CHAPTER VII
A PLEASANT SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS
On his way to bed Le Glorieux remembered that he had not seen Philibertduring the whole evening, and passing the boy's room, he pushed open thedoor and looked in. The apartment was bathed in moonlight; its occupantlay on his couch wrapped in the unconsciousness of slumber. In contrastwith the dark stuff of the cushion against which his cheek was pressed,his features were like those of a beautiful Greek god carved in cameo.As his visitor bent over him the boy woke with a start, exclaiming, "Oh,you frightened me, Le Glorieux! With those long points standing out oneither side of your head you make a strange figure against the light,and I thought it was the Evil One with his long horns."
"If the Evil One makes a practice of calling upon people who have thecold and unfeeling nature of a carp, you will not escape a visit fromhim, I can tell you, my young friend," responded Le Glorieux sourly.
"What do you mean?" asked Philibert.
"What do I mean, indeed! Has it escaped your memory that your cousinClotilde this very morning accused a pretty maid of stealing amoonstone, a winking, blinking face, and which----"
"Of course it has not escaped my memory, and what then?"
"What then indeed! Perhaps that same fine memory of yours will recallthe fact that the whole matter was left to Saint Monica to decide?"
"I also remember that fact."
"And still you were not with us when we visited the good saint. You didnot take the trouble to join the spectators."
"No."
"When everybody about the place, from my own princess down to the lowestscullion, was anxious to know what the saint would decide, you went tobed and slept through it all like an old man of ninety. I should likevery much to know what kind of blood fills the veins of the people ofSavoy!"
"Very warm and generous blood, I can assure you, my good fool."
"Then the supply must have been running very low when you were created,my little gentleman, and it was necessary to weaken it with a good dealof water."
Philibert, who had risen to a sitting posture, laughed and once morecuddled among his cushions. "Listen," said he. "The great clock in thetower is clanging the hour of twelve. It is the time when witches comeforth and play their tricks. Be careful as you pass along the corridorlest one of them should mistake you for her elder brother and snatch atyour long horns."
"They will have more business with you than with me, fair youth. Has anyone been to tell you what Saint Monica replied? Did you not at leastarrange with one of the servants to bring you the news?"
"No."
"And you have not enough interest in the matter even to ask me what wasthe result!"
"What did the saint do?" asked the boy, clasping his hands under hishead and regarding the indignant jester.
"I have as good a mind as I ever had to swallow a bite to eat to let youwait until morning to find out."
"Considering, as you say, that I have no curiosity about the matter, doyou think that would greatly disturb me?" asked Philibert. "But come, mygood fellow," he added good-naturedly, "do not be angry with me. PerhapsI am overfond of my bed, and this couch is soft with the down of manyfowls. Tell me what reply was made by Saint Monica."
"She came to life!" replied Le Glorieux, in a tone of awe, as herecalled the remarkable scene he had witnessed. "It is a great pity thatshe stood so much in shadow that we could not see her more plainly, butfrom the moment I beheld her I could see a palpitation as of lifebeneath her raiment."
"Could you see her face distinctly?"
"No, you know it is shaded by her coif. And all say that even beforethey saw her move they are quite certain that her head was not in quitethe same pose as usual, so she must have moved even before we saw her."
"Are you very sure that you saw her move?" asked the boy.
"Am I sure! Am I sure that I am talking to you at this moment? We allsaw her move; she bowed her head and raised her hand, and the cause ofthe girl has been vindicated. She is going to marry the miller's son,and my little princess has just given her gold enough to make a dowrybeyond her wildest dreams."
"Did the Lady Marguerite do so?" cried the boy, showing interest andenthusiasm for the first time. "It is like her! She is just andgenerous, she is an angel."
"No, I could not call her an angel exactly," replied the jester, "for Ihave seen her eyes flash with anger more than once, though always in agood cause. Our little lady is not without her bit of temper."
"Le Glorieux," asked Philibert earnestly, "have you ever seen an opal?"
"Yes, the old Duchess of Burgundy wore one on her thumb. It is a stonewith a red light that rolls about over a green surface."
"Well, it would not be so pretty without the red flame, and theprincess would not be so perfect without her temper."
"A temper," said the jester, "is a good thing when it is only allowed tocome out once in a great while, and that only in a good cause, but as arule it should be kept under lock and key lest it should workdestruction. But I must say good night, else the first streaks of dawnwill find me on the outside of my bed, which to a man with my talent forsleeping would be a calamity."
If any one had thought to compare the Lady Clotilde to an opal thatnight, he would have said that the red flame had absorbed the whole ofthe stone. She was in a most captious state of mind, boxing the ears ofher tiring-woman and scolding everybody within reach. The maid'sinnocence had been proven, but what good did this do the Lady Clotilde?The pendant was still missing. The whole household was rejoicing, justas if her jewel had been restored at the same time, when its loss was asgreat a mystery as ever!
"I could not sleep a wink without my devotional reading"]
"Fetch my book to me," she said when her woman had finished her otherduties. "You were about to forget it when you know quite well that Icould not sleep a wink without my devotional reading."
The maid placed on a little table beside her mistress a littleFlorentine lamp of silver that her lady always took with her whentraveling. Beside it she placed a book bound in blue silk, with claspsand corners of silver. This volume was a treasure, for on the inside itsletters were crimson, outlined with pure gold, and it told of the livesof the saints. But the Lady Clotilde's devotional reading was usually apretense. It was well to make others believe that she was too pious tosleep until she had refreshed her mind with facts in the life of asaint, but as a rule she went to sleep as soon as her head touched thepillow, and though to-night she was too restless to be overcome byslumber, the handsome book remained tightly clasped, with its gorgeouslettering, done by the patient hand of a monk, still shut from view.
The next day it seemed to Le Glorieux that there was a whistling soundof whispering all over the castle; maids and pages, with their headsclose together in the corridors, would fly apart at his approach andassume an air of great unconcern, while a group of ladies in the cornerstalking all at once, as of something of vital interest, would closetheir lips tightly when they saw him coming, and one of the gentlemenactually said "Hush!" to the others when Le Glorieux suddenly appearedamong them.
"Do you know why everybody is whispering and making themselves look likeowls, little Cousin?" he asked the princess.
"They do not whisper when I am present; I know nothing about it," shereturned. "I only know that in spite of the good cheer offered by ourkind host, I am praying that the time may fly on swiftest wings so thatI may soon see my father."
"Well, there is either a conspiracy on foot against me or else they areplanning a pleasant surprise for me."
"Your imagination is playing you a trick, my good fool. Why should theybe planning anything that concerns you?"
Cunegunda entered the room and, like almost every one else Le Glorieuxhad noticed that day, she wore a beaming smile.
"I have been so accustomed to see you down in the dumps that yourpresent broad grin makes you seem like a stranger to me, Cunegunda,"said he. "What is it that you know that makes you look like a beamingsaint?"
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p; "What it is that I know, do you ask, Sir Fool? What should I know savethat the sky is blue and the air is crisp and clear?"
"The weather is a very good thing to be talked about by boobies who canthink of no other subject of conversation," he retorted, "but it hasnever seemed to me to have a comical side, and there is nothing in it tobring out that broad smile."
"I am not smiling," said she; "my countenance is simply relaxed."
"Then do not relax it any further, or who can tell what the consequencesmay be?"
Still devoured with curiosity regarding the secret, which he wasconfident was also being kept from the princess, the fool wandered tothe dining-hall, where a lively conversation was going on between theseneschal and the housekeeper. These functionaries were elderly peopleand both were very fat. They had been serving the count and countessfrom their youth, and during all those years seemed to have been runninga race to see which would grow the stouter. The seneschal consideredhimself the most important person in the castle; the housekeeper wassure that the family would become extinct should she conclude to leaveits service. Probably most of us feel the same about our ownsurroundings, but the chances are that the world will wag along just thesame when we shall have ceased to grace it with our presence.
Having nothing more entertaining on hand at the moment, the jesterpaused and stood unseen in the shadow of the great chimney to hear whatthey were saying.
"Oh, me!" said the housekeeper, "I have so much to do withsuperintending those lazy maids and watching everything that goes on inthe kitchen that it is a wonder that I have a bone in my body."
"Nobody knows whether you have a bone; there are no signs of any,"replied the seneschal, taking up a silver jug and beginning to polish itwith a great show of vigor.
"What are you doing?" asked the housekeeper sharply.
"I am polishing this jug; did you think I was playing the lute?"
"No doubt you consider that extremely funny," she retortedcontemptuously, "but let me tell you that for a man of your age to tryto be witty is like the frog trying to sing the notes of thenightingale. Oh, me, I have so much to do that I actually do not knowwhere to begin! I wish that somebody would take as much interest in themanagement of this place as I do. I do not know what my Lady would do ifI should drop out."
"You certainly would be missed," replied the seneschal.
She was greatly surprised at this reply from one who never would admitthat she was of any value to her employers. "I am glad that you can seethat I should be missed," said she, "and that at last you are coming toyour senses."
"It does not require any great amount of wisdom to make such a remark,"he returned, surveying the jug with one eye closed, "since it would bevery singular if a person of your size would drop out of any place andnot be missed."
"There you go again, Mr. Frog! Perhaps the old emperor wants a jester tocheer him up. Do you not think it would be a good plan to apply for theposition?"
"I do not know that I should care to do so, but at the same time I thinkhe might do worse than to employ me."
"Of all things in this world this is the most wonderful! Is there nolimit to your self-satisfaction?"
"If we are not satisfied with ourselves who will be satisfied with us?"he asked. "I am sure that I could make myself fully as useful to hisImperial Majesty as to my present master and mistress."
"And that is not saying a great deal," replied the housekeeper, with asniff.
"What do you mean? How could the place get on without me? Where is theman in my position who does so much outside of his proper duties? Whenthey are starting to the hunt, who always watches them depart? I do. Whoalways places the hawk on my lady's wrist? I do. Who else could do it toher satisfaction? No one. I taste everything that comes to the table,for no one else has so delicate a sense of taste or can so quicklydetect the absence of the right flavor. And then I keep my eye on allthe maids and pages to see that they do not idle away their time."
The housekeeper tossed her head scornfully. "As to placing the hawk onmy lady's wrist, I can see no great amount of labor in that. As to'tasting' the food as you do, which consists of dipping an amount fromeach dish, seasoning it well and eating it, I am sure there are plentywho would be glad to take your place and consider it no hardship. Inotice too that you taste the wine which has been in the cellar for ahundred years, and which our master already knows all about. Do youconsider that necessary?"
"Did you never hear, my good woman, of a poisonous drug being droppedinto a bottle by a scoundrel of a servant?"
"No servant of this house ever has tried to poison his master."
"That is true, but who knows when such a thing might happen? It isalways well to be prepared for the worst."
"Since you open the bottles yourself, none else has a chance to put inthe poison," she replied, determined to argue the question into shreds.
"Even supposing that no one had an opportunity with the bottles," saidthe seneschal, "did you never hear of such a thing as chemical action?"
"No, and I want to know nothing of such Satan's work."
"Whether you know it or not, changes take place in liquids sometimesthat make them most dangerous, and who can tell what has been going onin a pipe of wine that has had nothing to do for the last century but toget into mischief?"
"It is very thoughtful of you to be so willing to sacrifice yourself,"said the housekeeper, with all the sarcasm in her voice that she couldmanage and be understood at the same time; "but do leave that jug alone!It is my business to see to such things."
"I do not deny that statement, but until I took it up, this jug was asdull as the sun behind a fog. Look at it now! A lady could see torouge her face by it."
"There is no difference in it to what it was before you touched it. ButI must go and look after the cook, for the supper to-night must be thetriumph of our lives. I hope that we shall not have to wait for ourguest, or the dishes may be spoiled."
"He will not mind; he was as gay and easy to please as a burgher when hevisited here before," said the seneschal; adding, "I wonder if they havesucceeded in keeping the secret from the Lady Marguerite?"
"Oh, yes; all understand that she is not to know."
"I am surprised," said the seneschal, "that a secret so important can bekept by a lot of cackling women."
"Dame Cunegunda says her Highness, the princess, is all impatience to beaway," said the housekeeper, who scorned to make any reply to this lasttaunt. "She will be almost out of her mind with delight when _he_comes."
"Hush! we were told not even to mention his name"]
"Hush! we were told not even to mention his name, for the very wallshave ears when a secret is to be kept."
"I am not mentioning any names."
"The friar who stayed the night here," said the seneschal, "told mesomething about _him_. The friar was at Ulm when he whom we expect wasat that city. The cathedral at Ulm has a very tall tower, and nearlyfour hundred steps lead to the top of it. Well, he whom we expectclimbed to the top of the tower and stood on one leg on the top of itand turned around! The friar said if any other man had attempted such afeat he surely would have fallen and have been dashed to pieces. But hewhom we expect is as brave as a lion, and it was one of his pranks, forhe is gay and full of fun."
"How wonderful!" exclaimed the housekeeper, looking up from the silverbowl she was polishing.
"Yes, indeed. And the friar said that while none could be more gracious,none knows better than he how to keep upstarts in their places."
"Than the friar?" asked the housekeeper.
"No, Mrs. Stupid, than he whom we expect. The friar told how anambassador from the King of Denmark came. The ambassador was very highand mighty. In his opinion no ruler was so good as the King of Denmark,and out of respect to his own ruler the ambassador delivered the messagesitting. Then he whom we expect rose to his feet and remained standingduring the interview, and the ambassador was obliged to stand also fromvery shame."
"I am glad that you are forced to
acknowledge that something good cancome out of my country," said the housekeeper, who was an Austrian, andended her remarks with a chuckle of delight, for the seneschal wasFlemish.
"My friends," said Le Glorieux, coming forward and giving the worthycouple a start of surprise as he did so, "as I understand the matter,you are trying to keep a secret."
"Yes, Sir Fool, and we have not revealed it," replied the seneschalproudly, saying, "How long have you been standing there?"
"Ever since you began to polish that jug. You were talking so loud thatI did not think you were saying anything that I could not hear as wellas not."
"And you heard nothing!" declared the housekeeper triumphantly. "You,sir, were to be kept in the dark, lest in your merry way you shouldreveal to the princess what she is not to know, and even though you havebeen standing there all that time, you have heard nothing, for we havementioned no names."
"I have heard," said the jester, "of a bird found in Africa called theostrich. This very wise fowl when it wants to conceal itself hides itshead in the sand and leaves its big bulky body in plain view. You remindme of this bird. You have mentioned no names, of course, but who is itthat the princess most desires to see? Maximilian. Who would be mostlikely to climb to the top of a tower and turn around on one leg?Maximilian. Who would make an impudent ambassador ashamed of himself?Maximilian."
"Hist, sir! Pray hush," said the housekeeper. "That name must not bementioned, else it will reach the ears of her little Highness, the LadyMarguerite."
"My little princess is in the other wing of the castle, and in order tohear me she would have to have a sense of hearing sharper than anychamois that ever leaped a chasm. And now that you see that I know allabout it, suppose you tell me how you know that the archduke, the Kingof the Romans--in other words, Maximilian--is coming."
"A messenger arrived last night from Ghent to tell us. His Highness doesnot want the princess to know of his coming; he wishes to see if shewill recognize him," said the housekeeper.
"And they wanted this secret kept from me? I do not deny being a fool,for that is how I keep my position at court, but do they think that I ama baby who forgets what it has seen last month? Did I not see Max whenhe was married, and is it reasonable to suppose that I have entirelyforgotten how he looks? They might have known that it would be safer totell me all about it. If I had seen him coming I might have bawled,'Little Princess, here comes your father!' and that would have spoiledit all."
"I do not think they remembered that you had already seen him," said theseneschal; "at any rate we were told to keep the secret from you."
"It is a great mistake to try to keep a secret from me," said the fool,"for I always find things out. As well try to keep the presence of thecheese a secret from the mouse, as to try to keep anything from me. Andsince you have been telling stories about Max, I will tell you one thatI heard. One day when he was riding home from the chase, a beggaraccosted him. 'Please give me alms, your Highness,' said the beggar, whowas one of the whining kind; 'although I am of lowly birth, still we areall brothers and should help each other.' Max handed him a penny,saying, 'Take this, my good man, and if all your brothers give you asmuch, you will be richer than I.' It may be that Max did not have muchmoney with him at the time; I am sure he did not if it was before hismarriage, for nearly all his wealth came from Burgundy and Flanders."
"Ha! ha!" laughed the seneschal, turning to the housekeeper. "Wherewould your great King of the Romans be without my country? Even a kingwith no money is of little consequence."
"Pray, pray, good Sir Fool," said the housekeeper, ignoring this remark,"keep the secret from her Highness, and let no one know that you areaware of the coming of the archduke. Our master would be seriouslydispleased if he knew that we had revealed the fact that the royalvisitor is expected."
"Do not be alarmed," replied Le Glorieux; "I shall be as silent as anowl in daytime, for I, too, want my little mistress to have thepleasure of a surprise." The end of the sentence was almost drowned bythe striking of the clock, and the fool continued, raising his voice, "Ido not see why it is, but it seems to me that every time I want to sayanything that clock wants to strike at that particular minute!"
"Oh, it is late, it is late," cried the housekeeper, "and we musthurry."
"True," said the seneschal, "let the table be spread at once."
Two boys came in to spread the table, and were soundly cuffed by theseneschal because they put the plates on before the salt, there being asuperstition that bad luck was sure to follow unless the salt went onfirst of all. Some people have an idea that the way to hurry things upis to get into a temper, and this seemed to be the case with both theseneschal and the housekeeper, who bustled about, interrupting eachother by the commands they gave the servants, one often countermandingthe orders of the other, until their underlings ran hither and thitherwithout knowing what to do. Le Glorieux, who made himself perfectly athome all over the house, followed the pair to the kitchen and seatedhimself comfortably on the lower step of a winding staircase, which ledsomewhere to regions above, for the old castle was full of surprises,and one was likely to find door, stairs, and halls where they were to beleast expected.
All was hurry and wild excitement in the kitchen. At the fireplace,which was large enough to roast an ox, the cook was basting a number offowls; scullions were chopping spiced dressings, beating eggs, andattending to various features of the coming repast, and everybody seemedto be working in a great haste, for a few sharp words from thehousekeeper, seconded by the seneschal, had stirred the whole kitcheninto a flurry. "Here, baste these fowls," cried the cook, handing along-handled spoon to one of the scullions. "Can you not see that Iought to be at work on the pastry? You stand at the other end of theroom staring at nothing at all when you know that I must need you here."The cook was quite haughty while administering this reproof, and LeGlorieux remarked:
"Everybody has some one to scold, from the seneschal on down, and I daresay the scullions vent their ill temper on the dogs."
The boy who was beating the eggs stopped to laugh at this remark, forwhich he received a swift cuff from the housekeeper, who said, "Do younot know that one should never pause for even a moment when beatingeggs? You deserve a good drubbing for your heedlessness."
"She beats you and you beat the eggs," remarked Le Glorieux to the boy.
The scullion at the fire began to giggle at this piece of drollery, andtilting his spoon spilled the gravy into the flames, which received itwith a great deal of sputtering, cracking, and snapping, and anincrease of blaze, which threatened to consume all the fowls, and whichput the cook into such a rage that he snatched the spoon and hit the boya crack over the head with it. "Take that for a blundering idiot!" criedhe. "From your indifference and carelessness one would think a supperfor royal visitors was prepared in this kitchen every day in the week!"
"And it is a good thing that it is not," said the jester, "for in thatcase I am sure that funerals in this mansion would be frequent. But itis my fault, no doubt. I am making myself too entertaining. I will gonow, first saying that if any of you boys should receive a broken skull,I have a box of ointment in my room to which you are quite welcome, andwhich will cure the wound and cause the hair to grow over it."
So saying he lounged out of the room and to the apartment of his littlemistress. Antoine was singing for her a tinkling melody, and the jesterbegan to sway about in time to the music. With mischief in his eyes,Antoine kept singing faster and faster, which caused the jester to whirlabout like a top, while the little princess clapped her hands withdelight.
"Bravo!" said a voice, when the song was finished, and turning they sawa man's figure standing in the doorway.
"Who are you, sir, that come in unannounced, and what do you wish?"asked the Lady Marguerite, straightening herself up, for she was mostdignified at times and would permit no liberties. If his rank might bejudged by his costume, this newcomer was taking a great liberty, and theprincess continued to gaze at him with a haughty expression
ofcountenance, while he remained smiling, but silent. He was dressed in asimple gray hunting costume, and the hat he held in his hand wasadorned, not by a curling plume, but by a feather from the wing of theblack eagle.
He was of a fine and graceful figure and a handsome face, and thereseemed to be a kind of mist in his eyes as he gazed at the frowninglittle lady before him, and who said again and more curtly than before:
"Will you be kind enough to tell me what brings you here?"
"I bear a message from the archduke," he replied.
"Oh," cried Marguerite, and forgetting her dignity, she sprang from herchair and advanced toward him. "Give me the letter; where is it? Why doyou wait so long?"
"I have no letter; it is a verbal message."
"Then what is it; can you not speak?"
"He bids you be patient for a while and rest."
"Rest! I have rested till I am weary of resting. If that is all you haveto tell me, you can return whence you came and ask the archduke, myfather, if all these years have made him forget that he should love hisdaughter, and if he believes that she cares not at all for him?"
The little princess did not weep, as she was inclined to do in herdisappointment, but her cheeks were flushed and her lips quivered withemotion.
For answer, the stranger strode into the room and, picking up the littlemaiden bodily in his arms, he kissed her lips, her brow, her hair, andher eyelids a dozen times, for he must have thought, as did Le Glorieux,that her eyes were like those of Mary of Burgundy.
"Oh!" gasped the child, but she did not struggle, for she now realizedthat this could be no other than her father, the Archduke of Austria.
"I had thought to have kept my identity a secret a little longer, butthe glance of those eyes overcame me, quite," murmured Maximilian, whileLe Glorieux whispered to Antoine, "Although I am a fool, there aremoments and places when and where I feel that my presence is notabsolutely necessary, and this is one of them. She will not blame us ifwe go without her permission, and our room just now is better than ourcompany, so let us go." And unnoticed they slipped away.
Later when the jester saw the archduke he was clothed as became hisrank, in velvet trimmed in fur, while gems flashed in the chain abouthis neck and on his fingers.
"My father," said the princess, who clung to his hand as if she fearedhe suddenly would vanish from her sight, "this is my jester, LeGlorieux. He once lived at the court of Burgundy. He loved my mother andhe loves me; he was given to me by the Lady Anne of Brittany."
"She took your husband and gave you her fool," replied the archduke.
"And who shall say it was not a good exchange?" asked Le Glorieuxquickly. "Some of the women who have married into the royal house ofFrance have secured both king and fool in one."
Maximilian laughed. "I see you have a ready wit," said he. "I nowremember to have observed you when I stood at the door of the princess'apartments. Did you suspect who I was, Fool?"
"Not at first," was the reply. "Kings may have a divine right, but theyhave not a divine look when clothed in common wool. You are a handsomefigure of a man, but so is many a forester, and even your daughter didnot recognize you until you had hugged her like a bear. But now you lookvery much as you did when I saw you at Ghent."
"You saw me at Ghent?" repeated Maximilian.
"Oh, yes; I can not flatter myself that you saw my fair face, for it wasthe day you wedded our Duchess of Burgundy; but I remember you for allthat, and I have described your appearance on that day a dozen times tomy little princess."
None was happier than Lady Clotilde]
Among the company of ladies and gentlemen who surrounded thesupper-table none was happier than the Lady Clotilde. She wore acostume carefully copied from one she had seen worn by Anne of Beaujeu,and which the tailor who had fashioned it before Lady Clotilde leftAmboise would remember to the last day of his life, from the severetongue lashings he received while he was putting it together. It was ofa heavy velvet, bordered to the knees in rich dark fur; about her neckwere strings and strings of pearls; a veil of silver tissue bound herbrow and hung down her back, while her hair, drawn into a mass on thetop of her head, was covered by a sparkling net and spread out on eitherside like the wings of a butterfly.
"I should think that some of those pearls would get lost in the hollowsof Clotilde's neck," muttered Le Glorieux to himself. This reminded himof the moonstone pendant and he wondered for the fiftieth time where itcould be. "I have no faith in those curses that were to follow on theloss of the trinket," thought he. "If they had been genuine, somethingwould be happening to her by this time. And she is just as healthy asever; I watched her at the table, where she ate about four capon wings,to say nothing of a quantity of roast kid and a good many other things.But her luck always has been something wonderful, and a misfortune thatwould come at full gallop after anybody else would pass Clotilde by andforget all about her."
The subject of piety came up that evening; Maximilian, who was alwaysgay and fond of his joke, but nevertheless had great reverence for thepious teaching he had received in his youth, said, "My instructors tookpains to impress upon me the fear of God, and they laid great stressupon the commandments to believe in one God, to honor my father andmother, and to do unto others as I would have others do to me."
The Lady Clotilde listened to him as one entranced. Maximilian, who wasvery good-natured, had made one or two complimentary remarks to her, andshe was in high feather in consequence.
"All the world can see how well your Highness lives up to your religioustraining," said she. "I, too, have had all the great truths sothoroughly impressed upon my mind that I never in any circumstancescould forget them. I could no more go to sleep without my devotionalreading than I could exist without eating. If your Highness isinterested in handsome books, you would admire my _Lives of the Saints_,which I read every night before I close my eyes in slumber. My royalcousin, the Queen of France"--and the Lady Clotilde straightened herselfup at the mention of her relationship to so great a personage--"knowingmy passion for devotional reading, took from me my old book worn outwith constant perusal, and gave me another instead. It was printed by amonk, with his own hands. My royal relative is very fond of such books."
That Queen Anne was fond of such books is shown by the beautiful Bookof Hours made by her order.
"I, too, am very fond of such books, especially of the kind youmention," said the archduke, "and which I am afraid will go out ofexistence now that the style of printing with movable letters has comein."
And it may be said in passing that printing had been invented aboutforty years before by John Gutenberg at Mayence.
"I should very much like to see the volume you mention," went on thearchduke.
The Lady Clotilde fluttered with delight at this request, for she wasvery proud of the volume and would take great pleasure in exhibiting itto the royal guest.
A servant was despatched to her room forthwith, and brought the book,which was handed to the archduke. Maximilian examined the silk of thebinding, the chasing of the silver corners, and the clasps, upon whichwere engraved the arms of Brittany, a country which might at this momenthave been his own had not fate played him an ugly trick. Then heunclasped the volume to glance through its pages, and as he did so abright object slipped from its leaves and fell to the floor. Le Glorieuxsprang at once to pick it up, exclaiming as he did so, "Why, CousinClotilde, it is your moonstone pendant!"
And then the Lady Clotilde remembered all about it. She had worn theornament the night before they left Amboise, and as the maid hadforgotten to put it with her other jewels, the lady had slipped it intothe book, the pendant being flat and the book clasping loosely. Sheintended to have the case taken from her box where it had been packedready for the journey, and the jewel put in it as soon as her maidentered the room. And she had forgotten all about the circumstance untilthis very moment! People who pretend to be what they are not will bediscovered sooner or later, and the lady's chagrin was so great that forthe moment she w
as absolutely dumb.
"This is the trinket that caused all that commotion," said the fool. "Nowonder Saint Monica helped the girl out of the difficulty."
Of course Maximilian had heard the story of the accusation of Cimburga,and of her miraculous vindication, and he had patted his littledaughter's head approvingly when told of the marriage portion she hadgiven the maid. "I am afraid," said he to Philibert, in order to coverthe lady's confusion, "that you are not a very attentive squire, elseyou would have searched for and found the locket, thus saving all thetrouble that has followed its disappearance."
"Your Highness, I saw my cousin place it in the book," replied the boyinnocently, "but as I supposed she read it every night, I never thoughtof looking for the jewel in its leaves."
The way in which events sometimes group themselves is very provoking,not to say maddening. The Lady Clotilde had a fine little story allfixed up in her mind as soon as the first moments of her amazement hadpassed. She was going to say that the real thief had no doubt repentedand had restored her property that very day, knowing that she would findit before she slept. But now Philibert must spoil it all by telling thewhole story, for she remembered that she had expatiated to him upon theduty of reading elevating books, had opened this one and held it in herlap, and, seeing the pendant on the table, had censured the carelessnessof her woman, and had clasped it in the book, where she said it was safefor the present. She had bragged of her piety to the archduke, and hereshe was exposed as one who not only had not looked into the volume formore than a fortnight, but who had told a falsehood as well!
"It is truly a curious ornament," remarked the archduke, turning it sothat the light played upon the carved face of the moonstone.
"It is an heirloom of my mother's family, your Grace," returned itsowner in a constrained, half-hearted way.
"I have been watching for something to happen to you, Cousin Clotilde,"said the jester, "and now you will glide along and be as comfortable asthe rest of us. After all, it is a good thing that you put the moonstonein a book that you never open, for if you had found it right away, younever would have accused Cimburga, and if you had not accused Cimburga,she would never have received the purse of gold for her dower, and thenshe never would have married Karl, for the prudent miller sooner orlater would have persuaded his son to marry the weaver's daughter. Solet us be thankful that you are not so pious as you think you are, andthat you put the pendant in a book where it would have remained formonths, perhaps years, if you had not wanted to show it to Cousin Max."
But the Lady Clotilde derived no comfort from the favor she incidentallyhad done the maid. It never had entered her head that she owed the girlsome reparation for the fright she had caused her, and for thehumiliating position in which she had been placed, for the Lady Clotildedid not own the kind of a head that would entertain such an idea.
The beds at the castle were most comfortable, being, as Philibert hadsaid, stuffed with the down of many fowls, and that of the Lady Clotildewas hung with the richest brocade, but as she went to it boiling withrage at Philibert, Le Glorieux, Cimburga, the countess, and everybody inthe remotest way connected with the moonstone, it was long before sweetsleep visited her eyelids.
But the little princess closed her eyes with a smile, and soon sank intopleasant dreams; she had seen her father, and he was all that her fancyhad painted him: he was affectionate, gay, and handsome. He had spokenduring the evening of his combats and she knew that he always hadvanquished his opponents. He was a true and brave knight, and happyindeed was she in being the daughter of one so worthy and so favored byfortune.