But not wishing to act in defiance of the Queen, Louis agreed that at the meeting of the States at Tours, in May, 1506, the deputies should implore him on their knees to consent to the marriage of the Princess Claude to François, Duc de Valois. As he had foreseen, the Queen could not then oppose it; and on Ascension Day the children were betrothed in the great hall of the Castle of Plessis les Tours, she being six and he twelve years old.[333]
Story of Anne de Graville--Illness of Claude--Court of Anne de Bretagne--Italian war--Marriage of Marguérite d’Angoulême--Dress and customs at Court--Birth of Renée de France--The Prince de Chalais--The Queen ill--Birth and death of a son--League of Cambrai--Sea-fight--Death of Queen.
Though much vexed at her daughter’s engagement the Queen still hoped something might happen to prevent the marriage; meanwhile she formed the household of the Princess, and amongst others she placed in it Anne de Graville, one of her _demoiselles d’honneur_, a sister of whom had been in that of the King’s first wife. To Anne, as to some of her companions, is attached a romance, which, after four hundred years, clings to her memory, and like the scent of rose leaves and lavender in some old-fashioned country house, the refrain of an ancient ballad or the quaint phrases traced in faded ink on some letter yellow with age coming to us from a long-vanished generation, seems to give us a momentary glimpse into the life of those far-off days.
Louis de Malet, Admiral de Graville, bore one of the oldest names in France, and had been the favourite of three kings. That he was a man of great capacity and wisdom is proved by his correspondence, now existing in the _Bibliothèque Impériale_. He was also extremely cultivated. He gave a bell to Rouen Cathedral, built the portal of Sens and a church near Paris. He collected a valuable library of manuscripts, with illuminations, miniatures, poems in French and Italian, &c., and filled his château of Marcoussy with pictures and splendid furniture.
Marcoussy, about eighteen miles from Paris, was one of the most imposing castles in the Ile-de-France, with its massive walls, huge towers, and deep moats, surrounded by trees and gardens with terraces, fountains, and fishponds. Here he passed most of his time when not occupied in public affairs, and here grew up his children, Louis, Joachim, Jeanne, Louise, and Anne. They studied music, poetry, literature, and received altogether as good an education as was then attainable. The youngest, Anne, was herself the authoress of a poem written on one of the stories of Boccaccio, and many an exquisite embroidery for church or convent was done by the three sisters.