III. PART to two great friends; and I neither to take your words to be spoken as of an ambassader, nor you to take my words to be spoken of him that holdeth the place about his master that I do? Sir, quoth I, as touching the benevolence you bear unto my master, you may think it well employed; as well for that my master (I think) conceirneth like opinion of you in that parte, as also for that you have proved my master alwayes to be a perfaict friend unto your master. And to saye to you frankelly myn opinion: albeit I am no man at home, neither of great place, nor of great counsaile, yet have I beene of court: and men, you knowe, of like sorte, whenne they mete together, will be oftentymes talking of matiers that they have litle to do in, and bable of heresayes. And I being one of that sorte, have many tymes herd, that my master hath been allwayes much affected unto your master, and hath shewed towards him great kindnes, when that if he would have taken offers for the contrary, he might have had inestimable benefites. Yea, and that he hath been so well mynded unto your master, that neither the maner of your truce taken with the emperor, nor your strangenes at the emperor's being here, nor Pole's passage, nor the conveying of Brancester, nor the reteyning of the hosyer that called himself Blancherose, nor Cowbridge, nor nothing els could alienate him from you, such hath been his friendship towardes you. And therfore, (I said) if you love him, vous aves raison. And if you have set furth this mariage for love, let it appere. Is not two hundred thousand crowns a faire offer? I graunt you well, that monsieur D'orleanns aspireth to gret things, and is of great courage: and reason it is, for he is a great king's sonne; and such a king, as both may and must, if he will have his courage mainteyned, give him wherwithall. It is not reason, that my master shuld mainteyn his courage. My master hath a sonne of his owne, whom I trust he shall live to see a man of courage, and will, I doubt not, provide him therafter. And as for his daughter, he doth consyder her as reason requyreth. Had king Lowys any more with one of my master's systers, than three hundred thousand III. crownes; and the king of Scotts, with another, any more BOOK than one hundred thousand? If our friendship be advisable unto you, (for that was his terme,) as you say it is, seke it by reasonable meane, I doubt not but you shall obteine it; and ask reasonably with her, and it shall be granted you to. By my truth, quoth he, and so we doe. Doe you so? quoth I. I have allwayes noted you a man of reasone, and so reaported you: turne the case, quoth I. Would you remitt eight hundred thousand crownes, discharge an hundred thousand a year, for the mariage of your daughter? Yea, by my trouth, would I; quoth he. For the eight hundred thousand crowns I compte nothing: and as for the pension, she shuld have redubled here in France; and we would be amys to amys, and enemies to enemies: I meane, pour la defence de nostre estats, quoth he. Par nostre Dame, quoth I, you shall not be myn auditour. Here is all the matier, quoth I. You take a wrong pathe: you compte these eight hundred thousand crownes nothing; and we, if it were wayed in an indifferent ballance, think they should waye down tenne hundred thousand. We have a saying in England, A penny at a time is worth a pound. He that should lend me three or four hundred crowns at my nede, shuld do me even more pleasure, then to offer me tenne hundred when I neded not: so much esteme I money lent at such a tyme. Consyder our parte, quoth he, and we must knowledge it great: consyder your parte, quoth he, it is nothing. The payn is past, and not to be reckened upon. You say not much amiss, quoth I, if we had an evil debter; but our debter is riche ynough, and a good debter. And though he have been bold of a long respite with his friend, yet he will pay it, quoth I. I doubt not, quoth he, but the princes will observe their treaties. My master hath, and will, I am sure, quoth I; and so I think will yours. I wot not what to say, quoth he. Marrye, quoth I, do that that I have said heretofore: aske reasonably for the dote, and make a recyproque for the rest, if you would be eased of it. Marke this, for it is to be embraced, and a great mariage to monsieur D'orleanns. By III. PART my trouth, quoth he, the dote you have offered is nothing: and if I wer as king Lewys and the king of Scotts wer, I would rather take your daughter in her kyrtel, and more honour were it for me, then, being monsieur D'orleanns, to take her with eight hundred thousand crowns. But I wote not what you meane by that reciproque. Mary, quoth I, it is to do somthing again of like goodnes to the thing that you desire to have done unto you. As, quoth I, you desire to have our daughter, and for her you will give your sonne: there is one for an other. Your sonne is the reciproque of our daughter. You would have two hundred thousand crownes with her; the reciproque of that must be a like jointer. Here is sonne for daughter, dowery for dote. Now, if you will be discharged of 600000 crowns; what other thing, that is as good, shall we have for that, and also for our pencion? Devise a reciproque. O monsieur l'ambas sedeur, quoth he, I understand your reciproque well. The king your master is a gentle prince, and a great prince; and what grive shuld it be to him, to lett passe eight hundred thousand crowns, and ywys we be not able to pay them. In faith, quoth I, seing he hath borne so long with you for all, he will be contented to bear with you sumwhat longer for sum: and if you will give some in hand, I think he will give you terms for the rest. Ah monsieur l'ambassadeur, quoth he! and shoke his head. As for the pension, quoth he, you shall have a reciproque here, a dowery mete for it. Nay, quoth I, your relative agreeth with a wrong antecedent. My master is the antecedent, and the reciproque must be to him, and not to monsieur D'orleans, for he should have the benefite by it. Nay, quoth he, it is your master's daughter, and it is no more but for your master to give from himself to his daughter. Ywys, the queen of Navarre's daughter is a greatter mariage. And as for the eight hundred thousand, if I were a right man, and able to give, I would paye a great pece of it my self, er it shuld stick. What the queen of Navarre's daughter is, I know not, quoth I: but if you might have my master's daughter upon these conditions, you might say, you had ? III. such a mariage as was never herd of. And here we stay'd BOOK both. At the last, quoth he, sudenly, When it was told me yesternight, that you sent to speke with me, I thought it was for these matiers: and all this night I have turned and tossed, and thought upon them. I would God it had never been spoken of, if it take not effect. And evyn now cummyth into my head the overture that the king your master made ones unto me. What overture was that? quoth I. Mary, quoth he, the overture of the mariage of the lady Elizabeth, his daughter; you to have had recompence for the perpetuel pencion upon monsieur de Vandome's lands: and for the pencion vyager, to have bene converted to a estate. Without any other recompence? quoth I. Yes, quoth he. We shuld have bene enemys to enemys, and left the bishop of Rome. That was sumwhat, quoth I; and yet not a reciproque; because you shuld not have given as good as you tooke. But then, was none arrerage quoth I. And here he paused again. I will tell you my fantasy, quoth he; but you shall promise me by your faith, that I shall never heare of it again. I woll speke it unto you, as a friende to a friende; and peradventure neither of both parties will like it. Sir, quoth I, you shall never take dishonour by things you shall say to What, quoth he, if the overture shuld take effect in one parte? As how? quoth I. Mary, quoth he, the arrerage to be remitted, for the mariage of your daughter. And because you think it great, we to becum friends to friends, and enemys to enemys, and so to enter warre together: and of that, that shuld be conquered by commyn expenses, to lay out first a recompence for your pension viager, and the perpetuel pencion to be supplied, as the king your master devised. How like you this devise? quoth he. Mary, said I, if you will heare a fool's answer, I like it not for what need we to fight for that we have allready? Mary, quoth he, then you shuld have it in perpetuum. What if you desyred this for a reciproque? Mary, quoth I, peradventure my master might purchase more land another waye than that might cost him. Why shuld we desire warre? me. PART quoth I; we have no quarrell. It is true, quoth he; but III. we would be the authors. And if you covenanted to be enemye to enemye, would you not joyne warre with us? By my trouth, sir, quoth I, you be entred now into a deep matier, which passeth my capacitie. It is a great matier indeed, quoth he: but I talk with you privement, neither because I would have you to declare this to your master, nor for that I will declare it to myne: and yet both you and I may use meanes to the same ende. Well, quoth I, I see you make cursey at the matier, and would have a great commodity, and yet are loth to offer for it. But I say unto you as a friend, aske, and offer reasonably, and go roundly to worke, and make an ende of it. For, I fear, I may say to you, if you will not, others will. Yea, quoth he, we knowe the emperor practiseth with you, as he doth with us; and that the bishop of London hath brought him three fayre palfreys from the king your master, for a present. I name no man, quoth I: but whether the emperor practiseth with you, I reaport me to his offers and his demands. I think, he practiseth with us both, quoth he, onely to dissever us: for with your master he will not joyne, onles he will returne again unto the pope. For so his nuntio told the chancelor, and the chancelour told the queen of Navarre; who fell out with him upon the occasion of that conference, and told him, he was ill ynough before, but now sithens he hath gotten the marke of the beast, (for so she called it, because he was lately made priest,) he was worse and worse. But to my purpose, quoth he: I think the emperor practiseth with us both; he seeketh nothing els, but to dissever us. You speake of his offers and his demaunds, quoth he; knowe you what they be? No, quoth I. And yet, indeed, I did cume by the knowledge of them within 24 howres before. Mary, quoth he, he would make the duke of Orleains king of Naples, and give us the seigneurye of Flanders. They be faire offers, quoth I but what be his demands? Wherat he smiled. By my trouth, quoth he, I will tell you. He desireth a renunciation of the title of Milan and Navarre, and the restitution |