Heptameron

Madame Oisille starts the day with a lesson on the Acts, and the group plunges into deep contemplation of the lives and acts of Jesus’ apostles. A morning at church follows this lesson, and they are so deeply engaged in their spiritual contemplation that they almost forget their afternoon pastime of storytelling. Saffredent begins the storytelling of the day. 

In Story 61, a woman is happily married to a younger businessman but is eventually seduced by a wealthy canon (an official at church). The canon attempts to visit her at home, but her husband catches on and keeps her hidden. One day she runs away, and she lives with the canon for more than a year before the husband appeals to the Bishop for help. She is imprisoned but eventually returned home to her husband, who treats her well. However, “her mind was always seven good leagues away from her body” thinking of her lover (481), and after faking fatal illness, she runs away again in the night. He husband pursues her on horseback, and she hides in a cold swamp to avoid him and returns to her canon. They live together for around 15 years and have children, and she hides herself at first.