The Duchess went immediately to the Queen and my Lady the Regent, and
told them the story; and they, without any form of law, sent for the
unhappy woman. The latter sought no concealment, for her shame was
turned to pride at being mistress in the household of so rich a man; and
hence, with no feeling of confusion or disgrace, she presented herself
before the ladies aforesaid, who were so abashed by her hardihood that
at first they knew not what to say. After a time, however, my Lady the
Regent rebuked her in a fashion which would have made a right-thinking
woman weep, though this unhappy creature did not do so, but with great
boldness said--

"I pray you, ladies, let my honour go unscathed, for, God be praised,
I have lived so well and virtuously with the Canon that no person alive
can say aught against me. And let it not be thought that I am living in
opposition to the will of God, since, for three years past, the Canon
has not come near me, and we live together as chastely and as lovingly
as two little angels, without any speech or wish between us to the
contrary. And any one separating us will commit a great sin, for the
worthy man, who is nigh eighty years old, will not live long without me,
who am forty-five."

You may imagine how the ladies then comported themselves, and what
remonstrance they all made with her; but, in spite of the words that
were spoken, and her own age, and the honourable indignation of those
present, her obstinacy was not softened. That she might be the more
effectually humbled, they sent for the good Archdeacon of Autun, and he
condemned her to lie in prison for a year, faring on bread and water.
The ladies further sent for her husband, and he, after hearing their
excellent exhortations, was content to take her back again after she
should have performed her penance.