Then he said to me with a deep sigh, 'Bassompierre, I will speak to thee as a friend.

I have become not only enamoured, but mad, beside myself, about Mlle.

de Montmorency.

If thou wed her and she love thee, I shall hate thee; if she loved me, thou wouldst hate me.

It is better that this should not be the cause of destroying our good understanding, for I love thee affectionately and sincerely.