Mistress but upon those termes chusing rather to possess her in that condition she was already then lose her in another The Dutchess on her side considering the Interest of State the conservation of the House of Gonzague and for the general satisfaction of her Subjects looking upon the Duke as the onely prop of her Family desir'd and sought nothing more then to see this Lady Margaret Marryed away fearing least the Duke might losing himself in this extreame ridiculous Love for her think of Marrying her himself At that time there came to Casal the Earl of Rovera a man made for their purpose and made as such a man should be he he was born at Savona and descended from that noble Family of Rovera which has given to the Church those two famous Popes Sixtus the fourth and Julius the second The humour of this Lord was very peaceable and retired not caring to see any body but those of his old acquaintance In fine he was a true Ball for these Ladies to toss and such a one as the Duke the mother and daughter all desired and to speak him in one word he was of a humour to let them do what they pleas'd and go were they had a mind to and though he was not a man of great Learning yet he was for all that a man of very good sense and his wit was capable of serving him better than his Language The design of this Earl had been to pass his Life in a single condition if the sollicitations of the Duke and the Lady Margaret who was resolv'd not to let slip this occasion had not alter'd his resolutions and from the first day he made her a visit put him into a condition of not being able to live one day without seeing her Whil'st they were treating of this marriage the Lady Margaret to try whether the Earl were of a jealous humour pretended one day as he sat musing by himself in her Chamber that the Duke had sent for her to play at Cards with him so that she should be oblig'd to stay there with her mother till the next day and to perswade the Earl absolutely to believe the Duke loved her passionately She told him That the Duke loving her as he did she could do no less than to satisfie him in all things that depended upon her but the Earl not understanding her or at least pretending not to know her meaning onely answer'd She would do very well to serve his Highness and so went away One of the nearest kindred to the Earl hearing of this intended marriage went to him with design to speak freely to him concerning it as a Friend and told him he ought to think more than once upon what he was going to do and that he should seriously consider before he proceeded any further upon the love between the Duke and the Lady Margaret but the Earl answer'd Matrimony will break that Friendship That same Friend of his indeavour'd to prove the contrary to him by a hundred reasons but could get no other answer from him after he had thankt him kindly for his advice but this The horns that are grafted by a Prince do not sit heavy upon the head Two days after another of his Friends told him openly that for his part he would not marry that young Lady for any thing in the world because that as long as the Duke lived he could not refrain from being jealous and should assuredly die a Cuckold This second advice amaz'd the Earl a little yet he said onely that he believed nothing of all these reports In the mean time this renewed advice wrought such an effect that he went not to see his Mistress in two days but love being stronger he could not refrain from visiting her again so great was his desire to marry her and make her his dear half The Duke seem'd to take no notice of all these Passages though they made a noise great enough but waited till the Earl spoke to himself about it which he at last did at the solicitation of the mother who let him know that her house had been always protected by his Highness and her daughter in particular to whom the Duke had always expressed much friendship and she could do nothing without his Highness consent and approbation The Earl answer'd her presently That all Gentlemen were as much oblig'd to this duty and that they were not wont to marry without they were certain of the Princes assent and therefore it was his duty to do the same thing after this reply he parted from her to go to the Duke that old Lady having promis'd him to do the like in behalf of her daughter The Earl had scarce began his complement to the Duke concerning his marriage with the Lady Margaret when the Duke interrupted him to speak to him advantageously of her Family and her Person assuring the Earl of his affection and protection in all things and to let him see how much he approv'd of this marriage he told him with a great demonstration of love that he was certain that one or both could not but be happy since it was impossible for him to find a more excellent woman nor more worthy of such a husband nor for her to find a husband more worthy of such a wife The Earl after he had paid his respects and deserv'd thanks to the Duke said to him I marry the Lady Margaret because she is protected by your Highness To which the Duke presently replyed laughing We will love the Lady Margaret and we will love her until death having been brought up together from the beginnings of our life The Duke after he had discours'd a long time with the Earl concerning the particularities of this wedding took him by the hand and said to him Go my Lord you will gather a Flower worthy of such a Rovera My Tree said the Earl wants a Flower which comes from the hands of your Highness This marriage then concluded to the satisfaction of the interested parties they received all the Complements and made their Balls and Feasts a la mode de France which had been masters of Casal more then fifteen years and had so well establish'd the French Liberty in that Town to the delight of the inhabitants that they resolv'd to keep it for ever and it is certain that if they were to change their master they would accept of no other but the most Christian King so well do they remain satisfied with the French Nation which is a thing extraordinary in Italy where they are commonly so much hated though the Italians can give no reason for their aversion to those People For it is most certain that in those Places of Italy where any of the French inhabit they bring in one moneth more profit to that place than the Spaniards afford them in ten year The Duke although invited to this wedding could not resolve upon any consideration to see his Lady Margaret given away to whom he
necessary for him to go as a private Gentleman who had a Curiosity of seeing the world than in any other quality because that in that Condition he could better inform himself of the estate those Lords without suspition The Earl perceiv'd very easily the Dukes design and although he humbly acknowledg'd the Favour his Highness did him in calling him to that employment of trust yet he could not refrain from excusing himself by telling the Duke that such a Commission was more fit to be given to a Page than to a man of his Quality The Duke who wanted neither wit nor cunning would not receive his innumerable excuses although I know but one which the Duke replyed to which the Duke said might have serv'd had his design been something more than a private exact information of the Condition in which his kinsmen were at the Court of Poland upon which informations depended all his affairs with that Kingdom which when he was satisfied of from his private voyage thither he should then proceed to the publick Embassie to the Polish King in which he made choice of him and to that end had given him first this private Commission as most fit for his designes and therefore he order'd him to go as soon as he could possibly get himself in readiness for such a Voyage to which the Earl gave no further reply but that he should do all in his power to be ready to serve his Highness that hour he should appoint him for this journey in which he plainly discover'd he had no good will for him In the beginning this order to go for Poland troubled him very much and put a thousand Fancies in his head and represented many things to the trouble of his soul but at last after having well consider'd it he concluded it better for him to absent himself than to stay and break his heart by being an eye-witness of all the impudencies of his wife with the Duke which were come to that pass that they made no scruple scarce before his face but that kinsman of his which I spoke of before who was aged and an experienc'd man in all the intrigues of Court and therefore had so disswaded the Earl from this Marriage he having smelt the Dukes intention and heard the report that the Earl was to be sent into Poland as he was Elder than the Earl so he spoke with more assurance and without flattery told him I see very well that horns will be very cheap To which the Earl replyed Cuckold for Cuckold it is better to have horns made behind the back then before the Face The Earl had fifteen days given him to prepare for his Voyage during which he took care of all things necessary for such a journey he took leave of all his Friends but in a manner told them that he gave them the last adieu his brothers in law counselled him to serve his Highness with much zeal and affection but he felt very well where his shoe wrung him and thought within himself that all their Counsels had no other end but The dishonour of his wife their own Sister In the mean time he could so well act his part and dissembled so well that no body imagin'd that he went to Poland against his will he appear'd so gay and pleasant none would have believ'd but that he made this Voyage with all the satisfaction in the world The Countess appear'd very indifferent to all this and seem'd to be neither well nor ill pleased at it knowing well that all she could have said would have been distrusted and therefore she spoke nothing to her Husband but equivocally upon that subject being certain that he was not ignorant that in all things she had no intentions but those of pleasing the Duke she was more than convinc'd that her Husband believ'd not one word she said to him although she had forc'd herself to appear very much afflicted at his depart and to express her joy the durst not believing with reason that excess of Folly would have given too publick a scandal to the World however she assur'd him that the Duke intended to raise him to the highest Dignities the State and Court were capable of and that the Service which his Highness now desir'd from him was To open a way to greater Honours to which he had design'd him The Earl then parted from Casal in the Moneth of April accompanied by his wifes elder brother as far as Mantua where after he had receiv'd his Highness orders he passed the Mountains and went on his journey The same day the Duke dispatcht a Messenger to the Countess with this note My Heart and my All THe Earl is gon this Morning for Poland where he will do nothing and I intend to go from hence within two dayes to a place where I hope to do something I shall rest contented when no body works in thy Garden which is onely worthy the labour of Princes excuse me if I speak so freely do thou be mine and for me I shall be always thine in spight of all those that would trouble either of us expect me with the same desire I have to see thee and be mine as I am thine Charles It will not be unnecessary in this place to conclude the story of the Earl because we shall not henceforward have more occasions of mentioning him I will tell you then that he continued in Poland two Moneths without doing any thing having not receiv'd all the remembrances and instructions necessary touching his Negotiations although the Duke had given him his word to send them to him but it was but a Pretext to gain time because the Posts that went from Mantua to Poland went lazily and arrived there but as late as possibly they could whil'st in the mean time the Earl knew but too well for what reason the Duke had sent him so far off and into a place where he was oblig'd to be his own Comforter for all his Misfortunes but what afflicted him most was That the Duke sent him not so much as the particular Instructions whereby he might acquit himself aright of his Commission in the Court of Poland and also sent him no money without which it is impossible for strangers to do any thing and having it they compass any thing and therefore at last he writ to the Duke and also his Wife these Letters following which he sent by Paris Great Prince I Yet stay for those Letters of dispatch which your Highness made me hope I should receive in this Kingdom and yet I have not seen them although two Moneths are pass'd since I arrived in this Kingdom besides the days were spent in my journey hither I have much shame and confusion at being here and having no imployment not being able to serve your Highness like a true and faithful Vassal Therefore in all humility I desire your Highness to send me with speed something to do that I may testifie to you with what fidelity Persons
to abandon my wife I should be the basest of men to go about to serve a Prince who flatters me with imaginary honours whilst in effect he dishonours me Yes I hope to find a happier Fortune in Barbary than in my native Countrey and I believe that the Inhabitants of that Countrey will not have so much cruelty for me as my Wife and my own Prince have shewed me in Italy Yes yes I renounce thee for my wife since thou wilt be a whore and I am resolv'd to fly thy presence eternally that the world may not believe I consent to thy disorders I confess I need not complain of thee because it is my self I ought to blame for all my misfortunes having been sufficiently warned by my friends and kindred of all that I have suffer'd by thee and the dishonour thou wouldst bring me But in fine since my destiny has sent this for my ruine I run very willingly to it and do not thou think to escape punishment which will come upon thee one day when thou dream'st not of it and although the chastisements of Adulterers is like thine deferr'd yet it is sure to tome go God will revenge me and punish thee He finish'd his Letter to the Countess in these words without Subscription and sent it with another to his Brother-in-law writ in these terms THere is nothing I should less have credited than that Brothers born of an illustrious Bloud would have served as Rascals in the prostitution of their own Sister There is no body either in Mantua or Casal that is ignorant of this It is now become the Fame of your Family and the onely thing by which it is taken notice of but I am very much displeased to have my reputation ingaged in it For as for yours I deride it since you have been so base to offer up to the Duke what no longer belong'd to you That opinion of yours That Princes can make no Cuckolds resembles that Gold which covers Pills to cheat sick people I have alwayes lookt upon it as such and I have indur'd as much as I can but this minute that I have not gold enough left me to cover such great Pills as are prescrib'd to me I have no more Patience and must complain since the Duke is pleased I shall this day begin to run over the World like a poor Pilgrim and miserable banish'd man to the end that he may enjoy your Sister in quiet I resign my wife willingly to his Highness and the shame to you till now you have acted the part of Rascals and serv'd the shameful desires of my wife Now take to your selves the employment of serving your Sister This is all shall be said to you from him that gives you absolutely his share in the shame that you may possess it all he flyes from the company of a prostituted adulterous woman and from the Pimps her Brothers understand me as well as I understand both of you These were the last Letters which the Earl writ to Casal with which the Duke lookt upon himself so sensibly offended having got them both into his hands that he swore in the Countesses presence to be revenged Many were of opinion that he was quickly after that satisfied in his vengeance he intended on the Earl because that minute he made his Oath he dispatch'd many Letters giving order to follow him and to learn what was become of him of whom since that time there was no news heard which was the cause so many believ'd he was kill'd by the Dukes Orders but â— cannot believe this last common opinion because that Prince had not so black a soul and I rather think he was satisfied enough with ordering him to be punish'd only by sending him far enough off his State some were of opinion that he went into Swede and under a disguize chang'd his Religion and became a Lutheran and some believe he lives at this day in some little place he purchas'd with those thousand Pistols which the Duke sent him by Bills of Exchange for his Voyage into Persia Others pretend he has been seen in Portugall not five years since which is not certified credibly But whatever is become of him there has not any thing been heard of him since that time and at Casal there is nothing spoken of him good or bad and therefore we will talk no more of him but here conclude the life of that unfortunate Husband Let us now return to that poor Princess almost forsaken by her husband in all things but outward shew who seeing her self thus treated by the Duke her Husband for the love of an infamous woman and one so much below her in Birth that there is no other comparison between them to be made but what is given between that of a Prince and a slave so that it was very difficult for her to hinder her self from loudly complaining of the Countess and the more by seeing every day her husbands affection grow colder for her and increase to that wicked woman who alone possess'd his heart This afflicted Duchess was desperate at all the abominable tricks which from day to day were plaid the Earl beyond the Seas onely to leave his wife at more Liberty with the Duke and her affliction was very much increased when she was inform'd of his despair which had caused him to renounce absolutely the serving that Court any more and never to return to Casal nor yet into any part of Italy and since she heard by the whispering murmurs of the Courtiers that the Duke angry at this procedure of the Earl had resolv'd to pursue him in revenge where-ever he went in pity to this poor Lord she went to ask his pardon of the Duke and to that effect she set before his eyes the example of David driven from his Kingdom not so much by the persecution of Absalom his son as the decree of Heaven to punish him for Adultery which he had committed with Bathsheba and that horrid execrable and barbarous murther of Uriah her husband adding That that Prophet had not so violently persecuted Uriah as his Highness had pursued the Earl nor had liv'd so long a time in Adultery with Bathsheba as he had liv'd with the Countess The Duke angry at these solicitations rose up from the bed where he was sitting whil'st the Duchess was talking to him and walking to the Chamber-door gave her no other answer than this Madam that which men believ'd in the Old Testament to be a sin all Princes account this day a gallantry and saying this he went away The Duchess seeing all her words unprofitable and work'd nothing upon the heart of the Duke which was harder than any rock to all Counsels that were given him to take him off his scandalous living she resolv'd at last to try another way and employ greater strengths than her own though she went far to fetch them She knew very well the veneration of the Duke for the Senate of Venice and she had
and except in the bed neer him to which the Countess alone was priviledged the Duke us'd her with all the civility imaginable as well in private as publick Therefore the Emperourr and the Archduke had no cause to complain of any thing and less yet in that it happen'd contrary in this scandalous life of the Dukes to that which ordinarily passes in such a case by many that use their wives ill for the sake of their Mistresses For the Duke contrary to other men was grown so crafty that he knew how to act cunningly by apparently satisfying his wife before the world and taking his private pleasures with the Countess so that it was not easie for any to observe any change in the looks of that chaste Princess but rather much contentment and pleasure It is true that outside Friendship in appearance ought not to be imputed to the care and prudence of the Duke so much as to the goodness of his wife who being endowed with a singular vertue and an extraordinary prudence could hide her grief and express no signes of trouble in her Face although her heart was press'd down with affliction The Court of Rome received with much displeasure the news of this scandalous adultery and the trouble it received was aggravated by the quality of that great Person who was guilty of that publick disorder and therefore it gave Orders to the Superiours of the Convents at Casal and Mantua to injoyn the Preachers to exaggerate the nature of this Crime in their Pulpits whil'st in the mean time the Duke suffer'd the World to Talk and the Monks to Cross themselves and went to Sermons when the Fancy took him and hearkned to what he liked upon which it hapned that a Father of the Order of St. Francis by in indiscrete Zeale having too much reflected upon the Person of the Duke and too openly spoke of the Countess found himself so intangled he was constrain'd to quit Mantua till he was forc'd to Swear That for time to come he would change his Note and in Correcting the Vices of Princes he would henceforward use more discretion The Dukes Confessor was also exhorted to remember his Highness sometimes of the Obligation he had to leave off his scandalous life as if the greatest evil of that Crime lay in the Scandal of it but that good Father lov'd better to be in the good graces of a Prince Adulterous and Criminal then Enemy of a Just and Innocent one And furthermore he was so indulgent that when he Confest him he easily gave him Absolution Laying all the fault upon the weakness of our Nature In truth there are Confessors in these dayes that are cause of the loss of many Princes For they being Ambitious to Domineer over the other Brothers of the Convent by their Princes Favour they would be content rather then lose that Dignity not onely to send their Princes to Hell but also go themselves to the Devil neglecting the Duties of their Place and their Pastoral Obligations in excusing the Faults which these Illustrious Sinners commit The Countess also receiv'd from time to time her secret Mortifications for the Bishop sollicited perhaps from Rome and the Arch-Dutchess represented to her sometimes the condition of her life threatning to refuse to give her the Holy Sacrament at Easter but it was but Threats to which she hearkned very little and which gave her but little trouble because she was confident they would never be perform'd for fear of disobliging his Highness and the more because the excused her self by laying the fault upon the Duke saying to him that came to speak to her from the Bishop That being born a Subject she could not command the Duke not to see her any more because he would do her that Honour I cannot forbear in this place to relate an Accident no less curious then Politick which hapned during these passages My Lord Bishop of Cassal had undertaken a thing believed impossible by all the World which was to find out a remedy to divert the Duke from this Love of the Countess which was so Publick that there could not be a greater between two persons Marryed but the whil'st he labour'd by I know not what Political and Pastoral Zeal he found the end of his dayes in seeking that of a Scandal this Death of his regreted by all he having been a Prelate of an exemplar life and held worthy of so eminent a charge in the Church in which he had alwayes shewed himself with great Zeale The Countess was not very sorry seeing her self by that delivered from the apprehension of losing the Dukes good Graces of which she was in danger by the strong exhortations of that Bishop On the contrary she had no sooner heard the news of the Death of the Bishop but speaking to her Sister the Countess Louize she said to her the poor Bishop is dead for ayming too much at Fifty-Cuffs against Heaven she meant by that to shew it was all one to Fight against Heaven and to endeavour to ruine her Favour with the Duke The Earl her Brother going also to talke to her upon the Subject of the Bishops Death said to her Sister you have lost a great Enemy at least if he that is his Successor prove not of his humour To which she answer'd He shall be my Friend or nothing The Bishops Funerals were scarce ended but as well from the State of Mantua as Rome there started up many pretenders to his place The Pope pretended a right in the chusing of a Bishop for Casal in the State of Mantua because all knew very well that although the right of making a Bishop of Casal belonged to his Holyness yet there was no great satisfaction to be found for any that should be made without the Dukes consent It being certain that to be a Bishop of any Town against the Good-will of their Sovereign it is no other then to ruine any Mans Fortune and keep him alwayes in trouble There is no person that will accept it without having at the least the nomination of the Prince or else a recommendation from him And for this reason there were as well at Mantua as at Casal the pretenders to that Bishoprick seeking to the Duke for a Nomination or recommendation from his Highness Amongst many others the Provost of Miroglio had a mind to this Bishoprick and it was very easie for him to attain it because no body dream't of him for the way he took was better and very different from those that the rest of the Pretenders had taken he addresses himself to the Lady Margaret with whom he had alwayes held a very good correspondence and now sought her Recommendation by submissions and promises with extraordinary Proffers he promis'd her a Purse with a thousand Crowns in it to buy her a Diamond protesting to her that he would willingly tesign the Cross into her hands shewing her by that that he would nener do any thing which should not be