The Two Dianas, Volume 1

This romance is usually accredited entirely to Paul Meurice, and indeed there is little of the sprightliness and rapid movement which we have grown to expect from Dumas. At the same time it is to be noted that several of the band of adventurers who play a minor part in "Ascanio" again appear. Moreover, they are once more to the fore in "Le Page du Duc de Savoie," which Dumas wrote alone; and he even uses one or two at an impossibly anterior date in his drama "La Tour de Saint-Jacques." Meurice, it may be noted, is thought to have had a small share in "Ascanio." In 1865 this last named produced a dramatised version of "Les Deux Diane," in which Dumas had no hand, and to which he made no objection. (See under the date of 1865.) Some think that Dumas sketched the plot. The two Dianas are Madame de Poitiers and her daughter Madame de Castro. The period is 1521-74, and includes the taking of Calais, the battle of Saint-Quentin, the death of Henri II. and the First Religious Wars.