Duchess

About the Book

Young Diane de Poitiers goes to Chateau de Moulin for her education..  She is caught in a childish attempt at lovemaking.  Against her will she is wed to old Louis de Brezay. Diane saves an old gypsy from drowning and is given a scarab with the words, "Beauty cannot be eaten with a spoon."  Louis has to go to Italy to fight. Disguised as a boy, Diane puts on armor, and joins the French army.  She saves the king from death. King Francois tries to seduce Diane, but fails. Dane forgives her husband a drunken, momentary infidelity. Diane gives birth to a girl.  A plague breaks out in the area; her infant is stricken. A pair of Jews have cured local gypsies.  Her maid Olivette brings in the Jewish doctors who save her baby. Father Etienne falls in love with Diane.  Repulsed by her, he rapes a kitchen maid.  Francois and his sister Marguerite d'Angouleme engage in incest.  Diane’s father, involved in a conspiracy with the Duke of Bourbon, is arrested.  The King will spare Jehan's life if Diane sleeps with him.  She saves her father.  Queen Claude dies; Francois asks Diane to supervise the upbringing of his two sons. Fighting against the Spanish Emperor, King Francois is captured and held in Spain. He capitulates to the Emperor and is freed, but he must leave his two sons as hostage to the Spanish. Four years later, the king marries Eleanor of Castile, the Emperor's sister.  The French princes are released from captivity. Prince Henri recognizes Diane as his dream goddess. Diane and the King's mistress, Anne de Pisseleu become enemies.  Diane convinces the Pope to marry his niece, Catherine de Medici, to Henri.  Louis de Brezay dies, followed by Diane's father. Catherine does not bear children. Anne, now Duchess d'Etampes, accuses Diane of using witchery to keep her youthful looks. Catherine is jealous of Henri's love for his Duchess. The King saves Diane from a wolf.  She remains at Chenonceaux to recover. Henri visits her.  They make love. The Dauphin dies in a tennis match of overexhaustion or poison.  Henri becomes Dauphin. Catherine de Medici may be involved in the death.  Anne gets a Black Friar to destroy Diane as a witch.  A horoscope predicts Henri's death in a duel. Diane and the Jewish doctors create a Black Mass. The friar aligns himself with the Devil. Henri becomes King Henri II. . Diane is his prime counselor. At a tournament, the King is mortally wounded.  Diane retreats to her chateau at Anet where she lives out her life.

About the Author

Murray Levine has written seven novels, attended NYU, Harvard, and Rutgers. He was a clothing manufacturer, a buyer and management executive in several department stores, an independent retailer, an advertising executive, an English professor, and is now retired to a community in Florida and is president of the homeowners association