Page 74 - THE DECAMERON: 100 Days on 100 Etchings by Petru Rusu

“Gillette of Narbonne and Bertrand of Roussillon“
We start out in France, where the hypochondriac
Bertrand Count Roussillon keeps a doctor on retainer.
The Count has an only son, Bertrand. The doctor’s called
Gerard of Narbonne and he has a lovely daughter named
Gillette. She’s crazy in love with Bertrand. Both young
people lose their fathers (guess some hypochondriacs
really are sick). Bertrand’s sent off to Paris and Gillette
has to stay at home. She’s seriously deflated by this.
Although Gillette’s a pretty eligible bachelorette, she
refuses all other suitors. She’s still bonkers for Bertrand.
Then Fortune gives her an opening: the King of France
has a chest tumor. And guess what? He lives in Paris,
where a certain special someone also lives. And guess
what again? Gillette has a lot of medical knowledge
from watching her dad. She’s ready to bargain with the
King to get her hands on Bertrand. Gillette promises to
cure the King in one week. If not, he can burn her at the
stake. Now that’s confidence. The King sees that she isn’t
married, so he promises to make her a good marriage if
he succeeds. Gillette adds a proviso: she gets to choose
the man. Of course, Gillette succeeds. Guess who she
chooses? Bertrand’s not pleased. Gillette’s a she-doctor.
He thinks he deserves someone more high class. The
king tells him to quit whining Gillette is beautiful and
intelligent. Bertrand sulks for a while and then concocts
a plan of his own. He tells the king he will “consummate”
the marriage at his estate. Instead, he takes side trips
to Tuscany to wage war with the Florentines against
the Siennese. Gillette is left high and dry. She keeps it
together and goes to her husband’s estate in France.
Gillette rules wisely and everyone loves her. Gossip starts
that Bertrand’s a bad Count. Gillette writes to Bertrand
to say that she’ll go away if only he’ll return to govern
his estate himself. Bertrand says “Whatever” and issues
a challenge: he’ll live with her when she’s wearing his
DECAMERON 74
special ring and is carrying his child in her arms. Gillette
isn’t one to back down from a challenge. She dresses like
a poor pilgrim, packs up her jewels and money, and heads
for Florence. She learns that her husband has fallen in
love with a poor girl there. Only the girl’s virtuous mother
has been able to keep Bertrand at bay. Gillette reveals
her identity to the mother of this girl and tells her story.
Also, she has a plan. She wants to trick her husband into
sleeping with her by convincing him that he’s actually
making love to the young girl. Gillette promises her
mother that no harm will come to the daughter and that
she won’t have to do anything awful. They start by telling
Bertrand that the girl has demanded his special ring as
a token of devotion. Of course, he sends it. Then, the
women manage to get him into bed with his proper wife,
who’s hoping to get pregnant as quickly as possible.
While this is going on, Bertrand gives Gillette a precious
jewel every morning before he leaves her. Remember, he
still thinks he’s sleeping with the young girl. Gillette saves
them up. After a short time, Gillette gets pregnant with
twin boys. She knows it’s time to get out of town, so she
gives the mother over 1,000 pounds as a dowry for the
young daughter. The mother wisely packs up her girl and
goes to live in the country. Bertrand returns to his estate
in France because his nobles tell him that Gillette is gone.
Gillette stays in Florence until her twin boys are weaned.
Then she makes her way to France to take Bertrand up on
his promise. She confronts Bertrand in public and charges
him to honor his promise. She shows the boys (who look
just like Bertrand) and the ring. Bertrand is freaked out.
Gillette explains the whole plot. Seeing that she went
through so much trouble to get him, Bertrand decides
that he should take her as his wife. He kisses her and
they live happily ever after, which means that he never
tried to disown her again.
“Ferondo and the Abbot” Retrieved from publicly source: shmoop
<https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/decameron/summary/third-day-eighth-story>