be false to Monsieur de Cleves, and be false to myself? In a

word, shall I go to expose myself to the cruel remorses and



deadly griefs that rise from love? I am subdued and vanquished

by a passion, which hurries me away in spite of myself; all my



resolutions are vain; I had the same thoughts yesterday that I

have today, and I act today contrary to what I resolved



yesterday; I must convey myself out of the sight of the Duke de

Nemours; I must go into the country, however fantastical my



journey may appear; and if Monseur de Cleves is obstinately bent

to hinder me, or to know my reasons for it, perhaps I shall do



him and myself the injury to acquaint him with them." She

continued in this resolution, and spent the whole evening at



home, without going to the Queen-Dauphin to enquire what had

happened with respect to the counterfeited letter.



When the Prince of Cleves returned home, she told him she was

resolved to go into the country; that she was not very well, and



had occasion to take the air. Monsieur de Cleves, to whom she

appeared so beautiful that he could not think her indisposition



very considerable, at first made a jest of her design, and

answered that she had forgot that the nuptials of the Princesses



and the tournament were very near, and that she had not too much

time to prepare matters so as to appear there as magnificently as



other ladies. What her husband said did not make her change her

resolution, and she begged he would agree, that while he was at



Compiegne with the King, she might go to Colomiers, a pretty

house then building, within a day's journey of Paris. Monsieur



de Cleves consented to it; she went thither with a design of not

returning so soon, and the King set out for Compiegne, where he



was to stay but few days.

The Duke de Nemours was mightily concerned he had not seen Madam



de Cleves since that afternoon which he had spent so agreeably

with her, and which had increased his hopes; he was so impatient



to see her again that he could not rest; so that when the King

returned to Paris, the Duke resolved to go to see his sister the



Duchess de Mercoeur, who was at a country seat of hers very near

Colomiers; he asked the Viscount to go with him, who readily



consented to it. The Duke de Nemours did this in hopes of

visiting Madam de Cleves, in company of the Viscount.



Madam de Mercoeur received them with a great deal of joy, and

thought of nothing but giving them all the pleasures and



diversions of the country; one day, as they were hunting a stag,

the Duke de Nemours lost himself in the forest, and upon



enquiring his way was told he was near Colomiers; at that word,

Colomiers, without further reflection, or so much as knowing what



design he was upon, he galloped on full speed the way that had

been showed him; as he rode along he came by chance to the



made-ways and walks, which he judged led to the castle: at the

end of these walks he found a pavilion, at the lower end of which



was a large room with two closets, the one opening into a

flower-garden, and the other looking into a spacious walk in the



park; he entered the pavilion, and would have stopped to observe

the beauty of it, if he had not seen in the walk the Prince and



Princess of Cleves, attended with a numerous train of their

domestics. As he did not expect to meet Monsieur de Cleves



there, whom he had left with the King, he thought at first of

hiding himself; he entered the closet which looked into the



flower-garden, with design to go out that way by a door which

opened to the forest; but observing Madam de Cleves and her



husband were sat down under the pavilion, and that their

attendants stayed in the park, and could not come to him without



passing by the place where Monsieur and Madam de Cleves were, he

could not deny himself the pleasure of seeing this Princess, nor



resist the curiosity he had to hear her conversation with a

husband, who gave him more jealousy than any of his rivals. He



heard Monsieur de Cleves say to his wife, "But why will you not

return to Paris? What can keep you here in the country? You



have of late taken a fancy for solitude, at which I am both

surprised and concerned, because it deprives me of your company:



I find too, you are more melancholy than usual, and I am afraid

you have some cause of grief." "I have nothing to trouble my



mind," answered she with an air of confusion, "but there is

such a bustle at Court, and such a multitude of people always at



your house, that it is impossible but both body and mind should

• monsieur [mə´sjə:] n.先生 (初中英语单词)


• acknowledge [ək´nɔlidʒ] vt.(公开)承认；感谢 (初中英语单词)


• princess [,prin´ses] n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人 (初中英语单词)


• deceive [di´si:v] vt.欺骗，欺诈 (初中英语单词)


• measure [´meʒə] n.量度；范围 vt.测量 (初中英语单词)


• agreeable [ə´gri:əbəl] a.适合的；符合的 (初中英语单词)


• whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)


• interrupt [,intə´rʌpt] v.中断；打扰 (初中英语单词)


• considerable [kən´sidərəbəl] a.重要的；值得重视 (初中英语单词)


• hasten [´heisən] vt.催促；促进 vi.赶紧 (初中英语单词)


• handwriting [´hænd,raitiŋ] n.笔迹；书法 (初中英语单词)


• accordingly [ə´kɔ:diŋli] ad.因此；从而；依照 (初中英语单词)


• persuade [pə´sweid] v.(被)说服；使相信 (初中英语单词)


• govern [´gʌvən] v.统治；控制；指导 (初中英语单词)


• beheld [bi´held] behold的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词)


• astonishment [ə´stɔniʃmənt] n.吃惊；惊异 (初中英语单词)


• guilty [´gilti] a.有罪的；心虚的 (初中英语单词)


• passion [´pæʃən] n.激情；激怒；恋爱 (初中英语单词)


• plainly [´pleinli] ad.平坦地；简单地 (初中英语单词)


• contrary [´kɔntrəri] a.相反的 n.相反 (初中英语单词)


• ashamed [ə´ʃeimd] a.惭愧；不好意思 (初中英语单词)


• worthy [´wə:ði] a.有价值的；值得的 (初中英语单词)


• suspicion [sə´spiʃən] n.怀(猜)疑；嫌疑 (初中英语单词)


• dreadful [´dredful] a.可怕的；讨厌的 (初中英语单词)


• sensible [´sensəbəl] a.感觉得到的 (初中英语单词)


• capable [´keipəbəl] a.有能力；能干的 (初中英语单词)


• expose [ik´spəuz] vt.揭露，暴露；陈列 (初中英语单词)


• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)


• convey [kən´vei] vt.运送；传达；转让 (初中英语单词)


• injury [´indʒəri] n.伤害；毁坏；侮辱 (初中英语单词)


• acquaint [ə´kweint] vt.使….认识；告知 (初中英语单词)


• resolution [,rezə´lu:ʃən] n.决心；坚决；果断 (初中英语单词)


• prince [´prins] n.王子；亲王；君主 (初中英语单词)


• thither [´ðiðə] ad.到那里 a.那边的 (初中英语单词)


• reflection [ri´flekʃən] n.反射；映象；想法 (初中英语单词)


• knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)


• opening [´əupəniŋ] n.开放；开端 a.开始的 (初中英语单词)


• closet [´klɔzit] n.橱；私室；盥洗室 (初中英语单词)


• curiosity [,kjuəri´ɔsiti] n.好奇；奇事；珍品 (初中英语单词)


• confusion [kən´fju:ʒən] n.混乱(状态)；骚乱 (初中英语单词)


• multitude [´mʌltitju:d] n.大群(批)；众多 (初中英语单词)


• misfortune [mis´fɔ:tʃən] n.不幸；灾祸 (高中英语单词)


• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)


• prolong [prə´lɔŋ] vt.延长；拉长；拖延 (高中英语单词)


• industrious [in´dʌstriəs] a.勤勉的，刻苦的 (高中英语单词)


• concerned [kən´sə:nd] a.有关的；担心的 (高中英语单词)


• correspondence [,kɔri´spɔndəns] n.通信；符合；相当 (高中英语单词)


• cardinal [´kɑ:dinəl] a.主要的 n.深红色 (高中英语单词)


• esteem [i´sti:m] n.尊重 vt.认为；感到 (高中英语单词)


• reconcile [´rekənsail] vt.调和；使和谐 (高中英语单词)


• conspiracy [kən´spirəsi] n.密谋；协同作用 (高中英语单词)


• jealousy [´dʒeləsi] n.妒忌；猜忌 (高中英语单词)


• notwithstanding [,nɔtwiθ´stændiŋ] prep.&conj.虽然；还是 (高中英语单词)


• distrust [dis´trʌst] n.&vt.不信任，怀疑 (高中英语单词)


• hazard [´hæzəd] n.危险 vt.冒…险 (高中英语单词)


• lasting [´lɑ:stiŋ] a.持久的；永远的 (高中英语单词)


• hinder [´hində, ´haində] vt.阻止 a.后面的 (高中英语单词)


• tournament [´tuənəmənt] n.比赛，锦标赛 (高中英语单词)


• pavilion [pə´viljən] n.大帐篷；亭子 (高中英语单词)


• spacious [´speiʃəs] a.广阔的，宽敞的 (高中英语单词)


• solitude [´sɔlitju:d] n.孤独；寂寞；荒凉 (高中英语单词)


• melancholy [´melənkəli] n.忧郁 a.忧郁的 (高中英语单词)


• bustle [´bʌsəl] v.(使)匆忙 n.匆忙 (高中英语单词)


• expedient [ik´spi:diənt] a.合适的 n.权宜之计 (英语四级单词)


• embarrassment [im´bærəsmənt] n.窘迫；困惑；为难 (英语四级单词)


• resolved [ri´zɔlvd] a.决心的；坚定的 (英语四级单词)


• experienced [ik´spiəriənst] a.有经验的；熟练的 (英语四级单词)


• passionately [´pæʃənitli] ad.多情地；热烈地 (英语四级单词)


• recollect [rekə´lekt] v.重新集合；恢复 (英语四级单词)


• counterfeit [´kauntəfit] a.伪造的 v.&n.伪造 (英语四级单词)


• uneasiness [ʌn´i:zinis] n.不安，担忧；不自在 (英语四级单词)


• favourably [´feivərəbli] ad.善意地 (英语四级单词)


• effectually [i´fektjuəli] ad.有效地 (英语六级单词)


• gaiety [´geəti] n.欢乐；乐事；华丽 (英语六级单词)


• foregoing [´fɔ:gəuiŋ] a.在前的，上述的 (英语六级单词)


• applied [ə´plaid] a.实用的，应用的 (英语六级单词)


• improbable [im´prɔbəbəl] a.未必有的 (英语六级单词)


• hunting [´hʌntiŋ] n.打猎 (英语六级单词)