[79] P. 138: ◆Trajan (M. Ulpius Trajanus), Emperor A. D. 98–117. His wife Plotina, here mentioned, was a woman of extraordinary merits and virtues, according to the statements of all writers, with one exception, who speak of her. She persuaded her husband to adopt Hadrian who became his successor; but Dion Cassius is the only author who says a word as to her intercourse with the latter having been of a criminal character, and such a thing is utterly opposed to all we know of her character. [80] P. 141: ◆This refers very likely to Brantôme’s voyage to Scotland. He had accompanied Queen Mary Stuart in August, 1561, at the time of her departure from France. Riccio, who was the favorite of “low rank,” had arrived one year later; but Brantôme, who is relating something which happened a long time before, is not precise: he is unquestionably responding to a request of Queen Catherine. [81] P. 144: ◆In this passage, where Brantôme cleverly avows his wiles as a courtier, he refers to the Queen of Spain, Elizabeth, the wife of Philip II. The sister of the princess was Marguerite, Queen of Navarre. The two young infantas, whose portraits are examined in detail, were: the first, Isabella Claire Eugenie (later married to Albert of Austria), who became a nun towards the end of her life; the other, Catherine, married Charles Emmanuel de Savoie in 1585. It is difficult to-day to see the resemblance of the two princesses to their father, in spite of the great number of portraits of all these personages; in fact, we can say that they were scarcely more beautiful than their mother. (Cf. the beautiful portrait in crayon of Queen Elizabeth at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Estampes Na 21, f^o 69.) ◆The two Joyeuses: M. du Bouchage, and a gay companion. [82] P. 145: ◆Marguerite de Lorraine, married to Anne (Duke) de Joyeuse, the favorite of Henri III. The sister-in-law of whom Brantôme speaks could be neither Mme. du Bouchage nor Mme. de Mercoeur, who were spared by the crudest pamphleteers; he undoubtedly refers to Henriette, Duchess de Montpensier. [83] P. 146: ◆François de Vendôme, vidam of Chartres? (See _Fæneste_, 1729 edition, p. 345.) [84] P. 148: ◆Ariosto, _Orlando furioso_, canto V., stanza 57: Io non credo, signor, che ti sia nova La legge nostra.... [85] P. 149: ◆How can Brantôme, who had friends in the Huguenot camp, deliberately relate such absurd tales? [86] P. 150: ◆There is a close likeness between this woman and the Godard de Blois, a Huguenot, who was hanged for adultery in the year 1563. [87] P. 152: ◆At that period several persons bore the name of Beaulieu. Brantôme may have in mind Captain Beaulieu, who held Vincennes for the Ligue in 1594. (Chron. Novenn. III., liv. VII.) The chief prior was Charles de Lorraine, son of the Duke de Guise. [88] P. 154: