so greatly vexed, that Grignols was obliged to withdraw from Court for some time, and only with difficulty obtained the Queen's forgiveness.-- L. and Ed.
"It is wonderful, ladies, to think of the effects wrought by the mightygod of Love. He causes women to put aside all fear, and teaches them togive every sort of trouble to man in order to work their own ends. Butif the purpose of the serving-woman calls for blame, the sound senseof the master is no less worthy of praise. He knew that when the spiritdeparts, it returns no more." (6)
6 "A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again."--_Psalm_ lxxviii. 39.--M.
"In sooth," said Geburon, "love showed little favour to the man andthe maid, but I agree that the sound sense of the master was of greatadvantage to him."
"Nevertheless," said Ennasuite, "the maid through her cunning lived fora long time at her ease."
"'Tis but a sorry ease," said Oisille, "that is founded upon sin andthat ends in shame and chastisement."
"That is true, madam," said Ennasuite, "but many persons reap painand sorrow by living righteously, and lacking wit enough to procurethemselves in all their lives as much pleasure as these two."
"It is nevertheless my opinion," said Oisille, "that there can be noperfect pleasure unless the conscience be at rest."
"Nay," said Simontault, "the Italian maintains that the greater the sinthe greater the pleasure." (7)
7 This may be a reference to Boccaccio or Castiglione, but the expression is of a proverbial character in many languages.--Ed.
"In very truth," said Oisille, "he who invented such a saying must bethe devil himself. Let us therefore say no more of him, but see to whomSaffredent will give his vote."
"To whom?" said he. "Only Parlamente now remains; but if there were ahundred others, she should still receive my vote, as being the one fromwhom we shall certainly learn something."
"Well, since I am to end the day," said Parlamente, "and since Ipromised yesterday to tell you why Rolandine's father built the castlein which he kept her so long a prisoner, I will now relate it to you."
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095a.jpg The Count of Jossebelin murdering his Sister's Husband]
[The Count of Jossebelin murdering his Sister's Husband]
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