Tell me, Francoise, do you love me ?" "I have loved you for years, sire." Her voice was low but clear--the voice of a woman to whom coquetry was abhorrent.
"I had hoped it, Francoise, and yet it thrills me to hear you say it.
I know that wealth and title have no attraction for you, and that your heart turns rather towards the convent than the palace.

Yet I ask you to remain in the palace, and to reign there.

Will you be my wife, Francoise ?" And so the moment had in very truth come.

She paused for an instant, only an instant, before taking this last great step; but even that was too long for the patience of the king.
"Will you not, Francoise ?" he cried, with a ring of fear in his voice.
"May God make me worthy of such an honour, sire!" said she.

"And here I swear that if heaven double my life, every hour shall be spent in the one endeavour to make you a happier man!" She had knelt down, and the king, still holding her hand, knelt down beside her.
"And I swear too," he cried, "that if my days also are doubled, you will now and forever be the one and only woman for me." And so their double oath was taken, an oath which was to be tested in the future, for each did live almost double their years, and yet neither broke the promise made hand in hand on that evening in the shadow-girt chamber..