Heptameron

Madame Oisille rises early to meditate on Scripture. When it comes time for their lesson, some have excused themselves to sleep in. As they trickle in, Oisille finds the perfect passage to reproach the group without driving them away, and Parlamente admits she felt shameful for missing part of the lesson but happy to have caught up on sleep and received such a strong Scripture lesson. Hircan gloats that his wife chose him over God and then chooses Geburon to start the day. 

Story 31 takes place in the lands of Emperor Maximilian of Austria, where a gentleman becomes very close to a Franciscan friar from a well-respected monastery. This friar essentially joins the household and falls in love with the gentleman’s wife. One day when the husband is away, the friar begins eliminating the maids and servants by cutting their throats, and when the lady finally discovers the gruesome murders, the friar kidnaps the woman, disguising her as a friar, and begins to ride away with her. She wisely decides “to pretend to obey him, as much to save her life as to gain time, in the hope that her husband would return” (327).