Gabʹriellʹe (3 syl.; g hard)

La Belle Gabrielle. Daughter of Antoine dʹEstrées, grand-master of artillery, and governor of the Ile de France. Henri IV., towards the close of 1590, happened to sojourn for a night at the Château de Cœuvres, and fell in love with Gabrielle, then nineteen years of age. To throw a flimsy veil over his intrigue, he married her to Damerval de Liancourt, created her Duchess de Beaufort, and took her to live with him at court.

“Charmante Gabrielle,

Perce de mille dards,

Quand la gloire mʹappelle

A la suite de Mars.”

Henri IV.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.