gentleman farewell, he could not refrain from saying to him--

"Sir, the love I bear you, and the honour and friendship that you have
shown me in your house, constrain me to tell you that, having regard to
the deep penitence of your unhappy wife, you should, in my opinion, take
compassion upon her. You are, moreover, young and have no children, and
it would be a great pity that so fair a lineage should come to an end,
and that those who, perhaps, have no love for you, should become your
heirs."

The gentleman, who had resolved that he would never more speak to his
wife, pondered a long time on the discourse held to him by the Lord de
Bernage, and at last recognised that he had spoken truly, and promised
him that, if his wife should continue in her present humility, he would
at some time have pity upon her.

Accordingly Bernage departed on his mission, and when he had returned
to his master, the King, he told him the whole story, which the Prince,
upon inquiry, found to be true. And as Bernage among other things had
made mention of the lady's beauty, the King sent his painter, who was
called John of Paris, (3) that he might make and bring him a living
portrait of her, which, with her husband's consent, he did. And when she
had long done penance, the gentleman, in his desire to have offspring,
and in the pity that he felt for his wife who had submitted to this
penance with so much humility, took her back again and afterwards had by
her many handsome children. (4)

3 John Perréal, called "Jehan de Paris," was one of the
most famous painters of the reigns of Charles VIII. and
Louis XII. At the end of 1496 we find him resident at Lyons,