CHAPTER PAGE
[I]—Francis I.[1]
[II]—Charles de Bourbon[6]
[III]—Brother and Sister[12]
[IV]—The Quality of Mercy[20]
[V]—All Lost Save Honour[28]
[VI]—Broken Faith[33]
[VII]—La Duchesse d’Étampes[42]
[VIII]—Last Days[49]
[IX]—Catherine de’ Medici[55]
[X]—A Fatal Joust[58]
[XI]—The Widowed Queen[63]
[XII]—Mary Stuart and Her Husband[67]
[XIII]—A Traitor[74]
[XIV]—The Council of State[80]
[XV]—Catherine’s Vengeance[86]
[XVI]—The Astrologer’s Chamber[94]
[XVII]—At Chenonceau[101]
[XVIII]—A Dutiful Daughter[113]
[XIX]—Before the Storm[122]
[XX]—St. Bartholomew[129]
[XXI]—The End of Catherine de’ Medici[139]
[XXII]—The Last of the Valois[146]
[XXIII]—Don Juan[158]
[XXIV]—Charmante Gabrielle[172]
[XXV]—Italian Art[186]
[XXVI]—Biron’s Treason[198]
[XXVII]—A Court Marriage[207]
[XXVIII]—The Prediction Fulfilled[215]
[XXIX]—Louis XIII.[227]
[XXX]—The Oriel Window[235]
[XXXI]—An Ominous Interview[244]
[XXXII]—Love and Treason[254]
[XXXIII]—The Cardinal Duped[263]
[XXXIV]—The Maid of Honour[271]
[XXXV]—At Val de Grâce[283]
[XXXVI]—The Queen Before the Council[291]
[XXXVII]—Louise de Lafayette[302]
[Notes] [317]

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
[The Château of Chenonceau][Frontispiece]
From the painting by Debat Ponson.
(With permission of Ad. Braun et Cie.)
[Portion of the Roof of the Château of Chambord][2]
[Château of Azay le Rideau][6]
[Francis I.][10]
From the painting by Titian.
[Door of the Chapel, Château of Amboise][16]
[Henry, Duke of Montmorenci, Marshal of France][24]
From a portrait by Balthasar Moncornet.
[The Chevalier Bayard][40]
After A. de Neuville.
(By permission of Estes & Lauriat.)
[Queen Elinor][44]
[Château of Amboise][48]
[Duchesse d’Étampes][52]
[Château de Chambord][56]
[Spiral Staircase, Château of Blois][78]
(By permission of Neurdein, Paris.)
[Couçy][86]
[The Gardens of the Tuileries, Paris][90]
[A Gate of the Louvre, after St. Bartholomew’s Day][102]
[Charles IX.][106]
From the painting by Clouet.
[Henri de Guise][122]
From a drawing in the Louvre.
(By permission of A. Giraudon, Paris.)
[Notre-Dame, Paris][126]
[Admiral Gaspard de Coligny][132]
From a drawing by François Clouet.
(By permission of A. Giraudon, Paris.)
[Catherine de Médicis][140]
[Château de Blois][150]
[Henry IV.][158]
From a contemporary painting in the Museum at Versailles.
[Diana de Poitiers, by Jean Goujon][164]
From the Château of Anet, now in the Louvre.
(By permission of Levy, Paris.)
[The Cascade of St. Cloud][174]
From an engraving by Rigaud.
[General View of Fontainebleau][190]
From an old print.
[Marie de Médicis][204]
From a steel engraving.
[Couçy—Interior, Showing Thickness of Walls][218]
[Louis XIII., King of France and Navarre][232]
From an old print.
[Cardinal Richelieu][270]
[Château of Nantes][280]

AUTHORITIES

Mémoires de Brantôme.
Mémoires de son Temps, Du Bellay.
Histoire de Henri Duc de Bouillon.
Mémoires de Condé.
Dictionnaire de Bayle, “Duc de Guise.”
Histoire des Guerres Civiles de la France, par Davila.
Mémoires pour servir à l’Histoire de France, par Champollion.
Mémoires de Coligni.
Novaes, Storia dei Pontefici.
Mémoires de Marguerite de Valois.
Journal de Henri III.
Mémoires de Sully.
Histoire de Henri IV., par Mathieu.
Histoire des Amours de Henri IV.
L’Intrigue du Cabinet sous Henri IV. et Louis XIII.
Mémoires pour l’Histoire du Cardinal de Richelieu.
Mémoires du Cardinal de Richelieu.
Histoire de la Mère et du Fils, par Mezeray.
Mémoires du Maréchal de Bassompierre.
Observations de Bassompierre.
Mémoires de feu Monsieur (Gaston) Duc d’Orléans.
Mémoires de Cinq-Mars.
Mémoires de Montrésor.
La Cour de Marie de’ Medici, par un Cadet de Gascogne.
Lettres de Madame de Sévigné.
Mémoires de Mademoiselle de Montpensier.
Mémoires du Duc de Lauzun.
Mémoires de Madame de Motteville.
Mémoires de M. d’Artagnan.
Mémoires du Cardinal de Retz.
Mémoires de La Porte.
Mémoires de Mazarin.
Œuvres Complètes de Saint-Simon.
Mémoires de la Duchesse de la Vallière.
Mémoires de la Marquise de Montespan.
Mémoires de la Marquise de Maintenon.
Amours des Rois de France.
Dulaure, Histoire de Paris.
Histoire de la Touraine, dans la Bibliothèque Publique à Tours.
Capefigue, Ouvrages Divers.

OLD COURT LIFE IN FRANCE.

CHAPTER I.
FRANCIS I.