Courtesan (65 page)

As the path turned, she looked down onto the lake. Two swans, one black, one white, glided across the smooth surface of the water. She watched the shadows on the water as the crickets began their sharp evening music. Then there were voices; the sound of children’s laughter. Two of her daughter’s children played near the shore with their Governess. They did not see her. She stopped behind a tree hoping to savor the moment; to watch them. So very, very young. So untarnished by life. Somehow she began to feel lighter looking at them. The pain ebbed. Mary had wished her peace. She would get it from them. Then she felt it; as gently as the first time he had touched her; Henri’s hand on her shoulder. She did not move to turn around, for there would have been no comfort to her in reality. Instead she closed her eyes; believing.

“How I miss you, my beloved,” she whispered.
“Comme je te manque. . .comme je t’adore.”

As she stood behind the tree watching her grandchildren, a gentle mist began to fall and the leaves rustled on the trees around her. Then, as subtly as it had come, the sensation of Henri was gone. She waited a moment, afraid to move, hoping that it would return. But her movements made no difference. She was once again alone. Suddenly she began to shiver but she could not bring herself to leave, not just yet. She looked up through the tangle of branches to the gray monochrome of sky and, in it, the quarter moon;
your moon,
Henri called it.

Buoyed by a new sense of peace, she smiled.
It really has been a magnificent life,
she thought. Finally there were no regrets; no bitterness. Yes, now Catherine de Medici did rule France as Dowager for yet another son, but Diane alone had known the one thing that her rival had wanted most: Henri’s love. Her life had been so enriched by him. What had been between them for twenty-six years had defied all the odds.

Diane would take what they had shared to her grave as a treasure greater than all the riches of France. For the first time since Henri died, the pain began to pass through her. As she looked again at the moon, and then the stars, she knew from a place deep in her soul that her time was nearing its end. Soon the hand of God would shine down upon her and, in all of His radiant glory, He would pull her toward eternity. There at last, in the Kingdom of Heaven, she and Henri would be together forever. When she could, she turned slowly, and began to walk alone, back up the flagstone path. As she stepped into the silver glow of the quarter moon, she caught herself smiling.

A R
EADER’S
G
ROUP
G
UIDE

B
Y
D
IANE
H
AEGER

A
BOUT THE
B
OOK

Courtesan
is a story of courtly love and true romance, of legendary devotion and devastating loss. Amid the intrigues of the French Court, Prince Henri and Diane de Poitiers give in to their attraction, changing both their lives forever. Despite Henri’s political marriage to Catherine de Medici, he forever seeks ways to communicate to France that it is Diane who is his “true queen.” It is Diane who enjoys unrivaled power, thanks to the generosity and devotion of her lover. But it is Diane who risks losing all by linking her life to Henri.

The questions below are designed to help guide your discussion of the book.

Q
UESTIONS FOR
D
ISCUSSION

1. Though Henri seems unswervingly confident in his relationship with Diane, Diane herself admits to herself at the end of his life that she is amazed that his affections have lasted so long. How would you explain how his devotion to Diane remained so strong?

2. What kind of a ruler do you think Henri is for France? What are his leading motivations and interests?

3. What motivations cause Diane to remain with Catherine through her illness? Is this a purely selfless act?

4. After Catherine’s illness, she suggests that the two women could have been friends in different circumstances. Do you think this is true? Why or why not?

5. In what ways did François and Anne’s romance differ from Henri and Diane’s affair? Which do you think was better suited to Court life?

6. Discuss Henri’s feelings for Catherine. Could his marriage have been a happy one if Diane had not been in the picture? Why or why not?

7. In her early years at Court, what does Diane see in Jacques de Montgommery? Is she sincerely taken in by his offers of friendship, or is she just desperate for an ally?

8. When Diane returns to Court, general rules of behavior and sexual license in particular seem much looser than during her previous visits. What factors do you think are responsible for this shift? What—or who—gives the Court its character? Do you think this licentious mood continues under Henri’s reign?

9. What do you think of Anne de Montmorency’s fatherly feelings toward Henri? Does Monty genuinely care for Henri? What do you think he would have wanted for Henri’s life and reign?

10. Why are Henri and Diane so enchanted by Cauterets? Compare the way their romance develops at Court with the way they bond away from it—whether at Cauterets, Chenonceaux, or Anet.

11. Why does Catherine allow Henri to continue his relationship with Diane? Did she have any choice in the matter?

12. Discuss Henri and Anne’s encounters with Protestantism in the book. Between the burnt parish church in Cauterets and the Protestant prisoner brought to Diane’s house in Paris, do they seem to be getting an accurate picture of the Protestant movement? Do you think they understand why the movement is popular and powerful?

13. Do you think there is anything to the rumors that Diane secured her husband’s pardon by sharing sexual favors with King François? Why or why not?

14. Discuss the role of the supernatural in the book. More than one fortune-teller’s forecast is borne out in the course of the story, including the predictions of Diane’s third child and the timing and cause of Henri’s death. What does the author seem to be saying about intuition and fate?

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR

D
IANE
H
AEGER
is the author of four previous historical novels, including
The Ruby Ring
and
My Dearest Cecilia.
She lives in California with her husband and family.

A
UTHOR’S
N
OTE

W
HILE THIS IS
a work of fiction, great care was taken to recount the historical events as they occurred. There were, however, two incidents that were added for the sake of continuity. First, there is no historical proof that Henri II ordered an imprisonment of Jacques de Montgommery or that a relationship of any consequence existed between the Captain of the Scots Guard and Diane de Poitiers. It is true, however, that shortly after Henri II became King, Montgommery’s distinguished military career came to an abrupt end. He lost his estates and was disgraced. It is also true that it was his son, Gabriel, who later killed the King in what various chroniclers of the day concluded to have been an intentional act. (To support the theory that it was not an accident, after the death of Henri II, Gabriel Montgommery rode defiantly throughout France with a broken lance as his crest.)

Second, there is no concrete proof that Diane de France, Henri II’s natural child, was the daughter of Diane de Poitiers. The notion, however, is based on pervasive rumor and gossip at the Valois Court. The child was indeed raised with the other royal children and did bear the name of the woman with whom he shared his life. Thus, while fictional in nature, the suppositions I have made in these two instances were rooted in some degree of historical possibility.

—
DH

A
LSO BY
D
IANE
H
AEGER

The Ruby Ring

My Dearest Cecelia

The Secret Wife of King George IV

Beyond the Glen

Pieces of April

Angel Bride

The Return

Copyright © 1993 by Diane Haeger

Reader’s Group Guide copyright © 2006 by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com

T
HREE
R
IVERS
P
RESS
and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Originally published in paperback in the United States by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc., New York, in 1993.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Haeger, Diane.
Courtesan : a novel / Diane Haeger.—1st Three Rivers Press ed. 1. Poitiers, Diane de, Duchess of Valentinois, 1499–1566—Fiction. 2. Henry II, King of France, 1519–1559—Fiction. 3. France—History— Henry II, 1547–1559—Fiction. 4. Courtesans—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3558.A32125C68 2006

813'.54—dc22                                                                                                                                                         2005029966

eISBN: 978-0-307-34709-1

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