Mesdames Charlotte, Louise, Magdelaine, Marguerite 223 Mesdames Élisabeth, Claude, and Marguerite 229 Madame Diane 231 MARGUERITE DE VALOIS, Queen of Navarre 234 _Sainte-Beuve’s essay on the latter_ 243 DISCOURSE VII. OF VARIOUS ILLUSTRIOUS LADIES: Isabelle d’Autriche, wife of Charles IX 262 Jeanne d’Autriche, wife of the Infante of Portugal 270 Marie d’Autriche, wife of the King of Hungary 273 Louise de Lorraine, wife of Henri III 280 Marguerite de Lorraine, wife of the Duc de Joyeuse 282 Christine of Denmark, wife of the Duc de Lorraine 283 Marie d’Autriche, wife of the Emperor Maximilian II 291 Blanche de Montferrat, Duchesse de Savoie 293 Catherine de Clèves, wife of Henri I. de Lorraine, Duc de Guise 297 Madame de Bourdeille 297 APPENDIX 299 INDEX 305 LIST OF PHOTOGRAVURE ILLUSTRATIONS. PIERRE DE BOURDEILLE, ABBÉ AND SEIGNEUR DE BRANTÔME _Frontispiece_ From an old engraving by I. Von Schley. PAGE FRANÇOIS DE LORRAINE, DUC DE GUISE 8 By François Clouet; in the Louvre. DISCOURSE I. TOMB OF LOUIS XII. AND ANNE DE BRETAGNE 34 By Jean Juste, in the Cathedral of Saint-Denis. The king and queen are carved as skeletons within the twelve columns; above they kneel at their prie-dieus, and the tradition is that the portraits are faithful. The cardinal virtues, Justice, Prudence, Temperance, and Fortitude, sit at the corners of the monument: the twelve apostles between the pillars; and round the base, between the virtues, are exquisite representations (not visible in the reproduction) of the king’s campaigns in Italy. II. CATHERINE DE’ MEDICI, QUEEN OF FRANCE 44 School of the sixteenth century; in the Louvre. II. HENRI II., KING OF FRANCE 52 By François Clouet; in the Louvre. II. BALL AT THE COURT OF HENRI III., WITH PORTRAITS 81 Attributed to François Clouet; in the Louvre. See description in note to Discourse VII. III. MARIE STUART, QUEEN OF FRANCE AND SCOTLAND 90 Painter unknown; in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. III. THE SAME 120 School of the sixteenth century; Versailles. V. HENRI IV., KING OF FRANCE 166 By Franz Pourbus (le jeune); in the Louvre.