a Desire to perplex me for he never had so much as spoke to her Nothing could then have hindred my being seriously in Love with her but the oddest Fancy I think any Woman could ever have The scandalous Story he had made of her must naturally have have procur'd him her Scorn and Aversion But how strange are a Woman's Appetites His Lyes had a quite contrary effect and she desir'd me to bring him to her saying It was with a Design to be reveng'd on him for having abus'd her thus but it seems that Man had unawares gain'd her Favour and indeed at the very first Sight they became very good Friends Let the most accurate Moralists tell me now What could be the Motive of her being charm'd with that which would have made him Contemptible in any other Woman's Eyes As for me I can assign none but the flattering Thoughts that since he had pretended himself one of her Adorers he must needs think her adorable Perhaps too did she find the Letters just such as she would have sent and could not help admiring a Man who had so good a Guess Whatever the Reason might be they improv'd their Acquaintance and my Landlord might since have shewn me as many true Letters as he had done fictitious ones but he grew discreet when his Intriegue became real I should have disputed him the Conquest of a Heart he had so bad a Title to had I not then met with a Lady whom I thought more worth my Care The Duke de Guise was still at Madrid having the City for a Prison I waited on him and gave him an account of what I had suffer'd at Naples for his Service as also of his Mistress's Treachery except that part of it wherein I was concern'd He said He was sorry he should have occasion'd me all that Trouble and to make me some Amends he would introduce me to a Lady who he was sure would not receive me ill and was worth my Acquaintance being as considerable for her Quality and Fortune as for her great Beauty This was a strong Temptation and being of my self very frail I was easily won to make an Appointment according to which he carry'd me Two Days after into a House where he promis'd me I should see her From the Freedom with which the Duke enter'd I judg'd he was no Stranger there It was then about Five in the Evening and not so dark but I perceiv'd the Furniture was extraordinary rich which confirm'd part of what the Duke had said and I began to have a strange Passion for the unknown Lady I was left alone in a Closet till very late at Night while the Duke was gone as he told me to acquaint the Lady with my being there I had all the Reason in the World to imagine that she was one of his Mistresses and that being weary of her he had a mind to make her over to me yet my Weakness was such that I wav'd these Reflexions to dwell on the Thoughts of my future Happiness But how great was my Astonishment when the Lady coming into the Closet I saw it was the same from whom I had receiv'd so ill Treatment at Naples The Duke usher'd her in and told me smiling That she came to expiate her former Faults I was possess'd with Anger and Indignation at the unexpected Sight but the Duke's Presence commanding my Respect I put a good Face on the Matter and seeing they both laugh'd heartily I laugh'd too for Company tho' I had little mind to it I could not imagine whether his Design in surprizing me was only to make himself Sport or to reconcile me to the Lady but whatever his Intention might be I thought I had Reason to be offended at it and out of Revenge resolv'd once more to be his Rival There indeed my Passion prov'd stronger than my Honour which would have led me rather to abhor than court so perfidious a Woman Besides what Madness was it in me to think of depriving him of a Mistress in whose Favour he seem'd to be and who having left her Native Country was come as far as Spain to enjoy his Conversation But I ventur'd through all and before I left her whisper'd in her Ear that I ador'd her more than ever and was a dead Man if she did not answer my Love She squeezed my Hand at these Words which gave me Hopes I labour'd not in vain The very next Day she sent for me and her Beauty and Conversation made me feel in earnest a Flame I design'd but to pretend She at first begg'd my Pardon for what had pass'd at Naples alledging several bad Excuses which being varnished over with a few Tears I readily accepted Then the Duke was the next Theme we went upon and she made great Complaints of him telling me That tho' she had come so far from Home for his sake and had made him very rich Presents he car'd little for her and was in Love with one of the King of Spain's Mistresses It will easily be thought that I did not endeavour to clear him but made use of his Falshood as an Argument to persuade her to pay him in his kind But she told me That she would bear with it a little longer and that the Duke's Departure being so near she would not fall out with him now but would manage him so that I should have no cause to be jealous I took all this for Current Coyn and left her as full of Love as if she had been the chastest Woman in the World but it was all a Plot she and the Duke had contrived to make Sport with me as will appear by the sequel of the Story I had already heard that the King of Spain was a very amorous Prince and his Intrigues were so many that all Madrid talk'd of nothing else I was also inform'd that he kept a Strange Lady whom he us'd to meet at the Count de and that to that Amour the Duke de Guise owed his Liberty The Duke himself had also often mention'd her in my Hearing but without naming her and I durst not ask him who she was But the Frenchman with whom I liv'd who was a very inquisitive busie Fellow said He was acquainted at the House where the King us'd to visit his Mistress whither if I pleas'd he would carry me to see his Majesty as he was going to her I accepted of the Proposal and we hid our selves in a dark Passage through which the King was to come whom presently after we saw in a Civilian's Habit which so disguis'd him that had I not been told beforehand it was himself I should never have known him He tarry'd there but half an Hour and after he was retir'd we were going down Stairs when a Servant bid us make Room and looking up I saw the Lady to whom my Companion said the Visit had been made Her Face was cover'd with a Veil and passing by me she pull'd me by the Sleeve and
head-long out of a Window and the Duke of Braganca was Four Days after proclaim'd King of Portugal My Hatred to Vasconcellos moved me to assist those who were order'd to murther him we went up into his Chamber where one of his Clerks having oppos'd us I kill'd him at one Blow and was the first that entred We could not find him and while my Comrades were looking for him I espy'd a little Closet half open wherein were some Letters which I took and unperceiv'd dispos'd into my Pockets At length after much seeking we heard he was hid in a Corner of the Room we pull'd him out thence and knowing me again he conjur'd me for my Mistress's sake to save his Life assuring me I should oblige her highly in doing it I thought he had lost his Wits to make me a Complement he must needs imagine I would take as an Affront and was going to force a Declaration out of his own Mouth to clear her Innocency But I had not that Leisure for he had scarce spoke to me when they threw him down into the Street The Tumult being appeas'd and the City quiet my next Care was to read the Letters I had found They were most subscrib'd by my unfaithful Mistress and but too plain Arguments of her Infamy Some of them contain'd an account of the Plot and I bless'd my kind Stars that had directed those Letters to me which were they fallen into other Hands would certainly have prov'd my undoing I kept them with a Design to confound her by letting her know I had those convincing Proofs of her Shame but I knew not what was become of her and thought she might have been confin'd with the Vice-Queen At last I heard That being a Portugueze she was permitted to retire to one of her Relations The News of Vasconcellos cruel Death put her into such a Fury that she exclaim'd against those who had kill'd him and against the new King with such Passion that she was secur'd as a Disaffected Person I was inform'd of all this and certainly none ought to have been more indifferent than my self on that account Yet I wish'd with earnestness to see her that I might tax her with her Baseness and Ingratitude I fancy'd the Hopes of being reveng'd were the only occasion of that Desire and little consider'd alas that my Love was the chief Motive and that I was only willing to reproach her because I could not forget her I went to visit her in her Prison and she ask'd me scornfully Whether it was by my Order that she was us'd so ill I answer'd Had it been so I should but have discharg'd my Obligations to her since she was guilty of a higher Crime to me than any the Government could charge her with in saying which I produc'd the Letters I have spoke of asking her If she knew that Hand She answer'd without the least Surprize That she was not asham'd to own them since whether I knew it or no Vasconcellos was her Husband and that she would acknowledge none for her Friends or Lovers but such as would assist her in revenging his Death How great soever my Vexation might be to hear her talk thus I had the Force to conceal it and continu'd shewing her the Letters wherein she had so basely betray'd the Secret I had revealed to her She told me It was for my sake she had done it and that she never would forgive the Secretary who instead of making use of the Advices she had given him rely'd upon the Duke de Olivares whose temporizing had ruin'd the King of Spain's Interests I interrupted her desiring to know how that Discovery could be advantagious to me to which she reply'd I must have but very little Skill in State-Affairs not to see that the Duke of Braganca's Election could never stand because of the Discontent of the other Princes of the Blood who could not expect such Gratifications from him as they might receive from the King of Spain Her Discourse should have mov'd me with Indignation and I ought above all to have resented her marrying my Rival But even that help'd to justifie her for I had rather hear she had made a Match so much beneath her self than suspect her of being guilty of a shameful Amour and I found that as she spoke to me my Heart willingly yielded to her Arguments and took her Part against my self I carry'd on my Blindness so far that I found some Probability in what she said of the ill Bottom which the new Government stood on and grew inclinable to a Revolt But I did not then Discover it to her and continu'd that Conversation in the same Strain I had begun But it is impossible for a Lover to conceal his Weakness and in spight of my Dissimulation she perceiv'd the Effect of her deluding Words I imagin'd the Sight of her had occasion'd my Folly but her Absence could not cure it for the Thoughts of her Misery mov'd my Compassion and I judg'd it not impossible for me to obtain her Liberty I sued for it representing That what she had said was spoke in a Heat of Passion which had put her besides her self and that she was now grown very penitent My Request was easily granted and it was not thought dangerous to release a Maid too weak to act what her Passion or Grief might prompt her to No better Token can be given of the Strength of my blinded Love than the Transport I was in I ran to the Prison and having kindly reproach'd her told her That the better to let him know what a Lover she had been ungrateful to I was come to acquaint her That through my means she was free She was less careful to thank me than to repeat what she had already said about the present Government and to persuade me That my Fortune had been more splendid had Portugal remain'd under the Spanish Dominion Neither would I then let her know how far her Arguments prevail'd with me but having taken her out thence carry'd her to that Relation at whose House she had been arrested I visited her often and persisted in loving her with as much Zeal as if I never had had any occasion to complain of her She seem'd also to have forgot her former Lover and I dar'd not make too strict an Enquiry into the Nature of the Engagement she had had with him lest I should thence have a Reason to hate her I was resolv'd to adore Another would not make so open a Confession but I freely own it to you who seem not to be unacquainted with the Inchanting Power of Love She had not been long out of her Confinement when I perceiv'd the Duke of Caminha whose Name I shall not conceal since his Misfortune is so publickly known visited her assiduously enough to make me fear him as a Rival The Marquess de Villa Real Father to that Duke was nearly related to me as we were all Three to the new King I did not
and she acknowledg'd her Civility had encourag'd that Man's Boldness but vow'd she would never have endur'd his Insolence had she not been provok'd to it by the Indifferency she fancy'd I had for her and that as a Confirmation of her Aversion to him she would cause him to be kill'd or stab him her self if I desir'd it I told her I expected not so barbarous an Assurance and that I should be satisfied with her avoiding his Conversation on which she made me a Thousand Protestations of her future Fidelity This gave me an unexpressible Pleasure and I was extasied at the Thoughts of being the only Possessor of her Heart Before I left her I gave her a Lecture about Constant Love But having spoke never a Word of Matrimony she ask'd me If I did not think her a Match good enough I reply'd I did not believe her Friends would marry her so young and besides I fear'd her Fortune being much above mine I should certainly be deny'd if I pretended to ask their Consent Well! and what need have we of Friends said she I 'le get out of the Convent and meet you when and where you please Then they must comply I represented to her It was safer to wait a little and in the mean while I would procure some Person to insinuate the Matter to her Mother at a distance in order to try her Pulse She seem'd better satisfied at these Words but would not let me go till I had solemnly promis'd to make her my Wife She was indeed so great a Fortune that there was a Match concluding between her and one of the first Quality and all the necessary Preparations being ready she was taken out of the Nunnery and it was generally reported she was going to marry the Duke de But she plainly told her Mother that she would never have him because she was engaged to me This surpriz'd her for our Intriegue had been kept very secret But the Match in Hand being already agreed on by the Relations on both Sides her Mother commanded her never to think more of me which if she did she should lead the remainder of her Life in a Cloister This Threat was a great shock to her Resolution but what more induc'd her to comply with her Parents Desires was the Sight of her intended Husband whom she fell desperately in Love withal at the first View and marry'd him the next Day She had before inform'd me by a Letter of what her Mother had said and that the only means I had left was to steal her as she was going to Church assigning me the Time and Place It was not without some Reluctancy that I undertook it but the Prospect of a good Fortune and an affectionate Wife made me wave all my Scruples and having taken all necessary Measures I came to the Church-Door in a Coach Just as I arriv'd the Ceremony was beginning so that I took her Project of running away with me for a meer Banter since I thought it impossible her Mind should alter so suddenly This I so highly resented that I was not sorry for losing her and remain'd present during all the Service which was taken as a great Affront by her Friends who have ever since appear'd my Enemies on all Occasions for I could never come to a right Understanding with them nor with my Unfaithful Mistress who seem'd not to have seen me and indeed I believe did not her whole Mind being possessed with her Bridegroom Some will wonder perhaps that I should not seek to Revenge my self for her Treachery but Love being in my Opinion the freest thing in the World I never thought a Gentleman ought to resent those Injuries I must confess I have not always been so moderate on that account as will be seen by the sequel of my Life Being thus jilted by this last Mistress I believ'd it now impossible for me to experience the Sweets of a real and sincere Amour and that made me very morose to a Sex I began both to hate and despise But what surpriz'd me was the more I affronted them the more complaisant and obliging they were to me I did by this Carriage gain the Esteem of a Lady my Acquaintance with whom was occasion'd by a very odd Accident This Lady had so henpeck'd her Husband that she had reduc'd him to a meer Changling through her imperious Treatment Being very handsom and absolute Mistress of her Conduct most young Courtiers had Intriegues with her and she was famous for changing her Lovers every Quarter I could not forbear letting fly a scurrilous Jest or two against her which she hearing of made great Complaints insomuch that one Day being by chance in her Company she abus'd me in a most affronting manner which I return'd with Interest This made a great Noise and every one blam'd my Rudeness which indeed I could not excuse I was advis'd to give her some Satisfaction but my Resentment was too great and on the contrary I us'd all the means I could to express my Contempt of her The Issue was far from what I should have expected for instead of her Hatred I gain'd her Friendship A Lady who knew us both desir'd me to meet her at her House assuring me I should not repent it I could but expect a second Scene of Billingsgate which made me unwillingly consent She came there and began to weep saying She was an unhappy Woman to be thus hated by the only Man she loved This somewhat mollified me and before we parted we were made such good Friends that I became an assiduous Visitant She discarded all her Lovers but seeing she paid a blind Obedience to all I required of her I began to treat her with more Complacency This was an occasion of her admitting more Admirers and my Passion began at last to cool especially when I understood she represented me as too good natur'd and one whose easie Temper made me unhappy with my Mistresses While I had this Intriegue the Queen Mother imprison'd the Prince of Conde and the Interest my Brother and I had in him having rais'd a Suspicion of us he advis'd me to retire to Poland where my Children and Estate might need my Presence I took his Counsel leaving him at Paris much puzl'd how to discharge at once his Duty to the Queen and his Obligation to the Prince and began my Journey imagining I had too much Experience ever to be over-reach'd by a Woman but I was still the same Man and more expos'd than ever to their Treachery as we shall see in the following part of these Memoirs MEMOIRS OF THE Count de Compiled by Monsieur SAINT E. BOOK III. I Passed through Germany and arrived at Heidelberg about the latter End of April It was Two or Three Years after Prince Charles Lewis of Bavaria's having been restor'd to his Electorate His Amours are so well known that the Reader may easily judge Gallantry was no Stranger to his Court and that I could
where I expected to meet with the Prince who with his Army made Head against the Duke de Vendosme Berg was then besieg'd which was in Iuly 1653. But I was forc'd to continue there some Time being fallen ill and wrote to the Prince to represent to him part of the Reasons which had oblig'd me to quit Madrid The Answer I had from him was That I might either go to Paris or the Duke de Vendosme's Army and that he would not be the occasion of my being of a different Party from my Brother whence I judg'd he was not over-wel satisfied with my Negotiation It may well be thought I was vex'd that I should have displeas'd him and often curs'd those Adventures which had occasion'd my Negligence Then I resolv'd to use my utmost endeavours to regain his Favour And in order to it to return to Madrid where by a great Application to Business I might make some Amends for my former Errors But to my Shame be it spoken my Love for Eleonor was indeed the true Motive which induc'd me to it The Care she had taken of my Safety oblig'd me to a grateful Return and the dangerous Circumstances I had left her in did I imagin'd require my Assistance I fancy'd that the King having forsaken her her Husband's Jealousie and Resentment might provoke him to a Fatal Revenge and accus'd my self of Baseness in leaving her as I had done How wretched is their Condition who enslave themselves to the most unruly Passion It not only blinds them but also puffs them up with a Conceit that none are so quick-sighted as themselves for had all the World told me I was mad to dream of returning to Madrid I should have thought my self wiser than all the World so clear and convincing did those Reasons seem which induc'd me to it Not but I sometimes made slight Reflexions on the Temerity of my Design but the more rash it seem'd to me the more desirous I was to go about it fancying it a Heroick Action thus to venture my Life for the sake of my Mistress I hope none of my Readers will be of the same Opinion I was then of in commending an Amorous Generosity which would have expos'd me to greater Hazards than any I had yet run had not Sickness prevented my unaccountable Folly Being fully bent on it I sent the Prince a Letter to acquaint him That preferring his Service before any other Considerations I was returning into Spain and hop'd he would do me the Honour by writing more obligingly to let me know I had regain'd his Favour which being sent I set out for Madrid in spight of my Indisposition but the very first Day 's Journey spent me quite so that I was forc'd to stop at Fontarabia where I kept my Bed near Six Weeks under so violent a Disease that my Life was often despair'd of I had upon my falling sick sent a Letter to Eleonor to acquaint her That it was impossible for me to leave her and that I design'd to see her as soon as my Health would permit to offer her my Service and Assistance in a Time when I fear'd she had need of them I had also order'd the Messenger to enquire what People said of me there and especially concerning Manrique and his Wife He deliver'd my Letter to Eleonor who reply'd by Word of Mouth That I had best keep away and that she had no other Answer to give him As for Manrique he was told That Lord made strict Search after me that his Wife had inform'd him I was Muley-Asan who after several unsuccessful Attempts upon her Chastity had out of Revenge contriv'd what had happen'd that the Algerine had been set at Liberty after a sharp Reprimand and that I must never think of returning to Madrid any more He brought me this Answer at a Time when I began to grow better and I think that had my Recovery been more perfect I would have ventur'd through all these Dangers so much was I displeas'd at Eleonor's not writing to me and so great was my Desire of seeing her But happily for me I was too weak to undertake such a Journey and found I had nothing else to do but to forget her and use all possible means to regain my Health Thus I quite laid aside the Thoughts of Returning But before I proceed any farther it will not I hope be unacceptable to my Reader if I inform him of what happen'd at Madrid since my being gone which tho' I heard it but long since does I think naturally belong to this Place having some Relation to what I have lately been speaking of I left there my two Mistresses Eleonor and Isabella having lov'd them both tho' in a very different manner for I esteem'd the former and the latter I fear'd The one had charm'd me thro' her seeming Vertue and Generosity and the other on the contrary by her Forwardness and the Undauntedness with which she satisfied her unruly Passions but we shall find their Characters to be much alike when their Circumstances were the same And from what I am going to relate the Reader may know what an Opinion he ought to have of those Women whose greatest Care is to get many Lovers not being contented with one Husband or Gallant It being Isabella's Temper ever to give way to her Inclinations she shew'd her self in all her Intriegues as Fantastical as when being enamour'd with me while under the Slave's Disguise she could not suffer me when in my own Habit. So most of the Men she was concern'd with were but of an ordinary Condition and such as she might easily sacrifice to her Husband's Jealousie Not but that she often met with Admirers of a higher Rank as the following Story will testifie Scarce was she marry'd and had appear'd at Court when her Beauty ensnar'd most young Lords there but the most sincere and passionate of her Lovers was the Prince de the handsomest Man certainly in all Spain and of the best Presence He was just upon marrying the Marquis de 's Daughter who was reckon'd the greatest Fortune in that Kingdom and by whom he was tenderly belov'd when he grew acquainted with Isabella He was certainly rather bewitch'd than in Love for his Dotage was such that to break off or at least defer his Marriage he pretended a Desire of entring into Orders and offer'd to resign his Birth-Right and his Spouse to his younger Brother his Father was almost persuaded to it and the thing would have been done had he not been cur'd of his Folly Isabella return'd his Passion with an unsufferable Pride and according to her usual Custom inform'd her Husband of it who was as kind to him on that Score as he had been to me So that the Prince what thro' her Scorn and the impossibility of seeing her fell sick with Despair He had a very cunning Fellow to his Valet de Chambre whom he had sometimes sent with Letters to Isabella This Man knowing