of one of the three best convents in the kingdom."

She replied that she would rather die in perpetual imprisonment than
have any lover save Him who had died for her on the cross, for she
would rather suffer with Him all the evils the world could inflict than
possess without Him all its blessings. And she added that he must never
again speak to her in such a manner, or she would inform the Abbess;
whereas, if he kept silence, so would she.

Thereupon this evil shepherd left her, and in order to make himself
appear quite other than he was, and to again have the pleasure of
looking upon her he loved, he turned to the Abbess and said--

"I beg, mother, that you will cause all your nuns to sing a _Salve
Regina_ in honour of that virgin in whom I rest my hope."

While this was being done, the old fox did nothing but shed tears, not
of devotion, but of grief at his lack of success. All the nuns, thinking
that it was for love of the Virgin Mary, held him for a holy man, but
Sister Marie, who knew his wickedness, prayed in her heart that one
having so little reverence for virginity might be brought to confusion.

And so this hypocrite departed to St. Martin's, where the evil fire that
was in his heart did not cease burning night and day alike, prompting
him to all manner of devices in order to compass his ends. As he above
all things feared the Abbess, who was a virtuous woman, he hit upon a
plan to withdraw her from the convent, and betook himself to Madame de
Vendôme, who was at that time living at La Fère, where she had founded
and built a convent of the Benedictine order called Mount Olivet. (5)