OF LOVE.
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TALE LXXVIII.
OF THE CONSTANCY OF LOVE.
The beautiful daughter of a certain king was betrothed to a noble duke, by whom she had very handsome children. The duke died, and was greatly bewailed by the whole state. After his death her friends earnestly solicited the lady to marry a second time, alleging that her youth and beauty required it. But she answered, "I will never marry again. My departed lord was so good and kind; he loved me so truly, that when he died I thought I could not survive him. And if it were possible that I could forget what he has been, where shall I find another? Admitting that I should marry, perhaps my second husband would also precede me to the grave? Why then, my grief would be awakened a second time, and my
