[38]. The Montmorencys were already celebrated in French history in the middle of the tenth century.

[39]. gentilshommes, pronounced jantizome.

[40]. messe du roi was a mass in which the king took part.

[41]. Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI., beheaded in 1793.

[42]. office en musique, a mass in which the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Credo, the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei were sung wholly or in part.

[43]. on eût dit d'un enfant tenté == on aurait dit que c'était, etc.

[44]. que, whether.

[45]. le tabouret was a stool on which duchesses were permitted to sit in the presence of the king.

[46]. Louis XI., king of France, reigned from 1461 to 1483.

[47]. fallût-il, even if it were necessary.