I pray you, said Longarine, take my place and tell us the tale, yet remember that you must here utter the truth.
I promise you, said Dagoucin, that I will tell it in all its simplicity, without any colouring or disguise.
[Illustration: 125a. The King asking the Young Lord to join his Banquet]
[The King asking the Young Lord to join his Banquet]
_A gentlemans refusal of an amour that was sought after by all his comrades, was imputed to him as great virtue, and his wife loved him and esteemed him in consequence far more than before_. (1)
In the city of Paris there lived four girls, of whom two were sisters, and such was their beauty, youth and freshness, that they were run after by all the gallants. A gentleman, however, who at that time held the office of Provost of Paris (2) from the King, seeing that his master was young, of an age to desire such company, so cleverly contrived matters with all four of the damsels that each, thinking herself intended for the King, agreed to what the aforesaid Provost desired. This was that they should all of them be present at a feast to which he invited his master.
1 This story, omitted by Boaistuau, was included in Grugets edition of the _Heptameron_.--L.
2 This is John de la Barre, already alluded to in Tale I. The _Journal dun Bourgeois de Paris_ tells us that he was born in Paris of poor parents, and became a favourite of Francis I., who appointed him Bailiff of the capital, without requiring him to pay any of the dues attaching to the office. From the roll of the royal household for 1522, we also find that he was then a gentleman of the bed chamber with 1200 _livres_ salary, master of the wardrobe (a post worth 200 _livres_) and governor of the pages, for the board and clothing of whom he received 5000 _livres_ annually. In 1526 he became Provost as well as Bailiff of Paris, the two offices then being amalgamated. He was further created Count of Etampes, and acquired the lordship of Veretz, best remembered by its associations with the murder of Paul Louis Courier. La Barre fought at Pavia, was taken prisoner with the King, and remained his constant companion during his captivity. Several letters of his, dating from this period and of great historical interest, are still extant; some of them have been published by Champollion-Figeac (_Captivité de François Ier_) and Génin (_Lettres de Marguerite, &c_). Under date 1533 (o. s.) the Bourgeois de Paris writes in his _Journal_: At the beginning of March there died in Paris, at the house of Monsieur Poncher, Monsieur le Prévost de Paris, named de La Barre.... The King was then in Paris, at his chateau of the Louvre, and there was great pomp at the obsequies; and he was borne to his lordship of Veretz, near Tours, that he might be buried there. Numerous particulars concerning La Barre will also be found in M. de Labordes _Comptes des Bâtiments du Roi au XVIeme Siècle_.-- L. and Ed.
