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 Queen of France, Anne, Duchess of Brittany, on returning to his house whence he had been absent during more than two years, found his wife at another estate, near by, and when he inquired the reason of this, she told him that a ghost was wont to haunt the house, and tormented them so much that none could dwell there. (2) Monsieur de Grig-naulx, who had no belief in such absurdities, replied that were it the devil himself he was not afraid of him, and so brought his wife home again.
At night he caused many candles to be lighted that he might see the ghost more clearly, and, after watching for a long time without hearing anything, he fell asleep; but immediately afterwards he was awaked by a buffet upon the cheek, and heard a voice crying, “Brenigne, Brenigne,” which had been the name of his grandmother. (3) Then he called to the serving-woman, who lay near them, (4) to light the candle, for all were now extinguished, but she durst not rise. And at the same time the Lord of Grig-naulx felt the covering pulled from off him, and heard a great noise of tables, trestles and stools falling about the room; and this lasted until morning. However, the Lord of Grignaulx was more displeased at losing his rest than afraid of the ghost, for indeed he never believed 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 Angoulême, 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 (Brantôme’s Dames Illustres).—L. 4 89
2 The house haunted by the ghost would probably be
Talleyrand’s château 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 “Bénigne.” On the other
hand, Boaistuau gives the name as Revigne, and among the old
French noblesse were the Revigné and Revigny families.—
Ed.
4 See ante, note 2 to Tale XXXVII.
On the following night he resolved to capture this ghost, and so, when he 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 wise waiting for the ghost, he felt that something was coming near him, and accordingly snored yet louder than before, whereat the ghost was so encouraged as to deal him a mighty blow. Forthwith, the Lord of Grignaulx caught the ghost’s hand as it rested on his face, and cried out to his wife—
“I have the ghost!”
His wife immediately rose up and lit the candle, and found that it was the serving-woman who slept in their room; and she, throwing herself upon her knees, entreated forgiveness and promised to confess the truth. This was, that she had long loved a serving-man of the house, and had taken this fine mystery in hand in order to drive both master and mistress away, so that she and her lover, having sole charge of the house, might be able to make good cheer as they were wont to do when alone. My Lord of Grignaulx, who was a somewhat harsh man, commanded that they should be soundly beaten so as to prevent them from ever forgetting the ghost, and this having been done, they were driven away. In this fashion was the house freed from the plaguy ghosts who for two years long had played their pranks in it. (5)