December 14, 1553
Château d’Anet

I am so tired I can hardly write. But it feels so good to be here, and to arrive on a moonwashed night into the loving arms of our Diane is heaven – pagan heaven, I daresay. Although Diane is a most devout Catholic, her symbols are those of the Roman hunting goddess for whom she is named: Diana, goddess of the hunt and of the moon. As we approached, our excitement mounted. Even the babies, Charles and little Henry, were squealing. We all tried to be the first one to spot the glints of the stag’s horns. For indeed, perched on the very top of the entrance arch to the château is a magnificent stone stag with immense antlers. A hound flanks him on either side. All of Anet is made of Vernon stone, which is white with traces of jet black – the colours of Diane de Poitiers. On this moonlit night the château shimmered with an intensity that took our breath away. Suddenly we all fell silent as we caught sight of Diane. She was standing in the portal of the arch in a dress of white embroidered with silver crescents. Her sleek greyhound dogs were at her feet. Her skin was luminous in the moonlight. I think a little gasp caught in every single one of our throats – even the babies’. She is so unlike any earthly lady.

Diane is the only woman in the French court who wears no cosmetics. Her skin is so white she needs no powders and there is just a tint of pink, but she owes it not to rouge. There are always rumours about Diane’s beauty secrets. Some call it an “infernal” and “magical” beauty and speak of witchcraft, of soups made of liquid gold and strange drugs. Some say she bathes in ass’s milk. I, however, know the secret and I try to follow it as best I can, although I get lazy sometimes. The secret is icy cold water. She bathes in it every day, sometimes even twice a day. And she pursues vigorous exercise. In court, people bathe perhaps once or twice a month, no more. Queen Catherine thinks it a silly waste of time, so she forbids me to follow Diane’s example. But now that I have my own household and staff, I intend to do so. Diane is nearly fifty and she looks hardly twenty, whereas Queen Catherine is much younger and looks over fifty. I must go to sleep now for I intend to be up early to bathe in cold water with Diane and then join her for a ride through the park and woodlands.

 

PS Diane loves Puff even though Puff is not her kind of dog. Diane is partial to her greyhounds.