OURT JESTE 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF N,C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
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THE COURT JESTER 
 
Digitized by the Internet Arciiive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/courtjesterObake 
 
I am Marguerite of Hapsburg ! ' ' P'lg^ 5 1 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 Sy 
 
 CORNELIA BAKER 
 
 Author of 
 
 The Queen's Page 
 Young People in Old Places, etc. 
 
 With Illustrations by 
 
 MARGARET ELY WEBB 
 
 and 
 
 MARGARET H. DEVENEAU 
 
 INDIANAPOLIS 
 
 THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
Copyright 1906 
 The Bobbs-Merrill Company 
 
 September 
 
 PRESS OF 
 
 BRAUNWORTH & CO. 
 
 BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS 
 
 BROOKLYN, N. Y. 
 
DEDICATED TO MY 
 DEAR EUGENIA F. F. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I Le Glorieux Hears Good News i 
 
 II A Festival at the Inn 13 
 
 III An Exciting Day and Evening 33 
 
 IV Broken Promises 61 
 V The Wonderful Wisdom of Pittacus 76 
 
 VI Lady Clotilde's Moonstone Pendant 98 
 
 VII A Pleasant Surprise for the Princess i 24 
 
 VIII A Royal Alchemist 153 
 
 IX Philibert in Danger 167 
 
 X A Midnight Adventure 194 
 
 XI The Lady Marguerite Is Very Brave 214 
 
 XII An Austrian Princess at the Spanish Court 230 
 
 XIII Tripping the Measures of the Egg-Dance 249 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 LE GLORIEUX HEARS GOOD NEWS 
 
 The old duchess was talking of the past, while 
 behind her chair Le Glorieux was silently and joy- 
 ously turning handsprings. I wish I might give 
 him another name, for that one is certainly a 
 mouthful, but as he really lived, and that was what 
 he was called, we must manage it as best we can. 
 
 You may think, and with reason, that turning 
 handsprings was not a respectful thing to do when 
 a lady, and above all a duchess, was talking. But 
 Le Glorieux was the court jester, the fool, who 
 when Charles the Bold, son of the duchess, was 
 living, was wont to make his master laugh. There- 
 fore his conduct and conversation as a rule were 
 not what one could expect of a sedate and dignified 
 member of society. 
 
 In the presence of his late master, Le Glorieux 
 could have turned handsprings in plain view, but 
 the dowager duchess was old and querulous and 
 resented such performances. She was the widow 
 of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and she 
 looked very much like a fairy godmother in her 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 quaint costume of the time of Charles the Seventh. 
 She had been lady in waiting at the court of the 
 French king, and she still clung to the high head- 
 dress, towering some twenty inches above her 
 brow, and its long veil, which seemed to be boil- 
 ing in filmy folds, like foam, from its pointed top. 
 By her side was an ebony crutch, not for the pur- 
 pose of turning pumpkins into coaches for the con- 
 venience of neglected Cinderellas, but to support 
 the weight of the owner when she cared to move 
 about; for rheumatism, which was up and doing 
 even so long ago as the fifteenth century, had no 
 more respect for a duchess than for a scullery 
 maid, and had spitefully attacked her Grace of 
 Burgundy. 
 
 The windows were veiled by heavy curtains 
 that excluded the sunshine, and the only light in 
 the long dim room came from the brazier at the 
 feet of the duchess, who required artificial heat 
 even in this warm autumn weather. Outside — Le 
 Glorieux knew — the birds were singing and the 
 butterflies were dipping in and out among the 
 roses nodding in the soft breeze; but to-day the 
 beauties of nature did not attract him so strongly 
 as did the unusual degree of excitement going on 
 in the castle. The Lady Clotilde had been sent 
 for by her cousin, the young Duchess Anne of 
 Brittany, and so, bag and baggage and servants, 
 she was to set out on the following morning. 
 Throughout the castle was felt the buzz and bustle 
 
LE GLORIEUX HEARS GOOD NEWS 
 
 of preparation, maids running in and out, and 
 f pages spinning up and down the staircases, for the 
 Lady Clotilde liked to keep everybody busy. Le 
 Glorieux longed to see what was going on, for, 
 though a grown man, he possessed the heart of a 
 rollicking boy and was highly entertained by a 
 hubbub. 
 
 There had been plenty of diversion while 
 Charles the Bold was living, a fact of which you 
 will be convinced when you read your history of 
 France, and he had once taken Le Glorieux with 
 him to the wars, where the latter had shown him- 
 self to be brave and fearless, and when Charles was 
 not planning campaigns against the neighboring 
 countries, or engaged in carrying out his plans, he 
 liked, while sipping the red or the white wine of 
 his province, to listen to the drolleries of his jester. 
 In those days, you see, there were no newspapers, 
 no printed jokes, and it was necessary for even a 
 fierce and warlike duke to laugh at times. But 
 after the duke's death nobody cared much for the 
 jester's jokes, and his principal duty seemed to be 
 to listen to the dowager duchess talk, and as she 
 was in the habit of repeating the same story a good 
 many times a day, her conversation was usually 
 extremely wearisome. 
 
 "Yes," said she, holding her wax-like hands out 
 to the brazier and rubbing them thoughtfully, " I 
 remember it as well as if it had happened yester- 
 day. I do not know whether I ever mentioned to 
 
 3 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 you, Le Glorieux, that I was lady in waiting to her 
 Highness, Marguerite of Scotland, then Dauphi- 
 ness of France?" 
 
 With the agility of a cat the jester, who at this 
 moment was standing on his head, regained his 
 feet and stood respectfully before her Grace. 
 "Never, Cousin," replied he gravely; "or at least 
 not more than five thousand times." 
 
 " I thought not," she returned, for being some- 
 what deaf she had not caught the latter part of the 
 sentence. "Yes, I was in the train of that dear 
 and beauteous lady whom I loved so much that I 
 still wear the costume chosen by her, this cap and 
 veil and these shoes." 
 
 The old lady thrust out a foot shod in a shoe 
 having a sharp point as long again as her foot, re- 
 marking contentedly, " This is a fine style of a shoe, 
 do you not think so, Le Glorieux?" 
 
 "Yes, Cousin, and one calculated to encourage 
 an ambitious great toe that is anxious to keep on 
 growing," replied the fool, whose own shoes were 
 pointed, but in a style far less exaggerated than 
 those of her Grace. 
 
 "As I was saying," she went on, " I remember it 
 as well as if it had happened yesterday. The 
 dauphiness was fond of learning, and she composed 
 verses of no small merit. I too caught the con- 
 tagion and composed verses. I wish that I could 
 remember some of them to repeat to you." 
 
 " Do not trouble yourself. Cousin," said the 
 
 4 
 
"I remember it well " 
 
 P^ge J 
 
LE GLORIEUX HEARS GOOD NEWS 
 
 jester hastily; " I am nothing but a fool, you know, 
 and I must deny myself many pleasures." 
 
 "At the court," she resumed, " lived at the time 
 the great poet Alain Chartier, who was a wonder- 
 fully gifted man, though very plain. One day 
 when the dauphiness and her ladies— I was among 
 them, Le Glorieux — were crossing the courtyard 
 we found Alain Chartier asleep on a bench. Much 
 to our surprise her Highness gathered up her long 
 train so that its rustle would not awaken him, and 
 tripping softly toward the sleeping poet she kissed 
 him on the lips. Yes, Le Glorieux, that great 
 princess consort of the dauphin — afterward Louis 
 the Eleventh — deigned to kiss a humble poet with 
 her own lips! Was it not wonderful?" 
 
 " Not so wonderful as if she had tried to kiss him 
 with somebody else's lips," replied the fool, add- 
 ing, "but it was unfair to Chartier." 
 
 "Why unfair?" 
 
 " Because she had no right to take him unawares 
 and unarmed." 
 
 Her Grace frowned darkly as she replied, " Le 
 Glorieux, you are nothing but a fool and you can 
 not understand what an honor it was for a humble 
 poet to be kissed by a great princess. But one of 
 the courtiers said, ' Madame, why did you kiss that 
 extremely unprepossessing man?' The dauphi- 
 ness replied, ' I did not kiss the man ' " 
 
 " How could she say that," broke in the jester, 
 "when you all saw her do it?" 
 
 S 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 " Do not interrupt me, Fool. The dauphiness 
 said, * I did not kiss the man ' " 
 
 "That is what you said before," interrupted the 
 fool again, " and I say she must have been a very 
 silly little woman." 
 
 " Fool, do you not know that you are daring to 
 criticise a princess of Scotland, daughter of James 
 the Second of that country?" 
 
 " I do not care if she was the daughter of his 
 present Majesty, Henry the Seventh of England; it 
 was foolish of her to try to make people doubt the 
 evidence of their own eyes." 
 
 "Will you let me finish, you great gawk?" 
 Then raising her voice and speaking very rapidly 
 the duchess went on, "The dauphiness said, ' I did 
 not kiss the man, but that precious mouth from 
 which has come so many noble and virtuous 
 words.' " 
 
 " I call that a very slipshod way to get out of it," 
 replied the fool. " Let us take an example. Sup- 
 pose I had gone to the court of France and had cut 
 ofif the late king's head. The soldiers arrest me 
 and I say, * I did not kill the man, I simply sliced 
 ofif that head which has hatched up so many hor- 
 rible schemes.' Would they apologize and let me 
 go? Not a bit of it!" 
 
 " But this, you see, was figurative." 
 
 " I do not care what you call it. She kissed his 
 lips, did she not?'* 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 6 
 
LE GLORIEUX HEARS GOOD NEWS 
 
 "And was not the man behind them at the 
 time?" 
 
 " Of course, but you see " 
 
 "Then there is nothing more to say about it," 
 went on the fool. 
 
 The duchess reflected seriously for a moment 
 and then seemed to arrive at the conclusion that it 
 would not pay her to continue the argument. Be- 
 sides, she was somewhat muddled herself. She 
 continued, "Was it a wonder that so gracious a 
 lady should have been misunderstood at such a 
 court? And she died mysteriously, Le Glorieux, 
 when she was but one-and-twenty, and in her illness 
 she said, ' Fie upon this life; let no one talk more 
 of it to me!'" 
 
 " I am not surprised that she felt that way," said 
 the jester. " Now that Louis is dead, they say that 
 he was not cruel, but firm. For my part, I do not 
 like the kind of firmness that wants to hang or 
 drown half the people in the kingdom, though it 
 may be that I am too particular." 
 
 "Yes, I remember that day as well as if it had 
 been yesterday," went on the duchess, with her dull 
 eyes fixed dreamily upon the red coals of the 
 brazier, and the fool again glided behind her chair 
 and resumed the handsprings. 
 
 At last, attracted in the midst of her recollec- 
 tions by the incessant ringing of the little bells on 
 the jester's cap, which his lively motions kept 
 a-tinkle, the old lady craned her neck and glancing 
 
 7 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 behind her chair caught him in the very act of 
 standing on his head! 
 
 Indignant at his inattention and forgetting the 
 license accorded court fools, she seized her crutch 
 and hit him a swift rap across the calves of the 
 legs which caused him to reverse himself with a 
 howl. 
 
 " How dare you treat me with such disrespect, 
 and not only me, but the gracious princess of whom 
 I was talking!" she cried angrily. "You shall 
 leave the court. I have no need of a fool ! " Then 
 a sudden and pleasant thought seemed to come into 
 her mind, for she said, " I know what I will do. I 
 feel that I should send Anne of Brittany a present, 
 and I was going to send her an emerald. I will 
 not part with the gem ; I will send you, Le Glorieux, 
 instead, with a letter saying that I am presenting 
 her with the most precious possession of the late 
 Duke of Burgundy, to cheer her in the various 
 trials brought about by the reign of one so youngs. 
 Yes, that will be fine, and I shall keep the emerald. 
 You may leave me. Fool, and prepare for your de- 
 parture while I think over the wording of my 
 letter." 
 
 Le Glorieux was so overcome with joy at this 
 sudden and unexpected turn of afifairs that he for- 
 got his abused calves, and his feet scarce touched 
 the steps as he mounted to his little tower chamber, 
 for you must know that a fool was a kind of slave, 
 and although having many privileges within the 
 
 8 
 
LE GLORIEUX HEARS GOOD NEWS 
 
 palace, was not allowed to leave it even for a night 
 without special permission. 
 
 On the landing of the staircase stood a boy of 
 eleven or twelve years of age, looking sadly out of 
 the mullioned window. He was a pretty youth 
 and he wore a fine suit, to say nothing of a cap with 
 a curling plume, but he did not look happy. 
 
 " Cheer up, Antoine," said the jester, slapping 
 him on the back; " better days are in store for me." 
 
 "What will your better days avail me?" asked 
 the boy, with a shrug. 
 
 "Well answered," said the jester reflectively. 
 " Yet when things are going well with us we are 
 surprised that the world does not smile with us, 
 while we expect it to boohoo when we are sad. 
 But I have been given permission to go to Brittany. 
 Think of that! Try to overcome your indifference, 
 and think what a joy it will be to me to live where I 
 shall no longer hear the story of the princess who 
 kissed the poet. And she has just hit me a blow on 
 the legs that has raised lumps as big as plovers' 
 eggs. Did it with her crutch, too!" 
 
 " She struck me across the shoulders with it be- 
 cause I could not find her needle, and she held the 
 needle in her fingers all the time," said the page 
 mournfully. 
 
 " Knowing her little ways, you should have 
 looked in her fingers first," said the fool, adding 
 blithely, "but she will never strike me again, be- 
 cause I am going away." 
 
 9 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 "You need not continually flaunt that in my 
 face," returned the boy, in an injured tone, con- 
 tinuing with the mournful pleasure that many of 
 us take in predicting misfortune for people whom 
 we envy; " there may be worse things in store for 
 you than to be struck by an ill-natured woman. I 
 heard of a youth who went to a strange court with 
 great glee and the very next day both of his ears 
 were cut off." 
 
 " I do not think I should like a thing of that 
 kind to happen to me," said the fool gravely. " Of 
 course, the loss of my ears would never be noticed, 
 because my cap covers them, but at the same time 
 I think I should miss them myself, having always 
 had them, you know. But I do not think you quite 
 understand just why I am going away. Our mis- 
 tress is sending me as a present, a pretty, dainty 
 present, to the young Duchess of Brittany, and you 
 know it would not be good taste to ill-treat a 
 present." 
 
 "You are a strange present to send to a young 
 lady," remarked the page sourly. " I warrant she 
 will not be overjoyed with her packet when it 
 meets her gaze." 
 
 " Oh, yes she will," returned Le Glorleux easily. 
 "You see it is necessary for her to be cheered, for 
 not only have there been frequent turmoils in her 
 duchy, but there has been a perfect fever of excite- 
 ment about her matrimonial arrangements from 
 the day she was born. First they wanted her to 
 
 10 
 
LE GLORIEUX HEARS GOOD NEWS 
 
 marry one of the little princes of England after- 
 ward smothered by his affectionate Uncle Richard ; 
 then it was the Infante of Spain, and though it now 
 seems settled that she is to marry Maximilian of 
 Austria, still she must be nervous and unsettled. 
 At any rate, our mistress wants to do something 
 gracious, and being more than a trifle close, and 
 not wishing to send a valuable jewel, she sends me 
 in the care of the Lady Clotilde as the most valua- 
 ble jewel of her possession." 
 
 "Oh, Le Glorieux, take me with you!" pleaded 
 Antoine, forgetting his sarcasm in his anxiety to 
 share his friend's good fortune. " If you only will 
 I shall be your debtor for life." 
 
 "That would be impossible, my lad. You 
 must remain here to find her Grace's needle when 
 she drops it, and to lead the life of a nice, tame 
 pussy-cat." 
 
 "I will not!" cried the boy, dashing the tears 
 from his bright eyes. " My father, who, as you 
 know, died in battle, never intended that I should 
 grow up thus tamely. Take me with you, oh, Le 
 Glorieux, do!" 
 
 " I should like to," replied the jester thought- 
 fully. "You could ride beside me and you should 
 fetch your lute and you could sing to me along the 
 way to make the birds ashamed of themselves. But 
 even if you should run away, the Lady Clotilde 
 would not let you go with us, for you know what 
 she is. If she were a peasant woman she would 
 
 II 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 be called sour and disagreeable, but being a great 
 lady she is simply dignified and firm." 
 
 But there are times when we are enabled to get 
 that for which we very much wish, and it so hap- 
 pened that the Lady Clotilde wanted the boy in 
 her suite and begged him of the duchess, who will- 
 ingly acquiesced, for caring not at all for his musi- 
 cal talent and his handsome face, he was no more 
 to her than any other page. 
 
 So there were not two lighter hearts In the good 
 duchy of Burgundy than were those of the page 
 and the jester as they set about making their prep- 
 arations for departure. They were pleased to 
 leave the court where life had grown so monoto- 
 nous, and they were delighted that they were to go 
 in each other's company, for though there was a 
 difference of some fifteen years in their respective 
 ages, Le Glorieux and Antoine were very fond of 
 each other. 
 
 12 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 A FESTIVAL AT THE INN 
 
 The following morning bright and early the 
 procession rode briskly out of the castle courtyard. 
 The Lady Clotilde traveled in her litter and was 
 attended by her maids and her men-servants and 
 her guards on mules, the guards being necessary, 
 for it was dangerous for those possessing money 
 and jewels to travel unless they were protected 
 from the outlaws who infested mountain and forest. 
 
 At the rear of the company rode Le Glorieux 
 on a steed he always preferred when riding abroad. 
 This was a donkey which the fool had named Pit- 
 tacus after one of the seven wise men of Greece, for 
 he declared the little animal was very wise, though 
 no one as yet had discovered the fact. On the 
 jester's wrist was perched Pandora, his hawk, for 
 he vowed that no man with a proper degree of self- 
 respect would be seen in public without his hawk, 
 which was true, the fashion of the time having 
 so decreed. Pandora wore a cunning little red 
 leather hood with some bells attached to it, and, to 
 keep her from escaping from him, a cord attached 
 to her leg was fastened to the jester's arm. 
 
 Antoine, whose lute was slung to his shoulder 
 by a blue ribband, was mounted upon a small gray 
 
 13 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 mule and rode beside his comrade, the two whist- 
 ling and singing and making so merry together that 
 more than once the Lady Clotilde put her head out 
 between the curtains of her litter and, with a very 
 severe face and a harsh voice, bade them be quiet. 
 
 History tells us that Edward the Second of Eng- 
 land had a jester who amused his royal master 
 simply by riding before him and frequently falling 
 off his horse, so it is no wonder that a boy of the 
 age of Antoine should have been kept in a contin- 
 uous state of merriment caused by the antics of his 
 friend. You doubtless have been to the circus, and 
 you know what a very funny fellow a clown can 
 be, and how the boys and girls in the audience are 
 inclined to laugh every time he opens his mouth, 
 and how even the grown people are not ashamed 
 to smile at his drolleries. Then imagine the bliss 
 experienced by Antoine in riding with a real clown 
 who performed, not because he was expected to do 
 so and was paid for it, but because he was anxious 
 to have a good time. 
 
 Sometimes the jester rode with his face toward 
 the donkey's tail, at others he lay flat on the animal's 
 back, to the intense indignation of Pittacus and 
 Pandora, neither of whom could appreciate that 
 sort of thing. Then sometimes the boy and the 
 fool broke into song together, and if the birds were 
 not exactly " ashamed of themselves," as Le Glo- 
 rieux had predicted they would be, they must have 
 been very much astonished, to say the least. 
 
 14 
 
They stopped at an old inn 
 
 Page IS 
 
A FESTIVAL AT THE INN 
 
 This mode of travel was not so swift as one may 
 find in France to-day, but it had its advantages, 
 for the scenery could be more thoroughly en- 
 joyed when every bird and every flower could be 
 leisurely surveyed instead of passing the car 
 window like a flash, leaving upon the mind no im- 
 pression whatever. 
 
 After a journey of some days they entered Brit- 
 tany, and stopped at nightfall at an old inn situated 
 on a clifif above the Loire, which smoothly ripples 
 its way to the Bay of Biscay. 
 
 The arrival of the Lady Clotilde and her party 
 created a certain degree of agitation throughout 
 the inn, for an empress could not have been more 
 exacting in her demands than this lady, who always 
 seemed to think that she was created first and the 
 rest of the world added as an afterthought. 
 
 Soon afterward there came a middle-aged 
 woman and a little girl apparently of about twelve 
 years of age, who caused no commotion what- 
 ever, for they were unattended and plainly clad. 
 The Lady Clotilde, looking out of her window, 
 pronounced the woman to be an ordinary person, 
 and, supposing the little girl to be the woman's 
 child, did not waste even a glance upon her, but be- 
 gan to give quick, sharp commands regarding her 
 own supper, which was brought to her hot and 
 fragrant with appetizing odors, and with which, 
 strange to say, she found no fault. 
 
 But in the great kitchen of the inn that night 
 
 IS 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 there was a joyful celebration. The innkeeper's 
 baby daughter had been christened that day and 
 this was the feast which followed it. Mine host 
 had invited Le Glorieux and Antoine to join him 
 and his friends in the celebration of the occasion, 
 and, after the guests of the house had been served, 
 a long table, uncovered and made of rough un- 
 planed wood, was spread with all the good things 
 the hostelry afforded. There was roast pig stuffed 
 with chopped meat and aromatic herbs, and there 
 were meat pasties and ragouts, to say nothing of 
 sugared cakes and various other dainties. There 
 was no coffee, for that was about a hundred and 
 fifty years before that now popular beverage was 
 used in Europe, but there was the wine of the 
 country, which, being pure and honestly made, was 
 less dangerous than the wine of to-day. Another 
 feature was lacking which now is so familiar: the 
 air at the close of the meal was not contaminated 
 with the odor of pipes and cigars, for Sir Walter 
 Raleigh, who brought tobacco from savagery to 
 civilization, was not even born, and the main- 
 land of the New World was still waiting for 
 Columbus. 
 
 Le Glorieux in his fantastic costume of striped 
 yellow and green, and his queer cap with its points 
 sticking out on either side and adorned with bells, 
 was an object of much interest, for it was the first 
 time these people had ever seen such a costume. 
 To-day the portraits of the celebrated people of 
 
 i6 
 
A FESTIVAL AT THE INN 
 
 the world are familiar to all who have pennies to 
 invest in newspapers, and had there been at that 
 time the same facilities for spreading the news 
 that there are to-day, Le Glorieux, with his say- 
 ings and doings, particularly in the campaign with 
 his late master, would have been written up again 
 and again, and the public, you may be sure, would 
 have known his face as well as those of its own 
 father and mother. 
 
 The innkeeper, his family, and friends all wore 
 what to us would seem like comic opera costumes: 
 mine host, fat and rosy, wore his holiday suit of a 
 gorgeous color, and all the men were similarly 
 attired, while the women wore pink, or blue, or 
 green bodices with short skirts of a different color. 
 On their heads they wore flat white linen caps fit- 
 ting close, and with tails to them like mantles float- 
 ing down their backs, the costume being completed 
 by a high collar flaring out from the shoulders. 
 
 The fairest of the women was the pale, pretty 
 young mother, who cast many proud glances at the 
 rude wooden cradle in the corner where lay the 
 real heroine of the occasion, and, to her, the most 
 important person in the company. 
 
 Considered the most distinguished of the guests, 
 Le Glorieux was given a seat at the head of the 
 table, where he immediately began to make him- 
 self at home, not only with the viands, but with the 
 company, keeping up a continuous chatter and 
 convulsing his audience with his merry jokes. 
 
 17 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 " I should like to know the name of the woman 
 who came shortly after our arrival," he said after 
 a while, turning to his host, who replied, " I do not 
 know her name; her garb is plain, yet she seems 
 to be one who is accustomed to the best of every- 
 thing, for she insisted upon having two of my 
 largest rooms for herself and the child, showing 
 that she had the means to pay for them. She is on 
 her way to the shrine of Saint Roch in the forest 
 beyond, to be relieved of a migraine that torments 
 her morning, noon, and night." 
 
 *' And the blessed Saint Roch will cure her," said 
 the innkeeper's mother confidently; "no one goes 
 in pain from his shrine." 
 
 Le Glorieux had noticed the shrine as they came 
 along. The good saint, who is supposed to lend a 
 kindly hearing to those who are suffering from 
 physical ailments, was carved in rock above a clear 
 spring. He was represented as a young man with 
 his robe lifted to show a plague spot on his leg, and 
 by his side was the dog which brought bread to 
 him when he was starving. When the readers of 
 this story travel abroad they will see pictures of 
 Saint Roch painted by Rubens, Guido, Tintoretto, 
 and other great masters. 
 
 " I have heard my mother say that when the 
 plague was in many parts of Europe it never came 
 near Brittany because of Saint Roch," remarked a 
 young woman. 
 
 "I should think not," observed Le Glorieux; 
 
A FESTIVAL AT THE INN 
 
 " curing the plague is what he prides himself upon, 
 and it is not reasonable to suppose that he would 
 allow it to rage under his very nose." 
 
 " From the tinkle of your bells," said a foppish 
 young man at the jester's left, a youth who had 
 grown a little envious of the attention paid to Le 
 Glorieux, " I should say that you are a fool." 
 
 " And from the tinkle of your tongue, I have 
 been suspecting the same thing of you," retorted 
 the other quickly. 
 
 " No man may say that of me ! " said the foppish 
 youth, springing to his feet and drawing his dagger 
 from its sheath, while the jester drew his sword. 
 
 " Shame upon you, Nicole, to begin a brawl 
 upon such an occasion," said the innkeeper, rising 
 and putting his hand upon his friend's arm, while 
 some of the women gave little shrieks of fear, 
 though at this period the clash of swords and 
 daggers was not an unusual sound, and such a scene 
 was liable to happen in almost any company. 
 
 "Our host is right," said Le Glorieux, replacing 
 his sword in its sheath with a decided clank. 
 " Such a fray is not only disrespectful to the ladies, 
 but it will give an opportunity for that lovely pig 
 to get cold before we have a chance to finish it. I 
 will just say, however, that if this young man is 
 anxious to fight me I am ready to meet him in 
 some quiet spot at any moment that may be con- 
 venient to him." And the jester resumed his seat 
 at the table. 
 
 19 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 " The woman who came to-day is not the mother 
 of that child," remarked the innkeeper, anxious to 
 change the subject. 
 
 "Did she tell you so?" asked his mother. 
 
 " No, but I have eyes. The woman is of the 
 ordinary walks of life, a German, I should say, 
 while the little girl is an aristocrat, and if I am not 
 very much mistaken she is French." 
 
 *' But she is clothed no better than the woman," 
 argued his mother. "An aristocrat would not 
 travel without attendants and dress in such poor 
 style, and " 
 
 An exclamation from some one on the opposite 
 side of the table arrested her words, for standing 
 in the doorway was the child of whom they were 
 speaking. She was a pretty little maiden with 
 large blue eyes, whose long lashes made them ap- 
 pear black, and her hair, which hung in half curl- 
 ing masses below her waist, was of a reddish gold. 
 She was dressed in a dark blue gown of coarse 
 woolen material, with a close-fitting cap of the 
 same. She seemed not at all abashed at thus en- 
 tering where she had not been invited, saying in a 
 clear sweet voice, "May I stay here for a while? 
 Cunegunda put me to bed and then retired herself, 
 for she is so tormented by migraine that she did 
 not sit by me for a time, as she usually does. I 
 could not sleep on account of all this racket, so I 
 dressed myself and came down and would like to 
 remain for a little while, if I may." 
 
 20 
 
A FESTIVAL AT THE INN 
 
 " I am sorry we disturbed your rest, my little 
 lady," replied the innkeeper respectfully. " I will 
 change your room, if you wish." 
 
 "No," said the little girl, " I do not want you to 
 do that. I am going to stay up as long as you do if 
 you will let me. I want to see what this kind of 
 an entertainment is like." 
 
 "Then I will make a place at the table," re- 
 turned he. 
 
 "Thank you, no," she returned, with dignity. 
 " I have had all that I require. I will just sit 
 here by the window and look on." 
 
 "That you may and welcome," said the inn- 
 keeper heartily, " and in order that you may do so 
 to the greatest advantage, I am going to place you 
 here," and lifting her lightly he placed her on the 
 deep window seat, which was some distance from 
 the floor. "And now you may not only look at 
 us, but at this pretty bird as well." 
 
 The casement of the window, which swung like 
 a door, was opened on the inside, and perched on 
 top of it where her master had placed her, sulkily 
 ruffling her feathers as though strongly disapprov- 
 ing of her surroundings, was Pandora. 
 
 "You have never been so close to a fine hooded 
 bird before, I warrant," said the innkeeper. 
 
 " I have birds of my own, and they are all 
 hooded," replied the child indifferently. 
 
 The people seated at the table glanced signifi- 
 cantly at each other as if to ask, " Is she bragging, 
 
 21 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 or is she of a higher rank than she pretends to 
 be?" for middle-class folk did not possess hooded 
 birds. 
 
 "To whom does this one belong?" asked the 
 child. 
 
 "To that gentleman seated at the head of the 
 table," was the reply. 
 
 She looked at him thoughtfully and then at the 
 bird. " I wonder how a hawk likes belonging to 
 a fool," she said. 
 
 Everybody laughed, Le Glorieux loudest of all. 
 "No matter how wise a fool may appear, his cap 
 and bells will always betray him," he said. "Yes, 
 my friends, as you no doubt have suspected, I am a 
 court jester. I belonged to Duke Charles the 
 Bold of Burgundy, and now I am being sent as a 
 present to her Grace, the young Duchess of Brit- 
 tany." 
 
 " I have suspected your identity all along," said 
 a fat friar seated at the other end of the table. " I 
 was at Beauvais during the siege and I heard of 
 you there. You are Le Glorieux." 
 
 The jester rose and made an extravagant bow. 
 "At your service," said he. "Yes," he continued, 
 taking his place again, " I was at the siege of 
 Beauvais. I saw the young maid Jeanne Four- 
 quet, in imitation of the Maid of Orleans, fight 
 like a witch with her little ax, for which she was 
 named Jeanne Hachette, and when a tall Bur- 
 gundian was scaling the walls and was planting 
 
 22 
 
A FESTIVAL AT THE INN 
 
 his banner, she pushed him over into the ditch and 
 waving her flag shouted, 'Victory!' I am not 
 boring anybody by talking about the past, am I?" 
 asked the fool suddenly. 
 
 "On the contrary," said the host, "it is more 
 interesting than a tale of gnomes and pixies." 
 
 "You see," explained Le Glorieux, "I have 
 lived so long at court, where the past is raked out 
 and talked over and over, that I am afraid to relate 
 anything that happened longer ago than the day 
 before yesterday." 
 
 " If it please you, continue," said one of the com- 
 pany. "We are humble folk living in a quiet 
 village, and we know but little of what happens in 
 the great world outside." 
 
 So Le Glorieux continued, keeping the company 
 chilled with awe or shaking with laughter, accord- 
 ing to the nature of the incident he happened to be 
 relating. It may be that some of the incidents he 
 related never occurred outside of his own brain, 
 but one at least of his anecdotes may be found in 
 history. 
 
 " It was after the siege of Beauvais," said he, 
 " that Cousin Charles came nearer to giving me a 
 cuff on the jaw than ever happened before or after- 
 ward. He was quite boastful, was Charles, and 
 with considerable pomp he was conducting some 
 ambassadors through the arsenal. He stopped 
 short in one of the rooms and swelling himself up 
 said, 'This room contains the keys of all the cities 
 
 23 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 of France.' Then I began to fumble in my pockets 
 and to search all over the room. 'Now, donkey, 
 for what are you looking so anxiously?' asked he. 
 I replied, ' I am looking for the key of Beauvais,' 
 and that made him turn as red as your doublet, 
 mine host, for we had not been victorious at 
 Beauvais." 
 
 " But you were very brave there, although a mere 
 youth," remarked the friar, " and I should advise 
 our young friend here to think twice before he 
 meets you out, as you have invited him to do." 
 
 " Oh, we will let that pass, if he is willing," said 
 Le Glorieux good-naturedly, an arrangement with 
 which the young man, who was not especially 
 brave, was very glad to agree. 
 
 " And now," said the jester, " I am reminded 
 that there is one thing that I have forgotten, and 
 that is to ask the name that you have given to that 
 blessed baby." 
 
 " That you will be glad to hear," said the host, 
 rubbing his hands delightedly. "The good wife 
 too is a Burgundian, and nothing would do but that 
 we should name the little one for the Duchess 
 Mary. Heaven rest her soul!" he continued 
 reverently. 
 
 It happened that this was the one theme that 
 could render Le Glorieux sad. He had worshiped 
 the young Duchess Mary, who had ruled the prov- 
 ince after the death of her father, Charles the 
 Bold — worshiped her as a faithful dog loves his 
 
 24 
 
A FESTIVAL AT THE INN 
 
 kind mistress. He had seen her betrothed at 
 Ghent to the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, 
 also styled King of the Romans, and when a few 
 years later news had come of her death, caused by a 
 fall from her horse, the jester had known the first 
 real grief of his life. 
 
 " Yes," said the mother of the baby. " Her name 
 is Mary, and may she be as good and beautiful as 
 the poor young duchess, cut off in the bloom of her 
 life." 
 
 The jester rose, and going to the cradle took 
 in his own the little baby hand curled like a 
 crumpled rose-leaf. " Mary, namesake of an angel, 
 I salute you," said he, pressing the tiny fingers to 
 his lips. 
 
 "No matter how well the children of the poor 
 young duchess are cared for, they will miss the 
 love of their mother, for there is nothing like it," 
 said the innkeeper's wife. " One of them, the 
 Lady Marguerite of Hapsburg, is to be Queen of 
 France," she added proudly. 
 
 " I was so fortunate as to witness that betrothal," 
 said the friar, helping himself to another piece of 
 the pasty. 
 
 "You did!" cried Le Glorleux. "I would give a 
 year of my life to see Mary's little child. Tell 
 us about it, good friar." 
 
 The child in the window, who had at first sat 
 carelessly swinging her little feet, had now drawn 
 them up to the sill, and turning sidewise and with 
 
 25 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 her hands clasped about her knees, was listening 
 intently. 
 
 " It was eight years ago that the betrothal took 
 place, if you will remember," began the friar in the 
 satisfied tone of one who feels that what he is about 
 to tqll will be vastly interesting to his audience. 
 '' I was riding my mule to the city of Amboise on 
 business for my order. 
 
 "At Herdin, which is near that city, I saw a 
 great concourse of people, and being under a vow 
 of silence for that day, I could ask no questions, 
 but drew up with the crowd to see what was going 
 on. The air was wild with the acclamations of the 
 people, and gens d'armes were stalking about to 
 make the crowd stand back so that the road might 
 be left unobstructed. 
 
 "Then from the city came a glittering proces- 
 sion of ladies and gentlemen and archers. At the 
 head of it rode a boy, whom from his dress and the 
 deference paid him, I immediately recognized as 
 the Dauphin of France, so soon to be king. He 
 was about twelve at the time, but he looked 
 younger, being undersized. He wore a robe of 
 crimson satin lined with black velvet, and his black 
 horse was richly caparisoned. Crossing the bridge 
 the boy paused, for, slowly advancing from the 
 opposite direction, was another procession equally 
 imposing, headed by a litter, silk-curtained and sur- 
 mounted by a crown. And then I knew that I was 
 to witness an event which was to go down in his- 
 
 26 
 
A FESTIVAL AT THE INN 
 
 tory, for I knew this was the expected ceremonial 
 of the betrothal of the little Lady Marguerite of 
 Hapsburg, daughter of the Archduke of Austria, 
 to the Dauphin of France. 
 
 "The young dauphin saluted the ladies and 
 changed his robe for one of cloth of gold. Then 
 from the litter was lifted a tiny girl between three 
 and four years of age, the little archduchess, whose 
 hair glistened like gold in the sunlight. A tall 
 and elegantly-dressed lady accompanied her to the 
 boy's side, and the prothonotary asked in a loud 
 voice if Charles of France would take Marguerite 
 of Austria for his bride. The boy answered 
 'Yes' in a loud, clear voice, and a similar question 
 was put to the little archduchess, who, after a 
 whispered word from the lady at her side, uttered 
 a faint 'Yes.' 
 
 " And when I rode on to Amboise I found the 
 city gay with festoons of brilliantly-colored cloth, 
 and in the market place there was a fountain which 
 gave forth both white and red wine." 
 
 "The dear little princess!" said the innkeeper's 
 wife. "Though she is to be Queen of France, I 
 pity her, thus to be betrothed without a word of 
 choice in the matter." 
 
 "The good God has not divided happiness so 
 unevenly as some might suppose," observed the 
 friar, " for in some things the peasant woman en- 
 joys more liberty than the queen." 
 
 "The dear little Lady Marguerite was taken 
 
 27 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 from her own country and all her kin that she 
 might grow up in a foreign court and be a true 
 French woman," said one of the women. "And 
 she was beautiful, did you say. Brother Sebastain? " 
 
 " I did not have a good view of her face, but I 
 should say that she was very fair to look upon," he 
 replied. 
 
 " Pretty she had a right to be," said Le Glorieux. 
 " Her mother was as beautiful as the morning, and 
 her father, when I saw him, looked like a glorious 
 knight descended from the clouds. He was 
 mounted on a chestnut horse; he was clad in silver 
 armor and his head was bound by a circlet of pre- 
 cious stones. His smile was so kind and his face 
 so handsome that he won all hearts." 
 
 "Look! That child is about to fall out of the 
 window!" cried the friar, for the little one was 
 gazing at the speaker with her soul in her eyes, and 
 the better to see him, was sitting on the very edge 
 of the window-sill in a way that indeed suggested 
 a possible fall. Seeing all eyes turned upon her 
 she drew herself back and clasped her hands about 
 her knees as before. 
 
 " And now," said the innkeeper, " I notice that 
 a young gentleman of the company has a lute, and 
 I am sure we should all enjoy a song." He looked 
 at Antoine, who, though silent, had been very much 
 engaged with the good things set before him. 
 
 "You are right, mine host," said Le Glorieux. 
 " My comrade sings in such a way that I am sure 
 
 28 
 
A FESTIVAL AT THE INN 
 
 the nightingales outside will cease to trill from 
 pure envy." 
 
 Musicians, and indeed all people who are capa- 
 ble of entertaining others, have fits of diffidence 
 at the most unexpected moments, and although he 
 was in the habit of singing for the ladies of the 
 Burgundian court, who knew far more about music 
 than these people could possibly understand, it 
 seemed to Antoine that if he could unseen escape 
 by the door, and run away into the woods, or sink 
 through the floor, it would be the greatest boon 
 that could happen to him. Not being able to 
 efface himself in any way, he resorted to a fib, 
 and said that he would be most happy to oblige 
 them, but that a string of his lute was broken, and 
 that he had no other with which to replace it. 
 
 Le Glorieux strode to the corner of the room 
 and took up the lute where the boy had placed it 
 before supper. It was an instrument resembling 
 a modern mandolin with a crooked neck, as if it 
 had once been strangled, and becoming convulsed 
 in the effort to breathe, had remained petrified in 
 that position. 
 
 The jester held the instrument out at arm's 
 length, saying, " It is strange, but even a lute can 
 not remain disabled in the neighborhood of the 
 good Saint Roch. Here are all the strings in a per- 
 fectly sound condition, and fairly quivering with 
 anxiety to be played on." 
 
 A fib, like a murder, will "out" sooner or later, 
 
 29 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 and realizing this fact, Antoine said nothing more, 
 but striking a few chords began to sing, though in 
 a quavering voice. 
 
 " See here, Antoine," said his friend, stopping 
 him, " I have praised your voice and I am not 
 going to have you sing like a frog that is choking 
 to death in a pond. Open your mouth and let your 
 words out instead of keeping them prisoners be- 
 hind your teeth." 
 
 The boy was very angry at being thus derided, 
 and his voice rang loud and flute-like in an old 
 chanson of Burgundy, to which his audience lis- 
 tened with great pleasure, the innkeeper's wife re- 
 marking at its close that it was one she often had 
 sung in her childhood. 
 
 " Let him sing some more songs of Burgundy," 
 said the child in the window, speaking for the 
 first time since she had made the remark about the 
 hawk. 
 
 Antoine complied, and in the middle of the sec- 
 ond song the company was surprised by the 
 entrance of a large woman clad in a loose robe and 
 a nightcap, who, without a word of apology, 
 crossed the room to the window and waving her 
 arms with their wide, flowing sleeves, which in this 
 position gave her the appearance of a large bird 
 that is about to fly, poured out a torrent of words in 
 a strange language, then, swooping upon the little 
 girl, swept her from the window and held her im- 
 prisoned in her wing-like arms. 
 
 30 
 
She laid it on baby Mary's breast P^gc 3 1 
 
A FESTIVAL AT THE INN 
 
 The child replied in the same language and in a 
 voice of indignation, but the woman was about to 
 carry her from the room, when the little one 
 struggled to the floor, and taking a piece of money 
 from a small purse at her girdle, she crossed the 
 floor and laid it on baby Mary's breast. Then 
 turning with a brief " Good night " to the others, 
 she followed her grotesque attendant from the 
 room. 
 
 "Now I wonder," said Le Glorieux, "if that 
 woman is kidnapping the child? " 
 
 "I think not," said the innkeeper. "That was 
 the woman who came with her to the inn, though 
 she did not look like herself in that garb." 
 
 " To come before a large company in her night- 
 cap like that was disgraceful," said one of the 
 women. 
 
 " She was too agitated to think of her appear- 
 ance," said the friar. " I think she was very much 
 annoyed at the little one for coming down here 
 alone." 
 
 " As if we were ogres to swallow her ! " cried the 
 innkeeper's mother indignantly. 
 
 " She has given our little one a fine present," 
 said the baby's mother, examining the coin by the 
 rush light. "Husband, it is gold!" 
 
 "That child is not an ordinary person; I have 
 said so all along," said the host, with conviction. 
 
 Then a lively discussion followed, some of the 
 women, and indeed some of the men also, declar- 
 
 31 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 ing that the authorities should be notified and the 
 matter investigated in order to find if the child 
 were being carried ofif and away from her home in 
 an unlawful manner. 
 
 "My friends," said Le Glorieux, " perhaps the 
 advice of a fool is worth nothing, but such as it is 
 you are welcome to it. I always have found that 
 when in doubt as to what course to pursue, you 
 will be convinced that the best plan is to go ahead 
 and attend strictly to your own affairs. That beau- 
 tiful child knows just why she is here, and it is not 
 against her will, for she had ample time to tell us 
 her troubles and to ask our aid if she cared to do 
 so before that old bird of prey swooped down upon 
 her. So let us go to bed and to sleep, for some of 
 us, at least this boy and myself, must be up bright 
 and early and away before the dew is off the grass." 
 
 And so the guests departed to their several homes 
 or to their rooms in the inn, while the host blew 
 out the lights, closed the lattice, and secured the 
 door. And the nightingales sang on undisturbed. 
 
 32 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING 
 
 As the Lady Clotilde and her train were about to 
 ride away the next morning, Le Glorieux said to 
 Antoine, "I think I will go back to the shrine of 
 Saint Roch. You may wait for me. It is only a 
 little way and we can soon overtake the others." 
 
 "But why do you wish to visit the shrine?" 
 asked the boy. 
 
 " I want to say a little prayer for the gout." 
 " I never heard you complain of the gout." 
 "And small wonder, for I have not a sign of it." 
 "Then why do you want to pray to be cured of 
 a malady which you never had? " 
 
 " I am afraid that I may have it," said the fool. 
 " Brittany is a very rich country; the Duchess Anne 
 is the greatest heiress in Christendom, and of course 
 there is to be found at her court everything that the 
 appetite craves, and some day all this may bring 
 on the gout. There is nothing like taking things in 
 time, and it may be a good while before I shall 
 again be so near the good saint." 
 
 "Very well," said Antoine, " go, if you like, and 
 I will wait by the roadside for you." 
 
 So Le Glorieux rode back to the shrine, which 
 
 33 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 was some half a mile out of his way, and remained 
 for a good while, for he remembered a number of 
 other maladies that might attack him in the future, 
 and he thought it was well to be on the safe side by 
 beseeching the saint to keep them all at a respectful 
 distance. 
 
 Finishing his orisons at last, he rode forward 
 with as brisk a pace as Pittacus was willing to carry 
 him, but to his surprise and indignation Antoine 
 was not waiting for him, nor was he able to over- 
 take the others. There was nothing to do, there- 
 fore, but to ride on alone to the city of Rennes, 
 where the court of Brittany was then staying, and 
 where he hoped to arrive before nightfall. 
 
 But Le Glorieux missed the company of his com- 
 rade, upon whom he resolved to be revenged for 
 thus leaving him in the lurch, and he rode along 
 turning over his wrongs in his mind with a mien 
 far less gay than he was wont to present. 
 
 He found as the day began to grow older and the 
 clock of his appetite pointed to the time to refresh 
 himself, that the only meal obtainable was a crust 
 of black bread and a cup of goat's milk procured at 
 a peasant's hut along the way. 
 
 " I prayed to be defended from gout," reflected 
 the fool, " but I hope Saint Roch does not intend to 
 keep the disease at bay by allowing me only coarse, 
 plain food. Would it not be a terrible thing if he 
 should put it into the Lady Anne's mind that feed- 
 ing a jester well spoils his wit?" 
 
 34 
 
Beseeching the saint 
 
 P'^g' 34 
 
AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING 
 
 As the afternoon was warm, Le Glorieux said, 
 " Pandora, you look sleepy; Pittacus, I am sure that 
 you need a little rest, while I am drowsy. I will 
 just take a small nap under this tree." 
 
 So, after securing the donkey to the tree, and 
 allowing Pandora to perch on his saddle, with her 
 cord attached to a ring at the back of it, Le Glo- 
 rieux stretched himself on the ground, and soon 
 was asleep. 
 
 A very sound sleeper, he remained wrapped in 
 the unconsciousness of slumber until the sun was 
 seeking his bed in the west, when he woke suddenly 
 with a start, thinking that Antoine was calling him 
 to get up in the morning. First rubbing his eyes 
 to get the sleep out of them, the jester began to look 
 around for his donkey, for, greatly to his surprise 
 and dismay, Pittacus no longer stood where his 
 master had tied him, both steed and hawk having 
 vanished as completely as if the earth had swal- 
 lowed them up. And still worse was to come, for 
 a silk purse worn at his belt, which contained all 
 of his worldly wealth, had disappeared with his 
 other property. 
 
 " Robbed ! " groaned Le Glorieux, sinking to the 
 ground and clasping his hands convulsively about 
 his knees. " On a strange soil, afoot, and without 
 a coin to bless myself with. Sometimes I begin to 
 think that I am growing wise, and then it is borne 
 in upon me that I am nothing but a fool after all, 
 for what man in his senses would sleep beside the 
 
 35 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 road in broad daylight, with all his possessions un- 
 guarded?" 
 
 He made up his mind that he had been the vic- 
 tim of a highwayman, which was the natural con- 
 clusion at which to arrive, though, strange to say, 
 his sword had not been taken, and his pistol, which 
 he had placed on the ground beside him, was still 
 where he had left it. 
 
 "A coward," thought the fool, " to rob a man in 
 his sleep, and not a bray from Pittacus, not a scream 
 from Pandora, to give me warning! How kind I 
 have been to those brutes, and they go with a 
 stranger as cheerfully as if they were not leaving 
 their best friend." 
 
 He remained for some time bewailing his ill- 
 luck, and then, reminded by the lateness of the hour 
 that it was necessary to resume his journey, he set 
 out disconsolately on foot. 
 
 After walking a short distance Le Glorieux be- 
 held something, the sight of which amazed him 
 quite as much as the discovery of the robbery had 
 done, and made him wonder if he were still dream- 
 ing. Secured to a tree and contentedly munching 
 a bunch of thistles which happily were within 
 the range allowed by the length of his halter, was 
 Pittacus! " But Pandora?" cried the jester, for the 
 bird was not tied to the saddle and he feared that 
 she had flown away. 
 
 A faint tinkle of bells called his attention to the 
 tree, and there, tied to a limb, was Pandora, who 
 
 36 
 
AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING 
 
 seemed to be guarding her master's purse, which 
 was fastened to a twig beneath her. 
 
 Le Glorieux stared with astonishment at finding 
 his belongings in this strange manner. That any 
 one should have taken, and repenting have returned 
 them, he could not believe, and there was but one 
 explanation of the occurrence that seemed at all 
 reasonable. 
 
 It was an age in which witches, fairies, and all 
 sorts of supernatural beings were believed to exist, 
 and the fool had no doubt that a witch had played 
 this trick upon him. She would not need a donkey, 
 for everybody knew that when a witch wished to 
 change her usual mode of traveling, she could in 
 the twinkling of an eye turn a bundle of faggots 
 into a horse, which would do very well until she 
 wished to cross water, when it would resume its 
 original form. At any rate, Pittacus was no sort 
 of a mount for a witch, not being sufficiently swift 
 for those lively ladies. A witch could change al- 
 most anything into a hawk, so she would not need 
 Pandora, and as to his purse, what use would money 
 be to a creature who could have anything she 
 wanted without the trouble of paying for it? Yes, 
 a witch had done this just from pure mischief and a 
 desire to meddle with something which did not in 
 the least concern her. 
 
 Le Glorieux put his purse inside his doublet, de- 
 termined that the next person who took it from him, 
 whether witch or highwayman, must fight to get 
 
 Z7 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 it. Then taking the bird on his wrist he said, 
 " Pandora, you might, yes, you might have given 
 just one little shriek to let me know what was going 
 on. But why do I reproach you, when no doubt 
 she cast a spell over you to keep you from making a 
 sound?" 
 
 Then he remembered that with night coming on 
 this was not a safe locality in which to remain, for 
 if witches could cut such capers in broad daylight, 
 what might they not do under cover of darkness, 
 when they are supposed to carry out their choicest 
 and most fantastic schemes? So he hurriedly 
 mounted and sped along the road as rapidly as the 
 donkey could travel. 
 
 It was not a pleasant ride through the murky 
 twilight and the gathering gloom of the forest, 
 which he now had entered. The limbs of a dead 
 tree seemed to be long gray arms reaching out to 
 seize him, while to his ears, strained to catch the 
 slightest sound, the crackle of the leaves in the 
 breeze was the smothered laughter of certain ladies 
 supposed to ride on broomsticks, who were amus- 
 ing themselves at the jester's expense. 
 
 It was some time after dark when he saw a num- 
 ber of lights dotting the gloom before him, and he 
 knew that he was approaching Rennes. Greatly 
 cheered by the sight, he put spurs to Pittacus, and 
 in a short time arrived at the gates of the palace 
 and galloped into the courtyard with allthe assur- 
 ance of a guest who is expected.' 
 
 38 
 
AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING 
 
 As Le Glorieux dismounted a small figure came 
 running out to meet him. It was Antoine, who ex- 
 claimed, " Oh, Le Glorieux, how rejoiced I am that 
 you have arrived in safety!" 
 
 " If harm had befallen me I should have borne 
 it alone," returned the jester coldly, "as you did 
 not wait for me as you promised to do." 
 
 " I — I — wanted to hurry," stammered the boy. 
 
 "Well, you did hurry, and you were here long 
 before me, and I hope you are satisfied. Small dif- 
 ference does it make to you that those wretched 
 witches played me such a scurvy trick. They might 
 have turned me into a salamander for all you would 
 have cared." 
 
 And without waiting for a reply the jester 
 stalked away. 
 
 The various homes of the dukes of Brittany were 
 sumptuous abodes, and Francis the Second, the last 
 of them, was a noble of great wealth who spent his 
 money freely, and was fond of beautifying his sur- 
 roundings. Le Glorieux walked through spacious 
 apartments that were decorated, gilded, and 
 carved, and hung with richest tapestries, but he 
 trod the polished floors with the air of one who 
 was perfectly at home in a palace, and accus- 
 tomed to luxurious surroundings. This was indeed 
 the case, as he had gone as a page to the court 
 of Burgundy. He was so happy to be where all 
 was bright and cheerful and to have escaped from 
 the dangers of the, forest, that he did not mind the 
 
 39 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 severe scathing given him for his tardiness by the 
 Lady Clotilde. 
 
 The young Duchess of Brittany was in the long 
 salon surrounded by the ladies and gentlemen of 
 her court. She was one of the most interesting per- 
 sonages of Europe at that time, for, as has already 
 been said, her father's death had left her the richest 
 heiress in Christendom, the owner of a province 
 that France had been trying by hook or by crook 
 to gain possession of for the last five hundred years ; 
 a young maiden whose hand had already been 
 sought by the heirs to the crowns of England, 
 France, Austria, and Spain, although she was but 
 fifteen years of age. 
 
 'The young readers of this story whose parents 
 bear all their burdens for them will find it difficult 
 to understand the position of the little duchess. Her 
 father had idolized her and had stood between her 
 and all care, but at his death, three years before the 
 time when we first meet her, she found herself at the 
 head of a government with many weighty matters 
 awaiting her decision, with a man she detested 
 ■waiting to marry her, with clever statesmen plot- 
 ting against her, and great nations threatening war. 
 But now matters had taken a better turn ; she had 
 refused to marry the detested man, France had 
 withdrawn its troops from Breton soil, and once 
 more peace smiled upon the land. 
 
 The Lady Anne was tall for a girl of her age; 
 she was very fair, and her cheeks glowed with the 
 
 40 
 
AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING 
 
 bloom of health; her nose was straight, and when 
 she smiled her mouth was particularly attractive, 
 the expression of her face being always very pleas- 
 ing. Her gown of soft dark silken material was 
 more simple than those w^orn by some of her ladies, 
 and on her brown hair she wore a kind of close cap 
 made entirely of pearls. 
 
 " And you are Le Glorieux, sent by our cousin of 
 Burgundy? " she said, after the jester had made his 
 obeisance. 
 
 "Yes, Cousin Anne. Her Grace of Burgundy 
 wished to send you something very precious, for 
 she entertains a great amount of respect and love 
 for you. She had a big emerald which Uncle 
 Philip had taken from a Frenchman, who had 
 taken it from a Spaniard, who had taken it from a 
 Moor, which she was going to send you, but she 
 said, 'No, that is not my most precious possession. 
 The jewel of my heart is Le Glorieux, who scin- 
 tillates day and night; he shall be presented to the 
 most beautiful and the wisest of rulers.' " 
 
 The duchess laughed as she said, "Never did I 
 expect to own so large a jewel. Our cousin of Bur- 
 gundy is most kind." 
 
 Passing the Lady Clotilda as he moved behind 
 the chair of the duchess, Le Glorieux whispered to 
 the former, " At least we shall not be bored by rem- 
 iniscences here, for her Grace is too young to have 
 had any past. Cousin Clotilde, did you ever hear 
 of the princess who kissed the poet?" 
 
 41 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 The Lady Clotilde thought jokes a great waste of 
 time, and she rarely saw the point to one when she 
 heard it, but now she actually smiled, an act so un- 
 usual with this good lady that the jester afterward 
 declared to Antoine that the muscles of her face 
 creaked, being rusty from disuse. 
 
 Time for the rich of the fifteenth century was 
 divided quite dififerently from what it is to-day. 
 At dawn the watchman blew a horn to announce 
 the approach of day, after which the servants and 
 retainers about the castle began their serious duties, 
 while the heads of the family dressed, said their 
 prayers, and attended mass in their own chapel. 
 
 At ten o'clock dinner was ready, and after re- 
 maining at table as long as possible, the gentlemen 
 adjourned to the courtyard to play tennis, a game 
 which is hundreds of years old. Supper was at four, 
 after which the lords and ladies of the manor were 
 ready to be amused at whatever form of divertise- 
 ment that presented itself. 
 
 The duchess and her ladies had been playing at 
 cards called " tarotsi' from their checkered backs, 
 a game for which the Lady Anne, at least to-night, 
 did not seem to care, for she threw the cards about 
 carelessly and appeared to be thinking of some- 
 thing else. 
 
 She seemed to be relieved and to give a ready 
 assent when a page announced that there were cer- 
 tain performers below who craved the honor of 
 playing before her Grace, the Duchess of Brittany. 
 
 42 
 
AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING 
 
 Theaters as we now have them were then unknown, 
 and strolling players traveled over the country 
 doing their various tricks at inns or in the houses 
 of the rich, where they were paid according to the 
 generosity of the audience. During the day they 
 performed in courtyards, but to-night they ap- 
 peared in the grand salon, the assembled company 
 moving to one end of it to give greater room. 
 
 First came a man with a performing monkey, 
 whose antics excited roars of laughter, followed by 
 a jongleuse, or female juggler, who won a great 
 deal of admiration by her dexterity in whirling a 
 little drum about on the very tips of her fingers. 
 Then came a man who could turn a number of 
 somersaults without touching his hands to the 
 floor, which would seem to have been a dangerous 
 feat to attempt, for before each performance he 
 was careful to make the sign of the cross. 
 
 This ended the program of the players, and Le 
 Glorieux, who had watched them from his place 
 on the floor, where, sprawling with his elbow rest- 
 ing on a cushion, he was making himself as com- 
 fortable as possible, was now anxious to have 
 Antoine appear, for he knew that in his way the boy 
 was far more talented than any who had to-night 
 performed before the court. So, with the permis- 
 sion of the duchess, he went to fetch Antoine. 
 
 "Now, my young friend," said he, taking the 
 boy by the ear, " I want you to do us both credit. 
 No choking and squeaking to-night, if you please." 
 
 43 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 " You do not know what it is to be seized with a 
 panic," retorted Antoine sulkily. ''Very easy it is 
 for you, who have the impudence to flout kings, to 
 talk thus to one who is frightened of strangers." 
 
 "Fie!" exclaimed Le Glorieux. "Do not think 
 of what the people think of you ; think of what you 
 think of them, and you will have no trouble," 
 which, although a sentence having a good many 
 " thinks " in it, is not a bad rule to follow when per- 
 forming in public. 
 
 Antoine seemed to heed his friend's advice, for 
 he began a lively air so inspiring that the duchess 
 kept time with her small fingers on the arm of her 
 chair, while Le Glorieux sprang up and danced in 
 a series of glides and whirls, with his fantastic 
 figure reflected in the polished floor. 
 
 A good while before the period of which I am 
 telling you there were trouveres and troubadours 
 who used to compose songs while they were singing 
 them. Antoine, being a born musician, often did 
 the same thing when he was in the humor for it, 
 and that too with considerable success. 
 
 He now began a weird little accompaniment sug- 
 gesting the sighing of the wind through the woods, 
 and then followed the woeful tale of witches who 
 stole a knight's purse and horse and hawk, and later 
 transformed the knight himself into a dancing der- 
 vish who kept on whirling and whirling for ever. 
 There was a twinkle of mischief in the boy's eyes 
 as he sang, and although the company thrilled de- 
 
 44 
 
^AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING 
 
 liciously at the blood-curdling passages, Le Glo- 
 rieux knew quite well who was meant by the 
 bewitched knight. 
 
 When the song was finished the fool stalked for- 
 ward and picked up the singer by the back of the 
 neck as a mother cat lifts her kittens. " I under- 
 stand it all now," said he. " Cousin Anne, I 
 thought the witches had played me a trick this 
 afternoon, but it was this little villain, who evi- 
 dently skulked along behind me, awaiting his 
 opportunity to do me some mischief!" 
 
 " I am sure her Grace will not be interested in 
 your private matters," said the Lady Clotilda 
 coldly. 
 
 But the duchess was young enough to be inter- 
 ested in nonsense, and she demanded the whole 
 story, Antoine explaining his part of it by saying 
 that he had been waiting all day to be revenged 
 upon his comrade because the latter had insisted 
 upon his singing at the inn on the previous night. 
 " But I did not know, your Highness, that he would 
 sleep so long, else I should not have gone away and 
 left him there. I was very unhappy about him 
 when night came on and he had not yet arrived." 
 
 Just as Antoine had finished speaking, a servant 
 came to announce the coming of some of her 
 Grace's soldiers, saying that the captain of her 
 troop desired an audience, which was granted at 
 once. 
 
 An officer now entered, a dark-browed man with 
 
 45 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 a somewhat forbidding face, who, after bending 
 the knee to the duchess and saluting the company, 
 began his story in the satisfied tone of one who feels 
 that he has been quick to see his duty and has done 
 it rather better than most people would have man- 
 aged it in his place. 
 
 He said that he had stopped that morning at an 
 inn for some refreshments, and that the innkeeper 
 had shown him a gold piece given his child the 
 night before by a little girl whose costume did not 
 warrant the gift, and that the latter had seemed so 
 much superior in station to the woman with whom 
 she was traveling that he could not help fearing 
 that the child was being unlawfully conveyed 
 away. 
 
 Later the officer and his men had overtaken the 
 mysterious couple, and after putting some ques- 
 tions the officer was convinced that the woman had 
 been sent to Brittany by the French, for she had 
 become very much confused when he questioned 
 her, and implored him to allow her to go on her 
 way unmolested. Her words and manner excited 
 his suspicions still further, and without more ado 
 heiiad taken them both prisoners, and had brought 
 them to the palace with him. The woman was a 
 foreigner, she said, but she acknowledged that she 
 had lived for years in France, and he did not hesi- 
 tate to say that he believed her to be a spy. 
 
 The Lady Anne, so far from being gratified by 
 this intelligence, looked very much annoyed. " We 
 
 46 
 
AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING 
 
 are no longer at war with France," she said coldly. 
 " It would have been better to have believed the 
 woman's account of herself and let the two go on 
 their way." 
 
 Considerably dismayed at thus being reproved 
 where he had expected to be commended, the of- 
 ficer could not forbear to reply that France had 
 broken her word with Brittany in the past, and who 
 could tell but that she might be planning some new 
 piece of treachery? 
 
 "Let the prisoners appear before me," said the 
 duchess, and after some little delay the prisoners 
 were brought in, and Le Glorieux and Antoine be- 
 held — as the former, at least, had suspected — the 
 same woman and child who had stopped at the inn 
 on the previous night. 
 
 The woman was pale and frightened, and she 
 sobbed bitterly as she knelt at the feet of her Grace 
 of Brittany. The child too w^as pale, but she stood 
 silent, with her small hands clasped before her, not 
 offering to kneel, as did her companion. 
 
 " Oh, gracious lady, give us permission to go on 
 our way at dawn to-morrow!" implored the 
 woman. "We have been brought out of our way 
 by your soldiers, and if we do not reach home soon 
 I do not know what will happen," and she con- 
 cluded with another burst of tears. 
 
 "You should be German by your accent," said 
 the duchess kindly. " Calm yourself and tell me 
 your name and why you have come to Brittany." 
 
 47 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 The woman hesitated, and the child said quietly, 
 " Tell her Grace your name ; there is no reason why 
 you should not do so." 
 
 " Cunegunda Leutner; I am an Austrian, your 
 Grace," was the reply. 
 
 "Then she is a subject of your own, after all. 
 Cousin Anne, since you are to marry the Archduke 
 of Austria, Poco Danari/' interposed Le Glorieux, 
 who was not afraid to rush in where angels fear to 
 tread. 
 
 The little duchess blushed crimson at this speech. 
 Perhaps she was annoyed to hear the name Poco 
 Danari, which means poverty-stricken, applied to 
 her lover, and which had been given to Maximilian 
 of Austria because his rich old father was too stingy 
 to allow him necessary funds. Whatever the cause, 
 she seemed about to administer a rebuke to the 
 fool, then controlling herself turned again to the 
 woman. 
 
 "And the girl, is she your child?" 
 
 "No, your Grace, but I have cared for her from 
 the day she was born." 
 
 " What brought you to Brittany? " 
 
 " For the reason I told your Grace's soldiers. I 
 visited the shrine of Saint Roch, the blessed saint 
 whose fame for healing all maladies is known far 
 and wide." 
 
 " You do not look like an invalid," remarked the 
 duchess, surveying the stout figure and round face 
 of the speaker. 
 
 48 
 
AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING 
 
 " It is the migraine, your Grace, a pain which 
 has troubled me day and night, and which leeches 
 tell me is liable to reach the heart. Oh, dear and 
 gracious lady, I should not care for myself; life is 
 not so precious that I should want to cling to it; it 
 is for this little one that I want to live, and for that 
 reason I have taken this long journey to implore 
 the blessed saint to cure me, that my life may be 
 spared until she no longer needs me." 
 
 " Is the child an orphan? " 
 
 ^'Her mother is dead, your Grace. Her mother 
 bade me always to be a friend to her, and I 
 promised." 
 
 " Her father is married to a woman who is un- 
 kind to her?" 
 
 " He — he — is about to be married, your Grace," 
 stammered the woman. 
 
 " Cousin Anne," again interrupted the jester, 
 " this woman is telling the truth about the visit to 
 the shrine of Saint Roch. I saw her and the child 
 going there this morning just as I was coming away 
 after a long prayer to be relieved of the gout, which 
 I never have had, but which may overtake me like 
 a thief in the night." 
 
 Every one smiled at this remark save the duchess, 
 who again turned to the Austrian. " Why did you 
 bring the child with you upon a journey fraught 
 with discomfort, if not with danger?" 
 
 " Because, your Grace, I have sworn never to 
 leave her, and never a night of her life has she slept 
 
 49 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 without my first smoothing the coverlid over her 
 little body." 
 
 "What is her name? Who is she?" 
 
 The Austrian v^as silent a moment. " If it please 
 your Grace, there are reasons which forbid a reply 
 to that question," she said slowly. 
 
 "But I insist upon a reply," said the Duchess 
 Anne, with a touch of that firmness which made 
 her appear older than her years. 
 
 The prisoner bent her head still lower as she 
 replied in tones of emotion, " Gracious lady, so well 
 beloved by your subjects, show us a little of that 
 kindness you vouchsafe to others. We ask no favor 
 but to be allowed to depart early to-morrow morn- 
 ing. It is necessary for us to go. I know not what 
 will happen if we are longer delayed. Believe me, 
 I am speaking the truth." 
 
 "Truly," said the young duchess gently, "we 
 each have a right to the secret of our hearts." After 
 a moment's reflection she said, "You shall go 
 within five days at most, and in a company that 
 w^ill insure your protection. Until your departure 
 you shall be made as comfortable as possible, and 
 you shall not leave my domains empty-handed. 
 This much at least I owe you for the discom- 
 fort you have suffered through my overzealous 
 soldiers." 
 
 To remain as a guest in this splendid abode, and 
 to receive a sum of money at the end of the visit, 
 to say nothing of a safe conduct home, would not 
 
 50 
 
« * I am Marguerite of Hapsburg ! ' ' P^ge 3 1 
 
AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING 
 
 by most people be considered a hardship, but the 
 woman looked as if she had received a blow. " Oh, 
 lady," she moaned, "your Grace means to be kind, 
 but let us go to-morrow. Not an hour longer 
 must we wait. Even now our absence may be 
 discovered." 
 
 "Discovered?" said the Lady Anne. "Why 
 should a pious journey require so much secrecy? 
 But guard your secret if you like. You shall de- 
 part within five days, as I have said; it may be a 
 little earlier; it will not be longer than that time." 
 
 "Alas," cried the woman, turning wildly to the 
 child and seeming to forget all caution, " what will 
 she say when she finds that we are away? Cold 
 and revengeful as her father, she may send me to 
 my death!" 
 
 " Of whom are you speaking? " asked the duchess 
 wonderingly. "Who has the power to punish so se- 
 verely a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Roch?" 
 
 Overcome by her emotion, the woman made no 
 reply, but the child now stepped forward and said 
 in a voice that all might hear, "The Duchess of 
 Brittany has no right to keep me here against my 
 will! I shall depart when I please. My rank is 
 higher than yours. You ask my name? You shall 
 know it, happen what will. I am the grand- 
 daughter of an emperor; I am the future Queen 
 of France. / am Marguerite of Hapsburg!" 
 
 An earthquake shaking the palace from turret 
 to donjon keep would not have caused a greater 
 
 SI 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 degree of surprise, for there was something in 
 the manner, the tone, and the expression of the 
 child that left no room for doubt. Her exquisitely- 
 poised head was thrown proudly back, and though 
 her full red lips quivered slightly, her eyes were 
 dry and bright. 
 
 Strange to say, the fool of the company was the 
 first to gain his self-possession. With a swift, glid- 
 ing step he advanced toward the little lady, and 
 kneeling he pressed her hand to his lips. " Mary's 
 little child! " he exclaimed with a half sob. 
 
 "You said last night that you would give a year 
 of your life to see the daughter of Mary of Bur- 
 gundy, and now your wish is granted for naught," 
 said Marguerite, smiling. 
 
 The Lady Anne now came forward, and clasp- 
 ing the princess in her arms kissed her on both 
 cheeks. "The little lady whom of all others I 
 have most desired to see!" she said. "Happily 
 sheltered in the arms of my own dear father I 
 heard of you, a tiny child away from your parents 
 and in a strange country. And once I sent you a 
 doll. I dare say you have forgotten it," she went 
 on, half laughing. " It was a fashion model that 
 had been sent to my grandmother, who was going 
 to live at the court of France in the time of Charles 
 the Seventh, and it was one of my dearest posses- 
 sions. It wore a high pointed cap with a long 
 flowing veil, and it had long pointed shoes." 
 
 "It must have looked like the old Duchess of 
 
 52 
 
AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING 
 
 Burgundy," remarked Le Glorieux, who was again 
 his old impudent self. "Did it talk of the prin- 
 cess who kissed the poet, Cousin Anne?" 
 
 " It was dressed in the mode of the princess who 
 kissed the poet," she returned, laughing. " Do you 
 remember it, Lady. Marguerite?" 
 
 " Yes, Lady Anne, and I have it still. Since the 
 day you sent it I always have remembered you in 
 my prayers. With it came a little chain set with 
 pearls, but I liked the doll best." 
 
 Just here the jester began to laugh immoder- 
 ately, slapping his knees and stamping at the same 
 time, while every one else smiled in sympathy. 
 
 "What do you find so very amusing, Fool?" 
 asked the Lady Anne. 
 
 He replied, " Some things that happen in royal 
 families are so very funny that they would make 
 Pandora, my hawk, laugh, though she is such a 
 sulky little brute. Once explained to Pittacus, my 
 donkey, and he would smile until every tooth in 
 his head could be seen. You asked if this child's 
 father was married to a woman who was unkind 
 to her, and her nurse said he was about to be mar- 
 ried. And you. Cousin Anne, ha! ha! you are to 
 be the cruel stepmother!" 
 
 There was no denying the fact that the Lady 
 Anne was about to be the stepmother of the Lady 
 Marguerite, for Maximilian, who was still young 
 and handsome, was shortly to marry the young 
 Duchess of Brittany. 
 
 53 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 But again the duchess seemed to be embarrassed, 
 and she turned her back to Le Glorieux as she 
 said, "My dear Lady Marguerite, I will not keep 
 you here a moment when you must be overcome 
 with fatigue. I will send you to your apartments, 
 where supper shall be served you, and then when 
 you have retired and are resting I will come and 
 talk to you, if I may." 
 
 The princess, so far from being conducted to the 
 plain but comfortable quarters which would have 
 been hers had her identity remained a secret, was 
 now shown all the deference accorded a person of 
 rank. Pages, maids, and even ladies of high de- 
 gree, rushed about to make her comfortable, a deli- 
 cious supper was served, and she lay down to rest 
 beneath the gold-embroidered canopy of a couch 
 even more sumptuous than her own bed in the 
 palace of Amboise. 
 
 Cunegunda, who had been given a room next 
 to that of her young mistress, after smoothing the 
 silken coverlid over her young charge, satisfied that 
 nothing dreadful was going to happen to-night, 
 at least, had retired, and was sleeping the sleep of 
 the fatigued when the Lady Anne entered the 
 apartment of her young guest. 
 
 The duchess had changed her gown for a long 
 robe of dark blue silk trimmed in fur, with a little 
 cap of the same, and in this plainer garb she seemed 
 younger and less stately than in the earlier part of 
 the evening. 
 
 54 
 
AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING 
 
 The princess, with her bright hair flowing over 
 the cushions against which she leaned, seemed 
 pathetically young, and it is a singular fact that 
 about these two children revolved the most im- 
 portant events in the history of Europe at that 
 time, events which drove great statesmen to their 
 wits' end, and changed the map of France for all 
 time. 
 
 Sitting on the edge of the bed the Lady Anne 
 took the hand Marguerite stretched out to her, and 
 stroking it gently, said simply, " And now tell me 
 all about it. I long to know why France so lightly 
 guards a princess intrusted to her keeping." 
 
 " It was as Cunegunda told you," was the reply. 
 " She was suffering and the leeches frightened her. 
 She always has been my nurse. When I was a baby, 
 and, by the desire of our subjects, was sent with 
 my brother to live in Flanders, my beautiful young 
 mother — whom I can not remember — made Cune- 
 gunda promise never to leave me, for she knew 
 that my nurse loved me, and love can not be bought. 
 My mother, as you know, was killed when hunting, 
 but Cunegunda never forgot her promise. She 
 came to France with me, and though there are with 
 me Lady Ravenstein and others of my father's 
 court, I feel that none of them is so fond of me as 
 she, for I know that if necessary she would give 
 her life for mine. Anne of Beaujeu, Duchess of 
 Bourbon and sister to the king, is like King Louis, 
 her father, and she would not scruple to take a cruel 
 
 55 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 revenge should she feel so inclined. We both dis- 
 like her very much, and that is why we are anxious 
 to return before she hears of our absence." 
 
 "Did no one know that you had left the palace 
 of Amboise?" asked the duchess. 
 
 " Only a few of the servants, who were bribed to 
 keep silence. The Duchess of Bourbon lately has 
 been away, and I have seen but little of her. Some 
 of the other ladies have been ill, and one of them 
 is about to be married. Cunegunda gave it out 
 that I had been attacked by some contagious child- 
 ish malady, I do not know what, and this kept them 
 away from my apartments, and we stole out early 
 one morning and mounting our mules came away." 
 
 "Were you not afraid to go on a journey without 
 any one of authority in your train, and with no 
 one to guard you from highwaymen?" 
 
 "No, Lady Anne. Cunegunda loves me, you 
 know, and she was better than any one of rank. 
 She made a little stuff gown for me, and she said 
 that traveling alone and unattended we should 
 attract no attention, and could go on our way 
 unmolested. 
 
 " I have been quite happy during the trip, for it 
 was all so new and so strange to me, and it was so 
 pleasant not to be surrounded by people who were 
 always watching me. But it was my fault that we 
 excited suspicion. I went down to the inn kitchen 
 to see what the common people do when they are 
 having a festival, and I felt that I must give a gold 
 
 56 
 
** And now tell me all about it " P^g^ 55 
 
/r'^ I 
 
 V 
 
AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING 
 
 piece to the baby who had been named Mary in 
 memory of my dear mother. It appears that ordi- 
 nary people do not give away so much money, 
 and that is what m^de the company at the inn 
 suspicious." 
 
 "And no wonder, you innocent little girl," re- 
 turned the Lady Anne, smiling. "A person of the 
 station represented by your dress would have given, 
 if anything, just the smallest piece of silver which 
 is fastened to a bit of leather to keep it from being 
 lost." 
 
 " I am afraid," went on the princess, " of the con- 
 sequences of our trip to Cunegunda if our absence 
 should be discovered, and as we have been away 
 longer than we had planned, I fear that even those 
 who were bribed to keep silence will think that 
 something has happened to us, and will feel it their 
 duty to report our absence. Cunegunda is afraid of 
 this, and she is terrified when she thinks of Anne 
 of Beaujeu. But as we shall go to-morrow morn- 
 ing, perhaps we shall be in Amboise before we 
 have been missed." 
 
 "Indeed, you are not going to-morrow morning, 
 my dear little sister and cousin," said Anne, using 
 the term employed by royalties when addressing 
 each other. 
 
 "Then I am afraid that we shall have a great 
 deal of trouble when we do return," said the prin- 
 cess coldly. " Of course we can not help ourselves; 
 we must remain here if you command it, but I can 
 
 57 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 not see how it will benefit you to make us stay 
 against our will. I had hoped that it would be 
 different when you had been told who you were 
 detaining; I am sorry now that I revealed our 
 secret." 
 
 She turned her head slightly, and a tear rolled 
 over her temple and dropped into the meshes of 
 her bright hair. 
 
 The duchess thrust her arm under the child's 
 head, and clasping her affectionately said, " Do 
 you think, foolish little one, that I am keeping you 
 here for spite? Within a few days you shall set out 
 for Amboise with an escort that even a queen would 
 not disdain." 
 
 " It would avail us nothing to return in royal 
 style if we were to be punished sorely at the end of 
 the journey," returned Marguerite dryly. 
 
 "You shall not be punished. I already have 
 sent a messenger to the King of France explaining 
 your absence, stating that you are in my keeping, 
 and that you will return in safety." 
 
 "The King? Oh, the King would not care. 
 But it is not he who rules France at present; it is 
 his sister, Anne of Beaujeu." 
 
 " Let it be Anne of Beaujeu, then," cried the 
 young duchess. " I promise that not one of your 
 golden hairs shall be touched, and that your faith- 
 ful nurse shall not be harmed in the least." 
 
 She rose as she spoke and looked down upon her 
 guest with a proud smile. " France will hardly 
 
 58 
 
AN EXCITING DAY AND EVENING 
 
 refuse a request made just now by Anne of Brit- 
 tany," she said. 
 
 " I feel that you will do what you promise, 
 though I do not quite understand," returned Mar- 
 guerite with a sigh of relief. 
 
 For a few moments Anne remained silent, play- 
 ing with the gilt cords that looped back the cur- 
 tains of the bed. Then she said, "You evidently 
 do not know that since our recent conflict with 
 France a treaty has been signed whereby I am 
 allowed safe conduct to join the King of the 
 Romans, your father, in Austria. I may sail from 
 St. Malo or go through France, as I choose. I 
 shall take the latter route, and you and your attend- 
 ant shall go with my suite to the nearest point to 
 Amboise, where you can travel the remainder of 
 the way in safety. Even before I knew your rank 
 I did not like to think of a dainty little creature 
 like you traveling over the country with none to 
 guard you but a woman of the people, and I was 
 going to let you make the journey under my pro- 
 tection. But now you shall ride by my side on the 
 prettiest palfrey in my stables, or in one of my 
 litters if you prefer it." And she gave Marguerite 
 a light kiss on the brow. 
 
 "Oh, I am so glad that you are going to marry 
 my father! " cried the princess, with sparkling eyes. 
 " He sent me his portrait by the Austrian ambas- 
 sador, and he is as beautiful as a knight of the Holy 
 Grail. If I were not the heiress of Burgundy and 
 
 59 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 Flanders, but only a little peasant girl, I could 
 live under my father's roof as other children do. 
 But this happiness is not to be granted me, for it 
 is arc-anged that I am to be Queen of France." 
 
 *' Those in whose veins courses royal blood may 
 not do as their hearts dictate," said Anne thought- 
 fully. " But let us talk no more to-night, for it is 
 time for those bright eyes to be closed in sleep." 
 
 The two girls embraced affectionately; then the 
 duchess left the room. 
 
 60 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 BROKEN PROMISES 
 
 After meeting " little Mademoiselle of Austria," 
 as Marguerite was called in the court of Brittany, 
 both Le Glorieux and Antoine felt that they would 
 like to be in her service, and that it was to her, 
 the daughter of their own Mary of Burgundy, to 
 whom they owed their loyalty. 
 
 The morning after her arrival the princess sent 
 for Le Glorieux and Antoine to come to her. The 
 Duchess Anne had seen to it that her guest should 
 be clad in a costume befitting her rank, and the 
 coarse gown of the peasant child had been dis- 
 carded for ever. 
 
 Marguerite asked the two comrades a great 
 many questions about the province of Burgundy, 
 and the jester told her many incidents of her 
 mother's girlhood. She listened to Antoine's Bur- 
 gundian songs with great delight, and she expressed 
 a wish that both jester and musician might accom- 
 pany her to Amboise, though she said she would 
 not be so selfish as to deprive the Duchess of Brit- 
 tany of two such merrymakers. 
 
 Cunegunda, however, was not happy at the court 
 of Brittany. " I wish that we had been permitted 
 
 6i 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 to continue our journey as we began it," she said. 
 " I am convinced that it would have been far better 
 for both of us." 
 
 "lam not afraid," replied her mistress calmly. 
 *' The Lady Anne has promised that we shall 
 return in safety, and she will not break her 
 word." But Cunegunda's round rosy face re- 
 mained thoughtful and sad. 
 
 " Something tells me that things are not right," 
 said she. " I seem to feel it in the air. Every- 
 thing is going too well for us. Here is your little 
 Highness treated like a very queen with everything 
 done to amuse you, and both of us so comfortable 
 in this beautiful palace that I feel that it is all 
 too good to be true." 
 
 The next afternoon Le Glorieux, who, as has 
 been said, being a jester was privileged to go where 
 he liked, rushed into the apartments of the princess 
 with the remark, "Our Duchess of Brittany soon 
 to be married is listening to a strange man by the 
 oriel window in the grand corridor." 
 
 "A jest upon such a subject does not amuse 
 me in the least," replied the Lady Marguerite 
 reprovingly. 
 
 "By the mass! nor does it amuse me, for from 
 the few words I caught I am sure it means some- 
 thing quite serious for you, little Cousin." 
 
 " Please explain your meaning." 
 
 The jester replied, " I was looking at those suits 
 of armor, in the corridor, worn by the ancient 
 
 63 
 
** I slipped behind the armor of a g'ant duke" P^ige (5? 
 
BROKEN PROMISES 
 
 Dukes of Brittany. I was counting the dents made 
 in the helmets and corselets by mace and battle- 
 ax, and wondering if it paid to fight so fiercely, 
 since, after all, the time would come when the 
 bravest would be as dead as anybody else, when 
 I heard the tinkle of ladies' voices, and who 
 should come into the corridor but Cousin Anne 
 and Clotilde. 
 
 " I slipped behind the armor of a giant duke and 
 stood waiting to see what was going to happen, for 
 the duchess was as white as Dame Cunegunda's 
 cap and the countenance of Clotilde was screwed 
 into an expression I never had seen it wear in all 
 the years I have reveled in the joy of her acquaint- 
 ance. They waited for a few moments, then the 
 door at the other end of the corridor was opened 
 and two gentlemen entered." 
 
 "And who were they?" asked Cunegunda 
 breathlessly. 
 
 " I have not the pleasure of the acquaintance 
 of all the gentlemen of Europe," replied the fool, 
 "and I did not recognize them; but I knew at 
 once that they were Frenchmen, As soon as they 
 had greeted the ladies the taller of the two retired 
 to the other end of the corridor, and Clotilde, as 
 if not to be outdone in politeness, withdrew to the 
 other door; but I remained quietly in my place, 
 for I wanted to hear what was going on. Why is 
 it that people always talk in such low mumbling 
 voices when one is trying to hear what they are 
 
 63 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 saying? I have good large ears, and I strained 
 them to their utmost capacity, but I could only 
 catch a word now and then. 
 
 " I know that the gentleman was urging Cousin 
 Anne to 'do something she did not want to do, and 
 that it was a plot against Mademoiselle of Austria, 
 for I heard Anne say, ' Dishonorable both to the 
 King of the Romans and to the Lady Marguerite.' 
 I wanted to hear more, but Clotilde, who I verily 
 believe was created on purpose to make me uncom- 
 fortable, seemed to suspect that there was some- 
 body in the place who had not been invited and 
 began to peer about pop-eyed, like a cat in search 
 of a mouse." 
 
 "Well, continue! " said Cunegunda impatiently, 
 as the fool paused. 
 
 "Let a man reach for his breath, can't you? 
 That was a long sentence. I felt that I was not 
 safe with Clotilde on the hunt for me, so, keeping 
 well in the shadows, I managed to slip to the 
 nearest archway, and I am here with a whole skin, 
 which might not have been the case if Clotilde had 
 spied me out." 
 
 "How did the gentleman appear?" asked 
 Cunegunda. 
 
 " He appeared to be pretty well, though some- 
 what anxious," replied the jester. 
 
 " She meant to ask you to describe him," said the 
 princess. 
 
 " He was not beautiful," was the reply. " I could 
 
 64 
 
BROKEN PROMISES 
 
 show you a handsomer man among her Grace's 
 falconers and could pick a better-looking one from 
 a good many other crowds. Put into the suit of 
 armor behind which I stood he would have rattled 
 about like a nut on the inside of a drum. His 
 head was large and his nose, instead of coming 
 straight down, as a sensible nose should do, made 
 a curve over the top. His eyes were big and 
 bright, and Nature, as if to make an apology for 
 giving him such a nose, had stuck a dimple in his 
 chin, which was poor taste on her part, for a 
 dimple looks queer with that kind of a nose. But 
 his manner was so gracious that I fancy one would 
 soon forget his ugliness and think only of the real 
 man shut inside that unprepossessing shell. 
 
 "That was a clever sentence, was it not?" asked 
 the fool, stopping suddenly. " I did not know that 
 I could do it. I wish I could always talk like 
 that." 
 
 " Did he have a fashion of smoothing his hair 
 from his brow as he talked? " asked the princess. 
 
 "Yes, I noticed that. He held his cap in his 
 hand, as a gentleman should. It was black, with 
 a long black plume clasped in place by a great 
 jewel that seemed to wink at me as he talked." 
 
 " It was Charles of France ! " 
 
 " It was the King!" exclaimed Marguerite and 
 her woman in the same breath. 
 
 "Because he wore a jewel in his cap?" asked 
 the jester. " Oh, fie! that is a common fashion." 
 
 65 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 "You have described the King's face and figure 
 exactly," said Cunegunda. 
 
 " Since you mention it, I think it must have been 
 the King," said the fool, " for I now recall the fact 
 that the lady addressed him as ' Monseigneur,' a 
 title not given to common mortals." 
 
 " Oh, what is going to happen to us now? " cried 
 Cunegunda, in an agony of distress. " I have 
 known all along that something dreadful was in 
 store for us in this place." 
 
 "Then it must be a mournful satisfaction to you 
 to know that you were not mistaken," remarked 
 Le Glorieux. 
 
 " Do not stand there making senseless speeches," 
 cried the Austrian woman angrily, " but try to help 
 us out of our troubles. But why do I appeal to 
 you? You do not care for us ; you are in the service 
 of our enemies." 
 
 The jester instantly became serious. " If danger 
 threatens I will serve but one. I shall know no 
 allegiance but to the princess of my own country, 
 the daughter of my beloved mistress." 
 
 Marguerite smiled brightly as she said, " I have 
 no fear that you will not defend me if it should 
 become necessary, Le Glorieux. But I do not 
 think the time has yet come for you to fight for 
 me." 
 
 "Your Highness talks like a baby," cried Cune- 
 gunda, " and as if you were a person of no conse- 
 quence! Is it a matter of small moment that the 
 
 66 
 
BROKEN PROMISES 
 
 granddaughter of the emperor should be in the 
 clutches of Anne of Brittany, who is plotting 
 against her with the King of France?" 
 
 " But why should the King of France plot 
 against me, since I am to be the queen and my 
 provinces will one day belong to him?" replied 
 her little mistress. 
 
 "Who can account for the strange schemes of 
 great nations?" asked Cunegunda. "Perhaps 
 your marriage with the King of France is about 
 to be broken ofT and he and the Duchess of Brit- 
 tany will hold you as a hostage to extract a large 
 sum from the emperor, your grandfather." 
 
 " It would be cruel to demand a large sum from 
 that old and stingy man," remarked Le Glorieux. 
 "The gold of Frederick is as hard to dig out of his 
 coffers as if it were a thousand feet under ground." 
 
 "We shall not need his money for that purpose," 
 said the princess. "My dear Duchess of Brittany 
 will never betray me, nor will Charles of France, 
 who is too good and kind to seek to injure me." 
 
 "The King is under the influence of his sister, 
 who has no thought but for her own schemes," 
 replied the woman firmly. " We must leave here 
 at once! We can escape to-night unseen and re- 
 main in some quiet village until we shall be able 
 to communicate with Austria." 
 
 Le Glorieux sat down on the floor and pressed 
 his hands to his head. "This matter is enough to 
 puzzle a wise man, to say nothing of a fool," said 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 he dolefully. "Now, let us look at it as it really 
 is and try to straighten it all out." Holding his 
 left hand out in front of him and gesticulating with 
 his right, he went on. "This thumb is Made- 
 moiselle of Austria; this forefinger is the Duchess 
 Anne; the second finger is the King of France, and 
 the third is the King of the Romans. Now, Anne 
 is going to marry the King of the Romans, whose 
 daughter is going to marry the King of France. 
 But what must Anne be at but engaged in a plot 
 against the daughter of the man she is going to 
 marry in order to make things fine and pleasant for 
 her by the time she arrives in Austria. This plot, 
 so far as I can see, is one which the King of France 
 has no reason in this world to have a finger in, but 
 which he takes all the trouble to come in secret 
 to help carry out!" 
 
 " Do not sit there tapping first one finger and 
 then the other like a great booby, but help us to 
 get away from here," said Cunegunda angrily. 
 " Here is money to bribe the groom to keep silent. 
 See that our mules are brought out " 
 
 "Stop!" said Marguerite, in a tone of calm au- 
 thority. "I have told the Duchess of Brittany 
 that I would trust her, and intend to do so. I shall 
 remain here until she goes." 
 
 "Remain here with your life in danger?" cried 
 Cunegunda, aghast. 
 
 " My life is not in danger. I know not of what 
 she was speaking to the King of France, nor how 
 
 68 
 
BROKEN PROMISES 
 
 Le Glorieux may have misunderstood her, but 
 whatever it is, my life is not in peril while I am 
 beneath the roof of Anne of Brittany. Therefore 
 I will not steal away in the night like a criminal. 
 She has said that not one hair of my head shall 
 be touched, and she will not be faithless to her 
 promise. There is nothing for us to do but to 
 keep silent and wait." 
 
 " And those two are the hardest things in this 
 world to do," said the fool. "To wait is worse 
 than the toothache, to keep silent is worse than the 
 plague, but put the two together and they are 
 enough to destroy life and reason." 
 
 At supper the question of the significance of 
 dreams came up, all discussing it in an animated 
 manner save the Lady Anne, who toyed with her 
 wineglass, often gazing down into it as if trying 
 to read her future in its ruby depths. Le Glorieux 
 sat on a low stool at her side, making a remark 
 when he felt so inclined, and studying her face 
 when he was not talking. 
 
 "There are dreams which always come true 
 for 7rz^," said the Lady Clotilde in the tone of one 
 whose word can not be disputed. "A dream of 
 the dead is one of great importance, as every one 
 knows. When I dream of my father something 
 of moment always happens. He always addresses 
 me as ' My sweet and amiable child.' " 
 
 "All kinds of love are blind," remarked the 
 jester. "I had a dream myself last night that is 
 
 69 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 of great importance," he went on with his eyes 
 fixed on the Lady Anne's face. *' I thought the 
 affairs of Brittany, Austria, and France were a pack 
 of cards, all arranged smoothly, with the proper 
 kings and queens together and the knaves at the 
 bottom of the pack. Then I could see the knaves 
 grow restless and begin to flutter, and lo! the whole 
 pack went spinning in the air, whirling about like 
 dead leaves in the mistral. And when they came 
 together again the wrong kings and queens were 
 mated; for instance, the Queen of Diamonds was 
 paired with the King of Clubs!" 
 
 A wave of color swept over the fair face of the 
 duchess, but she said calmly, " It is said that 
 dreams go by contraries, Fool; therefore yours 
 signifies that the kings will find their proper 
 queens." 
 
 But the Lady Clotilde, as the jester afterward 
 said, " pinned him with her eye," and later she 
 said in his ear, "I heard a 'fluttering' behind the 
 armor this afternoon that was not cards, for with 
 it was a faint jingle of bells." 
 
 " It must have been a dream, Cousin Clotilde,'* 
 he returned boldly, but he gnashed his teeth as he 
 thought, " Those wretched bells have betrayed me, 
 though I put up my hands and muffled them." 
 
 It was late on the following morning when the 
 watchman blew his horn, and when the Lady Mar- 
 guerite woke it seemed to her that the palace was 
 unusually quiet. She threw her arms over her 
 
 70 
 
BROKEN PROMISES 
 
 head and smiled happily as one who has pleasant 
 anticipations, for a new game in the courtyard had 
 been promised and it was of that she had thought 
 upon wakening. 
 
 The Lady Clotilde entered, followed by a tiring 
 woman. "Her Grace, the Duchess of Brittany, 
 bade me tell your Highness that she was obliged 
 to depart early this morning for reasons which she 
 can not at present explain," said Lady Clotilde. 
 "A proper escort has been provided for you. I 
 shall take charge of you, and in two days we shall 
 start for Amboise." 
 
 "The Duchess of Brittany has gone to join my 
 father without a word of farewell to me?" cried 
 the princess, in astonishment. " And she promised 
 so faithfully that I should accompany her as far as 
 possible on her journey! " 
 
 "A change of circumstances sometimes neces- 
 sitates a change of plans, and one is often compelled 
 to break a promise made in good faith. Her 
 Grace bade me assure you upon her honor that 
 no harm shall come to you, and that you shall 
 return to Amboise in safety, and also that neither 
 you nor your nurse shall be reproached for your 
 escapade. And now the mind of your Highness 
 should be at rest. Moreover, she bade me say that 
 since the jester, Le Glorieux, is so devoted to your 
 Highness she has given him to you. And permit 
 me to say upon my own account, that as the singing 
 of the page Antoine la Fitte affords your High- 
 
 71 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 ness so much pleasure I shall feel highly honored 
 if you will deign to accept his services and keep 
 him as your own." 
 
 " I thank you," replied the princess. " I shall 
 be delighted to have in my service two servitors 
 who amuse me so much, and who will be as faith- 
 ful to me as I am sure the Burgundians will be. 
 And I feel that I can safely trust in the promise 
 of the Lady Anne." 
 
 " I begin to think that my dream about the cards 
 is likely to come true," said Le Glorieux later to 
 the Lady Clotilde. 
 
 " And I think that for you a tongue well behind 
 the teeth is the safest attitude to assume in this 
 case," she returned with a frown. 
 
 " That is a strange piece of advice to give, Cousin 
 Clotilde," he replied. " Do you usually talk with 
 your tongue in front of your teeth? I never do." 
 
 "You know quite well what I mean," snapped 
 the lady. 
 
 The journey from Rennes to Amboise was not 
 a pleasant one, for the fine weather had been suc- 
 ceeded by chill winds, but the litter of Made- 
 moiselle of Austria was furnished with rich furs 
 to protect her from the cold, and with her train 
 of guards and attendants she traveled in a style 
 befitting a princess. 
 
 News traveled very slowly in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, and it was not until they had reached Am- 
 
 12 
 
The little Princess continued to sob P^ge 7J 
 
BROKEN PROMISES 
 
 boise that the mystery which had so puzzled Mar- 
 guerite and her friends was explained. 
 
 The little Lady Marguerite was received in 
 great state at the palace of Amboise by Anne of 
 Beaujeu, Duchess of Bourbon. This princess was 
 a tall, handsome, and resolute woman. Louis the 
 Eleventh said of her when he named her Regent 
 of France, " She is the least foolish of women," for, 
 being crabbed and disagreeable, he thought all 
 women more or less foolish, but that this stately 
 daughter was the most sensible of her sex. 
 
 The clandestine journey of the little princess and 
 her woman was not alluded to by the Duchess of 
 Bourbon, and one would have thought that the 
 escapade of a princess disguised as a peasant was 
 an event of common occurrence. 
 
 "And now, Madame," said Marguerite, "per- 
 haps you can tell me why the city of Amboise is 
 draped in cloth of gorgeous colors, and why every- 
 where is the air of a festival which I can not think 
 is caused by my return." 
 
 " Madame," replied Anne of Beaujeu in even 
 tones, " a matter has been kept from you for some 
 days, for to me was assigned the duty of acquaint- 
 ing you with a certain piece of news. It has been 
 deemed best that the marriages between the houses 
 of Austria and France and Austria and Brittany 
 should be broken ofif, although both France and 
 Brittany have appreciated the honor of the alli- 
 ance. Therefore, a marriage has taken place 
 
 7^ 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 between the King of France and the Duchess of 
 Brittany." 
 
 "The King of France and the Duchess of Brit- 
 tany!" exclaimed Marguerite, with flashing eyes. 
 "The JCing of France was solemnly betrothed to 
 me! Has the treaty of Arras been forgotten? 
 And the King of the Romans, my father, too, has 
 been insulted! Oh, I hate France, I hate every 
 inch of it! And the Lady Anne! Why, she told 
 me that she was to marry my father, that she had 
 accepted safe conduct to Austria! And her eyes 
 were so truthful when she said it. Why should 
 she have deceived me when I trusted her, when I — 
 I — loved her so! " 
 
 The wound to her heart was greater than that 
 to her pride, and, covering her face with her hands, 
 the little princess wept. 
 
 "The Duchess of Brittany expected to be mar- 
 ried to Maximilian of Austria when she talked of 
 the matter to you," said Anne of Beaujeu. " It was 
 but a few days before the marriage that she agreed 
 to accept the King of France, an alliance which she 
 was convinced was for the best interests of her 
 people." 
 
 "And what is to become of me?" asked Mar- 
 guerite. 
 
 "You shall be sent in the state suited to your 
 rank back to Austria. I beg your Highness to 
 take the matter more philosophically. I greatly 
 deplore the fact that you should have been thus 
 
 74 
 
BROKEN PROMISES 
 
 wounded, but in the great affairs of nations per- 
 sonal concerns must take a second place." 
 
 The little princess continued to sob, and all 
 withdrew save the jester, who, kneeling at her feet, 
 said gently, " Little Cousin, when the daughter of 
 Austria is ready to wed, the prince of a greater 
 nation than France may be found for her." Then, 
 assuming a lighter tone, he went on, " And a hand- 
 somer husband can be easily found than this stunted 
 king. And think of it, little lady, you will shortly 
 see your father! " 
 
 "Ah!" cried Marguerite, dashing away her 
 tears and springing to her feet, while a smile dim- 
 pled the corners of her mouth, " I had not thought 
 of that! At last I shall see my father! Happy as 
 a peasant child I shall live under his roof! After 
 all, the good God has been gracious to me and has 
 granted my wish." 
 
 " And Antoine and I will go with you, leav- 
 ing the Lady Clotilde carefully behind," cried Le 
 Glorieux. " The Lady Anne has give me to you, 
 and you see I am still, in another way, the Lady 
 Anne's present!" 
 
 75 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 wTHE WONDERFUL WISDOM OF PITTACUS 
 
 To go away at that moment, to leave the hated 
 soil of France forevermore, was now the ardent 
 desire of the little princess, but even royal ladies 
 can not always do as they would like, and she was 
 made to realize that some days must elapse before 
 it would be possible for her to set out for her own 
 country, where her father and her brother would 
 be waiting for her. 
 
 The chief delight of the princess at this time was 
 in listening to the songs of Burgundy as sung by 
 the tuneful voice of Antoine. Anne of Beaujeu 
 entered her apartments one morning when the boy 
 was singing his Burgundian chansons. That cold 
 and dignified lady was quite favorably impressed 
 by the singer's talent, and requested him to sing a 
 well-known French song. 
 
 " Madame," said the princess, " I shall be pleased 
 to have my page sing for you anything that you 
 may fancy, but you will pardon me if I leave the 
 room while he sings of the glories of France!" 
 And she walked out with her head held high in 
 the air. 
 
 Cunegunda was now utterly happy. Her mi- 
 graine had been cured, thanks to Saint Roch or to 
 
 76 
 
THE WISDOM OF PITTACUS 
 
 the change of air and scene necessitated by the 
 journey to his shrine, and she was going to return 
 to her beloved country. 
 
 "Ah, there is a land governed by a majestic 
 ruler, a man who looks like a sovereign," said she 
 proudly. "But the kings of France, pouf! The 
 old king, who was alive when we came, looked like 
 an old peasant, with his claw-like hands and his 
 awkward legs, and the present one, who in the very 
 bloom of his youth should be ruddy and handsome, 
 has a large head and is undersized and is not at 
 all kingly in appearance." 
 
 " But let us think only of the real man shut 
 inside of that unprepossessing shell," said Le 
 Glorieux, adding, "There is that clever sentence 
 again ; I was afraid I had forgotten it." 
 
 " I do not see anything so very clever about it," 
 retorted Dame Cunegunda; "anybody could have 
 thought it out." 
 
 " Anybody might think out things, my good 
 Frau," he replied, " but it is the knowing just when 
 to say them that counts. But I have very bad news 
 for you, and instead of discussing my wonderful 
 gift of always being able to say the right thing at 
 the right time, I really should be bathed in tears." 
 
 " Has something dreadful happened to my 
 father? Has news come from Austria?" asked 
 Marguerite, in alarm. 
 
 "By no means. Calm yourself, my little prin- 
 cess. The King of the Romans may be at this 
 
 V 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 moment climbing the cliffs to surprise the wary 
 chamois, or he may be defying some unlucky 
 knight to mortal combat in the tournament." 
 
 "Then it must have been decided that we are 
 to remain in France," cried Cunegunda. "Oh, 
 unlucky was the day that we ever set foot in this 
 unholy land! I might have known that there was 
 no such good luck for me as to leave it!" 
 
 "Now you are preparing to cry," said the jester 
 reproachfully, " and if there is anything in this 
 world I dislike to see it is a woman with her face 
 all wrinkled up ready for a boohoo. Your face 
 is round and rosy, and looks well enough when 
 you let it alone, but ever since I have become ac- 
 quainted with you, you have been ready to weep 
 at a moment's warning; you have shed at least a 
 barrel of tears, and what good has it done you? 
 Learn a lesson of me and smile at things instead 
 of crying about them." 
 
 " I never should want to smile had I so wide a 
 mouth as yours," retorted Cunegunda, forgetting 
 in her indignation that she had not yet learned the 
 news that Le Glorieux had come to tell. 
 
 " My mouth is the right width for a man of 
 my height," returned he, " and could not be im.- 
 proved upon. But to return to the matter in hand, 
 I will say right here and now that we are going 
 to sail away as soon as the good ships can be made 
 ready for us." 
 
 "Then, what is your news? be not so long about 
 
 78 
 
THE WISDOM OF PITTACUS 
 
 telling it," said Marguerite, knitting her straight 
 brows into a frown. 
 
 " It is, alas, alas, that Clotilde is going with us 
 to the domains of your royal grandfather!" 
 
 " This is news, indeed. Why must she go? " 
 
 " It appears that the new Queen of France, who 
 so cleverly slipped into your place, my little prin- 
 cess, and caught the crown as it was about to settle 
 itself upon your golden head — let me see, where 
 was I?" 
 
 "What of the Queen of France?" asked Mar- 
 guerite. 
 
 "Oh, yes; Anne wants a lady of her own kin 
 to accompany you to your native country, to escort 
 you, to watch over you; and Clotilde, you know, is 
 a relative of Anne's, though they are about as much 
 alike as Pandora, my hawk, is like a meek little 
 dove. Nature makes a mistake sometimes and 
 links the wrong people together by the ties of 
 blood ; I do not know why, but so it is. I had hoped 
 that the shores of France and the sour face of 
 Clotilde would disappear together from my view, 
 but perfect happiness is possible for no one, and 
 moreover, I never was very lucky." 
 
 " If the Lady Clotilde is a relative of the young 
 Queen of France, how does it happen that she has 
 lived so long in Burgundy?" asked Cunegunda. 
 
 "My good friend," replied the jester, "you may 
 have forgotten that sometimes even the sourest of 
 women have an opportunity to marry. They man- 
 
 79 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 age it, I think, by the aid of witchcraft, and in 
 her youth the sharp black eyes of Clotilde capti- 
 vated a Burgundian noble who afterward was 
 killed in the wars, and probably was glad of it, 
 considering the life she must have led him." 
 
 A number of proverbs have been suggested by 
 the fact that people often appear upon the scene 
 while they are being talked about, and just as he 
 finished his sentence the Lady Clotilde parted the 
 curtains that hung at the doorway. She looked as 
 pleased as her usually stern countenance would 
 permit, and she was accompanied by a boy about 
 fourteen years of age. This boy, afterward Duke 
 of Savoy, and called Philibert the Handsome, was 
 so beautiful that it was a joy to look upon him. 
 The contour of his head, his straight nose, and his 
 well-cut lips were as perfect as if they had been 
 carved from marble by the skillful, loving hand 
 of a sculptor, while his brilliant coloring, his dark 
 and shining eyes, were made still more attrac- 
 tive by the expression of his countenance, which 
 was frank and pleasing. For those days, when men 
 and women vied with each other in the selection of 
 gaudy colors, he was quite plainly clad, wearing a 
 suit of dark velvet with no ornaments whatever. 
 
 " I wish to present to your Highness a young 
 relative of mine," announced the Lady Clotilde. 
 " He is Philibert, son of the Count de Bresse of 
 Savoy." 
 
 The boy kissed the hand Marguerite extended 
 
 80 
 
THE WISDOM OF PITTACUS 
 
 to him, and the Lady Clotilde continued, " His 
 father is an ally, as your Highness probably knows, 
 of the King of France." 
 
 "To gain my favor it is not necessary to be an 
 ally of France," said Marguerite shortly. 
 
 "And you are right, Madame," replied the boy 
 quickly. "Were I in my father's place never 
 again would I draw my sword for France, for 
 nations as well as gentlemen should keep their 
 promises." 
 
 This reply pleased the princess so much that her 
 heart was won at once, and she smiled brightly 
 upon the boy as Le Glorieux said, " And now tell 
 me, Cousin Clotilde, how this young gentleman 
 happens to be of your kin. He does not resemble 
 you in the least." 
 
 " I am not so sure about that," said the lady. 
 "On the contrary, I think that he looks quite as 
 I did at his age, and even now I can trace a great 
 resemblance between his countenance and my 
 own." 
 
 "Your eyes are very sharp, my lady, and you 
 possess the gift of seeing things that are visible to 
 no one else," replied the jester. 
 
 " So I have been told," she responded, taking the 
 remark as a compliment. " Philibert's mother 
 was a relative of my own, and this is the first time 
 I have seen the lad, who, young as he is, his father 
 takes with him to the wars." 
 
 "I wish," said Marguerite shyly, "that your 
 
 8i 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 father would ally himself with Austria, since you 
 no longer feel friendly toward France." 
 
 Philibert colored with pleasure as he replied, 
 " Indeed, your Highness, I should like it of all 
 things, but my father must do as he thinks best." 
 
 "Would you like to go to Austria for a time, 
 Philibert?" asked the Lady Clotilde, who seemed 
 to be in an unusually obliging mood. Then she 
 added, "A visit to a foreign court is of great 
 advantage to a youth of rank, and I will see what 
 I can do to induce your father to allow you to 
 make the journey in my company." 
 
 There was no need for the boy to make a reply 
 to this question, his beaming face and sparkling 
 eyes being sufficient to convince any who cared to 
 know that the very thought of such a trip made 
 him happy, and the Lady Clotilde left the room 
 with the words of Le Glorieux ringing in her 
 ears, '' She will succeed in her attempt, for those 
 who do not obey our Cousin Clotilde from love do 
 so from fear," a doubtful compliment to which 
 she paid no attention. She was quite pleased with 
 the thought of procuring the companionship of 
 this handsome and gracious boy, who, she felt con- 
 fident, would reflect great credit upon herself. 
 
 " Oh, you will be permitted to go with us, I am 
 sure of it! " cried the little princess enthusiastically. 
 " Have you ever sailed in a ship? " 
 
 "No, Madame," replied the boy; " I have never 
 been on the sea." 
 
 82 
 
THE WISDOM OF PITTACUS 
 
 "Nor I, since I can remember it," returned she, 
 " but I long to make a voyage. It must be fine to 
 be so far away from land as to see nothing but the 
 sky and the foam-capped waves, to be on the dark, 
 cold sea and yet be snug and comfortable." 
 
 " Once when I was a boy I made a trip on the 
 sea," remarked Le Glorieux, " and I remember 
 that there were times when I was not so snug and 
 comfortable as I could have wished. Believe me, 
 my little princess, you would be much happier 
 traveling on land this time of year than you would 
 be out on the stormy seas. But France will send 
 you home in whatever way it best pleases her, and 
 we shall have but little to say about it." 
 
 And it so happened that it was deemed best to 
 send the little princess back to her father by land 
 instead of intrusting her to the sea. This was a dis- 
 appointment to Marguerite, though she was glad to 
 know that they were to start at once. Already the 
 palace of Amboise was being refitted and refur- 
 nished in a style of great magnificence for the new 
 queen, who would not come to occupy it until after 
 her coronation at St. Denis. There was an at- 
 mosphere of joy throughout the kingdom in antici- 
 pation of the new regime, which was expected 
 to be very different from the terrible days of the 
 previous reign. 
 
 Lady Clotilde, who, as the jester had remarked, 
 always managed in some way to get what she 
 wanted, succeeded in persuading the Count de 
 
 83 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 Bresse to allow his son to accompany her to Austria, 
 and it was with light hearts that the party set out on 
 the journey, for a trip that has something pleasant 
 at the end of it is always begun joyously, and there 
 is ever a feeling of exhilaration in the thought of 
 seeing a new country. To the little princess her 
 native land would be as an unknown country, for 
 to her it was not even a memory. Not for a 
 moment did she forget her grudge against France. 
 At the first stop they made, when a glass of wine 
 was offered her with an apology for its sourness, she 
 said with a curl of her red lips, " Even the wine is 
 sour in a country that can not keep its promises." 
 And the day they passed through Arras, the town 
 where the treaty was concluded that was to unite 
 her to Charles, and the people ran out with cries 
 of greeting, she turned her head away with a con- 
 temptuous reply. 
 
 As soon as they crossed the line that divided 
 France from Flanders, Le Glorieux put spurs to 
 his steed and advanced to the side of the litter in 
 which the princess was seated. 
 
 " Little Cousin," said he. The curtains were 
 parted and Marguerite's pretty face smiled at him. 
 " You are now in your very own land of Flanders," 
 said he, " the country your mother brought to 
 Austria as her dower." 
 
 "And I am glad to be here," replied she. "I 
 could kiss the very soil of the land that is my own ! " 
 
 The jester now gradually fell behind, and once 
 
 84 
 
THE WISDOM OF PITTACUS 
 
 more rode at the rear of the procession. " Why do 
 you always ride so far behind?" asked Philibert, 
 checking his own horse to wait for Le Glorieux. 
 
 "Do you want me to tell you the real reason?" 
 asked the fool. 
 
 " Certainly I do." 
 
 "It is because I wish to spare the feelings of 
 Pittacus." 
 
 "The legs, rather," laughed the boy. 
 ^ " I mean exactly what I say— the feelings," per- 
 sisted the fool. " Do you not think that a donkey 
 can have feelings as wxll as a person? Of course 
 he can," he went on, answering his own question. 
 " And do you not think that he is greatly humiliated 
 in a company like this?" 
 
 "What is there to humiliate him?" asked An- 
 toine, who rode on the other side of the jester. 
 
 "Why, look you, many of the other steeds are 
 mounted by the nobility and bear the richest trap- 
 pings, while poor unfortunate Pittacus has nothing 
 but a common saddle. Do you not suppose that it 
 cuts him to the heart when he notices the contrast? 
 How would either of you feel to mingle with a gay 
 company where jewels flashed and velvets shim- 
 mered, while you wore the coarsest fustian? " 
 
 " We should not like it, of course," replied Phili- 
 bert, " but what does a donkey know about such 
 things?" 
 
 " If you should ask him about it, you would be 
 very soon convinced of the truth of what I have 
 
 85 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 told you, by the reply that he would make," said 
 Le Glorieux. 
 
 "Then let us ask him," said Antoine, and im- 
 mediately raised his voice, saying, " Pittacus, do 
 you mind whether or not you are wearing gay trap- 
 pings? If you do, just move your right ear." But 
 the donkey refused to make a sign. 
 
 "What did I tell you?" asked Antoine mock- 
 ingly. " He does not know or care what kind of a 
 saddle you have placed on his back." 
 
 " He did not hear you," replied the jester. 
 
 " I should like to know why he did not hear me; 
 what are such long ears for, if not for use? " 
 
 " If you will stop a moment you will see that he 
 will answer me," said Le Glorieux. 
 
 " He can not understand conversation when he is 
 walking," said Philibert, laughing. 
 
 " Nor well enough to make a reply even when he 
 is standing still," remarked Antoine. "A donkey 
 is nothing but a donkey, and you can make nothing 
 more out of him." 
 
 " There are some donkeys, two legged ones, that 
 can not understand things that are told them," re- 
 torted the jester, "but if you will stop a moment, 
 you will see that he will answer me. Pittacus 
 is haughty and particular in the choice of his 
 friends, and he will not reply to every jackanapes 
 who asks him a question." 
 
 The three stopped and Le Glorieux dismounted, 
 and going close to the donkey's ear, he said, " Pit- 
 
 86 
 
THE WISDOM OF PITTACUS 
 
 tacus, joy of my heart, it makes you very unhappy 
 to see the other horses dressed so gay while you are 
 wearing your plain old saddle and blanket, I know 
 it does. If I am right, just move your right 
 ear, Pittacus." And Pittacus did move his right 
 ear, and that quite vigorously, 
 
 "Now what have you to say?" asked his master 
 triumphantly. 
 
 " You touched him with the point of your dagger 
 and that was the cause of it," said Philibert. 
 
 " I did nothing of the kind. See, I will ask him 
 the same question again with my hands clasped be- 
 hind me. If you meant what you said just now, 
 move your right ear again, Pittacus." Again the 
 donkey's long ear moved as before, and, mounting 
 him, the fool said with great satisfaction, " I hope 
 you will believe a thing when you have seen it with 
 your own eyes, and perhaps you will be careful in 
 what you say about him in his presence." 
 
 " I do not see that we need to be so very cautious 
 in what we say, since he does not seem to under- 
 stand what is said to him, even by you, until the 
 question is bawled into his ear," said Philibert. 
 
 " He does not take the trouble to answer unless 
 some one he respects talks into his ear; in fact, he 
 hears no questions asked by ordinary people, but he 
 would hear any gossip about himself, for all that," 
 replied Le Glorieux. 
 
 Antoine was very much surprised at the superior 
 intelligence of the donkey, but he did not pursue 
 
 87 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 the subject further. It was a popular belief at this 
 period that animals actually could talk on Christ- 
 mas Eve, and if this were true, he did not see any 
 reason why they should not be able to move their 
 ears in reply to a question at any time of the year. 
 But Philibert, although he kept perfectly quiet re- 
 garding the matter, suspected the truth, which was 
 that with the word " Pittacus " at the end of the 
 sentence the jester blew into the donkey's ear, 
 which caused the animal to move his generous 
 organ of hearing. He was also convinced that it 
 was not the sensitiveness of the animal to the fine 
 trappings of the other horses that kept him in the 
 rear, but that it was because he was too fat and lazy 
 to keep up a brisk pace. 
 
 It was a tiresome journey, though they stopped 
 at the towns, and sometimes were entertained at the 
 mansion of some noble family along the route. Not 
 far from Cologne the princess called to Le Glo- 
 rieux, who, though there were plenty of attendants 
 to see that she was comfortable, was in the habit of 
 riding forward once in a while to make sure that 
 she needed nothing, " I am told that we are not 
 far from Castle Hohenberg," said she. ''Ask two 
 of the gentlemen to ride on and notify them of our 
 coming." 
 
 "May I accompany them?" asked the fool. 
 " Certainly, if you like." 
 
 "And I should like to exchange horses with one 
 of the guards." 
 
 88 
 
THE WISDOM OF PITTACUS 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Because my donkey, PIttacus, is so sensitive." 
 
 "Sensitive?" repeated the princess, looking 
 puzzled. 
 
 " Pittacus, little Cousin, is perfectly well aware 
 of the shabbiness of his wardrobe, and to prance 
 into a castle courtyard caparisoned as he is, with 
 two other horses that are well dressed, would be 
 more painful to him than to enter in a crowd where 
 he would not be so likely to be noticed." 
 
 "Just as you please," replied the princess, smil- 
 ing. " One of the guards will exchange steeds with 
 you." 
 
 " See the fibs your utter indolence and indiffer- 
 ence force me to tell," muttered the fool, as he rode 
 away from the litter. " It is I who am sensitive, 
 and on account of your slowness, but all this does 
 not seem to have the least effect upon you or to 
 make you go a jot faster." 
 
 Having exchanged with one of the guards, who 
 did not seem at all anxious to make the trade, Le 
 Glorieux galloped gayly away with the two gentle- 
 men, very glad to be one of the first to arrive at the 
 castle. 
 
 Wrapped in his robes of crimson, the sun was 
 sinking behind the forest trees when Le Glorieux 
 and his two companions came in sight of the family 
 seat of the Von Hohenbergs. The building was a 
 grim old structure, turreted and rugged, which 
 had seen two centuries come and go, and seemed 
 
 89 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 able to greet many more. Some youths and 
 maidens who had been to the wood to gather fagots 
 were singing and chattering as if the world for 
 them had not a care, though they possessed but the 
 mere necessaries of life. The count and countess 
 had not yet returned from the chase, so the strangers 
 were informed by the haughty seneschal, who im- 
 mediately softened and almost groveled when in- 
 formed that the Lady Marguerite of Hapsburg 
 was about to honor the castle with her presence, 
 while every being under that roof seemed to be on 
 the alert to put the best foot foremost, in order 
 properly to receive the little princess. Even Le 
 Glorieux was treated with a degree of deference 
 that caused him to throw back his shoulders and 
 strut about with a great deal of pride. 
 
 Soon the sound of a hunting horn was heard, and 
 a company of ladies and gentlemen dashed through 
 the gate with hawks on their wrists and followed 
 by hounds. They seemed more quiet and less 
 happy than the fagot-gatherers, Le Glorieux 
 thought, and he wondered if they were really as 
 happy as those young people who were working 
 for their daily bread. 
 
 The Count and Countess Von Hohenberg were 
 very pleasant elderly people, with a large family of 
 sons and daughters, and a number of relatives who 
 always lived with them, so their household was a 
 very large one. They were charmed to hear of the 
 unexpected arrival of the princess, who with her 
 
 90 
 
Some youths and maidens had been to the woods P^g^ QQ 
 
THE WISDOM OF PITTACUS 
 
 suite soon rode through the gates and received a 
 hearty welcome. A bright fire was snapping in the 
 broad fireplace of the great hail, and did its part in 
 cheering the fatigued and chilled travelers. The 
 guests were conducted to their rooms, which, if they 
 did not contain the luxuries afforded by the sleep- 
 ing apartments in the mansions of the rich of the 
 present day, were at least comfortable, though the 
 huge beds, with their ghostly hangings, looked as if 
 they might invite the nightmare. 
 
 It was a merry company which surrounded the 
 supper table, where Marguerite was, of course, 
 given the seat of honor. Great indignation was ex- 
 pressed at the double insult offered their country by 
 France. " I have heard," said the count, " that 
 Austria has taken up an alliance with England and 
 Spain, so France may learn to fear the house of 
 Hapsburg and its powerful friends." 
 
 "And France is no longer governed by the sly 
 and scheming Louis, but by the weakling 
 Charles," said one of the gentlemen. 
 
 " I think you are wrong to call Charles a weak- 
 ling," remarked Le Glorieux, who was sitting on a 
 low stool at the side of his mistress, with his plate 
 in his lap. " Charles has a dimple in his chin, 
 which may mean weakness, but he also has a nose 
 of great size, which may mean anything that is bad 
 for his neighbors." 
 
 Just as he finished this speech a mournful shriek 
 was heard outside, which very nearly made the 
 
 91 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 fool drop his plate. "What was that horrible 
 noise?" he gasped. 
 
 " It was only the wind whistling about the tur- 
 rets," replied the count, laughing. "The night is 
 growing colder and the wind is rising." 
 
 " I thought it was the wail of a witch," said the 
 jester. 
 
 " Send for Antoine that he may sing the witch 
 song he gave us one night in Rennes," said the Lady 
 Marguerite. " It is lilce the howl of the wind." 
 
 A servant was sent to fetch the boy, who came 
 with his lute and took a seat by the fire, where he 
 sang the witch song to such words as suited his 
 fancy, for he was not playing a joke upon his friend 
 as when he had sung at the court of Brittany, but 
 was now anxious to please this merry company of 
 ladies and gentlemen. He told how a beauteous 
 maiden with a lovely voice was carried away one 
 dark night by a witch, and changed into a nightin- 
 gale, where, lingering about her former home, she 
 nightly poured forth the woes of her heart in song. 
 This production received such high praise from 
 the listeners that Antoine blushed very red, and did 
 not know whether to look up the chimney or at the 
 floor, to hide his confusion. Upon learning that 
 he had set his own words to his own music, one of 
 the ladies wanted to know whether the story was 
 true, and if the unhappy maiden really had been 
 thus bewitched. But Antoine was obliged to admit 
 that he had not a personal acquaintance with the 
 
 92 
 
THE WISDOM OF PITTACUS 
 
 nightingale maiden, intimating that the young 
 woman was merely a creature of his imagination. 
 To-day this would seem a strange question to ask in 
 all seriousness, but, as has already been said, the 
 existence of witches and hobgoblins was taken as a 
 matter of course in those days. 
 
 Then they began to talk of the tricks played by 
 witches, and while none of the company could say 
 that he or she ever had actually seen a witch, still 
 almost everybody had a story to tell that had been 
 related by people who had seen those mysterious 
 and treacherous females. 
 
 " My mother often talked with witches," said the 
 Lady Clotilde in that decided way of hers which 
 seemed to defy anybody to doubt her word. " And 
 they caused her a great deal of annoyance," she 
 went on. " One day when my mother was fasten- 
 ing a veil to her cap, a witch suddenly appeared 
 and said, 'Oh, what a pretty cap! And that lace 
 is as delicate as frostwork! Let me try it on, do!' 
 And before my mother could say 'yes' or 'no,' the 
 witch had snatched the cap and put it on her head, 
 and with a shrill laugh vanished through the key- 
 hole!" 
 
 " How did she get the cap through the keyhole? '"' 
 asked Le Glorieux. 
 
 "That is no more wonderful than getting herself 
 through the keyhole, is it? " asked the lady tartly, 
 annoyed by the query. 
 
 "No," returned the fool, " I do not think it is." 
 
 93 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 ''Then do not interrupt with silly questions," 
 said she. 
 
 " I can tell a story of something that happened 
 over a hundred years ago, in this very house, to one 
 of my^ husband's ancestors," said the countess. 
 Everybody shivered v^ith expectancy, while the 
 wind outside howled louder than ever; Antoine 
 turned his back to the fire so that it would not be 
 convenient for anything to grab him from that 
 direction, while even Philibert, who was two years 
 older, and who sat beside the countess, regretted 
 vaguely that the dagger at his side would be of no 
 avail against witches. For it seemed that if such 
 creatures ever would feel an inclination to meddle 
 with the affairs of mortals, this old castle with its 
 vast rooms and dark corners would be the scene of 
 their liveliest performances. 
 
 "As I said," began the countess, "it was a hun- 
 dred years ago. The Lady lolantha, whose father 
 and brothers had all been killed in the wars, lived 
 here alone. She was the most beautiful woman of 
 her time, and she was betrothed to her cousin. 
 Count Wolfgang, who had inherited the title with- 
 out the wealth, for the money all had come from 
 her mother's side of the house, and there was 
 nothing left for the count but the empty castle, 
 which he scorned to take unless the lady should 
 come with it. 
 
 " lolantha, who was willful, detested her cousin, 
 having bestowed her affections upon a wandering 
 
 94 
 
THE WISDOM OF PITTACUS 
 
 minstrel by the name of Rudolph Eberhard, a 
 handsome youth, and one who sang in a most 
 charming voice. He lingered here day after day, 
 and sang so many songs in praise of her beauty that 
 she determined to marry him, come what would. 
 Wolfgang was not a man to win the heart of a 
 maiden, for, though young, he had a dark, forbid- 
 ding countenance, and a harsh, discordant voice. 
 Every one feared him, and it was believed by many 
 that he was in league with evil spirits." 
 
 "A cheerful kind of an ancestor, that one of 
 yours," remarked Le Glorieux to the count. 
 
 "But he lived a hundred years ago; his blood 
 has been filtered away by this time, at least all that 
 was bad in it," said the countess. "The Count 
 Wolfgang knew that his cousin cared nothing for 
 him, still he was determined to hold her to her 
 promise, and he was resolved, by fair means or foul, 
 to get the young minstrel out of the way." The 
 countess now unclasped a girdle that hung loosely 
 about her w^aist, with long ends coming almost to 
 the floor, and held it up that all might see it. It 
 was made of flexible silver fretwork, and was set 
 with emeralds. "There is a tradition that when 
 this girdle is lost by the Von Hohenbergs their 
 luck will go with it," went on the countess, " so 
 lolantha cherished it very highly. One night after 
 dancing in the great hall, a dance in which 
 Rudolph was her partner, the girdle suddenly dis- 
 appeared in a manner that was most unaccountable. 
 
 95 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 They searched everywhere, but it could not be 
 found, and one by one the servants were accused, 
 but all to no avail. Then tauntingly Wolfgang 
 demanded that Rudolph be searched. lolantha 
 indignantly refused to have this done, deeming the 
 very suggestion an insult to the man she loved 
 and respected. But without more ado Wolfgang 
 walked up to the young minstrel, and tearing open 
 his doublet, found the girdle concealed on the in- 
 side of it." 
 
 " I suspected as much," remarked Le Glorieux, 
 who, like every one else, had been very much inter- 
 ested in the story. " You see," he went on, " the 
 minstrel was dancing with the lady, and it would be 
 easy enough for him to unclasp the girdle and hide 
 it in the folds of his mantle until he had a chance to 
 tuck it away in his doublet." 
 
 '' But wait," said the countess. " Rudolph was 
 as much surprised as anyone else and declared that 
 he did not know how it came there." 
 
 " He would naturally make that very remark," 
 observed the fool. 
 
 "But Rudolph had not taken the girdle," said 
 the countess triumphantly. "The Count Wolf- 
 gang was in league with witches, and it was by their 
 spells that the girdle had come into the minstrel's 
 possession. Servants told the story to their chil- 
 dren, and so on down, of how that very night they 
 had heard the witches singing their wild songs, and 
 the old housekeeper saw them dancing in the moon- 
 
 96 
 
THE WISDOM OF PITTACUS 
 
 light. She said they were dressed in a gray, mist}^ 
 material like cobwebs." 
 
 "Did lolantha marry the minstrel?" asked the 
 princess. 
 
 "No, your Highness. There was nothing to 
 prove that the witches did the trick, and she could 
 not marry a man with so deep a stain upon his good 
 name. So Rudolph marched away to the crusades, 
 and lolantha married Count Wolfgang." 
 
 "And she did a sensible thing," said Le Glo- 
 rieux decisively. " I have distrusted that minstrel 
 ever since you brought him into the story, which 
 teaches that the man who does a wicked thing is 
 bound to come out at the small end of the horn." 
 
 "Thank you, Fool," said the count, laughing. 
 "You have cleared the good name of my ancestor 
 and you are the first one in all these years to say a 
 word in his favor, all preferring to take sides with 
 the handsome minstrel." 
 
 97 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 LADY CLOTILDE'S MOONSTONE PENDANT 
 
 The next morning a royal messenger arrived 
 with a letter for the little princess, and Le Glo- 
 rieux, who was present when she received it, saw 
 that tears were rolling down her cheeks when 
 she had finished reading it. "What is it, little 
 Cousin?" asked the jester. "Strange that a mere 
 piece of paper should stir you up like this." 
 
 " Oh, Le Glorieux," cried Marguerite, " my 
 father does not love me! " And covering her face 
 with her handkerchief, she burst into sobs. 
 
 "Well, now that is another strange thing," said 
 he, sitting down at her feet and clasping his hands 
 about his knees, while he surveyed her thought- 
 fully. " His Royal Highness takes the trouble to 
 send a messenger across the country to tell his little 
 daughter that he does not love her, when it would 
 have been so much easier to let this wonderful piece 
 of news wait until he stood face to face with her." 
 
 The princess patted her foot impatiently on the 
 floor while the jester was speaking, then she said, 
 restraining her sobs with an efifort, " I have been so 
 impatient to see him that I could scarcely wait for 
 the days to pass, and every morning when I have 
 
 98 
 
LADY CLOTILDE'S PENDANT 
 
 wakened during our journey I have said to myself, 
 ' One more day is off the list, and I am so many 
 more leagues nearer to him than I was at this time 
 yesterday.' And although the Countess Von 
 Hohenberg is very kind, and has begged me to re- 
 main here for a time, still I wanted to go this very 
 day," and again she began to sob. 
 
 "Yes," said the jester, "I understand your side 
 of the question, and now I wonder if you won't tell 
 me just what Max writes in his letter, and I will 
 help you to decide just what he means by it." 
 
 " He — he — s-s-ays that we are to remain at Castle 
 Hohenberg for three or four days in order that I 
 may recover from the fatigue of the journey. It is 
 c-c-cruel!" 
 
 " It certainly is very cruel," replied Le Glorieux. 
 "Odd that there should be such unnatural fathers 
 in the world! A man must have a heart of flint to 
 want his daughter to rest after a long journey." 
 
 " I do not at all consider this a subject for jest," 
 said the little lady, surveying the jester indignantly 
 through her tears. 
 
 " Looking at the matter broadly, I should say 
 that it was just as much a subject for jesting as for 
 weeping. Will your small Highness tell me what 
 there is in all this to cry about? Do you not know 
 that it is very foolish to cry about little things, and 
 that the tears of even a princess are just as salt as 
 those of anybody else, and if called up in abundance 
 will make her eyes and nose just as red as those of 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 a dairy maid who cries over a pail of spilled 
 milk?" 
 
 " Le Glorieux," said Marguerite solemnly, " if 
 my father is as anxious to see me as I am to see him, 
 he would write ' Hurry, hurry,' in his letter in- 
 stead of telling me to wait." 
 
 "Would you write ' Hurry, hurry,' to him if he 
 were coming to you on a tiresome trip?" 
 
 "Indeed I would! I would say, 'Hurry, and 
 hurry, and hurry again, for I long to embrace you.' 
 Only think, I have lived for eight long years with 
 no one near me but Cunegunda who really loves 
 me, and none of my own blood to touch my brow 
 with a kiss!" 
 
 " I do not know," said the fool reflectively, " how 
 I should feel were there none near me to love me 
 save Cunegunda, but I need not worry about that, 
 for Cunegunda, if I read her aright, is not burned 
 up with affection for me; but what you say proves 
 to me that you are not really so fond of your father 
 as he is of you." 
 
 "You are dreaming; what do you mean by such 
 words?" asked the princess, wiping her eyes and 
 looking haughtily at the jester. " I adore my 
 father; he is dearer to me than all the crowns of the 
 world." 
 
 " It is this way," said Le Glorieux; " as I remark 
 probably once a day more or less, I am nothing but 
 a fool, but nevertheless I say a good many wise 
 things, and 1 think a good many more. Very often 
 
 100 
 
LADY CLOTILDE'S PENDANT 
 
 when I remain perfectly quiet my silence counts 
 for a good deal, for I am thinking very hard about 
 something. But as I was going to say, when one 
 has the right kind of affection for another, there is 
 not a grain of selfishness in it. Your father is just 
 as anxious to see you as you are to see him, still at 
 the same time he thinks of your comfort first and of 
 his own wishes next." 
 
 ''Do you think so, really?" asked Marguerite, 
 smiling, then asked, " But why could he not have 
 come to mx himself instead of sending a mes- 
 senger?" 
 
 " Kings and princes can not go about as they 
 please, though they are always supposed to be doing 
 v/hat they like to do," replied Le Glorieux. "A 
 king can not even marry to please himself. He 
 may say, ' I do not want a wife, I prefer to be a 
 bachelor.' The state says, ' Not a bit of it ; you must 
 marry.' Then the state picks out a wife for him. 
 If she is pretty and agreeable he is lucky, but if she 
 has a horrible squint and the temper of a tigress 
 and the state says, ' Marry her,' why, marry her he 
 must. Just now your father is probably cooking 
 up a lot of schemes against France for its treatment 
 of you and himself, and he is telling Spain and 
 England how dearly he always loved them, and he 
 is figuring out the lands that France ought to 
 restore to him in return for his great disappoint- 
 ment, so he has no time to rush away to see his 
 little daughter." 
 
 101 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 " Oh, Le Glorieux, you have made me so 
 happy!" cried the princess, with shining eyes. 
 " Then you think my father really is very fond of 
 mel" 
 
 " I am sure of it, and I am sure that he will be 
 still fonder of you when he sees you, for two 
 reasons: one is that you look a good deal like him- 
 self, and the other that you will look at him with 
 the very eyes of your mother." 
 
 "The marriage of my father and mother was a 
 happy one, was it not, Le Glorieux? " 
 
 "Yes, little Cousin, that was one of the times 
 when duty and inclination went hand in hand. 
 That marriage was the best possible thing for both 
 their countries, and the young couple were in love 
 with each other from the moment when they first 
 stood face to face, your beautiful mother being just 
 a young slip of a girl, and your father but eighteen 
 years of age. He was only twenty-three when she 
 died, and he is still a young man, not so far past 
 the first bloom of his youth." 
 
 The princess never tired of talking of her father 
 and of her fair young mother, whose faces were 
 known to her only from their portraits. Her 
 brother, who was two years her senior, she often 
 thought about, but it was her father who possessed 
 the larger share of her affection. 
 
 It has been remarked of the Lady Clotilde that 
 she always contrived to stir up some kind of com- 
 motion wherever she happened to be, and this jour- 
 
 102 
 
LADY CLOTILDE'S PENDANT 
 
 ney was no exception to the general rule. The 
 story of the emerald girdle, related by the countess 
 the previous night, reminded the Lady Clotilde that 
 she too owned a jewel which was said to bring good 
 luck to her family, and the loss of which was to be 
 followed by results too fearful to contemplate. It 
 was a large moonstone, set as a pendant and sur- 
 rounded by rubies. It had been curiously cut by 
 an old Italian lapidary of the previous century, and 
 represented a woman's face, which seemed to 
 change its expression as the colors glimmering in 
 the stone caught the light. This ornament had a 
 great fascination for Le Glorieux. In former days 
 when the Lady Clotilde had wished a special favor 
 from Charles the Bold, she often managed to obtain 
 it through Le Glorieux, who would first make his 
 master laugh, and then while he was in this genial 
 frame of mind the jester would present his petition 
 in the cleverest way it could be framed. And be- 
 ing too penurious to reward her agent with a piece 
 of money, the lady would say, " Le Glorieux, you 
 may clean my jewels, for I know it must be a great 
 pleasure to you to hold them in the sunlight and 
 see them flash," and, while pretending to grant a 
 favor to the jester, managed to gain one for herself. 
 Of all her trinkets, and she had many and 
 valuable ones, none so charmed the fool as the 
 moonstone pendant. Held in certain lights, the 
 face seemed to dimple and smile upon him; in 
 Others, it was the face of a witch, or a gorgon, those 
 
 103 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 dreadful beings the very sight of which would turn 
 mortals into stone. 
 
 This ornament the Lady Clotilde was resolved to 
 show to the countess, and descant on its history and 
 its great value. With eager hands she unlocked 
 the box of scented wood where the ornament was 
 kept, and lo, the pendant was missing! Could she 
 believe her eyes? In an agony of anxiety she tossed 
 the jewels about, finally emptying the contents of 
 the casket on the bed, where they flashed and glim- 
 mered like captive stars sending forth red, blue, 
 and green lights. Frantically she picked them up 
 one by one and shook them, but no moonstone was 
 there! 
 
 " It is gone, it is gone!" groaned the Lady Clo- 
 tilde; then she sank to the floor and began to think 
 of the many terrible things that might be expected 
 to happen to that unlucky member of the family 
 who should allow the stone to go out of his or her 
 possession, the very thought of v/hich made her 
 tremble with terror. Calming herself at last, she 
 reflected that some one m.ust have taken the pend- 
 ant, since such articles do not rise of their own 
 accord, climb out of their boxes, and go swaggering 
 about the world like a knight in search of adven- 
 ture. And now the question was, who had taken 
 it? She was sure that none but her own attendants 
 had been near her room, but stay! a maid belonging 
 to the countess had entered the room shortly after 
 their arrival to bring a cup of hot mulled wine 
 
 104 
 
It is gone, it is gone ! " groaned the Lady Clotilde 
 
 Page 104 
 
LADY CLOTILDE'S PENDANT 
 
 which the Lady Clotilde always required, or de- 
 sired, which amounted to the same thing with her, 
 after a journey in cold weather. She remembered 
 that she had opened the casket and was just about 
 to take out her ruby chain, which she considered a 
 most becoming ornament for her more than gener- 
 ous length of neck, when the maid entered with the 
 wine, and the girl must have slipped the moon- 
 stone from the box while the lady was sipping the 
 contents of the cup. She recalled the appearance 
 of the maid, a pale young creature with large 
 startled dark eyes. She no doubt had thought that 
 among so many handsome trinkets the loss of one 
 never would be noticed by this rich and noble lady. 
 The minx would find herself mistaken, however, 
 for the Lady Clotilde was determined to report her 
 loss at once, and to recover her property if it should 
 become necessary to tear the castle down, stone by 
 stone, in order to find it! 
 
 As it never had been her custom to delay after 
 making a plan, she immediately stalked down the 
 stone steps leading to the floor below, and enter- 
 ing the salon where the countess and her guests 
 were whiling away the time at cards or with their 
 embroidery, she advanced at once to her hostess. 
 " Madame," said she, " I have lost a jewel. A 
 valuable heirloom which has been in my possession, 
 or rather in that of my family, for a hundred years, 
 has disappeared from my casket." 
 
 " I am deeply grieved to hear it, Madame," said 
 
 105 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 the countess, rising to her feet, " and I sincerely 
 hope that you will be so fortunate as to find it 
 again." 
 
 " I will be so fortunate as to find it again — I will, 
 I will in spite of everything," replied the Lady 
 Clotilde excitedly. 
 
 " Pray calm yourself. Cousin Clotilde," said Le 
 Glorieux, who was lounging in the window seat. 
 "Try to collect yourself, else I am afraid you will 
 go into a fit. The veins in your forehead are as big 
 as my smallest finger, and you are quite purple in 
 the face." 
 
 " Anything that we can do to recover your jewel 
 for you shall be done most gladly, Madame," said 
 the countess. " I will send servants to your apart- 
 ments to search for it." 
 
 *' There have been too many of your servants in 
 my apartments already," retorted the other rudely. 
 "I want no searching there; I want the culprit 
 searched and brought to justice as quickly as 
 possible." 
 
 '' Most assuredly, if we can discover who the cul- 
 prit is." 
 
 " I know who it is," cried the Lady Clotilde. " It 
 is that pale creature who came yesterday afternoon 
 with my mulled wine, a girl with big dark eyes." 
 
 " Oh, that was Cimburga ; she would not rob you 
 of your gems, Madame. She is an orphan whose 
 parents and grandparents died in our service. She 
 can be thoroughly trusted. Without counting it, I 
 
 io6 
 
LADY CLOTILDE'S PENDANT 
 
 should not be afraid to leave a lapful of gold in her 
 care." 
 
 "Your confidence does but little honor to your 
 judgment, Madame," said the injured one, " and 
 what I have lost is of far more consequence than a 
 lapful of gold." 
 
 Le Glorieux left his place in the window and 
 came forward, saying, " You seem to be in a terribh 
 state of mind, Cousin Clotilde; I have not seen you 
 in such agitation since the news came to Burgundy 
 of the battle of Nancy. What is the gewgaw 
 which you seem to have valued as life itself? " 
 
 " It was the moonstone pendant. You know 
 what it means to me to lose it." 
 
 " What, the carved lady who winks her eyes 
 while you look at her? " 
 
 The Lady Clotilde nodded. 
 
 "This is indeed serious," remarked the jester. 
 " If you but knew, Madame Countess, of the awful 
 things written down to happen to the last possessor 
 of that stone, you would be chilled to the bone. 
 Why, death by slow strangulation would be a 
 pleasure to some of the tortures she will suffer if 
 she does not find it again." 
 
 " Some, in fact most, of those old traditions are 
 mere myths," said the countess reassuringly. 
 
 "You do not consider them myths when they 
 are connected with your girdle," returned Lady 
 Clotilde tartly. 
 
 "At any rate the article must be found if possi- 
 
 1.07 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 ble," said the countess. "Are you very sure, 
 Madame, that you had it when you came here? " 
 
 " Of course I am sure that I had it when I came 
 here! Since we left Amboise no one has touched 
 my valuables save myself." 
 
 " If you are sure of that, then, no one is to blame 
 for having mislaid it save yourself," said the jester. 
 
 "It has not been mislaid; it has been stolen," 
 cried the Lady Clotilde in the highest key of indig- 
 nation. " I heard that black-eyed girl take it." 
 
 "You mean Cimburga? " asked the countess. 
 
 " If that is what you call her, yes." 
 
 "That girl would not steal," said Le Glorieux. 
 " I watched her this morning while she was feeding 
 the doves. They ate from her hand and perched 
 on her shoulders, and she laughed like a little child. 
 She is as innocent as the doves themselves." 
 
 " What do you know about it?" asked the Lady 
 Clotilde. " There is no subject in this world about 
 which you do not give your opinion." 
 
 "Why not, since I have plenty of opinions and 
 all are welcome to them?" 
 
 " I tell you that black-eyed girl is the one who 
 stole my jewel ! " 
 
 " Pray calm yourself, my dear lady, and let us get 
 at the bottom of this affair," said the countess sooth- 
 ingly. "You say that you heard Cimburga take 
 the ornament. Was it in the night? If so, you 
 may have been dreaming." 
 
 " Suppose it had been in the night, the fact that 
 
 io8 
 
LADY CLOTILDE'S PENDANT 
 
 my pendant is missing would show that I was not 
 dreaming, would it not? " asked the Lady Clotilde 
 with some reason. " But I was not asleep; on the 
 contrary, it was while I was drinking my hot wine 
 with the girl waiting that my valuable disap- 
 peared." The idea that Cimburga had robbed her 
 was now so thoroughly fixed in the lady's mind that 
 she was almost ready to assert that she had seen the 
 girl take it from the box. " I had sent my tiring 
 woman to the bedchamber of Lady Ravenstein to 
 borrow a needleful of gold thread, for the trim- 
 ming of my bodice was slightly frayed and needed 
 mending. During her absence I opened my casket 
 to select the jewels best suited to wear with my 
 change of costume. Just then the girl entered with 
 the wine, which I turned to drink, and I now recall 
 that I heard distinctly a slight click behind me, as 
 the jewels would have rattled if disturbed, and to- 
 day my precious heirloom is missing." 
 
 " It was missing then, if somebody took it then," 
 remarked the jester. " But stay, can a thing be 
 missing until somebody misses it? I shall have to 
 think that out carefully some day when I have more 
 time." 
 
 " Let us say nothing to Cimburga about it until 
 we have searched," said the countess. She left the 
 room and was absent for some time. When she 
 returned, she said, " I went to the dormitory where 
 all the maids sleep and searched everywhere and 
 all through Cimburga's poor little effects, but no 
 
 109 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 jewel of any kind did I find. There was a wooden 
 cross attached to a black ribband which she wears 
 on Sundays and fete days, but that was all in the 
 way of a trinket that could be seen." 
 
 "'-Is it reasonable to suppose that a girl who 
 could slyly filch my property would put it where it 
 could be found?" asked the Lady Clotilde. 
 
 *' Is there anything unusual in the girl's man- 
 ner?" asked Lady Ravenstein, one of Marguerite's 
 suite, who had remained perfectly quiet up to this 
 time. " If this be her first offense she may betray 
 herself by an agitated manner." 
 
 " She has seemed unhappy to-day," the countess 
 admitted reluctantly. " I stopped her a moment 
 ago in the hall leading to the servants' quarters, and 
 I noticed that there were tears on her cheeks." 
 
 "I was sure of it!" cried the Lady Clotilde. 
 " She was crying because she was afraid she would 
 be discovered. I insist that she be brought before 
 us and that she be accused of her crime." 
 
 "But let her not be accused harshly," said the 
 little princess, who had been listening intently to 
 all that had been said. "The maid may not be 
 guilty; but if so, and it is her first offense, let us be 
 merciful." 
 
 "All I ask is my moonstone pendant, your High- 
 ness," said the Lady Clotilde. "And although I 
 think she should be severely punished for taking it 
 from me, still she is not my servant and I have no 
 right to insist upon her chastisement." 
 
LADY CLOTILDE'S PENDANT 
 
 A page was sent to notify Cimburga that she was 
 wanted, and she came at once, glancing about the 
 room to see what there w^as for her hands to do, for 
 she supposed that she had been sent for to perform 
 a task. 
 
 "Let me question her, Madame," said the Lady 
 Ciotilde, and reluctantly the countess consented to 
 oblige her guest, though she felt that she could best 
 have managed the matter herself. 
 
 "What have you done with the locket you took 
 from my casket yesterday afternoon?" asked the 
 Lady Ciotilde harshly. 
 
 The girl, who was pretty, and timid as a fawn of 
 the wildwood, opened wide her eyes, and, gazing 
 at the questioner in surprise, made no reply. 
 
 " I say," went on her tormentor in a louder tone, 
 " what did you do with the ornament you took from 
 my box yesterday? You slipped it out, you know, 
 while I was sipping the wine you brought me." 
 
 " I, lady? I do not know of what you are speak- 
 ing," replied Cimburga, in amazement. 
 
 " You know perfectly well of what I am speak- 
 ing. You took it from my casket, I heard you, 
 though you may think I did not, and now where is 
 it?" 
 
 " I know nothing of it, Madame." 
 
 " Come now, that kind of a reply will not do. 
 You have my moonstone in your possession and you 
 must restore it to me at once." 
 
 "Madame, I am telling you the truth; I never 
 
 III 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 have taken the smallest thing that did not belong to 
 me, and of that my lady mistress will assure you." 
 
 " I can attest the truth of that statement, Cim- 
 burga," said her mistress gently, "but if you have 
 been tempted by the sparkle of gems, — and you 
 have a girl's love for things that glitter, even 
 though you are in a lowly walk in life, — if you 
 have taken the lady's ornament, as she seems certain 
 that you have done, restore it to her. And this 
 being your first offense, I promise you that your 
 punishment shall be light." 
 
 " But, my mistress, how can I restore what I have 
 not taken?" asked the girl simply. 
 
 "Talk about this being her first offense; if so, I 
 am quite sure it will not be her last one, for she is as 
 hardened as one old in crime," said the Lady 
 Clotilde. 
 
 Then her mistress said, turning to the girl, " If 
 you are innocent, if your conscience does not trouble 
 you, why were you weeping this morning? " 
 
 Cimburga made no reply, but putting her apron 
 to her face, began to sob. 
 
 " Come, answer me," said the countess gently. 
 
 " My dear and gracious mistress, do not ask me 
 why I was weeping, for I can not tell you," sobbed 
 the girl. 
 
 "You might as well tell us," said the Lady Clo- 
 tilde, " for we are bound to know it sooner or later." 
 
 " I will never tell, I will go to my death first," 
 said the girl desperately. 
 
 112 
 
LADY CLOTILDE'S PENDANT 
 
 "You deserve to go to your death, since you are 
 so stubborn," said the Lady Clotilde vindictively. 
 " But give me back my jewel, and you shall be 
 troubled no more so far as I am concerned." 
 
 " I can not give you what I have not got. I call 
 upon all the saints to witness that I know nothing 
 of the object which you have lost." 
 
 " She does but blaspheme," said the Lady 
 Clotilde coldly. " Let her be handed over to the 
 law." 
 
 The punishment for all kinds of crime was most 
 severe at this time, and it is no wonder that Cim- 
 burga sobbed convulsively as she was taken from 
 the room. 
 
 This unfortunate incident cast a gloom over the 
 company. It was easy to see that the countess was 
 unhappy about the accusation that had been made 
 against the young girl who was under her own pro- 
 tection. The Lady Clotilde was sulky and restless, 
 while the others seemed to be puzzled by what had 
 happened. When the gentlemen, who had been 
 hunting, returned to the castle, they were told of the 
 occurrence of the morning, and most of those who 
 gave an opinion were inclined to agree with the 
 owner of the jewel that Cimburga was guilty, even 
 the count expressing grave doubts as to her inno- 
 cence. Cimburga was nothing but a servant, there- 
 fore was more than likely to be the thief. 
 
 "I wish," said Le Glorieux to Philibert, "that 
 we had left Clotilde in France. I have been ac- 
 
 113 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 quainted with her for a number of years, and I 
 have never known a time when there was not some 
 kind of agitation on her account. She is always 
 just coming, or just going, or is looking for some- 
 thing that she can not find, or is doing something 
 or other to make everybody around her restless. 
 She is like a whirlwind that picks up leaves and 
 sticks and slams them about. I know that she is 
 your relative, but that is not your fault, my lad, and 
 I respect you none the less for it. We should be 
 judged by our friends and not by our relatives, for 
 we select our own friends. It is a great pity that 
 we are not allowed to select our own relatives too, 
 since we are obliged to see so much of them. I 
 know plenty of people who would have an entire 
 new set of relatives if the thing could be managed." 
 
 " Le Glorieux," said Philibert, " I do not believe 
 that the maid stole the moonstone any more than 
 that I took it myself." 
 . " I am not so sure that she is innocent," said 
 Antoine. " Why should she have been weeping at 
 such a rate?" 
 
 "Why should anybody weep?" asked Philibert. 
 " For a hundred things. It is no sign because 
 people have been crying that they have also been 
 stealing." 
 
 " Let us ask Saint Monica if Cimburga is guilty," 
 suggested the countess the following day. "Our 
 Saint Monica is wonderful," continued she, turning 
 to her guests. " She was placed in her present posi- 
 
 114 
 
They started out to see this wonderful saint P^g^ IIJ 
 
LADY CLOTILDE'S PENDANT 
 
 tion by one of the Countesses Von Hohenberg, 
 whose prayers for the reformation of an undutiful 
 son were answered, for you know Saint Monica her- 
 self knows what it is to weep for a dissipated son, 
 being the mother of the blessed Saint Augustine, 
 who was very wild until miraculously changed to a 
 saint. They say that when persons accused of a 
 crime are made to pass before her their innocence 
 or guilt may be proven at once, for if innocent 
 the saint will make a sign, but if guilty she will 
 remain immovable." 
 
 " Has she ever been seen to move when put to 
 the test?" asked the Lady Clotilde. 
 
 "Never in our time," said the count, replying to 
 the question. " In my grandfather's time it is said 
 that a youth, accused of stealing a gold image from 
 the chapel, passed before the saint and asked if he 
 was innocent, and she raised her hand and bowed 
 her head. Many others have tried it since, but they 
 were all guilty, for the saint made no sign." 
 
 "We will put Cimburga to the test to-night," 
 said the countess. "The moon will be bright by 
 ten o'clock, and at that time we shall not have so 
 many spectators as we should have during the 
 day." 
 
 Le Glorieux and the two boys started out to see 
 this wonderful saint. She stood in the forest 
 within a five minutes' walk from the castle, in front 
 of a great oak. She was a painted wooden figure 
 about five feet in height, and she had been scorched 
 
 115 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 by the summer sun and pelted by rainstorms until 
 her garments were all a dull gray, her face, partly 
 concealed by her nun's coif, wearing a self- 
 satisfied simper not at all consistent with her garb. 
 
 " The good saint is not a tall woman," said 
 Philibert, eying her critically. He walked all 
 around the figure, mounted a stone behind it, and 
 examined it closely. " Some day she will move 
 when they least expect it," he said, " for she is not 
 secure on her pedestal, and a storm will blow her 
 over." 
 
 In spite of the fact that a late hour had been set 
 for the visit to the saint, and the matter was sup- 
 posed to be a secret carefully kept from the ser- 
 vants, when the time came to start a curious crowd 
 gathered and followed the supposed culprit, her 
 master and mistress and their guests, to the statue 
 of Saint Monica. 
 
 By Cimburga's side walked a tall young man 
 who was said to be the miller's son, and whose 
 presence beside the accused was viewed with con- 
 siderable astonishment by those who knew him, 
 for his father was well-to-do, and his station was 
 above that of Cimburga. The face of the girl was 
 radiant with happiness, and those who observed 
 her tranquil countenance wondered why she ex- 
 hibited so little agitation at a time when she might 
 be supposed to be in a state of despair. 
 
 It was a very solemn procession that walked out 
 on that moonlight night. At present there exist 
 
 ii6 
 
LADY CLOTILDE'S PENDANT 
 
 comparatively few people who would expect a 
 wooden saint to move, even from a motive so noble 
 as to prove the innocence of an accused person; 
 but, as has already been said, many strange things 
 were believed in the fifteenth century. 
 
 Even all whispering ceased as they approached 
 the saint. The princess, warmly wrapped in fur, 
 was riding a little mule, and as Le Glorieux walked 
 beside her she slipped a cold hand into his with 
 a shiver of fear, and all stepped softly over the 
 frosty ground as if fearful of something, they knew 
 not what. The wind swept through the trees, rus- 
 tling the dry leaves. Was the saint already mov- 
 ing? No, it was only the shadow of a limb, which, 
 stirred by the wind, swayed above her head. 
 
 "Hist!" said the castle chaplain, though there 
 was no need to call for silence, as none at that mo- 
 ment felt in the least like talking. Then, in a 
 solemn voice, the priest invoked the saint to deign 
 to decide the fate of the accused maiden then stand- 
 ing before her. Was she innocent of the sin of 
 theft? 
 
 He paused, there was a breathless moment of ex- 
 pectancy, then Saint Monica really did move. 
 There was no doubt about it. She bowed her head 
 and raised her right hand I All saw her do it, as 
 they would tell their children, and their children's 
 children, for years to come. The priest murmured 
 some words in Latin, then all returned immediately 
 to the castle, for none seemed inclined to remain 
 
 117 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 in the neighborhood of the saint who so kindly 
 had set their minds at rest. All gathered in the 
 chapel, where a Te Deum was sung, as it had been 
 sung for the first time when the son of Saint Monica 
 was converted. 
 
 As soon as the exercises in the chapel were con- 
 cluded the little princess retired to her own apart- 
 ments, whispering to Le Glorieux as she passed 
 him, " Bring Cimburga and the miller's son to me, 
 and let no one else accompany you." 
 
 Marveling at this summons, and wondering 
 what the daughter of their future emperor could 
 have to say to them, now that Saint Monica had de- 
 cided in the girl's favor, settling the question of 
 her innocence, the young couple followed the 
 jester. The Lady Marguerite had dismissed even 
 Cunegunda, and was all alone when they entered 
 the room. She sat in a large chair, and in a rather 
 unprincess-like fashion, for she had been chilled 
 in the cold chapel, and she had drawn her feet up 
 under the folds of her velvet gown. After the 
 young couple had knelt at her feet, and had saluted 
 her according to the custom of the time, she bade 
 them stand before her, and Le Glorieux said with 
 great frankness, " I will leave the room if you say 
 so, little Princess; but to be strictly honest about it, 
 I should like mightily to stay and hear what you 
 have to say to these young folk, and you may be 
 sure that I shall not mention it to a soul." 
 
 " It is not a secret," replied the princess; " I was 
 
LADY CLOTILDE'S PENDANT 
 
 only afraid that they might be embarrassed by an 
 audience." 
 
 " They will not be embarrassed by my presence," 
 said he quickly, " for a fool in a room is of no more 
 importance than a cat." 
 
 "You make yourself of small account when it 
 is to gain your own ends, but stay, if you like," she 
 returned, laughing. 
 
 " And as I do like, I will stay," he returned, sit- 
 ting down on the floor beside her chair. 
 
 The young couple, standing, blushing and 
 abashed before her, gazed with awe at the little 
 maiden, who seemed almost lost in the embrace 
 of the huge chair in which she sat. But when 
 they saw that her eyes were soft and shining, that 
 her lips were curved into a friendly smile, they 
 forgot for the moment that she was of royal blood, 
 and would, doubtless, one day wear the crown of 
 a mighty kingdom. A silver griffin of a sconce 
 near by held a light in its claws, which fell full 
 upon Cimburga and the miller's son. The latter 
 was tall and straight, with an honest, noble coun- 
 tenance, and certainly there were many ladies who 
 were not half so pretty as Cimburga. The little 
 princess wondered why these humble people should 
 be so handsome, and concluded that the good God 
 had given them personal comeliness to make up 
 for lack of worldly goods, for certainly the athletic 
 figure of the youth could have been no handsomer 
 clad in velvet and satin than in the plain garments 
 
 119 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 he now wore, ^and the flash of jewels could have 
 made the eyes of Cimburga no brighter than they 
 were at this moment. 
 
 "Your name is Cimburga?" said Marguerite, 
 addressing the girl; " that is a Polish name." 
 
 "Yes, your Highness, it is the name of my 
 grandmother, who was born in Poland, and who 
 was given the name of the mother of his Im- 
 perial Majesty, the grandfather of your gracious 
 Highness." 
 
 "That is a mixture of relatives that makes my 
 head ache," observed Le Glorieux. 
 
 " Then it may be wise for you to leave the room," 
 replied the princess slyly. 
 
 " If I did anything wise I would not be a fool," 
 he returned; "therefore I stay." 
 
 "It is true," said Marguerite, "that my great 
 grandmother was Cimburga of Poland, and it is 
 from her, they say, that the archduke, my father, 
 inherited his great physical strength. And now, 
 Cimburga, I want you to answer my questions and 
 do not be afraid, for no harm shall come to you 
 from anything you may say to me. That you did 
 not commit the crime of which you are accused we 
 all know now, and I felt from the first, but why had 
 you been crying even before you were accused? " 
 
 The girl dropped her eyes and a very pretty 
 color dyed her cheeks. 
 
 "Your Highness," she faltered, playing restlessly 
 with the cord that laced her bodice, " it was because 
 
 120 
 
" A greater dowry than the weaver's daughter's Page 122 
 
LADY CLOTILDE'S PENDANT 
 
 I was afraid that Karl and I could never wed. His 
 father, your Highness, is a miller and a man of 
 means, and he wishes his son to marry the weaver's 
 daughter, who can bring him a dowry, while I have 
 nothing. And I had reason to believe that he was 
 ready to obey his father; but when this great 
 trouble was sent upon me he came to say that he 
 cared only for me, that he believed in my inno- 
 cence, and that he would stand by my side let hap- 
 pen what would. And after that, your Highness, I 
 was not afraid of anything that might come." 
 
 " Karl is a worthy youth," said the princess. " I 
 have heard my good confessor say that there is 
 nothing more beautiful in this world than the love 
 that brings our friends to our side when fortune 
 frowns, and that good friends are the stars that 
 shine all the brighter when night is darkest. But 
 it is not right to disobey one's parents, and you 
 would not wed without your father's consent?" 
 
 Karl was about to reply, when Cimburga said 
 quickly, "No, your Highness, but even if his 
 father should never be willing for us to wed, it is 
 a joy to know that he cares for me, and that 
 when all others were against me he still had faith 
 in me." 
 
 The little princess now realized that it is some- 
 times a great pleasure to be a person whose author- 
 ity can be felt. She at once made up her mind 
 that the mercenary miller should give his consent 
 to the match, and that willingly, even gladly. 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 "What is the size of the dowry that this fortu- 
 nate weaver's daughter will be able to bring to 
 you?" she asked, turning to the young man. 
 
 " It is quite a large one, your Highness," he re- 
 turned, with a sigh, as though he wished from the 
 bottom of his heart that thethrifty weaver had been 
 a gay spendthrift instead of having been a provi- 
 dent money-saver. And he mentioned a sum at 
 which the Lady Marguerite smiled behind her 
 hand, it seemed so small to her. 
 
 " Le Glorieux," said she, *'go into roy bed- 
 chamber and ask one of my women to give you the 
 brass-bound box which will be found in the top of 
 the chest." 
 
 The jester skipped gayly away to do her bidding 
 and soon returned with the box clasped affection- 
 ately in his arms, and kneeling, he laid it on her 
 lap. She took a purse from the box, and emptying 
 the glittering coins in the chair beside her, she 
 counted the pieces as she restored them one by one 
 to the purse, which she handed to Cimburga, 
 saying: 
 
 " Here is a greater dowry than the weaver's 
 daughter will bring to her husband. I owe you 
 something because one of my own suite has brought 
 you so much trouble. I hope your marriage will 
 be a happy one. Some day I too must marry, and 
 a princess may not make her own choice. Say a 
 prayer for me, Cimburga, that my betrothal may 
 bring me the happiness that yours has brought to 
 
 122 
 
LADY CLOTILDE'S PENDANT 
 
 you. Petition the Holy Virgin for Marguerite of 
 Hapsburg." 
 
 " Indeed and indeed I will, your gracious High- 
 ness," sobbed Cimburga, as she pressed the hem of 
 Marguerite's robe to her lips. "The sun shall not 
 set on a day of my life in which a prayer has not 
 been said for you." 
 
 Le Glorieux rubbed his sleeve across his eyes, 
 saying, " I do not like salt water in any shape. 
 When I sail on it it makes me uncomfortable and 
 ill, and it is equally disagreeable when it tries to 
 drown a man's eyes." 
 
 123 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 A PLEASANT SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 On his way to bed Le Glorieux remembered that 
 he had not seen Philibert during the whole even- 
 ing, and passing the boy's room, he pushed open 
 the door and looked in. The apartment was 
 bathed in moonlight; its occupant lay on his couch 
 wrapped in the unconsciousness of slumber. In 
 contrast with 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 on 
 either 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 the cold and unfeeling 
 nature of a carp, you will not escape a visit from 
 him, 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 cousin Clotilde this very morn- 
 
 124 
 
A SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 ing accused a pretty maid of stealing a moonstone, 
 
 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 recall the 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 did not take the trouble to 
 join the spectators." 
 
 "No." 
 
 I* When everybody about the place, from my own 
 princess down to the lowest scullion, was anxious to 
 know what the saint would decide, you went to bed 
 and slept through it all like an old man of ninety. 
 I should like very much to know what kind of 
 blood fills the veins of the people of Savoy! " 
 
 " 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 deal 
 of water." 
 
 Philibert, who had risen to a sitting posture, 
 laughed and once more cuddled among his 
 cushions. "Listen," said he. ^'The great clock 
 in the tower is clanging the hour of twelve. It is 
 the time when witches come forth and play their 
 tricks. Be careful as you pass along the corridor 
 
 125 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 lest one of them should mistake you for her elder 
 brother and snatch at your long horns." 
 
 "They will have more business with you than 
 with me, fair youth. Has any one been to tell you 
 what Saint Monica replied? Did you not at least 
 arrange 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 was the result!" 
 
 "What did the saint do?" asked the boy, clasp- 
 ing his hands under his head and regarding the 
 indignant jester. 
 
 " I have as good a mind as I ever had to swallow 
 a bite to eat to let you wait until morning to find 
 out." 
 
 " Considering, as you say, that I have no curios- 
 ity about the matter, do you think that would 
 greatly disturb me?" asked Philibert. " But come, 
 my good fellow," he added good-naturedly, " do 
 not be angry with me. Perhaps I am overfond of 
 my bed, and this couch is soft with the down of 
 many fowls. Tell me what reply was made by 
 Saint Monica." 
 
 "She came to life!" replied Le Glorieux, in a 
 tone of awe, as he recalled the remarkable scene he 
 had witnessed. " It is a great pity that she stood so 
 much in shadow that we could not see her more 
 plainly, but from the moment I beheld her I could 
 see a palpitation as of life beneath her raiment." 
 
 126 
 
A SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 "Could you see her face distinctly?" 
 
 "No, you know it is shaded by her coif. And 
 all say that even before they saw her move they 
 are quite certain that her head was not in quite the 
 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 all saw her move; she 
 bowed her head and raised her hand, and the cause 
 of the 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 dowry be- 
 yond her wildest dreams." 
 
 "Did the Lady Marguerite do so?" cried the 
 boy, showing interest and enthusiasm for the first 
 time. "It is like herl She is just and generous, 
 she is an angel." 
 
 "No, I could not call her an angel exactly," 
 replied the jester, " for I have seen her eyes flash 
 with anger more than once, though always in a 
 good 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 stone with a red light that 
 rolls about over a green surface." 
 
 " Well, it would not be so pretty without the red 
 
 127 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 flame, and the princess would not be so perfect 
 without her temper." 
 
 "A temper," said the jester, "is a good thing 
 when it is only allowed to come out once in a great 
 while, and that only in a good cause, but as a rule 
 it should be kept under lock and key lest it should 
 work destruction. But I must say good night, else 
 the first streaks of dawn will find me on the outside 
 of my bed, which to a man with my talent for sleep- 
 ing would be a calamity." 
 
 If any one had thought to compare the Lady Clo- 
 tilde to an opal that night, he would have said that 
 the red flame had absorbed the whole of the stone. 
 She was in a most captious state of mind, boxing 
 the ears of her tiring-woman and scolding every- 
 body within reach. The maid's innocence had 
 been proven, but what good did this do the Lady 
 Clotilde? The pendant was still missing. The 
 whole household was rejoicing, just as if her jewel 
 had been restored at the same time, when its loss 
 was as great a mystery as ever! 
 
 " Fetch my book to me," she said when her 
 woman had finished her other duties. "You were 
 about to forget it when you know quite well that 
 I could not sleep a wink without my devotional 
 reading." 
 
 The maid placed on a little table beside her mis- 
 tress a little Florentine lamp of silver that her 
 lady always took with her when traveling. Beside 
 it she placed a book bound in blue silk, with clasps 
 
 128 
 
** I could not sleep a wink without my devotional reading" 
 
 Page 128 
 
A SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 and corners of silver. This volume was a treasure, 
 for on the inside its letters were crimson, outlined 
 with pure gold, and it told of the lives of the saints. 
 But the Lady Clotilde's devotional reading was 
 usually a pretense. It was well to make others be- 
 lieve that she was too pious to sleep until she had 
 refreshed her mind with facts in the life of a saint, 
 but as a rule she went to sleep as soon as her head 
 touched the pillow, and though to-night she was too 
 restless to be overcome by slumber, the handsome 
 book remained tightly clasped, with its gorgeous 
 lettering, 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 sound of whispering all over the 
 castle; maids and pages, with their heads close to- 
 gether in the corridors, would fly apart at his 
 approach and assume an air of great unconcern, 
 while a group of ladies in the corners talking all 
 at once, as of something of vital interest, would 
 close their lips tightly when they saw him coming, 
 and one of the gentlemen actually said " Hush! " to 
 the others when Le Glorieux suddenly appeared 
 among them. 
 
 " Do you know why everybody is whispering 
 and making themselves look like owls, little 
 Cousin?" he asked the princess. 
 
 "They do not whisper when I am present; I 
 know nothing about it," she returned. " I only 
 know that in spite of the good cheer offered by our 
 
 129 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 kind host, I am praying that the time may fly on 
 swiftest wings so that I may soon see my father." 
 
 " Well, there is either a conspiracy on foot 
 against me or else they are planning a pleasant sur- 
 prise for me." 
 
 "Your imagination is playing you a trick, my 
 good fool. Why should they be planning anything 
 that concerns you?" 
 
 Cunegunda entered the room and, like almost 
 every one else Le Glorieux had noticed that day, 
 she wore a beaming smile. 
 
 " I have been so accustomed to see you down in 
 the dumps that your present 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 beaming saint?" 
 
 "What it is that I know, do you ask, Sir Fool? 
 What should I know save that 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 can think of no other subject 
 of conversation," he retorted, "but it has never 
 seemed to me to have a comical side, and there is 
 nothing in it to bring 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 consequences may be? " 
 
 Still devoured with curiosity regarding the 
 secret, which he was confident was also being kept 
 
 130 
 
A SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 from the princess, the fool wandered to the dining- 
 hall, where a lively conversation was going on be- 
 tween the seneschal and the housekeeper. These 
 functionaries were elderly people and both were 
 very fat. They had been serving the count and 
 countess from their youth, and during all those 
 years seemed to have been running a race to see 
 which would grow the stouter. The seneschal con- 
 sidered himself the most important person in the 
 castle; the housekeeper was sure that the family 
 would become extinct should she conclude to leave 
 its service. Probably most of us feel the same 
 about our own surroundings, but the chances 
 are that the world will wag along just the same 
 when we shall have ceased to grace it with our 
 presence. 
 
 Having nothing more entertaining on hand at 
 the moment, the jester paused and stood unseen in 
 the shadow of the great chimney to hear what they 
 were saying. 
 
 "Oh, me!" said the housekeeper, "I have so 
 much to do with superintending those lazy maids 
 and watching everything that goes on in the 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 it with a 
 great show of vigor. 
 
 "What are you doing?" asked the housekeeper 
 sharply. 
 
 131 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 "I am polishing this jug; did you think I was 
 playing the lute?" 
 
 "No doubt you consider that extremely funny," 
 she retorted contemptuously, " but let me tell you 
 that for a man of your age to try to be witty is like 
 the frog trying to sing the notes of the nightingale. 
 Oh, me, I have so much to do that I actually do not 
 know where to begin! I wish that somebody 
 would take as much interest in the management of 
 this place as I do. I do not know what my Lady 
 would do if I should drop out." 
 
 " You certainly would be missed," replied the 
 seneschal. 
 
 She was greatly surprised at this reply from one 
 who never would admit that she was of any value 
 to her employers. " I am glad that you can see 
 that I should be missed," said she, " and that at last 
 you are coming to your 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 be very 
 singular if a person of your size would drop out of 
 any place and not be missed." 
 
 "There you go again, Mr. Frog! Perhaps the 
 old emperor wants a jester to cheer him up. Do 
 you not think it would be a good plan to apply for 
 the position?" 
 
 " I do not know that I should care to do so, but 
 at the same time I think he might do worse than to 
 employ me." 
 
 132 
 
A SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 " Of all things in this world this is the most won- 
 derful! Is there no limit to your self-satisfac- 
 tion?" 
 
 "If we are not satisfied with ourselves who will 
 be satisfied with us?" he asked. "I am sure that 
 I could m.ake myself fully as useful to his Imperial 
 Majesty as to my present master and mistress." 
 
 " And that is not saying a great deal," replied the 
 housekeeper, with a sniff. 
 
 " What do you mean? How could the place get 
 on without me? Where is the man in my position 
 who does so much outside of his proper duties? 
 When they are starting to the hunt, who always 
 watches them depart? I do. Who always places 
 the hawk on my lady's wrist? I do. Who else 
 could do it to her 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 quickly 
 detect the absence of the right flavor. And then I 
 keep my eye on all the maids and pages to see that 
 they do not idle away their time." 
 
 The housekeeper tossed her head scornfully. 
 " As to placing the hawk on my lady's wrist, I can 
 see no great amount of labor in that. As to ' tast- 
 ing ' the food as you do, which consists of dipping 
 an amount from each dish, seasoning it well and 
 eating it, I am sure there are plenty who would be 
 glad to take your place and consider it no hardship. 
 I notice too that you taste the wine which has been 
 in the cellar for a hundred years, and which our 
 
 133 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 master already knows all about. Do you consider 
 that necessary?" 
 
 " Did you never hear, my good woman, of a 
 poisonous drug being dropped into 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 is always well to be prepared 
 for the worst." 
 
 " Since you open the bottles yourself, none else 
 has a chance to put in the poison," she replied, 
 determined to argue the question into shreds. 
 
 " Even supposing that no one had an opportunity 
 with the bottles," said the 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 sometimes that make them most danger- 
 ous, and who can tell what has been going on in a 
 pipe of wine that has had nothing to do for the 
 last century but to get 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 could manage 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 as dull as the sun behind a fog. 
 
 134 
 
** Hush ! we were told not even to mention his name 
 
A SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 Look at it now I A lady could see to rouge her 
 face by it." 
 
 "There is no difference in it to what it was be- 
 fore you touched it. But I must go and look after 
 the cook, for the supper to-night must be the 
 triumph of our lives. I hope that we shall not 
 have to wait for our guest, or the dishes may be 
 spoiled." 
 
 " He will not mind; he was as gay and easy to 
 please as a burgher when he visited here before," 
 said the seneschal; adding, " I wonder if they have 
 succeeded 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 be kept by a lot of cackling 
 women." 
 
 " Dame Cunegunda says her Highness, the 
 princess, is all impatience to be away," said the 
 housekeeper, who scorned to make any reply to this 
 last taunt. " She will be almost out of her mind 
 with delight when he comes." 
 
 "Hush! we were told not even to mention his 
 name, for the very walls have 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 me something about him. The 
 friar was at Ulm when he whom we expect was at 
 that city. The cathedral at Ulm has a very tall 
 
 I3S 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 tower, and nearly four hundred steps lead to the 
 top of it. Well, he whom we expect climbed to 
 the top of the tower and stood on one leg on the top 
 of it and turned around! The friar said if any 
 other man had attempted such a feat he surely 
 would have fallen and have been dashed to pieces. 
 But he whom we expect is as brave as a lion, and it 
 was one of his pranks, for he is gay and full of 
 fun." 
 
 " How wonderful! " exclaimed the housekeeper, 
 looking up from the silver bowl 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 an ambassador from the King 
 of Denmark came. The ambassador was very high 
 and 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 message 
 sitting. Then he whom we expect rose to his feet 
 and remained standing during the interview, and 
 the ambassador was obliged to stand also from very 
 shame." 
 
 " I am glad that you are forced to acknowledge 
 that something good can come out of my country," 
 said the housekeeper, who was an Austrian, and 
 ended her remarks with a chuckle of delight, for 
 the seneschal was Flemish. 
 
 136 
 
A SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 "My friends," said Le Glorieux, coming for- 
 ward and giving the worthy couple a start of sur- 
 prise 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 seneschal proudly, saying, " How long 
 have you been standing there? " 
 
 " Ever since you began to polish that jug. You 
 were talking so loud that I did not think you were 
 saying anything that I could not hear as well as 
 not." 
 
 "And you heard nothing! " declared the house- 
 keeper triumphantly. "You, sir, were to be kept 
 in the dark, lest in your merry way you should re- 
 veal to the princess what she is not to know, and 
 even though you have been standing there all that 
 time, you have heard nothing, for we have men- 
 tioned no names." 
 
 " I have heard," said the jester, " of a bird found 
 in Africa called the ostrich. This very wise fowl 
 when it wants to conceal itself hides its head in the 
 sand and leaves its big bulky body in plain view. 
 You remind me of this bird. You have men- 
 tioned no names, of course, but who is it that the 
 princess most desires to see? Maximilian. Who 
 would be most likely 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. 
 
 137 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 '' That name must not be mentioned, else it will 
 reach the ears of her little Highness, the Lady 
 Marguerite." 
 
 " My little princess is in the other wing of the 
 castle, and in order to hear me she would have to 
 have "a sense of hearing sharper than any chamois 
 that ever leaped a chasm. And now that you see 
 that I know all about it, suppose you tell me how 
 you know that the archduke, the King^of the 
 Romans — in other words, Maximilian — is com- 
 ing." 
 
 "A messenger arrived last night from Ghent to 
 tell us. His Highness does not want the princess 
 to know of his coming; he wishes to see if she will 
 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 am a 
 baby who forgets what it has seen last month? 
 Did I not see Max when he was married, and is it 
 reasonable to suppose that I have entirely forgotten 
 how he looks? They might have known that it 
 would be safer to tell me all about it. If I had 
 seen him coming I might have bawled, ' Little 
 Princess, here comes your father I ' and that would 
 have spoiled it all." 
 
 " I do not think they remembered that you had 
 already seen him," said the seneschal; " at any rate 
 we were told to keep the secret from you." 
 
 " It is a great mistake to try to keep a secret 
 
 138 
 
A SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 from me," said the fool, " for I always find things 
 out. As well try to keep the presence of the cheese 
 a secret from the mouse, as to try to keep anything 
 from me. And since you have been telling stories 
 about Max, I will tell you one that I heard. One 
 day when he was riding home from the chase, a 
 beggar accosted him. ' Please give me alms, your 
 Highness,' said the beggar, who w^as one of the 
 whining kind; ' although I am of lowly birth, still 
 we are all brothers and should help each other.' 
 Max handed him a penny, saying, ' Take this, my 
 good man, and if all your brothers give you as 
 much, you will be richer than I.' It may be that 
 Max did not have much money with him at the 
 time; I am sure he did not if it was before his 
 marriage, for nearly all his wealth came from Bur- 
 gundy and Flanders." 
 
 " Ha! ha!" laughed the seneschal, turning to the 
 housekeeper. " Where would your great King of 
 the Romans be without my country? Even a king 
 with no money is of little consequence." 
 
 "Pray, pray, good Sir Fool," said the house- 
 keeper, ignoring this remark, " keep the secret from 
 her Highness, and let no one know that you are 
 aware of the coming of the archduke. Our mas- 
 ter would be seriously displeased if he knew that 
 we had revealed the fact that the royal visitor is 
 expected." 
 
 " Do not be alarmed," replied Le Glorieux; " I 
 shall be as silent as an owl in daytime, for I, too, 
 
 139 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 want my little mistress to have the pleasure of a 
 surprise." The end of the sentence was almost 
 drowned by the striking of the clock, and the fool 
 continued, raising his voice, " I do not see why it 
 is, but it seems to me that every time I want to say 
 anything that clock wants to strike at that partic- 
 ular minute!" 
 
 " Oh, it is late, it is late," cried the housekeeper, 
 " and we must hurry." 
 
 "True," said the seneschal, "let the table be 
 spread at once." 
 
 Two boys came in to spread the table, and were 
 soundly cufifed by the seneschal because they put the 
 plates on before the salt, there being a superstition 
 that bad luck was sure to follow unless the salt went 
 on first of all. Some people have an idea that 
 the way to hurry things up is to get into a temper, 
 and this seemed to be the case with both the 
 seneschal and the housekeeper, who bustled about, 
 interrupting each other by the commands they gave 
 the servants, one often countermanding the orders 
 of the other, until their underlings ran hither and 
 thither without knowing what to do. Le Glorieux, 
 who made himself perfectly at home all over the 
 house, followed the pair to the kitchen and seated 
 himself comfortably on the lower step of a wind- 
 ing staircase, which led somewhere 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 be least expected. 
 
 140 
 
A SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 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 of 
 fowls; scullions were chopping spiced dressings, 
 beating eggs, and attending to various features of 
 the coming repast, and everybody seemed to be 
 working in a great haste, for a few sharp words 
 from the housekeeper, seconded by the seneschal, 
 had stirred the whole kitchen into a flurry. " Here, 
 baste these fowls," cried the cook, handing a long- 
 handled spoon to one of the scullions. " Can you 
 not see that I ought to be at work on the pastry? 
 You stand at the other end of the room staring at 
 nothing at all when you know that I must need you 
 here." The cook was quite haughty while admin- 
 istering this reproof, and Le Glorieux remarked: 
 
 '' Everybody has some one to scold, from the 
 seneschal on down, and I dare say the scullions vent 
 their ill temper on the dogs." 
 
 The boy who was beating the eggs stopped to 
 laugh at this remark, for which he received a swift 
 cuff from the housekeeper, who said, " Do you not 
 know that one should never pause for even a 
 moment when beating eggs? 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, and tilting his spoon spilled the 
 gravy into the flames, which received it with a 
 
 141 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 great deal of sputtering, cracking, and snapping, 
 and an increase of blaze, which threatened to con- 
 sume all the fowls, and which put the cook into 
 such a rage that he snatched the spoon and hit the 
 boy a crack over the head with it. " Take that for 
 a blundering idiot!" cried he. "From your in- 
 difference and carelessness one would think a sup- 
 per for 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 that case I am sure that funerals in 
 this mansion would be frequent. But it is my 
 fault, no doubt. I am making myself too enter- 
 taining. I will go now, 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, and which 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 little mistress. Antoine was 
 singing for her a tinkling melody, and the jester 
 began to sway about in time to the music. With 
 mischief in his eyes, Antoine kept singing faster 
 and faster, which caused the jester to whirl about 
 like a top, while the little princess clapped her 
 hands with delight. 
 
 "Bravo!" said a voice, when the song was 
 finished, and turning they saw a man's figure stand- 
 ing in the doorway. 
 
 "Who are you, sir, that come in unannounced, 
 
 142 
 
A SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 and what do you wish?" asked the Lady Mar- 
 guerite, straightening herself up, for she was most 
 dignified at times and would permit no liberties. If 
 his rank might be judged by his costume, this new- 
 comer was taking a great liberty, and the princess 
 continued to gaze at him with a haughty expression 
 of countenance, while he remained smiling, but 
 silent. He was dressed in a simple gray hunting 
 costume, and the hat he held in his hand was 
 adorned, not by a curling plume, but by a feather 
 from the wing of the black eagle. 
 
 He was of a fine and graceful figure and a hand- 
 some face, and there seemed to be a kind of mist in 
 his eyes as he gazed at the frowning little lady be- 
 fore 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 her chair and advanced 
 toward him. "Give me the letter; where is it? 
 Why do you 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 have to tell me, you can return 
 whence you came and ask the archduke, my father, 
 
 143 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 if all these years have made him forget that he 
 should love his daughter, and if he believes that 
 she cares not at all for him?" 
 
 The little princess did not weep, as she was in- 
 clined to do in her disappointment, but her cheeks 
 were flushed and her lips quivered with emotion. 
 
 For answer, the stranger strode into the room 
 and, picking up the little maiden bodily in his arms, 
 he kissed her lips, her brow, her hair, and her eye- 
 lids 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 realized that 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, but the glance of those eyes over- 
 came me, quite," murmured Maximilian, while 
 Le Glorieux whispered to Antoine, " Although I 
 am a fool, there are moments and places when and 
 where I feel that my presence is not absolutely nec- 
 essary, and this is one of them. She will not blame 
 us if we go without her permission, and our room 
 just now is better than our company, so let us go." 
 And unnoticed they slipped away. 
 
 Later when the jester saw the archduke he was 
 clothed as became his rank, in velvet trimmed in 
 fur, while gems flashed in the chain about his neck 
 and on his fingers. 
 
 " My father," said the princess, who clung to 
 
 144 
 
A SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 his hand as if she feared he suddenly would vanish 
 from her sight, " this is my jester, Le Glorieux. He 
 once lived at the court of Burgundy. He loved my 
 mother and he 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 ex- 
 change?" asked Le Glorieux quickly. "Some of 
 the women who have married into the royal house 
 of France have secured both king and fool in one." 
 
 Maximilian laughed. " I see you have a ready 
 wit," said he. " I now remember to have observed 
 you when I stood at the door of the princess' apart- 
 ments. Did you suspect who I was. Fool? " 
 
 " Not at first," was the reply. " Kings may have 
 a divine right, but they have not a divine look when 
 clothed in common wool. You are a handsome 
 figure of a man, but so is many a forester, and even 
 your daughter did not recognize you until you had 
 hugged her like a bear. But now you look very 
 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 was the day you wedded our 
 Duchess of Burgundy; but I remember you for all 
 that, and I have described your appearance on that 
 day a dozen times to my little princess." 
 
 Among the company of ladies and gentlemen 
 who surrounded the supper-table none was happier 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 than the Lady Clotilde. She wore a costume care- 
 fully copied from one she had seen worn by Anne 
 of Beaujeu, and which the tailor who had fashioned 
 it before Lady Clotilde left Amboise would re- 
 member to the last day of his life, from the severe 
 tongue lashings he received while he was putting it 
 together. It was of a heavy velvet, bordered to 
 the knees in rich dark fur; about her neck were 
 strings and strings of pearls; a veil of silver tissue 
 bound her brow and hung down her back, while 
 her hair, drawn into a mass on the top of her head, 
 was covered by a sparkling net and spread out on 
 either side like the wings of a butterfly. 
 
 " I should think that some of those pearls would 
 get lost in the hollows of Clotilde's neck," muttered 
 Le Glorieux to himself. This reminded him of 
 the moonstone pendant and he wondered for the 
 fiftieth time where it could be. " I have no faith 
 in those curses that were to follow on the loss of the 
 trinket," thought he. " If they had been genuine, 
 something would be happening to her by this time. 
 And she is just as healthy as ever; 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 that would 
 come at full gallop after anybody else would pass 
 Clotilde by and forget all about her." 
 
 The subject of piety came up that evening; 
 Maximilian, who was always gay and fond of his 
 
 146 
 
None was happier than Lady Clotilde P<ige 1 4.6 
 
A SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 joke, but nevertheless had great reverence for the 
 pious teaching he had received in his youth, said, 
 "My instructors took pains to impress upon me 
 the fear of God, and they laid great stress upon 
 the commandments to believe in one God, to honor 
 my father and mother, and to do unto others as I 
 would have others do to me." 
 
 The Lady Clotilde listened to him as one en- 
 tranced. Maximilian, who was very good-natured, 
 had made one or two complimentary remarks to 
 her, and she was in high feather in consequence. 
 
 "All the world can see how well your Highness 
 lives up to your religious training," said she. " I, 
 too, have had all the great truths so thoroughly im- 
 pressed upon my mind that I never in any circum- 
 stances could forget them. I could no more go to 
 sleep without my devotional reading than I could 
 exist without eating. If your Highness is inter- 
 ested in handsome books, you would admire my 
 Lives of the Saints, which I read every night be- 
 fore I close my eyes in slumber. My royal cousin, 
 the Queen of France " — and the Lady Clotilde 
 straightened herself up at the mention of her rela- 
 tionship to so great a personage — " knowing my 
 passion for devotional reading, took from me my 
 old book worn out with constant perusal, and gave 
 me another instead. It was printed by a monk, 
 with his own hands. My royal relative is very 
 fond of such books." 
 
 That Queen Anne was fond of such books is 
 
 147 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 shown by the beautiful Book of Hours made by her 
 order. 
 
 " I, too, am very fond of such books, especially 
 of the kind you mention," said the archduke, " and 
 which I am afraid will go out of existence now 
 that the style of printing with movable letters has 
 come in." 
 
 And it may be said in passing that printing had 
 been invented about forty years before by John 
 Gutenberg at Mayence. 
 
 " I should very much like to see the volume you 
 mention," went on the archduke. 
 
 The Lady Clotilde fluttered with delight at this 
 request, for she was very proud of the volume and 
 would take great pleasure in exhibiting it to 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 the 
 binding, the chasing of the silver corners, and the 
 clasps, upon which were engraved the arms of Brit- 
 tany, a country which might at this moment have 
 been his own had not fate played him an ugly 
 trick. Then he unclasped the volume to glance 
 through its pages, and as he did so a bright object 
 slipped from its leaves and fell to the floor. Le 
 Glorieux sprang at once to pick it up, exclaiming 
 as he did so, " Why, Cousin Clotilde, it is your 
 moonstone pendant!" 
 
 And then the Lady Clotilde remembered all 
 
 148 
 
A SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 about it. She had worn the ornament the night 
 before they left Amboise, and as the maid had for- 
 gotten to put it with her other jewels, the lady had 
 slipped it into the book, the pendant being flat and 
 the book clasping loosely. She intended to have 
 the case taken from her box where it had been 
 packed ready for the journey, and the jewel put 
 in it as soon as her maid entered the room. And 
 she had forgotten all about the circumstance until 
 this very moment! People who pretend to be what 
 they are not will be discovered sooner or later, and 
 the lady's chagrin was so great that for the moment 
 she was absolutely dumb. 
 
 " This is the trinket that caused all that commo- 
 tion," said the fool. " No wonder 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 little daughter's 
 head approvingly when told of the marriage por- 
 tion she had given the maid. " I am afraid," said 
 he to Philibert, in order to cover the lady's con- 
 fusion, "that you are not a very attentive squire, 
 else you would have searched for and found the 
 locket, thus saving all the trouble that has followed 
 its disappearance." 
 
 "Your Highness, I saw my cousin place it in the 
 book," replied the boy innocently, " but as I sup- 
 posed she read it every night, I never thought of 
 looking for the jewel in its leaves." 
 
 149 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 The way in which events sometimes group them- 
 selves is very provoking, not to say maddening. The 
 Lady Clotilde had a fine little story all fixed up in 
 her mind as soon as the first moments of her amaze- 
 ment had passed. She was going to say that the 
 real thief had no doubt repented and had restored 
 her property that very day, knowing that she would 
 find it before she slept. But now Philibert must 
 spoil it all by telling the whole story, for she re- 
 membered that she had expatiated to him upon the 
 duty of reading elevating books, had opened this 
 one and held it in her lap, and, seeing the pendant 
 on the table, had censured the carelessness of her 
 woman, and had clasped it in the book, where she 
 said it was safe for the present. She had bragged 
 of her piety to the archduke, and here she was ex- 
 posed as one who not only had not looked into the 
 volume for more than a fortnight, but who had told 
 a falsehood as well! 
 
 " It is truly a curious ornament," remarked the 
 archduke, turning it so that the light played upon 
 the carved face of the moonstone. 
 
 " It is an heirloom of my mother's family, your 
 Grace," returned its owner 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 as the 
 rest of us. After all, it is a good thing that you put 
 the moonstone in a book that you never open, for if 
 
 ISO 
 
A SURPRISE FOR THE PRINCESS 
 
 you had found it right away, you never would have 
 accused Cimburga, and if you had not accused Cim- 
 burga, she would never have received the purse of 
 gold for her dower, and then she never would have 
 married Karl, for the prudent miller sooner or 
 later would have persuaded his son to marry the 
 weaver's daughter. So let us be thankful that you 
 are not so pious as you think you are, and that you 
 put the pendant in a book where it would have re- 
 mained for months, perhaps years, if you had not 
 wanted to show it to Cousin Max." 
 
 But the Lady Clotilde derived no comfort from 
 the favor she incidentally had done the maid. It 
 never had entered her head that she owed the girl 
 some reparation for the fright she had caused her, 
 and for the humiliating position in which she had 
 been placed, for the Lady Clotilde did not own the 
 kind of a head that would entertain such an idea. 
 
 The beds at the castle were most comfortable, be- 
 ing, as Philibert had said, stuffed with the down of 
 many fowls, and that of the Lady Clotilde was hung 
 with the richest brocade, but as she went to it boil- 
 ing with rage at Philibert, Le Glorieux, Cimburga, 
 the countess, and everybody in the remotest way 
 connected with the moonstone, it was long before 
 sweet sleep visited her eyelids. 
 
 But the little princess closed her eyes with a 
 smile, and soon sank into pleasant dreams; she had 
 seen her father, and he was all that her fancy had 
 painted him: he was affectionate, gay, and hand- 
 
 151 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 some. He had spoken during the evening of his 
 combats and she knew that he always had van- 
 quished his opponents. He was a true and brave 
 knight, and happy indeed was she in being the 
 daughter of one so worthy and so favored by 
 fortune. 
 
 152 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 A ROYAL ALCHEMIST 
 
 The object of her greatest desire, the meeting 
 with her father, having been attained, the princess 
 was in no haste to leave Castle Hohenberg, and as 
 the archduke was glad to rest a while from the cares 
 of state, a number of merry days were spent under 
 its hospitable roof, where everything that could be 
 thought of to add to the enjoyment of the guests 
 was done, with probably a vast increase in the 
 housekeeping accounts, for it is expensive to enter- 
 tain royal visitors. 
 
 In the evening there was dancing in the great 
 hall, and it was led by Maximilian, who chose for 
 his partner the prettiest lady in the room, or the 
 oldest and most ill-favored, for he made himself 
 agreeable to all. 
 
 When he spoke of taking his departure one of 
 the ladies declared that she would hide his boots 
 and spurs, which would detain him as long as she 
 should see fit to keep him there, for a prince riding 
 away without those useful articles of wearing ap- 
 parel would present an odd spectacle. This same 
 trick had been played upon Maximilian in another 
 mansion, and he had good-naturedly yielded to 
 
 153 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 the wishes of the mischievous dames and pro- 
 longed his stay in consequence. The archduke was 
 friendly to everybody, and on his way to and from 
 the outdoor sports that were arranged for him 
 he chatted affably with any peasant with whom he 
 happened to come in contact, and when we read 
 such things of him we are not surprised that the 
 people adored him. 
 
 But, however pleasant it may have been at Castle 
 Hohenberg, there were plenty of other places in 
 Maximilian's wide domain that longed for him 
 or needed him, or both, and ere long the party was 
 ready to continue its journey along the Rhine. 
 
 On the morning of their departure Marguerite 
 heard a gay song in the courtyard beneath her win- 
 dow; it was Cimburga, who was going to feed the 
 doves. The birds immediately flew to meet their 
 friend, settling on her shoulders, her head, and the 
 basket in which she had brought their food, the 
 sunlight bringing out the rose tints in the gray of 
 their plumage. The girl scattered the grain with 
 a lavish hand, and then held the end of a crust of 
 bread between her white teeth, turning her face 
 toward her shoulder, upon which two of the most 
 impertinent of the doves had settled, followed by 
 a host of others, who quarreled over the morsel at 
 such a rate that Cimburga, laughing, threw it at 
 them, saying, " Take it, then, greedy ones, since you 
 can not wait." 
 
 The Lady Marguerite called to the maid, and 
 
 IS4 
 
Marguerite heard a gay song in the courtyard Page i^^ 
 
A ROYAL ALCHEMIST 
 
 the latter glancing upward beheld a picture which 
 she never forgot as long as she lived, and which 
 always seemed to her like the recollection of a 
 beautiful young saint who had come to life in its 
 niche. In the arched window of the gray old 
 castle stood the little princess, her bright uncovered 
 hair like a halo about her face, which beamed upon 
 the maid with a gracious smile. Marguerite was 
 not an angel, as the jester had well said, but to the 
 girl who now gazed upon her, and who had re- 
 ceived so great a boon at her hands, she seemed 
 more than human. 
 
 The daughter of the Hapsburgs ignored for 
 the moment the gulf that divided her from this 
 child of the people, just as her father often did 
 in similar circumstances. "Are you happy now, 
 Cimburga?" she asked gently. 
 
 *'Oh, so happy, your gracious Highness, and all 
 thanks to you!" returned the girl. "The mistress 
 has given me a wedding dress of a beautiful blue, 
 the color that belongs to the Blessed Virgin, and 
 we are to be married next week. And Karl's 
 father has found an inn for him farther south, 
 called The Flying Fawn. And I am to be the 
 landlady of an inn!" She paused and looked 
 very serious for a moment at the thought of her new 
 dignity. Then she broke into a peal of laughter 
 at nothing at all, but just from pure happiness. 
 
 " I am glad because you are glad, Cimburga," 
 said the princess gently. 
 
 155 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 "And indeed, your Highness, I shall pray every 
 night to Saint Joseph to send you as good a husband 
 as I have myself," continued the girl earnestly. 
 Marguerite smiled at this, but after all -there was 
 many a prince who would not be so kind to his 
 royal wife as humble Karl would be to the maiden 
 of his choice. 
 
 At Metz they were greeted by Marguerite's 
 brother, a handsome boy known to history as 
 Philip of Flanders. He was about to go to that 
 country to remain, and so we shall see very little 
 of him in this story. 
 
 Everywhere in their own domain the emperor 
 and his daughter had been received with every 
 demonstration of delight by their loyal people, and 
 at Metz they were royally entertained by the Duke 
 of Lorraine, who caused to be given on his won- 
 derful stage a play for their amusement. 
 
 It was a very queer theater, or at least it would 
 look so to us to-day, and the plays produced there 
 did not in the least resemble those we are accus- 
 tomed to see. 
 
 Plays in the beginning were given in Latin, and 
 were played in churches on Christmas, Easter, and 
 Good Friday. But when they began to be recited 
 in the language spoken by the people the church 
 would have none of them, and they were per- 
 formed in the open air. The stage at Metz was 
 nine stories high, and as to whether their costumes 
 were appropriate or the contrary was a question 
 
 156 
 
A ROYAL ALCHEMIST 
 
 which seemed to trouble the actors very little, and 
 it must have seemed rather odd to see the angel 
 Gabriel appear in a robe that had been worn by 
 his Satanic Majesty in a previous scene. There 
 were a great many people in the play, which must 
 have been very confusing, because of the comic 
 interludes where clowns danced about performing 
 their various antics, which had nothing what- 
 ever to do with the play itself. The piece wit- 
 nessed by Maximilian and his suite lasted for three 
 days, and Le Glorieux declared that he for one 
 was glad when it was finished. 
 
 " But you can not see such spectacles every day," 
 said Philibert. 
 
 *' Thank fortune for that!" said the fool. 
 
 " But are you not fond of the drama? " 
 
 " Yes, and I am also fond of bread, but I should 
 not like to eat bread every minute for three days." 
 
 At Linz they stopped to pay their respects to the 
 old emperor, whom Marguerite never had seen, or 
 at least not since her babyhood, which does not 
 count. Frederick the Third was almost eighty 
 years old now. He had given up the government 
 of the country to his son, and had retired to his 
 palace at Linz, where he pursued his "studies," 
 as he called them, and which he fondly imagined 
 them to be, though to-day his pursuits would make 
 a boy of average intelligence smile broadly. 
 
 When Frederick was selected to be the emperor 
 of Austria he thought over the matter for eleven 
 
 157 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 weeks before he could make up his mind to accept 
 the honor thus proffered him. He never has been 
 called a wise or a worthy ruler; quite the contrary, 
 indeed; but the fact that he took time to think the 
 matter over shows that he realized that the duties 
 of his position would not be child's play, and as 
 he had reigned for more than fifty years, it may 
 be supposed that he was rather tired of it by this 
 time. The emperor was a tall, white-haired old 
 man of majestic appearance, with a heavy, pro- 
 truding under lip. He kissed his son on both 
 cheeks, and saluted his granddaughter in the same 
 way, though without any extravagant display of 
 affection, doubtless having his mind at the mo- 
 ment on his laboratory, where he was engaged in 
 trying a number of experiments, of which writers 
 of his day speak with a great deal of respect, not 
 to say awe. 
 
 Wishing to entertain her royal grandfather, 
 Marguerite asked Antoine to sing for him. The 
 old emperor listened with a dreamy expression of 
 countenance, as one who is absorbed in his own 
 thoughts, and when the song was finished he asked 
 his granddaughter and the boys to accompany 
 him to his laboratory, where they were, of course, 
 followed by Le Glorieux. 
 
 The laboratory was fitted up with all the ap- 
 pointments that could possibly be suggested by the 
 " studies " of the great man who spent so much 
 of his time within its four walls. There were 
 
 158 
 
A ROYAL ALCHEMIST 
 
 globes and compasses, and maps of the starry 
 heavens, for the emperor was very learned in 
 astrology. " It was a comet that came to tell me 
 of the birth of the King of the Romans, my son," 
 said he solemnly. " It was necessary that a brave 
 and wise prince should succeed me, and just before 
 his birth a pale light was seen in the sky, which 
 attracted the attention of learned men everywhere, 
 and which proved to be a comet, growing larger 
 and larger each night, reaching its greatest bril- 
 liancy on the night of my son's birth. The next 
 night it was less bright, and before many nights 
 it had disappeared!" 
 
 The emperor paused here, and no one remarked 
 that this behavior on the part of comets is not 
 unusual. Then he continued, " Until my son was 
 twelve years of age I thought he was going to be 
 either a mute or a fool. There was no sign of 
 any but a very ordinary grade of intelligence, and 
 I lost faith in the glorious predictions regarding 
 him that I had read in the heavens. He learned 
 his lessons only after a series of floggings, and I 
 feared that my realm was to be governed by a 
 weakling. But why should I have doubted the 
 assurance given me by the planets? My son came 
 out of his stupidity as from a dream, and he is 
 now one of the most learned of men. He can 
 address the ambassadors of eight different coun- 
 tries, each in his own language; he can dictate 
 a number of letters at once, each in a different 
 
 159 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 tongue. And the stars have said that Austria will 
 become the mistress of the world." 
 
 Although we know that the old emperor left a 
 writing to the efifect that his country would ex- 
 ceed all others in greatness, the prediction did not 
 come true, showing that the stars frequently make 
 mistakes. 
 
 The visitors examined the contents of the labora- 
 tory with great interest. The shelves contained 
 all sorts of bottles and retorts, and the vessels in 
 which he stirred his mixtures were marked with 
 a red cross to keep out the demon, who, it was be- 
 lieved, had an inconvenient and impertinent way 
 of meddling with such things. 
 
 The Lady Marguerite held in her hand a red 
 rose, which was given to her by the head gardener, 
 and which, being of a rare variety, was greatly 
 cherished by that functionary, and thought to be 
 a suitable gift, even for a princess. The emperor 
 reached out his hand for the rose, and taking it 
 from her, he popped it into a jar, where it soon 
 became as white as snow. Then, taking It out 
 again, he said, " It would be a pity to spoil a lady's 
 flower," and throwing it into another jar, it became 
 its own rich red again. 
 
 This feat seemed almost a miracle to the four 
 spectators who witnessed it, though a chemist to- 
 day would think nothing of it. To make sugar 
 and alcohol out of an old linen shirt, to make all 
 the colors of the rainbow, to say nothing of medi- 
 
 i6o 
 
He popped ihe rose into a jar i'''g^ lOO 
 
A ROYAL ALCHEMIST 
 
 cines and perfumes, and a substance many times 
 sweeter than sugar, out of a thing so black and 
 sticky and generally unpromising as coal tar, are 
 a few of the feats accomplished by the chemists 
 of our own time, but which would have made the 
 alchemists of Frederick's day gasp for breath. 
 
 " Here," said the emperor, taking up a long 
 slender vial, " is a specific for many ailments, which 
 I have succeeded in making out of a few drops of 
 water. And here," he went on, taking up a yellow 
 piece of parchment covered with hieroglyphics 
 and strange characters, " is a recipe which came 
 to me from the Orient, and said to have been 
 greatly prized by Hermes Tris-me-gistus." He 
 drew out the long name to its fullest extent, 
 and Le Glorieux whispered to Antoine, " Is it 
 not strange that at his age he can remember 
 such things? If I had a friend of that name and 
 wanted to write him a letter, I could never do 
 it in this world, for by the time I had written 
 the first part of the name I would have forgotten 
 the last of it. Yet this old man rattles it ofif as 
 easily as if he were telling what he would like for 
 breakfast. It must be because the Germans are 
 used to such long words that nothing in that line 
 staggers them." 
 
 " This tells how to make gold," said the emperor, 
 regarding the parchment with great satisfaction. 
 " It begins, ' Catch the flying bird and drown it 
 that it may fly no more.' You would be puzzled 
 
 i6i 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 at the meaning of that sentence, would you not? " 
 he asked, turning with a superior smile to his au- 
 dience, all of whom murmured a respectful affirm- 
 ative, save Le Glorieux, who said, " I should say 
 it was directions as to how to prepare a fowl for 
 the spit. Though I should advise cutting its head 
 ofif, which is a much quicker and more respectable 
 way than to drown it." 
 
 "Ha, ha I" cackled the old emperor. "Wiser 
 men than yourself. Fool, might think the same 
 thing. ' The flying bird ' means quicksilver, which 
 is very easy to change into gold." 
 
 " Since he knows so well how to make gold, I 
 wonder why he is so stingy," whispered the jester 
 to Antoine. The latter shook his head and made 
 no reply, this being a problem too deep for him 
 to solve. 
 
 " But the making of gold," went on Frederick, 
 " is attended with great danger. Nature is very 
 jealous of her riches, and conceals her precious 
 metals in the most inaccessible spots, and in trying 
 to make it we are likely to meet with a terrible 
 explosive." 
 
 The emperor took a ring from his finger set 
 with a large diamond. " This stone," said he, " is 
 called the ' indomitable one,' for it is the hardest 
 of all. It is the most beautiful of gems, for it has 
 the flash of the emerald, the gleam of the sapphire, 
 and the glow of the ruby. Around the origin of 
 this stone Nature has woven a mystery; she has 
 
 162 
 
A ROYAL ALCHEMIST 
 
 allied it to charcoal and other black substances. 
 But I can make it by adding colors to pebbles, as I 
 can make rubies, emeralds, and sapphires." 
 
 " Did you make the stone in your ring. Grand- 
 father?" asked the princess innocently. 
 
 " No," replied the emperor. 
 
 " Why does he not show us one that he has 
 made?" whispered Le Glorieux to Antoine, and 
 it certainly seemed as if the proof of this state- 
 ment should be forthcoming, since, ''If Peter 
 Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, ivhere 
 is the peck of pickled peppers that Peter Piper 
 picked?" But a writer of his time assures us 
 that Frederick actually made precious stones out 
 of pebbles, so he must have been content to take 
 the emperor's word for it. 
 
 " Here," said the royal alchemist, taking up a 
 second scroll of yellow parchment, " is another 
 formula which caused me much trouble and ex- 
 pense to procure. It tells how to make thunder 
 and lightning." 
 
 The emperor, with his profound knowledge of 
 the heavens and the secrets of the earth, was an 
 object of too much awe to Le Glorieux to be joked 
 with, as he was in the habit of doing, but he said to 
 Philibert as they left their august host, " Of course, 
 it may be a great pleasure to know how to make 
 thunder and lightning, and a man who is fond 
 of excitement and tired of a quiet life might do 
 it sometimes just to amuse himself. But, speaking 
 
 163 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 for myself, I do not think I should like to mix up 
 such a mess, at least not often." 
 
 It was in that same year that the emperor died, 
 leaving Maximilian ruler in name as he had been 
 for some time in fact. He was in possession of 
 the domains of the Hapsburgs, as well as those 
 of the Dukes of Burgundy, and he was served by 
 kings and electors. Still, in spite of his exalted 
 position, he did not become cold and forbidding 
 in his manner, remaining frank and affable as 
 he had been before. Writers have criticised him 
 for his friendly ways, but after all is it not better 
 for a ruler to be the darling of his people than 
 always to be on his dignity, afraid to show a little 
 human friendliness and good feeling? 
 
 The year after Maximilian became emperor he 
 was united in marriage to Bianca Sforza, an Italian 
 lady. When this marriage was first mentioned Le 
 Glorieux said to the Lady Marguerite, "I can 
 learn nothing about your new mother save that 
 she is high-tempered, and fond of a certain kind 
 of shellfish. It seems to me there ought to be 
 something more to say about a woman than just 
 that!" 
 
 The princess accepted her new mother as a mat- 
 ter of course. This marriage was an affair of 
 mere business; the emperor needed money with 
 which to fight Charles the Eighth of France, and 
 money he would obtain by his marriage with this 
 lady, who was far inferior to her predecessor, 
 
 164 
 
A ROYAL ALCHEMIST 
 
 Mary of Burgundy, both in education and beauty. 
 Although Frederick had claimed to have discov- 
 ered the secret of turning quicksilver into gold, he 
 did not seem to have left the recipe behind him, 
 for the purse of his son was always gaunt and long- 
 ing to be filled. 
 
 The Lady Clotilde had not returned to France, as 
 it had been her intention to do; she had found that 
 the climate of Austria agreed with her health to 
 a degree little short of marvelous. She said that 
 there were certain viands that she would not dare 
 to touch in Burgundy, Brittany, or France, but 
 which in the German empire did her all the good 
 in the world. Of course, she was going away soon, 
 next month, or surely the month after; but still 
 the Lady Clotilde lingered on. 
 
 Philibert, finding greater advantages here for a 
 young gentleman of rank than in his own coun- 
 try, also remained. It seemed that the Count de 
 Bresse, his father, absorbed in his own schemes — 
 and they were not always innocent ones — had 
 almost forgotten that he owned a son, and the boy 
 was well contented to be thus neglected, being 
 perfectly happy in his new surroundings. In 
 those days nations were almost continually en- 
 gaged in some kind of turmoil, either fighting 
 each other or trying to make peace, and Austria 
 had its share of such proceedings; but at this time 
 the principal characters of this story saw only the 
 pleasant side of life. Antoine became more and 
 
 i6s 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 more proficient in his music; Philibert became 
 quite scholarly at the court of this emperor, who 
 surrounded himself with scholars; Le Glorieux 
 amused himself and everybody else, while the prin- 
 cess was put under the care of her tutors, and, 
 taking a leaf from her father's book, was always 
 affable and gracious to her inferiors. 
 
 i66 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 PHILIBERT IN DANGER 
 
 Three years had passed. Philibert and Antoine 
 now were tall youths, and Marguerite was a slen- 
 der, graceful maiden of fifteen. 
 
 " I am sorry that she is growing up," said Cune- 
 gunda to Le Glorieux. 
 
 " Then am I to infer that you are fond of 
 dwarfs?" asked he. 
 
 " No, but do you not see that as soon as she be- 
 comes a woman she must marry? " 
 
 " Most women do," he returned, " and most of 
 them are equally discontented, whether they do 
 or do not." 
 
 " And small wonder, since they must marry 
 men," said Cunegunda. Le Glorieux could al- 
 ways throw her into a temper. " I did not marry 
 again, and I am not discontented," she added. 
 
 " I have no doubt that you have made many 
 a man discontented by refusing them right and 
 left," said the fool politely. 
 
 Cunegunda smiled, but looked serious again as 
 she said dolefully, " Our princess must marry and 
 go to live in a strange land. How I wish that 
 she were merely the child of a nobleman instead 
 of being the daughter of the emperor; then she 
 
 167 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 could remain in Austria. Now she must go 
 away." 
 
 "You are getting ready to cry again," said the 
 jester, in an injured tone. " I am supposed to 
 make people laugh. Even his Majesty laughs at 
 me. But there seems to be something about me 
 that makes you cry. If you will tell me what it 
 is I will change it, both for your benefit and my 
 own. That you can not see the point of a joke, 
 no matter if it is as big as my head, is perhaps not 
 your fault; but it seems to me that you might keep 
 from bursting into tears every time you see me or 
 hear the jingle of my bells." 
 
 Philibert de Bresse approached; he was dressed 
 in all the grandeur of the time, and a fine sword 
 hung by his side. "What is the trouble with 
 Dame Cunegunda?" he asked. 
 
 "Nothing in particular," replied the fool, " save 
 that she wants our princess to marry a hair-dresser, 
 or some person of the kind." 
 
 " I said nothing about a hair-dresser, and you 
 know it!" snapped the indignant woman. "I do 
 not want my little lady to go away to a strange 
 country. I am now past middle age, and I am 
 attached to my own land and do not want to 
 leave it." 
 
 " I was not aware that the emperor was ar- 
 ranging a foreign match for you," remarked 
 Le Glorieux. 
 
 Deeming this piece of satire too trivial to no- 
 
 i68 
 
CK;vtv\fc<\v<_7' 
 
 ** Something about me makes you cry " Page i68 
 
PHILIBERT IN DANGER 
 
 tice, Cunegunda said, " I must go with my lady 
 wherever she goes, for so I promised her mother." 
 
 " Is that promise to hold good until she is 
 ninety?" asked Le Glorieux. 
 
 " It is to hold good as long as there is breath 
 in my body, and she does not forbid me to ac- 
 company her." 
 
 " But there is no danger — I mean there Is no 
 prospect of the Lady Marguerite's making a for- 
 eign marriage?" asked Philibert hastily. 
 
 " I am very much inclined to believe that there 
 is," replied Le Glorieux. " If nothing of the kind 
 happens soon, it will not be the fault of that dark- 
 browed Spanish envoy, Don Juan Manuel. He 
 is quiet and cold, but he is always thinking. Not 
 that most people are not always thinking when 
 they are quiet, for few people's brains are swept 
 quite empty of thoughts, but his thinking counts 
 for something. He knows quite well what he is 
 about, does Manuel. He is always talking to our 
 emperor, who listens with a great deal of atten- 
 tion to all that he says, and whatever it is, it will 
 be a good thing for Spain, you can make up your 
 mind to that." 
 
 "And who is this Spaniard who has so much 
 influence over the Emperor of Austria?" asked 
 Philibert hotly. " He is a nobody, an ordinary 
 Castilian, who managed to attract the attention of 
 the Queen of Spain, afterward gaining her con- 
 fidence when he became her secretary." 
 
 169 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 "Well, that he did gain her confidence, and that 
 he has a good deal of influence over Max, is a fact 
 nevertheless," returned the fool. "The young 
 Prince of the Asturias is of the right age to marry, 
 and will be a suitable match for our princess, and, 
 so far as I am concerned, I am perfectly willing 
 that they should marry, for I think that I should 
 like to live in Spain. The climate is very fine, 
 there would not be so much trouble in keep- 
 ing warm as there is here, and I am fond of 
 oranges." 
 
 "The Spanish match is not made yet, and how 
 do you know that the Lady Marguerite would take 
 you with her, even if she should go to Spain?" 
 asked Cunegunda disdainfully. 
 
 " How do I know that she would take her shoes 
 with her to Spain?" he inquired. "I have be- 
 come a necessity to her; she could not get on with- 
 out me. Besides that, I was a present to her from 
 the Lady Anne, now Queen of France. If I was 
 valuable when I was the present of a mere duchess, 
 my value has increased tenfold now that I am 
 the gift of a queen. So do not talk any more non- 
 sense about my not going, for I shall be the first 
 one to be considered." 
 
 " I do not want to go away to a strange country," 
 reiterated Cunegunda, and she went away wiping 
 her eyes. 
 
 Philibert walked slowly to the other end of 
 the room, seeming to be absorbed in unpleasant 
 
 170 
 
PHILIBERT IN DANGER 
 
 thought, and the jester followed him, chattering 
 all the while, but getting no reply. 
 
 " Philbert, my boy," said he, " I can see that you 
 are in a sour and unhappy frame of mind. I feel 
 that the remark I made about the climate and the 
 oranges of Spain has made you restless and envious. 
 Besides that, you do not want to be separated from 
 me, for nobody does. Now, I have a great deal of 
 influence with my young mistress, and I will per- 
 suade her to let you go to Spain in her suite. 
 Think of it! How fine it will be to hear the 
 pretty senoritas tinkling their guitars, to pluck the 
 olives from the trees — not that I care for them 
 when they are plucked — and to see that great pal- 
 ace which the Spanish sovereigns snatched from 
 the Moors; and they say there is a bedstead made 
 from the gold that the Admiral Columbus brought 
 from the new lands across the sea; perhaps, if we 
 manage it right we may be allowed to sleep in 
 that — in the bed, I mean, not the sea." 
 
 " Do not talk to me of Spain," said Philibert 
 impatiently. " I hate the country, and I never 
 want to see it." 
 
 " Philibert, my boy," said the fool, not at all 
 disturbed by this outburst, " you are growing 
 quick-tempered. I have noticed it for some time. 
 Try to cultivate a sweet and gentle disposition. I 
 hope I am not conceited, but really you would be 
 more agreeable if you were more like me." 
 
 The sound of gay laughter and buzz of conversa- 
 
 171 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 tion was heard, and the Lady Marguerite and her 
 ladies, followed by a number of gentlemen, en- 
 tered the salon. The princess wore a gown of 
 white, with wide sleeves that almost touched the 
 floor; the heavy braids of her hair, wound with 
 ropes of pearls, fell far below her waist, while a 
 fillet of the same jewels clasped her brow. She 
 came toward the window near which Philibert 
 and the jester stood, and said with a bright smile, 
 *^ I am very happy. My father has promised that 
 I shall go with him to the mountains when he goes 
 to hunt chamois. Never before would he give his 
 consent to my going." 
 
 " To climb rocks and leap chasms after chamois 
 would, I should think, be very entertaining pas- 
 time for a lady," said Le Glorieux. "And you 
 will look well if your long locks should get caught 
 in a crag and leave you suspended like a spider 
 from its web." 
 
 " Oh, I do not intend to hunt," she replied, 
 laughing. " We ladies will stop at the inn at the 
 foot of the mountain, and go just a little way up 
 to see the hunters start." 
 
 " It will be more enjoyable if Philibert and 
 Antoine and I should go along," said Le Glorieux. 
 
 "Oh, yes; you shall go, if you like, and one of 
 you shall get me a flower of the edelweiss from 
 some inaccessible crag." 
 
 Senor Manuel, the Spanish envoy, now joined 
 them, in a hesitating manner, as one who does not 
 
 172 
 
'♦Come, Philibert, please cut ihis cord for me " Page 77? 
 
PHILIBERT IN DANGER 
 
 wish to intrude, yet who has something of impor- 
 tance to say. " I have something here that I was 
 ordered to give to your Highness," said he. " It 
 is a gift from his royal Highness, the Prince of the 
 Asturias." He drew a small packet from his breast, 
 which he placed in her hand with a profound 
 obeisance, and withdrew without more words. 
 
 " Oh," said the princess, " I wonder what it can 
 be ! " She tried eagerly to undo the wrappings, for 
 she was young enough to be very anxious regard- 
 ing a present. Taking a seat in the window she 
 busied herself with the cord, which she twisted into 
 a hopeless tangle in her haste to untie it. " Come, 
 Philibert," she called impatiently, " please cut this 
 cord for me." 
 
 He took the package from her hand and broke 
 the cord in his strong fingers so suddenly and so 
 vigorously that the wrappings fell apart and a 
 portrait fell with a sharp click to the floor. 
 
 *' You must not open a package as if you were 
 trying to throttle an assassin," said Le Glorieux 
 reproachfully, as Philibert with an apology re- 
 covered the portrait and placed it in the Lady 
 Marguerite's hand. 
 
 " Her Highness is unfortunate in asking the 
 assistance of one so awkward," murmured Phili- 
 bert, and with a bow he withdrew. 
 
 But Marguerite did not look at him, so intent 
 was she in examining the portrait. " Come and 
 see what was sent to me by Don Juan, Prince of 
 
 173 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 the Asturias," she said to the other ladies, some 
 of whom were young, and all as eager to see it as 
 herself. The portrait was painted on ivory, and 
 was surrounded by diamonds; it was of a youth on 
 the threshold of manhood, a gentle, pleasing face, 
 with blue eyes and fair hair. 
 
 " I thought Spaniards were dark," said Mar- 
 guerite. 
 
 "The Prince could not well be dark, since his 
 father and mother both are fair," said one of the 
 gentlemen, who had visited the court of Spain. 
 " His mother, Queen Isabella, is descended from 
 the great English House of Plantagenet, both of 
 her parents coming from that royal family." 
 
 " So much the better if he is light," remarked 
 the jester. " My own hair is light, being indeed 
 of a fine reddish tinge, though the cap I wear con- 
 ceals its beauty from the world, which is a pity. I 
 never have known many Spaniards, but I am sure 
 I should be fonder of a light-haired one than of 
 that dark ambassador with his black hair always 
 as smooth as glass, like the head of a snake, and 
 who glides in and out so silently that you never 
 see him until he stands before you." 
 
 Marguerite's ladies expressed a great deal of 
 admiration for the picture, which they considered 
 a very handsome face, but perhaps their opinion 
 was biased by the fact that the original was the 
 future king of one of the richest and most power- 
 ful nations in Europe. But Marguerite slipped 
 
 174 
 
PHILIBERT IN DANGER 
 
 the portrait beneath her girdle and expressed no 
 further opinion concerning it. 
 
 The court was now staying in the royal castle 
 of Innsbruck in the Tyrol. Maximilian cherished 
 a fond affection for this country, because he had 
 added it to the possessions left him by his father. 
 In his bedchamber at Innsbruck are to be found 
 these lines, " I, king by the grace of God, wear the 
 crown that I may protect the poor, and be just to 
 all, and in order that we may all live in peace 
 eternal." 
 
 The landlord of the The Hunter's Rest, the inn 
 at the foot of the mountains where his Majesty 
 went to hunt, had entertained the emperor more 
 than once; but he was somewhat overwhelmed by 
 the company of ladies, who now formed a part of 
 the imperial party. Maximilian, as usual upon such 
 occasions, was plainly dressed; he wore a green 
 hunting suit somewhat the worse for wear, for he 
 was not particular regarding his personal appear- 
 ance when engaged in his favorite pastime of 
 chasing the chamois. An Alpine hat with a single 
 feather was worn where the crown of the Haps- 
 burgs had rested, while his aristocratic feet were 
 encased in stout hunting boots. Yes, the emperor 
 was more like one of themselves; he was always 
 so merry, laughing and joking with the landlord's 
 wife, chucking the roly-poly children under their 
 chins, exchanging a good-natured word with any- 
 body who happened to drop in, that he won all 
 
 175 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 hearts, and they forgot their awe of the emperor in 
 their admiration of the man. 
 
 But these ladies in their elegant fur-trimmed 
 gowns and their dainty little ways, — would any- 
 thing that the inn afforded be half good enough for 
 them? The landlord soon found, however, that the 
 greatest lady among them, the princess herself, 
 was sweet and gracious, and she even kissed the 
 dimpled face of the baby, an act on her part which 
 never was forgotten, and which the child herself 
 lived to tell to her grandchildren, always point- 
 ing to the exact spot which her good mother had 
 informed her had been brushed by the rosy lips 
 of her Highness, the Lady Marguerite of Haps- 
 burg. And the other ladies were obliged to un- 
 bend in imitation of their young mistress, and so 
 they were far less awe-inspiring than had been 
 expected. 
 
 The ladies accompanied the hunters a little way 
 up the mountain, until the ascent became steep and 
 tiresome, and then they returned to the inn. There 
 the princess, Vv^ho was very fond of pets, was greatly 
 attracted by a baby chamois, a little kid, which 
 had been adopted by the landlord's children. He 
 was a cunning little fellow, with bright eyes 
 that seemed to sparkle with fun when she stroked 
 his foolish little face and soft velvety ears. When 
 she spoke to him he would turn his head to one side 
 as if reflecting upon what the lady had said, seem- 
 ing to be thinking very hard with a view of giving 
 
 176 
 
PHILIBERT IN DANGER 
 
 a suitable reply, and then he would double himself 
 up and roll about like a kitten. 
 
 In the meantime the emperor's party were climb- 
 ing higher, an ascent which grew more and more 
 difficult as they continued. Le Glorieux, who had 
 hunted the chamois in the company of his late mas- 
 ter, was acquainted with the ways of this elusive 
 animal, which is one of the most difficult in the 
 world to hunt. But to Philibert and Antoine the 
 experience was new and strange. These three 
 were a little behind the others when Le Glorieux 
 said, pointing to the right, "There is one!" 
 
 "Oh, that," said Philibert, "is nothing but a 
 rock. You are prepared to see a chamois in every 
 distant object." 
 
 " I am very much mistaken," said the other, " if 
 that is not a sentinel sent out to watch for danger, 
 while the others may take their breakfast in peace. 
 You have no idea what a very clever animal the 
 chamois is. If a good many kings and emperors 
 were half as keen to scent danger it would be a 
 great deal better for the countries they rule." 
 
 "What is the good of a chamois being a sen- 
 tinel?" asked Antoine. "If that is one he is too 
 far away from the others to call their attention to 
 danger." 
 
 "Not a bit of it," was the reply. "He is too 
 clever to get too far away to give the signal ; trust 
 him to look out for that. If he should see us he 
 would say in his way, which would be to stamp his 
 
 177 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 forefeet and give a shrill kind of a whistle, ' Here 
 are some of those disgusting human beings with 
 their bows and arrows. Get out of their way as 
 fast as you can, every one of you! ' " 
 
 One of the huntsmen now said that they would 
 be obliged to go back and come up the other side 
 of the gorge, as they must get above the game in 
 order to shoot it, so they went down a steep ravine, 
 climbing over ledges of rock and up the other side. 
 But in the meantime the sentinel had done his duty 
 and had informed his friends of the presence of 
 the men with their bows and arrows, and the party, 
 which now could see the flock, numbering some 
 twenty animals, saw a scampering that was won- 
 derful to behold. With a series of remarkable 
 leaps they sprang over a gulch and climbed up 
 rocks so steep it seemed as if no living creature 
 could have found a footing. 
 
 Round the other way went the hunters after 
 them, rushing pell-mell over rocks and shrubs, but 
 all the animals escaped save one, which seemed 
 doomed eventually to become the prey of Maxi- 
 milian. Higher and higher climbed the fright- 
 ened chamois, higher and higher followed the 
 straight athletic figure of the emperor. Once 
 when he was hunting chamois Maximilian had 
 found himself in a position so perilous that it 
 seemed to him that nothing but the suddenly-de- 
 veloped wings of a bird could possibly extricate 
 him, but he did not remember former dangers now, 
 
 178 
 
PHILIBERT IN DANGER 
 
 for he thought of nothing but the capture of the 
 frightened creature flying before him. 
 
 Finally the hunted animal could go no farther, 
 finding it impossible to climb higher, or to pass 
 its pursuer in a downward flight. So there was 
 nothing to do but to wait in trembling expectancy 
 the death that was sure to come. The emperor 
 seized his knife, and the chamois, as if willing at 
 last to yield to the inevitable, seemed to lean its 
 soft body toward the cruel blade, then fell head- 
 long down the rocks, from where it was afterward 
 taken by the attendants. 
 
 And thus the hunt continued, and Philibert, 
 though he watched it with interest, had turned his 
 mind upon the attainment of one object, and that 
 was finding a cluster of edelweiss. Sometimes 
 our thoughts appear to be reflected in the mind of 
 some one besides us, and it now seemed to be the 
 case, for Le Glorieux said, " I am not foolishly 
 squeamish, I should hope, and I have stood up in 
 battle and shot at men who were able to defend 
 themselves, but I can not say that it amuses me in 
 the least to see a chamois killed. They are such 
 gentle things, and they make such a plucky eflfort 
 to save themselves, and they look at their captor 
 with such piteous eyes when they are stabbed, that 
 I do not see anything enjoyable in it, though, of 
 course, I am nothing but a fool. And, as our 
 little princess wants a sprig of edelweiss, I shall 
 go in pursuit of a flower instead of a chamois." 
 
 179 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 " Le Glorieux, dear Le Glorieux, let me get the 
 flower for her," pleaded Philibert. 
 
 " What matters which of us gets it, so long as she 
 has it?" asked the fool. " Let us both look for it, 
 and then it will be more likely to be found." 
 
 " Very well, if you think best, but I like to do 
 things for her, Le Glorieux. I went to the wars 
 with my father when I was so young thatT scarcely 
 remember the love of a sister, and when the Lady 
 Marguerite smiled at me the first night that I saw 
 her, with a look of kindness that no one else ever 
 had given me, I felt as if I could give up my life 
 for her." 
 
 " She always is kind," said the jester; " she never 
 is haughty, even to her servants. I loved her in 
 the first place because she was her mother's daugh- 
 ter, but now I love her for herself. She never 
 has a harsh word or a sharp tongue for the poor 
 fool, and seems to remember that he has feelings 
 as well as the rest of the world." 
 
 The edelweiss is a flower which grows upon 
 dizzy heights, blooming under the snow. The 
 great difficulty sometimes experienced in finding 
 it renders it the more desirable. Philibert had 
 seen the flower and knew that it usually grew 
 in dangerous places ; but this fact did not make him 
 hesitate for a moment in his resolve to pluck it. 
 After searching for some time he was at last re- 
 warded by seeing a cluster of the snowy blossoms 
 hanging over the edge of a dark rock some dis- 
 
 i8o 
 
He lay for some time stunned Page i8l 
 
pmLrllBERT IN DANGER 
 
 tance below him. There was no way to reach it 
 but to attempt a dangerous descent by climbing 
 down the cliff to where the flowers grew. But the 
 boy, in his eagerness to obtain the flower, did not 
 think of the danger, and forthwith began to climb 
 downward, finding a foothold on rough projec- 
 tions, and clinging to others, sliding cautiously 
 downward, for there was a little level space just 
 above the plant where he knew he could stand 
 while securing it. It was a foolhardy feat, and 
 would not have been undertaken by any but a 
 rash youth, who gave no thought to possible con- 
 sequences, and who was resolved to accomplish 
 what he had undertaken in spite of everything. A 
 stunted shrub grew out of the rocks some distance 
 above the flower, and Philibert grasped it, think- 
 ing to swing himself downward. This act was 
 his undoing, for the treacherous limb broke with 
 a sharp snap, and the youth was precipitated down- 
 ward, not to the level space beside the flower, but 
 over it and some twenty feet down to another level 
 space, where he lay for some time stunned and un- 
 conscious. 
 
 When he returned to his senses he was lying 
 flat on his back on a narrow ledge of rock, and 
 dangerously near the edge, with a little stream of 
 blood trickling from his temple. Rising to his feet 
 he moved his legs and arms as vigorously as possi- 
 ble, to see if any bones were broken, but was de- 
 lighted to find thatj with the exception of the cut, 
 
 i8i 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 which did not seem to be a deep one, he had sus- 
 tained no serious injury. 
 
 But Philibert would have been far more com- 
 fortable and easy in his mind on safe ground with 
 a broken arm than he was in this lonely spot, 
 though comparatively uninjured. For the depth 
 below him was so great that it made him dizzy to 
 look over the edge of his resting-place, while above 
 him the rock was so steep that not even a chamois 
 could have climbed it. And there above him, as 
 it had been but a short time ago below him, 
 was the edelweiss, its flowers nodding at him im- 
 pudently as if defying him to come up and take 
 them. " I will have you yet," said he, though he 
 felt that in the circumstances this sounded a good 
 deal like an empty boast. 
 
 Each member of the hunting party had a horn 
 at his side to blow in case of need, but that of Phili- 
 bert was flattened by his fall, and would not give 
 forth the faintest sound. His friends would miss 
 him and search for him, but he had heard of people 
 who had been lost for ever among these cold, silent 
 mountains, and he could not help thinking that 
 possibly this was to be his own fate, for he knew 
 that, intent upon his search, he had wandered quite 
 a distance from his companions, who might not 
 know in what direction to look for him. And all 
 this for a cluster of starlike blossoms that looked 
 over the edge of the rock above him and nodded 
 in derision! He put his hands to his mouth and 
 
 182 
 
PHILIBERT IN DANGER 
 
 called as loudly as he could, but the rocks echoed 
 his call and seemed to throw it back at him dis- 
 dainfully and mockingly. 
 
 He repeated the call until he was tired, then he 
 sat down quietly to think. How long could he 
 remain here before he froze or starved to death? 
 He had heard of life being sustained on roots and 
 herbs, but there was nothing here but rock, and 
 nothing above him but rock, while below him 
 there seemed to be naught save the empty air. 
 After a while, when the excitement caused by his 
 new position had given way to despair, he found 
 that the wound on his temple really did pain him, 
 and turning quite faint he remained for a long 
 while with his eyes closed. 
 
 After what seemed to be a very long time the 
 sound of a horn was borne to him on the air, a 
 sound which seemed to the lost one as sweet as the 
 song of an angel. He rose to his feet, and, putting 
 his hands to his mouth once more, he called three 
 times with all his strength. An answering call 
 •reassured him, and soon hearing voices, he called 
 again, and was overjoyed to see the faces of his 
 friends looking over the precipice above. 
 
 " In the name of all the saints, boy," called 
 Maximilian, "are you hurt?" 
 
 " No, your Majesty, only a little bruised." 
 
 There was the hurried buzz of conversation, 
 which he could not distinguish, and the looped end 
 of a rope was lowered to him, which he secured 
 
 183 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 about his body. Then he was slowly drawn up, 
 and as he swung opposite the nodding blossoms, 
 Philibert reached out his hands and grasped them, 
 pulling them out by the roots. 
 
 "What is the matter with the boy? Is he 
 out of his senses?" asked the emperor, who was 
 anxiously watching the ascent to terra firma. 
 
 " No, I do not know that you could call him out 
 of his senses exactly," replied Le Glorieux. " The 
 Lady Marguerite wanted some edelweiss blossoms, 
 and he was trying to find them for her. I have 
 no doubt that he was after that very bunch when 
 he fell. There is one thing that I have noticed 
 about Philibert," went on the jester, " and that 
 is that when he starts out to do a thing he will do 
 it if it threatens every drop of blood in his body." 
 
 " He is a foolhardy youth," said the emperor. 
 " I can understand how one could take almost any 
 risk to kill a chamois, but not to pluck a handful 
 of weeds." But he looked pleased, nevertheless, 
 for he was a man who could appreciate persever- 
 ance. And he examined Philibert's wound with 
 careful attention, saying that the two boys and the 
 jester should return to the inn in the company of 
 one of the guides. And Philibert de Bresse still 
 clutched the flowers which he had risked so much 
 to obtain. 
 
 Behind the mountaineer's hut, where the re- 
 mainder of the party expected to spend the night, 
 Le Glorieux took from the spot where he care- 
 
 184 
 
PHILIBERT IN DANGER 
 
 fully had placed them, a cluster of snowy blossoms, 
 which, with great difficulty, a scratched face, and 
 some bruises, he had gathered before he heard of 
 Philibert's mishap. These children of the snow 
 he threw over the cliff unseen by his companions. 
 " Let him have all the praise and the honor 
 of it," said he to himself. "You are nothing 
 but a fool, Le Glorieux, and you must not be 
 selfish." 
 
 The princess received the flowers with a little cry 
 of joy, and she thanked the donor with a smile so 
 beaming, inquiring so tenderly about his wound, 
 that Philibert felt repaid a thousandfold for the 
 trouble he had taken to gratify her wish. 
 
 " But, my poor Le Glorieux," said the princess 
 sweetly, "you have an ugly scratch across your 
 face, and your hands are bruised. Have you also 
 had a fall?" 
 
 " No, little Cousin," he returned gravely, and 
 with a shake of the head. "The scrapings you 
 notice on my handsome countenance and on my 
 slender hands are but the result of a weakness with 
 which I was born." 
 
 " You were not born with those scratches, or I 
 should have observed them long ago," she replied, 
 smiling. 
 
 " I said the result of a weakness, your Highness. 
 It is my nature to want to climb. Whenever I see 
 the side of a rock I am seized with an uncontrolla- 
 ble desire to scale it, and climb I must if the sky 
 
 i8s 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 falls. I always have found it the most agreeable 
 sensation in the world to be clinging to the side 
 of a rock with nothing over me but the blue of the 
 heavens, and nothing beneath me but the blue of 
 some mountain lake and with a delightful feeling 
 of uncertainty as to just where I am to find my next 
 foothold." 
 
 " That is an odd taste indeed," she returned, 
 laughing, " and I do not think there are many who 
 share it with you." 
 
 Antoine, I regret to say, was a mischievous youth, 
 as we have seen from the trick he played on his 
 friend the jester when they first started out on their 
 journey together, and it may have been — though 
 of course he would have scorned the suggestion — 
 that some of the raps given him by the old Duchess 
 of Burgundy were not altogether undeserved. 
 
 However that may be, he surely did meddle with 
 something at the inn which did not concern him, as 
 you shall presently see. That "something" was 
 a cunning little bear. The innkeeper conducted 
 the jester and the two boys to a rude cage con- 
 structed out of the limbs of trees, which he 
 had placed a little distance from the house and 
 near the edge of the forest. Within the cage was 
 a brown bear cub which had been brought to him 
 by a friend. This wild and woolly pet, he said, he 
 was going to train and sell for a good round sum to 
 a traveling mountebank, who would want to exhibit 
 it in the courtyards of inns and before the nobility. 
 
 i86 
 
PHILIBERT IN DANGER 
 
 Young Master Bruin was already learning, and 
 one felt that his education would be completed by 
 the time he was full grown. When his master 
 would say " Come," he would obey, and he could 
 stand on his hind feet in a manner that was quite 
 genteel, and he was greatly admired by the three 
 guests of his master, who watched his perform- 
 ances. When replaced in the cage, he walked 
 round and round it, and every time he came to a 
 corner he would bow, as all bears do when caged, 
 but Le Glorieux remarked, " I see that you have 
 begun by teaching him to be polite, and politeness 
 is a great thing in man or beast. There are a good 
 many things we could learn from animals if we 
 would only think about it, though we are so well 
 satisfied with ourselves that we think we are the 
 only living beings in the world who are worth con- 
 sidering. There are not many of us who are as 
 faithful in our friendship as an ordinary dog, and 
 did you ever watch a cat when she had her mind 
 bent on getting a certain mouse? Talk about pa- 
 tience and perseverance! Why, if a man had as 
 much, he could accomplish almost anything he set 
 out to do!" 
 
 " I should like to take that little bear out and 
 play with him," remarked Antoine, as the inn- 
 keeper walked on ahead with Philibert. 
 
 "Just you take my advice, my young friend, and 
 let that bear alone," said the jester, with emphasis. 
 " The owner of the bear will teach him a number 
 
 187 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 of tricks, no doubt, but there is one that he will not 
 be obliged to learn, having been born with it, and 
 that is the art of hugging." 
 
 "Pooh!" said Antoine, " a little thing like that 
 could not hurt me. I have played with dogs a 
 good deal larger than that bear." 
 
 "You take my advice and let him alone, or the 
 emperor may be asking for one of his favorite 
 songs and find nobody at hand to sing it." 
 
 But even in this twentieth century a boy may be 
 found once in a while who will not take good ad- 
 vice, though experience always teaches the wisdom 
 of listening to older people, and Antoine allowed 
 the good counsel of Le Glorieux to glide from his 
 mind as drops of water roll off a duck's back, so, at 
 the very first opportunity he could find to do so un- 
 seen, he returned to the bear's cage. 
 
 Taking the rope which the bear's master had 
 used to lead him about, Antoine opened the door 
 and tried to get the loop about the animal's neck. 
 Master Bruin, as if realizing that here was some 
 one who had no business to tamper with him, 
 growled and gazed at the intruder with a sardonic 
 grin, which revealed all his sharp white teeth. 
 
 "You need not look so fierce, you woolly little 
 thing," said the boy; "you are no bigger than a 
 ball of knitting yarn. I should be ashamed to be 
 afraid of you." Then he dragged the rope back 
 and held the loop open in his hand, calling, 
 " Come, come," as the innkeeper had done. But 
 
 i88 
 
In the way of squeezing he was an adept Page i8^ 
 
PHILIBERT IN DANGER 
 
 young Bruin crouched sulkily in the extreme end 
 of his domicile, without deigning to move. 
 
 Then the boy took a long stick and poked him 
 with it, saying, " You obstinate pig of a bear, we 
 shall see whether you will come out or not. You 
 have made me lose all patience with you." 
 
 The little bear now made up his mind to accept 
 the invitation, and that, too, very swiftly and sud- 
 denly, and before Antoine had time to throw the 
 loop over his head or even to think what to do next, 
 the bear was upon him. Bruin scorned to bite. 
 His talent and taste did not lie in that direction, 
 but in the way of squeezing he was an adept. He 
 hugged Antoine as if the boy had been a lost 
 brother now restored to his arms after a lapse of 
 many years. The boy thought of the dagger he 
 wore in his belt, but in order to reach the weapon 
 it was necessary to have the use of his arms, and 
 both of those members were securely pinned to his 
 side by that inconsiderate little bear, who went on 
 squeezing as if he never meant to leave off. An- 
 toine now Vv^as very much frightened. He was at 
 the mercy of his foe and he was afraid that the 
 breath would be pressed out of his body in a very 
 short time. 
 
 He gave a shrill and ear-piercing yell which 
 brought the innkeeper and Le Glorieux in haste 
 from the house and opened all the windows on that 
 side, where heads were thrust out to see what was 
 the matter. 
 
 189 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 What the bear thought when he saw his master 
 never will be known. What he did was to release 
 his hold on the boy as suddenly as if the latter had 
 been a hot potato, and scamper away as rapidly 
 as his clumsy legs could carry him. The two men 
 ran in pursuit, but their efforts were unavailing, 
 for Master Bruin had deserted civilization for- 
 evermore. 
 
 " I warned you, did I not, to let that bear alone? " 
 asked Le Glorieux indignantly. " Did I not tell 
 you that he was terrible when it came to hugging? 
 Why did you do just what I warned you not to do? 
 People who refuse to take good advice are always 
 sorry for it." 
 
 " I only wanted to have a little sport with him," 
 whimpered Antoine. " I did not know that bears 
 could hug so hard." 
 
 "You have found it out now," said the jester. 
 "You have played our friend here a fine trick. 
 He was keeping the bear in order to sell him at a 
 good price, and you, in spite of everything I could 
 say to you, must let the animal escape. It would 
 be no more than fair for you to pay whatever he is 
 worth to our good host and consider yourself lucky 
 with getting off without a cuffing in addition — a 
 punishment you deserve! " 
 
 Antoine felt the justice of this remark and 
 emptied out the contents of his purse. But when 
 he saw what a small sum it was, Le Glorieux re- 
 lented and said gently, " Put aside your money, my 
 
 190 
 

 
 
 The remains of what once had been a velvet glr,ve 
 
PHILIBERT IN DANGER 
 
 boy; there is not enough to bother about. You are 
 one of our party, the emperor's and mine, and I 
 will pay for the damage you have done." And he 
 offered the innkeeper a handful of silver. The lat- 
 ter, being upright as well as good-natured, refused 
 to take all the money offered him by the jester, 
 merely taking what he had expected to receive for 
 the bear, showing that honesty is a plant that will 
 flourish anywhere, provided the ground be favor- 
 able. 
 
 The Lady Marguerite had an experience of her 
 own with one of the pets belonging to the inn. 
 When she and her ladies returned from their walk 
 they were met at the door by the landlady, who was 
 as pale and terrified as if some calamity had over- 
 taken her. In her left hand she extended toward 
 the princess a wet and torn object which resembled 
 a piece of mop rag that had seen long service, but 
 which in reality was the remains of what once had 
 been a velvet glove embroidered with seed pearls. 
 Under her right arm she held with some difficulty, 
 for he was wriggling with all his might, a small 
 puppy of the age when dogs believe that the chief 
 object of life is to chew things, and who looked at 
 the princess with an impudent little bark, just as if 
 he had not been striving with all the patience and 
 perseverance of which he was capable to reduce 
 a piece of her property to a pulp. 
 
 "Oh, this hound, this hound, your Highness I" 
 moaned the poor woman. " I have tried my ut- 
 
 191 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 most to keep him out of the way of your Highness 
 and out of the bedchamber of your Highness! My 
 boys and my husband, they will have every kind of 
 an animal about, but forme I hate them all — I mean 
 the animals, your Highness, and not my husband 
 and my sons. And this hound, your Highness, he 
 has been determined to go into your bedchamber 
 at any cost, though I have driven him away from it 
 again and again. He seems to have had nothing 
 else on his mind since your Highness has honored 
 this poor place with your presence. And when I 
 went in your room this morning to put it in order, 
 he slipped in unseen by me and remained under a 
 chair, occupied in chewing this valuable glove just 
 as if it had been the object of his life to feed upon 
 pearls." 
 
 "Never mind," said the Lady Marguerite sooth- 
 ingly. " They are too small to injure him, even if 
 he has swallowed any of them." 
 
 " Injure him! What should I care for him?" 
 cried the woman. " It is the loss of the glove be- 
 longing to your Highness that distresses me." 
 
 "Oh, do not trouble yourself about the glove; I 
 have plenty more. But what a pretty puppy, and 
 a fine breed, too." 
 
 "Yes, your Highness, the breed is well enough," 
 replied the woman sadly, as if she wished that the 
 puppy had striven more faithfully to live up to the 
 traditions of his race. 
 
 " I should like to have him," said the princess, 
 
 193 
 
PHILIBERT IN DANGER 
 
 '^ and you shall be paid whatever you think that he 
 is worth." 
 
 " Does your Highness want a dog that has just 
 wrought such destruction?" asked the good wo- 
 man, in amazement. 
 
 " Of course, why not?" said Marguerite, taking 
 the dog in her own arms. " You did not know that 
 it was my glove, did you, doggie? " 
 
 " Your Highness is perfectly welcome to him for 
 nothing at all," was the reply, but the princess in- 
 sisted upon paying her a price for the small ani- 
 mal, which the landlady considered sufficient to 
 purchase all the dogs in the Tyrol. And his new 
 mistress named him Brutus, which was a very 
 grown-up and dignified name for so small and mis- 
 chievous a member of the dog family, and as he 
 was very intelligent he became the most favored of 
 Marguerite's pets. 
 
 When they returned to the palace at Innsbruck 
 Le Glorieux said, " Little Cousin, we each have a 
 souvenir of the trip; you have the puppy, your 
 father has some fine chamois horns, Philibert has 
 a cut temple, Antoine sore ribs, while I have a 
 scratched face, owing to my passion for climbing." 
 
 193 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE 
 
 The following year Maximilian found it neces- 
 sary to take his troops to Italy. The cities of that 
 fair land, instead of being friendly, as they are to- 
 day, were constantly quarreling with each other, 
 and Pisa, the city of the leaning tower, implored 
 the aid of the Emperor of Austria against the pre- 
 tentions of Florence, the city of flowers. 
 
 Le Glorieux, who declared that he had not seen 
 a good rousing fight since the siege of Beauvais, 
 begged to accompany the emperor, and to be 
 allowed to do his full share of fighting, a permis- 
 sion which was granted most w illingly. 
 
 Philibert de Bresse, who had industriously con- 
 tinued his studies, and who had gained the serious 
 attention of the emperor for the first time when he 
 plucked the edelweiss, was now his Majesty's secre- 
 tary, and also was to accompany him to Italy. But 
 Antoine, at the bidding of the princess, remained 
 in Vienna, where the court was staying at the time 
 and where, under the tuition of a musical monk, he 
 was accomplishing wonders in the realm of 
 melody. 
 
 Philibert was now eighteen and had attained his 
 full growth. He wished that he was to fight in- 
 
 194 
 
A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE 
 
 stead of to write, that he could be the soldier in 
 armor and clanking spurs instead of the smooth- 
 haired secretary, for he was young and longed for 
 exciting adventure. But it was worth something to 
 be in the confidence of the emperor, and to travel 
 in his present capacity w^as better than to remain 
 quietly at court. 
 
 They were camped near Pistoja, an ancient city 
 at the foot of the Apennines, the headquarters of 
 the emperor being a half-ruined marble palace. 
 Pistoja is to this day rich in ancient sculptures of 
 the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and at that 
 time there was an equestrian statue which stood 
 outside the gates of the old palace, about which 
 clung a strange superstition, which was that occa- 
 sionally, and when it suited his fancy, the statue 
 had a way of dismounting and wandering about, 
 possibly to rest himself, for several centuries of the 
 same position must prove fatiguing. It was not an 
 especially fine piece of statuary and had not been 
 done by a famous sculptor. In fact, the original of 
 the statue had had it made in order to perpetuate 
 his own memory, but he had lived so long ago that 
 nobody remembered just what he had done, which 
 perhaps were not such wonderful feats after all, for 
 the greatest people are the most modest. It repre- 
 sented a man on a big horse with a long mantle 
 spread well out over the tail of his steed, and it 
 went by the name of II Capitano, the captain, no 
 one knowing or caring just what captain it was. 
 
 195 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 And this captain had thrust himself upon the notice 
 of the emperor's soldiers camped in his neighbor- 
 hood, as you shall presently see. 
 
 Coming into the grounds after having taken a 
 message from the emperor to one of the officers, 
 Philibert paused to speak with one of his Majesty's 
 guards. The subject of their conversation was the 
 expected battles of the coming campaign, and the 
 guard said, " I am not afraid of any living man, but 
 I am afraid of the one they call // Capitano" 
 
 " You mean the statue on horseback over there? " 
 asked Philibert. 
 
 " I do, sir." 
 
 "Why should you fear a marble man?" asked 
 the secretary, smiling. 
 
 The guard lowered his voice. *' Because, sir, he 
 gets off his horse and walks about at night." 
 
 Philibert laughed. " A soldier should not listen 
 to such old wives' tales," said he. 
 
 " It is not an old wives' tale, sir," said the man 
 stoutly; " Hans and Ottocar and others who are as 
 brave as the emperor himself, saw II Capitano, 
 and were frightened." 
 
 " I went past him a few moments ago and I was 
 not frightened," laughed Philibert. 
 
 " But they saw him walking about in the moon- 
 light, sir." 
 
 " They were dreaming, or they had been drink- 
 ing too much Italian wine," said young De Bresse 
 as he walked away. 
 
 196 
 
A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE 
 
 That afternoon the emperor said to his secretary, 
 " De Bresse, I am going to send you to Venice with 
 a message for the doge." 
 
 Philibert's heart beat high with exultation, for 
 he knew that this was a mission of trust, and that 
 he possessed the emperor's confidence, else his 
 Majesty would have selected another messenger. 
 The Venetians had promised their aid to Maxi- 
 milian and the Pisans, but so far they had failed to 
 keep their word. The message was not to be writ- 
 ten, lest in case of accident to the bearer it should 
 fall into the wrong hands. The emperor repeated 
 it to his secretary word for word, and gave the 
 latter his seal ring to show that the message was 
 authentic. 
 
 Repeating the words of his royal master over and 
 over again in his mind and trying to remember his 
 caution regarding the trip and the best route to 
 take, Philibert hastily prepared for the journey, 
 and mounting one of the best horses available he 
 rode away shortly before nightfall. 
 
 He was very happy; he was young, he had the 
 confidence of the emperor, and he was starting out 
 on a trip in which there was considerable risk, a 
 fact which with him added greatly to the charm 
 of the enterprise. 
 
 It seems sometimes as if our memory takes a 
 malicious delight in playing tricks with us. It 
 will go to sleep at the very time that it ought to be 
 busiest and then it will wake and mock us. What do 
 
 197 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 you suppose that Philibert's memory said to him, 
 when, after a two hours' ride, he stopped at a stream 
 to allow his horse to refresh itself with a drink of 
 water? It was this, " You have forgotten the em- 
 peror's ring! You left it on the foot of your couch 
 when you were dressing!" 
 
 This was the ghastly truth. In his excitement, 
 delight, and haste, the secretary had placed the ring 
 on his couch, intending to tie it to a cord and hang 
 it around his neck inside of his clothes for the sake 
 of safety, and it was still there! To accomplish 
 the purpose for which he was sent, the ring was 
 absolutely necessary, or his royal master would not 
 have given it to him. There was nothing to be 
 done but to return and find it. It would be very 
 difficult to go to his room without the fact of his 
 presence being reported to his Majesty, who, also, 
 had sharp ears and knew all that was going 
 on around him. And what should he say if he 
 were discovered? Simply that he had forgotten 
 the ring and had come back for it. Yes, that was 
 simple enough, but to the proud and sensitive youth 
 the consequences would be terrible, for he knew 
 that the emperor upon learning the truth would 
 lose all confidence in his sagacity and would send 
 another messenger. "And small wonder, too, since 
 his first one appears to be such a blundering idiot," 
 he thought, with burning cheeks. 
 
 Well, he would go back for the ring and if he 
 should be discovered by the emperor there would 
 
 198 
 
A tall form was walking before him Page igg 
 
A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE 
 
 be nothing to do but to return to his own country 
 in disgrace. So Philibert turned his horse's head 
 in the direction of Pistoja. 
 
 It was the hour of midnight when Philibert ap- 
 proached the camp from which he had set forth so 
 joyously that afternoon, a week ago it seemed to 
 him now. For the last few miles he had been tor- 
 mented by a fear that he could not overcome, a sur- 
 mise that seemed to be more and more probable as 
 he drew nearer and nearer to his destination. Le 
 Glorieux had a habit of entering the secretary's 
 room, as was the custom of jesters, at whatever hour 
 it pleased him, and if he went there after Philibert 
 left, he would certainly discover the ring, for his 
 sharp eyes saw everything. And he would take 
 the jewel straight to his master; the youth seemed 
 to hear him saying, " Cousin Max, here is your ring 
 that the careless boy left on his bed." Perhaps even 
 now Maximilian had a store of wrath laid up for 
 him! 
 
 And now how best to pass the sentinels was a 
 serious problem. Of course knowing his identity, 
 they would let him pass without a question, but 
 how to bribe them to keep his return a secret? He 
 had secured his horse in a clump of trees and was 
 about to approach the first sentinel when he saw an 
 object which for the moment almost stopped the 
 beating of his heart. Plainly distinguishable in 
 the bright moonlight a tall form was walking be- 
 fore him draped in a long mantle. It was the 
 
 199 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 statue, // Capitano, which so frightened him, and 
 Philibert was by no means a coward. Even to the 
 bravest, the sight of a marble statue walking about 
 when it ought to be sitting quietly astride its horse 
 would cause more or less trepidation, for the sight 
 is an unusual one, to say the least. 
 
 But glancing backward with the expectation of 
 seeing the horse standing riderless, Philibert dis- 
 covered that the same old Capitano was still in 
 his saddle, holding his sword stiffly before him, 
 with his long mantle still floating over the tail of 
 his steed, as it had done for nobody knew exactly 
 how many centuries. 
 
 Then this Capitano was a fraud, a base imita- 
 tion ! Drawing his sword Philibert strode forward 
 and with a quick turn confronted the bold mas- 
 querader. 
 
 "Another step," said the secretary, " and I shall 
 run you through. If you think to deceive me by 
 this foolery, you are very much mistaken. You are 
 one of the soldiers dressed up for the purpose of 
 stealing from your comrades." 
 
 The man sank to his knees and began to plead 
 for mercy. " Oh, sir, please do not betray me. I 
 never have done such a thing before, indeed." 
 
 "Do not tell me that; you have been walking 
 about in this guise night after night." 
 
 " I mean, sir, that I never have done anything 
 like this until since we have been camped in this 
 place." 
 
 200 
 
A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE 
 
 "We will not discuss that matter now; I have no 
 time to hear your excuses. I need your disguise 
 for purposes of my own. Give those rags to me; 
 promise to cease your evil practices and to keep my 
 secret, and I will keep yours." 
 
 The rascal made the necessary promises, very 
 thankful to get ofif so easily, and to extricate him- 
 self from what at first promised to be a position of 
 great danger. Hastily doffing the long mantle and 
 the white linen which bound his head in imitation 
 of marble hair, he helped to array the young secre- 
 tary in the disguise; then holding his sword be- 
 fore him in imitation of // Capitano, Philibert 
 marched boldly toward the emperor's quarters. 
 
 The sentinel at the gate made no opposition to 
 his entrance, but remained as if frozen to the spot; 
 another crossed himself and fled, and his way be- 
 ing now clear, so far as they were concerned, Phili- 
 bert cautiously mounted the steps leading to the 
 upper hall, ever in momentary fear of meeting one 
 of the emperor's suite or perhaps even his Majesty 
 himself, as he was obliged to pass his bedchamber 
 in trying to reach his own. Luck favored him, 
 however, and he reached his own room, where he 
 proceeded to search for the object which had 
 caused him so much anxiety. 
 
 The one window of the room was so thickly 
 shaded with vines as to exclude the moonlight, and 
 even if there had been any artificial light available, 
 its use would have been a risk, so Philibert began 
 
 201 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 to run his hand over the couch, very slowly and 
 carefully lest he should knock the ring to the floor, 
 w^here it would be almost impossible to find it. 
 
 He uttered a sigh of relief when his fingers 
 touched a hard object, which turned out to be what 
 he sought, and slipping it on his finger, where it 
 proved to be a snug fit, he was about to depart, 
 when he heard the emperor's voice in the corridor. 
 His disguise would not protect him from Maxi- 
 milian, who, even if he should believe this strange 
 figure to be // Capitano himself, would lose no time 
 in running it through with his sword, and the 
 young secretary was not ready to die. 
 
 He waited; would the emperor never go? His 
 voice was raised in anger about something. Per- 
 haps he had heard of the appearance of the sup- 
 posed statue and was seeking it. Concealing him- 
 self behind the half-open door, Philibert listened. 
 No, whatever it was it was not a question of // 
 Capitano, and the listener realized that his succes- 
 sor was getting a sound scolding from Maximilian, 
 who had a temper of his own upon occasion. 
 
 A paper was missing, the disappearance of which 
 seemed greatly to have irritated the emperor. His 
 voice grew louder and louder as he described it. 
 Then he said, " Here, Le Glorieux, go and look 
 for it in the bedchamber of De Bresse. You will 
 know it by its color; it is a long blue paper, folded 
 lengthwise, with writing across the end of it." 
 
 The listener knew quite well of what paper they 
 
A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE 
 
 were speaking; oh, if he could only have put it into 
 the emperor's mind to look for it in a certain 
 drawer in his own room, where, neatly labeled, the 
 secretary had placed it with a number of other 
 documents ! But here was the fool coming straight 
 toward his room with a torch. With a sudden 
 plunge, Philibert sprang toward the bed and 
 crawled under it, dragging with him the hangings, 
 which were old and frail, as he did so. 
 
 " What a mess this room is in," grumbled the 
 jester, as he stumbled over the fallen hangings, 
 coughing violently as the dust from them tickled 
 his throat. "Was he so crazy with joy over his 
 trip that he must pull his couch to pieces before he 
 started?" 
 
 Then, as if suspecting that some one might be in 
 the room who had no right there, the jester searched 
 carefully about, finally kneeling to look under the 
 bed. The emperor and his humiliated scribe had 
 now closed their door, and the amazed exclamation 
 of the jester was not heard, as he discovered a 
 booted and spurred foot beneath Philibert's bed. 
 
 "And so, Mr. Thief, or Mr. Spy, whichever you 
 are, I have caught you, have I?" asked Le Glo- 
 rieux coolly. 
 
 "Hush!" whispered Philibert. 
 
 " I do not in the least doubt that you want me to 
 hush," returned the fool, taking possession of the 
 secretary's sword, which the latter held unsheathed 
 in his hand. "There are some positions in life in 
 
 203 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 which people like to have a great noise made over 
 them, and there are others in which they like to be 
 quiet and retired. This appears to be one of the 
 latter. You evidently do not know how to use this 
 toy since you give it up so easily," went on Le 
 Glorieux scornfully. 
 
 "Hush!" whispered his prisoner again. "Do 
 not bawl so loud. It is I, Philibert de Bresse." 
 
 " In the name of all the saints in the calendar!" 
 exclaimed the fool as young De Bresse crawled 
 from his hiding-place. " Is this the way you execute 
 your commission? I was proud of you, boy; I had 
 faith in you, and now see what has come of it! 
 Max gave you an opportunity to win his confidence 
 for life, and you wrap yourself up in that dirty old 
 mantle and sneak under the bed! I never so thor- 
 oughly realized that I am a fool as I do at this 
 moment, when I find how greatly I was mistaken 
 in Philibert de Bresse!" 
 
 " Do you suppose I am doing this of my own 
 accord?" snapped the young secretary, engaged in 
 securing the band of white linen which was ready 
 to fall from his head. 
 
 " I do not see anybody forcing you to do it at the 
 point of the sword," returned the jester dryly. 
 " The De Bresses are a wild lot and have done many 
 strange things, according to their history, but I 
 never heard of one that was a coward." 
 
 Le Glorieux had no sooner finished the sentence 
 than Philibert seized him by the shoulders and 
 
 204 
 
A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE 
 
 gave him a shaking which, the fool afterward de- 
 clared, changed the relative position of some of his 
 teeth. " Listen, you idiot," hissed the young man, 
 " I intend to go to Venice if seven thousand demons 
 stand in the road! I was well on my way when I 
 found that I had forgotten the emperor's ring, and 
 I have returned for it in the disguise of // Capi- 
 tano. Do you not see that I was obliged to come 
 in secret? Now let me go. The paper you will 
 find in the drawer of his Majesty's writing case. 
 Leave me!" 
 
 The jester returned to his master, saying as he 
 opened the door, " Cousin Max, you are a sensible 
 man about some things even if you are an emperor, 
 and I want to ask you where a valuable paper 
 should be but in your own writing case? " 
 
 Waiting until all was quiet outside, Philibert 
 ventured forth once more, and assuming the digni- 
 fied stride of // Capitano, he marched past the 
 sentinels, threw ofif his disguise, and mounting his 
 horse, was once more riding toward Venice, regret- 
 ting the lost time, and censuring his own thought- 
 lessness which had rendered his return necessary. 
 It was long after sunrise before he felt justified in 
 taking a rest, stopping at a wayside inn more for 
 the sake of his horse than for his own comfort. 
 " Poor fellow," said he, stroking the tired steed, 
 "you are unfortunate in being obliged to sufifer for 
 the folly of your rider." 
 
 And now he slipped the ring from his finger and 
 
 205 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 secured it on the inside of the lining of his cap, be- 
 lieving that after all it would be less likely to be 
 found in that place of concealment than tied about 
 his neck. 
 
 As soon as possible he resumed his journey, 
 which he pursued without incident of note until 
 late that afternoon, when he met a party of Flor- 
 entine soldiers, who stopped him. 
 
 "An Austrian spy," said one of them. 
 
 " Do I look like an Austrian? " asked Philibert 
 scornfully. 
 
 " Who are you, then? " 
 
 "A Savoyard student." 
 
 "What is a Savoyard student doing here?" 
 
 "A student may travel where he pleases, may he 
 not? I can not see that I am accountable to you 
 for my acts." 
 
 "Where are you going?" 
 
 "To Padua." 
 
 " For what purpose? " 
 
 "My good sir," drawled Philibert, "for what 
 purpose does a student go to Padua save to attend 
 its famous university, which has sheltered the 
 learned heads of Dante and Petrarch?" 
 
 " He looks like a student and he talks like one," 
 said another man. " Let him go." 
 
 Philibert was feeling greatly relieved when he 
 caught the eye of a man in the rear of the company. 
 This was a soldier, w^ho, in a slight skirmish a short 
 time before, had been taken prisoner by the Aus- 
 
 206 
 
He met a party of Florentine soldiers P^^ge 2o6 
 
A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE 
 
 trians, and who had succeeded in effecting his 
 escape. The young secretary had seen him but 
 once and that only for a few moments, but he never 
 forgot a face and recognized this one immediately. 
 He hoped that the memory of the soldier was less 
 faithful than his own, but this did not appear to be 
 the case. 
 
 "Stay," said the man; " I think I can tell you 
 something about this youth. The Emperor of 
 Austria has a secretary, a young Savoyard, of whom 
 I caught a glimpse when I was their prisoner, and 
 if I am not very much mistaken this is he." 
 
 The youth laughed contemptuously. " For a 
 faithful secretary, I seem to be quite a distance 
 from my master," said he. " Look at me well, my 
 good man," he continued ^^oldly, "and tell me on 
 your honor if we ever have met before." 
 
 The man began to waver. " Of course I had only 
 a glimpse," he stammered. " The secretary was 
 walking with the emperor and I only saw them a 
 moment." 
 
 "Would you "recognize the 'emperor If you 
 should see him again?" 
 
 "Aye, that would I." 
 
 " Then It must have been he at whom you were 
 staring instead of my countryman, the secretary, 
 and of whom you seem to have received a very 
 faint impression." 
 
 As if realizing the force of this argument, the 
 man made no reply, and another said, " It will do 
 
 207 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 no harm to search him at any rate, for if it should 
 be the emperor's secretary, he may be bearing im- 
 portant despatches." 
 
 Still putting a bold front on the affair, Philibert 
 leaped to the ground. " Search me, if you like," 
 said he, " and get it over as soon as possible, for I 
 must be on my way." The soldiers searched thor- 
 oughly, but of course found no papers, and the 
 youth appreciated the wisdom of the emperor in 
 sending a verbal message to the doge. His cap 
 they merely glanced into and restored to him, so 
 the precious ring was safe. He remounted his 
 horse, even before he received permission to do so, 
 and the soldier who had first spoken to him said 
 sneeringly, " Go, gentle youth, you are too girlish 
 to do any harm." 
 
 Considering the danger he was In, the secretary 
 should have ridden away without another word, 
 but this contemptuous remark kindled his indigna- 
 tion to such a heat that he forgot all prudence, and 
 crying, "How do you like this from a 'girlish' 
 hand?" he struck the speaker full across the face 
 with the flat of his sword, leaving a mark that 
 would be noticeable for some time to come, and 
 putting spurs to his horse, he dashed past the other 
 men and galloped away. Some of the men roared 
 with laughter, but he who had been struck rushed 
 for his horse, mounted it and endeavored to 
 give chase, but Philibert had the advantage of an 
 earlier start and a swifter horse, and though a shot 
 
 208 
 
A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE 
 
 came flying after him, it cut the limb of a tree above 
 his head and he escaped unharmed. 
 
 The journey to Venice at this time involved days 
 of wearisome riding, but he met with no further 
 adventure and in due course of time arrived there 
 in safety. The Queen of the Adriatic seemed like 
 a fairy city when the young Savoyard first beheld 
 it. Its palaces of beauteous tints, its waters like 
 molten gold in the rays of the setting sun, its gon- 
 dolas with their picturesque rowers, its fair women 
 leaning against their silken cushions as they glided 
 on the Grand Canal, and with it all the tinkling of 
 lutes and voices of sweetest melody floating on the 
 soft breeze, invested the scene with a charm which 
 was like that of a beautiful dream from which he 
 feared to awaken. 
 
 The doge's palace, with its white and red marble 
 walls, its cloisters and great balconied windows, 
 was reached at last, and Philibert's request, accom- 
 panied by the ring, to see the doge himself, ad- 
 mitted him to the presence of that haughty indi- 
 vidual, who carefully listened to the message, not 
 one word of which the secretary had forgotten, and 
 gravely replied that the answer would be given 
 later, as the matter was one that required serious 
 reflection and consultation with his advisers, who 
 never decided in haste. 
 
 So Philibert had an opportunity of becoming ac- 
 quainted with this attractive city, and he stepped 
 into his gondola once more, anxious to become one 
 
 209 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 of the merry throng and to make the most of his 
 spare time. 
 
 Many glances of curiosity and interest were cast 
 by the Venetian ladies at the handsome young 
 stranger, who, in his own mind, was comparing 
 them, to their great disadvantage, to a certain prin- 
 cess far off in the imperial palace of Vienna. 
 
 When the reply of the doge was handed to him 
 on the following morning, Philibert lost no time, 
 but departed at once, as became a trusted messen- 
 ger, though it was with regret that he turned his 
 back upon Venice and its many attractions. Noth- 
 ing of moment occurred on the return journey, and 
 although the emperor was not pleased with the an- 
 swer he received, for the Venetians flatly refused 
 their aid, still the reply prevented a certain move 
 he had planned, and was m.ost timely. 
 
 Maximilian complimented his young secretary 
 upon the fidelity and care with which he had ac- 
 complished his errand. Praise from such a source 
 was most gratifying to its recipient, although he 
 felt that it was not altogether deserved. He had 
 been careless at the outset, and in his code of honor 
 it was almost as bad to act as to tell a lie. He had 
 regretted the falsehoods he had been obliged to tell 
 the Florentine soldiers, but in that case not only his 
 own life, but a matter of vital importance to a 
 nation was at stake. Now, however, he resolved 
 not to accept in silence compliments that were not 
 his due. 
 
 210 
 
A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE 
 
 " I was not altogether faithful, your Majesty," 
 said he. " I was careless at first; I went away and 
 forgot the ring and lost at least five hours' time in 
 returning for it." 
 
 "How did it happen'^that I knew nothing of 
 your return?" asked the emperor, frowning. 
 
 "None knew of it, your Majesty, excepting Le 
 Glorieux, who would not betray me even to you, 
 and one poor soldier who was not sufficiently fa- 
 miliar with my face to recognize me." 
 
 " I seem to be blessed with capable sentinels," 
 observed Maximilian sarcastically. 
 
 " Your sentinels are not afraid of flesh and blood, 
 your Majesty; they fear only the supernatural." 
 Then the secretary told the whole story of his mas- 
 querade as II Capitano, not without many mis- 
 givings as to the result of the revelation. 
 
 The emperor scowled at first, then he began to 
 laugh, and the more he thought about it the louder 
 he laughed, for after all the messenger had done 
 what he was sent to do, and that better than most 
 could have done in his place, so why not enjoy the 
 humorous side of it, now that it was all over and 
 done with? And as hearty laughter and punish- 
 ment never go hand in hand, Philibert felt that he 
 was forgiven. 
 
 " But I find it hard to forgive you," he afterward 
 said to Le Glorieux, " for taking it for granted that 
 I was a coward before giving me an opportunity to 
 explain." 
 
 211 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 "When a man who has been sent on a dangerous 
 journey is found some time after he is supposed to 
 have started, snugly hidden under his own bed, it 
 looks, to say the least, somewhat suspicious," replied 
 the fool. " How was I to know that you had 
 dressed up and were capering about in a mas- 
 querade?" 
 
 The young man smiled. " Perhaps you had rea- 
 son to believe as you did, for appearances were 
 against me," said he. Then after a thoughtful 
 pause he said, " My good Le Glorieux, that was 
 not the first time you had seen me masquerading. 
 Do you remember Saint Monica and the accusa- 
 tion of Cimburga? " 
 
 "Do I remember it? Does a man ever forget 
 a thing like that?" asked the jester. 
 
 " Le Glorieux, did it never occur to you that I 
 was Saint Monica on that occasion?" 
 
 " You ! Are you out of your mind, my lad? " 
 
 " My friend," said Philibert, " I did not think 
 that the saint would move, and I was anxious to 
 have the girl's innocence proven." 
 
 "Why should you have been anxious about the 
 girl?" asked the fool. 
 
 " Because I had heard a prayer that I wanted 
 answered, I saw the Lady Marguerite kneeling in 
 the chapel before the altar, and in her clear, sweet 
 voice she was praying for Cimburga, who she be- 
 lieved was innocent. I, too, believed in her inno- 
 cence, for I had learned something about my 
 
 212 
 
A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE 
 
 cousin's nervous ways, and had made up my mind 
 that she had lost the jewel in some other manner. I 
 slipped some gray, colorless drapery from the 
 housekeeper's room, and removing the statue from 
 the pedestal, which was not difficult to do, I arrayed 
 myself and played the part. There was, I imagine, 
 a good deal of difference between my appearance 
 and that of the saint, but every one was too agitated 
 to notice it. And as the girl was really clear of all 
 blame in the matter, who knows but that the saint 
 helped her in another way, and, knowing that her 
 wooden image could not move, put it into my head 
 to do as I did?" 
 
 " And I called you a carp I " exclaimed the jester. 
 
 ai3 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE LADY MARGUERITE IS VERY BRAVE 
 
 The campaign in Italy at this time proved to be 
 a failure, and the emperor returned with his troops 
 to Austria. 
 
 " I have alw^ays ^thought I should like to ride 
 through the streets with a laurel wreath on my 
 brow and hear the people screeching with delight 
 at the very sight of me," said Le Glorieux, " but I 
 always happen to be on the other side when a vic- 
 tory is won." 
 
 Being sent to attend to some matters for his royal 
 master, Philibert was detained for a week in the 
 Tyrol, and when he arrived at the palace in Vienna 
 the first person he met was one of his cousin's 
 women, who told him that her mistress wished to 
 speak to him at once. 
 
 The Lady Clotilde had changed not at all during 
 her stay in Austria, and she received her young 
 kinsman with a relaxation of her usual dignity 
 that surprised him. " My dear Philibert," she said, 
 kissing him upon both cheeks, " I congratulate you 
 upon your improved prospects." 
 
 "My improved prospects? Has the em- 
 peror " 
 
 214 
 
LADY MARGUERITE VERY BRAVE 
 
 "Oh, no, the emperor has nothing to 'do witK 
 what I am speaking of. Of course, death is a terri- 
 ble thing, but people must die, and even if we wish 
 they could be spared, it makes no difiference." 
 
 " My dear cousin," said Philibert patiently, 
 " will you not tell me who is dead and why I should 
 be congratulated?" 
 
 *' Who should it be, you thoughtless boy, but the 
 Duke of Savoy, and your father was the heir to the 
 title. You are the future Duke of Savoy! You 
 are a personage of importance! " and she kissed him 
 again. " Think of what a fine marriage you may 
 now make! " 
 
 Philibert blushed at her words, but his eyes 
 shone with a new light. " I had not heard of our 
 new dignity," he said. " I shall doubtless find a 
 letter when I go to my room." 
 
 " And, my dear boy, I have news of my own to 
 tell you," went on the Lady Clotilde, simpering. 
 " I suppose I should have waited until your return, 
 and I should have notified my other relatives, but 
 I always was so romantic. Philibert, I have mar- 
 ried again." 
 
 *^ What!" cried the young man, in amazement. 
 
 *' I do not see why you are so surprised," she re- 
 turned coldly. " You could not seem more aston- 
 ished if you had seen a ghost. Why should I not 
 marry if I feel so inclined?" 
 
 "Why not, indeed? I beg your pardon. Cousin. 
 Who is the happy man?" 
 
 215 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 " It Is the Spanish attache, Don Geronlmo Bar- 
 tolomeo Zurriago y Escafusa," she returned, say- 
 ing the long name with a good deal of pride. " He 
 owns an estate in his own country to which he 
 would have returned long ago if — well, if there 
 had not been attractions at the court of Austria." 
 
 " I hope you will be very happy, Cousin," said 
 Philibert, excusing himself as soon as it was possi- 
 ble, for he wanted to be alone and think of all that 
 his new dignity might bring to him. 
 
 Leaving the Lady Clotilde's apartment, he met 
 Le Glorieux, who was bubbling over with news. 
 " So many things have happened, even in the week 
 since we returned," said the jester, " that it seems 
 to me it will take a week to repeat them. In the 
 first place, Clotilde is married." 
 
 " So she has just informed me." 
 
 "When I heard it," went on the jester, "I was 
 so surprised that it almost made me ill. But the 
 people who marry, and especially the other people 
 they select to marry, is a mystery I never could 
 solve." 
 
 "The Lady Marguerite is well, I hope? " asked 
 Philibert. 
 
 " Yes, and happy and fair as a flower, and her 
 stepmother is still high-tempered and fond of shell- 
 fish. But that is not news. First I will begin with 
 Antoine. He has distinguished himself greatly 
 in the way of singing, and the emperor has made 
 him one of his own musicians. And the rascal, 
 
 216 
 
LADY MARGUERITE VERY BRAVE 
 
 who has grown wonderfully during the last few 
 months, is almost as tall as I am, and he is very 
 proud of his new uniform. And next, great doings 
 have been going on in our negotiations with Spain 1 
 As I remarked to you once before, if you will re- 
 member, our friend Manuel works quietly, but he 
 works hard." 
 
 *' What do you mean? " asked the secretary, turn- 
 ing pale. " You do not mean that she is going to 
 Spain?" 
 
 " If you will not use names, of course I can not 
 be expected to know about whom you are talking," 
 replied the fool. "But a certain 'she' is coming 
 from Spain. The Princess Juana is coming with a 
 great fleet to be the daughter-in-law of Maximilian 
 and the wife of the Archduke Philip." 
 
 " You do not mean to tell me that all this has been 
 planned in a week?" asked Philibert, with a sigh 
 of relief. 
 
 " No, it has been going on for some time, but we 
 have only known about it within the last week. 
 You see, even his secretary does not see all the let- 
 ters Max receives and sends away. But there is 
 still more to tell you." 
 
 "What, more?" laughed his listener. 
 
 "Yes, and most important of all. Cunegunda 
 has been crying her eyes almost out." 
 
 " Do you call that news? " 
 
 "No, I do not know that I can call that part of 
 it news. The very first thing that woman did when 
 
 217 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 she saw me was to burst into tears," went on the 
 jester in an injured tone. " I appeal to you, I ap- 
 peal to any man, if there is anything mournful in 
 my appearance? If I went about clothed in crape 
 I could not have a sadder effect upon her than I do 
 in rny jester's suit. She said she was crying because 
 she was afraid something was going to happen, and 
 the next day when I saw her she cried because it 
 had happened. You see she had lost no time, but 
 had begun to weep in good season." 
 
 " I wonder if you have heard my news, — that 
 my father has succeeded to the dukedom of 
 Savoy?" asked the other as the jester paused. 
 
 " Yes, I have heard it, my boy, and I congratu- 
 late you with all my heart," said the fool hastily. 
 " It is a fine inheritance, and one day you will be 
 Philibert the Second, Duke of Savoy. Accept my 
 felicitations." 
 
 " Thank you. And you see, Le Glorieux, there 
 is quite a difference between the heir of the Count 
 de Bresse and the heir of the duke of a wealthy 
 province, and I feel that I can hope — well, I can 
 hope for almost anything." 
 
 " Hope," said the jester gravely, " is one of the 
 finest things in this world, and I wish we all had 
 more of it. But you have not asked me what made 
 Cunegunda weep." 
 
 "No," said Philibert absently, as one whose 
 mind is traveling far afield ; " what did make Cune- 
 gunda weep? " 
 
 218 
 
LADY MARGUERITE VERY BRAVE 
 
 " Because," replied the jester, " she has the nar- 
 rowest mind of any woman living." 
 
 "And she is only beginning to find it out?" 
 asked the other, laughing. 
 
 "Oh, she has not found it out, and never will, 
 though I have known it from the beginning of our 
 acquaintance. Now I ask you, why should not 
 Spain be a good country to live in? There are 
 flowers and palaces and oranges and bull-fights 
 and everything to make a man or woman comforta- 
 ble, and there are plenty of new friends, I dare say, 
 if one cares to make them; still that woman is 
 drowned in tears because she must go there, as if 
 it were purgatory." 
 
 " Why must she go to Spain if she does not care 
 to do so? " asked Philibert. 
 
 " Because she will not leave her young mistress," 
 replied the fool deliberately. 
 
 " You do not mean " 
 
 "Yes, I do mean just that. As I have said be- 
 fore, Manuel has worked hard, and the same fleet 
 that brings the Spanish infanta to our shores will 
 take away our own little princess to be the bride of 
 the young Prince of the Asturias, only son of Fer- 
 dinand and Isabella, and heir to the kingdoms of 
 Castile, and Leon, and Aragon, and I can not tell 
 how many other countries. And I am going with 
 her, and so is the weeping Cunegunda, and a large 
 suite of ladies and gentlemen." And thus chatter- 
 ing, and without casting another glance at Phili- 
 
 2ip 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 bert de Bresse, heir to the dukedom of Savoy, the 
 jester left the room. 
 
 The Lady Marguerite, who had grown still more 
 fair to look upon during his absence, received Phil- 
 ibert with a cordial greeting, and with a word of 
 congratulation upon his new dignity, as future 
 ruler of Savoy. 
 
 He replied, "You are very kind, your High- 
 ness, but in a world full of sorrow and disappoint- 
 ment, rank and wealth are of little account." 
 
 " You speak as mournfully as one who is about 
 to become a monk," she returned in a tone of 
 surprise. 
 
 " Such a step on my part is not improbable, your 
 Highness," was the reply. 
 
 Some days later, the princess said to Le Glo- 
 rieux, " Philibert de Bresse has not been the same 
 since his return from Italy. What spell was cast 
 over him in that country?" 
 
 " Almost any question can be solved," said the 
 jester, with a wise look, " if one will sit down and 
 think it out quietly. I have wondered for a long 
 time why the climate of Austria has agreed so well 
 with Clotilde, and I find that It was all owing to 
 Don Geronimo Bartolomeo Zurriago y Escafusa. 
 Is it not wonderful how well I recollect that name? 
 And the beauty of it is that once learned I shall 
 never forget it." 
 
 "What has all that to do with Philibert de 
 Bresse?" asked the princess. 
 
 220 
 
LADY MARGUERITE VERY BRAVE 
 
 " That has nothing to do with him, of course; I 
 am simply leading up to him. This is what I have 
 figured out for Philibert. Of course he knows that 
 he must marry some time; few men can escape 
 matrimony. When he was plain future Count de 
 Breese he had a wider selection of ladies with 
 whom he might wed. Now that he is the future 
 Duke of Savoy, there is a smaller number from 
 whom he may choose; for, though I never could 
 see the justice of it, there always is more milk than 
 there is cream." 
 
 " He is very young to be thinking of such things," 
 said Marguerite coldly. 
 
 " When you come to age, he is no younger than 
 your noble brother, who is to wed the Princess 
 Juana; or the young heir of Spain, who is to wed 
 a certain princess of my acquaintance, a lady not 
 quite sixteen. Let us suppose that Philibert had 
 his mind fixed upon some maiden, who was in his 
 own rank when he was simply to be a count, then, 
 suddenly, he pops up into the circle of dukes, where 
 he must look down upon her. It is enough to make 
 any man gloomy." 
 
 " Sometimes you talk in a very sensible manner, 
 Le Glorieux," said the Lady Marguerite, frown- 
 ing, "but to-day you speak nothing but nonsense." 
 And she walked away with her head held high as 
 was always the case when she was out of temper. 
 
 Looking after her slender figure as it disap- 
 peared through an archway, the jester muttered to 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 himself, " Not to contradict a princess of the blood 
 royal, I want to say that I never was more sensi- 
 ble than I am at this very moment." 
 
 One summer day a gallant armada set sail for 
 the fcoast of Flanders. It consisted of one hundred 
 and thirty fine vessels, and it was manned by hun- 
 dreds of sailors; it carried the chivalry of Spain, 
 and it was commanded by the Admiral of Castile. 
 Never had so beautiful a fleet sailed from the 
 Spanish coast, for it brought to Philip of Flanders, 
 the son of Maximilian, his bride, the Infanta Juana. 
 
 The people were eager to see the bride of their 
 prince, but if they had expected a beauty, they were 
 disappointed. Juana was pale and delicate in ap- 
 pearance, and, as a French writer of the time ex- 
 presses it, " a somber fire seemed to burn in her 
 eyes." 
 
 "We shall send Spain a far handsomer bride 
 than she sent to us," said Le Glorieux exultantly. 
 
 The wedding of Philip and Juana took place in 
 Lille with great pomp and ceremony, and the fleet 
 waited, for it was to take another royal bride on 
 its return trip^ \But many of the vessels needed 
 repairs after their stormy voyage, and it was some 
 time before they were ready to sail. 
 
 Philibert de Bresse, in the meantime, had re- 
 ceived news of the death of his father; and, taking 
 leave of his friends at court, he returned to his 
 own country, of which he was now the ruler. 
 
 222 
 
LADY MARGUERITE VERY BRAVE 
 
 A little princess saying farewell to her parents 
 to go to a strange land where she must remain as 
 long as she lives, is one of the pathetic sides of 
 history; but Marguerite, although very sad at the 
 thought of leaving her adored father, endeavored 
 to be resigned and even cheerful. Before the day 
 of her departure there came a messenger from 
 Savoy with a little packet for the princess. It con- 
 tained a locket in which was set in diamonds and 
 emeralds an edelweiss, accompanied by the fol- 
 lowing words, " The name of this flower signifies 
 * noble purity,' a fitting gift for this fair daughter 
 of the Hapsburgs." 
 
 After all Marguerite was little more than a 
 child, and she could not but look forward with 
 pleasure to the coming voyage, since if one must 
 leave one's native land, it is good to sail away with 
 a splendid fleet. But Cunegunda was inclined to 
 take a gloomy view of the coming journey. " When 
 you travel by land," said she, "you may be killed, 
 of course, but even in that case, you are there in 
 plain view and can be seen ; but if you are drowned, 
 why, where are you? " 
 
 " In the bottom of the sea, where you are every 
 bit as comfortable as you would be on land, if you 
 were dead," said Le Glorieux. 
 
 " It is a very dangerous trip, and I weep when- 
 ever I think of it," said the good woman. 
 
 " You weep when you do not think of it, so what 
 diflference does it make? " asked the jester. Brutus, 
 
 223 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 who now was full grown and a hound of extraor- 
 dinary intelligence, looked at Le Glorieux and 
 wagged his tail, as if fully approving of this senti- 
 ment. " It is true, is it not, my friend Brutus, 
 that Cunegunda never misses a chance to cry?" 
 asked the fool, patting the dog's head. 
 
 " I know something that will make you cry," 
 said Cunegunda maliciously. 
 
 " You could not make me cry, my good lady," 
 replied he. " Think of all for which I have to be 
 thankful: I am still young, I am handsome, I am 
 going to Spain, the land of bull-fights, flowers, and 
 oranges. My little princess is going to marry one 
 of the finest princes of his time, and we shall all 
 be happy, even you, for wherever you are you 
 can always find something to cry about; and weep- 
 ing is your favorite occupation." 
 
 "The Lady Clotilde is going to Spain with us," 
 said Cunegunda slyly. 
 
 " You do not mean it! " exclaimed the jester, con- 
 siderably dismayed. 
 
 " But I do mean it. You might have known that 
 her husband would some time take her to his native 
 country." 
 
 " Yes, but not at this time," cried the fool excit- 
 edly. " Why must she go on this particular voyage? 
 Why is it always convenient for Clotilde to start 
 out just as I am going? She will miss some article 
 that she owns, and every ship will have to be 
 searched for it. Is it not strange the way things 
 
 224 
 
LADY MARGUERITE VERY BRAVE 
 
 come about in this world?" he continued com- 
 plainingly. " I love that little rascal of an Antoine, 
 and he is to remain here. I am fond of Pandora 
 and Pittacus, though they always treat me with 
 cold indifiference, and they must be left behind; 
 but Clotilde, whom I would gladly spare, goes 
 with me!" 
 
 With this double marriage Austria was making 
 a precious gift to Spain — she was giving the great 
 possessions of the Hapsburgs, but the fairest gift 
 of all was the young princess, whose departure 
 drew out a great concourse of people. With flags 
 flying and pennons waving, the ships were waiting, 
 the largest and the handsomest for the Lady Mar- 
 guerite and her suite. The picture of the princess 
 that remained in the memory of those who saw her 
 on that day was a slight, graceful figure stand- 
 ing where the sunlight shone full on her sweet 
 young face, and with one hand resting on the head 
 of her hound. 
 
 Then the great fleet fluttered away like a flight 
 of huge butterflies, skimming southward. 
 
 " I do not see why I should feel so melancholy," 
 said Le Glorieux, going inside and sitting with his 
 head on his hands and his elbows on his knees. 
 "Austria was not my native country; I was born 
 in old Burgundy, and it is too late to be sniveling 
 at parting from Burgundy. It is because I have 
 parted with that little villain of an Antoine that I 
 am like this. When I saw the little wretch smil- 
 
 225 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 ing at me from the shore, and waving his hand and 
 blinking his eyes, as if he were trying to keep back 
 the tears, what must this tough old heart of mine 
 do but climb right into my throat and try to choke 
 me to death. A heart that has served me well for 
 all these years to play me a trick like that! " 
 
 ''Will you please rise?" said a cold metallic 
 voice at his elbow. Glancing up Le Glorieux be- 
 held Don Geronimo, the husband of the Lady Clo- 
 tilde. The jester's gaze traveled up the tall, thin 
 form of the Spaniard until it reached his face, 
 which was dark and reminded the fool of tanned 
 leather. 
 
 " There being no particular reason why I should 
 rise, I shall not rise until it pleases me to do so," 
 said he. 
 
 " Permit my servant to take those cushions which 
 are beneath you," said Don Geronimo icily. " You 
 are sitting on a whole pile of them. They are 
 wanted for my wife, the Dona Clotilde, who is 
 overcome." 
 
 " I will give anything to any lady at any time," 
 said the fool, rising, " but I should like to know 
 what has overcome your lady wife so soon." 
 
 " Parting from her friends," replied the Span- 
 iard, following his man, who was loaded down 
 with cushions. 
 
 *' She did not care as much for the whole of 
 Austria and Flanders as I cared for that miserable 
 little Antoine," grumbled the fool ; " yet she must 
 
 226 
 
LADY MARGUERITE VERY BRAVE 
 
 be packed away in cushions that are jerked from 
 under my very body to make her comfortable. 
 And our princess is so bravely bearing the parting 
 from her father, and is giving no trouble whatever! 
 Any one would think it is Clotilde who is being 
 sent away in such state by Austria." 
 
 The first day out it seemed as if the voyage was 
 to be a calm and safe one. When the novelty of 
 gazing at the blue waters had worn off, the princess 
 and her ladies took their embroidery frames and 
 passed their time with their needles, laughing and 
 chattering together. As soon as she had ceased 
 to be overcome, the Lady Clotilde joined them. 
 iWhen the conversation turned to the perils of the 
 ocean, she declared that she, for one, did not fear 
 them, being a true representative of a family that 
 knew no fear. She related a number of incidents 
 when, according to her story, she had stood within 
 the very jaws of death without the slightest thrill 
 of fear. 
 
 Le Glorieux, who was sitting at the feet of his 
 young mistress playing with the silk-and-gold 
 threads of her embroider}^, remarked, " That is be- 
 cause you spend so much of your time in pious 
 reading. Cousin Clotilde. Did you bring with you 
 the silver book about the saints?" 
 
 The princess tried to frown at him, but he saw 
 the twinkle of a smile under her long, dark lashes. 
 
 But these were the last peaceful hours they spent 
 for many days. In the darkness of the night the 
 
 227 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 storm demon came forth, shrieking in the wind, 
 and beating the waves into fury, holding the ships 
 a trembling instant on the crest of the wave, then 
 dashing them into the trough of the sea, sending 
 some of them down to destruction. 
 
 Half dressed, the passengers of the Lady Mar- 
 guerite's ship rushed out into the salon. They 
 forgot that they were the great ones of the earth 
 and that to them had been given the honor of es- 
 corting a princess to her bridegroom. They knelt 
 on the floor, and moaned, and told their beads, just 
 as so many peasants might have done. 
 
 The Lady Marguerite was calm, though very 
 pale; close beside her stood Le Glorieux, self- 
 possessed, but no longer jesting. " If the good God 
 is ready to take me now, I could not have a happier 
 death than to go down with my little princess," 
 said he. 
 
 Cunegunda held her lady's hand, which, for- 
 getting her own danger, she stroked, with words of 
 endearment, while Brutus crept to her feet, and 
 putting his head on her lap, looked into the face 
 of his mistress as if to say that he, too, was ready to 
 die with her. 
 
 The storm did not abate with the approach of 
 day, nor did it cease the next day, nor for many 
 days, and it seemed as if their ship must be rent to 
 pieces by the combined forces of wind and wave. 
 
 Once Le Glorieux seized Cunegunda by the 
 shoulders and bawled into her ears, "You are al- 
 
 228 
 
LADY MARGUERITE VERY BRAVE 
 
 ways crying; cry now, when there is some reason 
 for it." But strange to say, Cunegunda shed no 
 tears, though the Lady Clotilde shrieked and wept 
 continuously, seeming to forget all the traditions of 
 her family. 
 
 . When learning that a number of the vessels had 
 been lost, and that none could tell at what moment 
 her own ship would go down. Marguerite put 
 certain jewels on her fingers, neck, and arms that 
 had long been in the possession of the house of 
 Hapsburg. " The body of a princess is not dif- 
 ferent from that of a peasant," she said to her faith- 
 ful attendants, " and it may be that the fury of the 
 storm will spare me some of these jewels ; so that if 
 I am washed ashore I shall be identified." Then 
 she smiled to keep up the courage of the others and 
 said, " It seems that with all the planning of nations 
 I am never to be a wife." 
 
 Then taking a slip of paper she wrote upon it 
 two lines, which she wrapped in a piece of oiled 
 silk and fastened to her bracelet. These lines, 
 written in French, may be translated as follows, 
 " Here lies Marguerite, a noble maiden, who, 
 though given two husbands, died a maid." 
 
 But even a storm at sea can not last for ever, and 
 the stout ship, being mercifully spared, arrived 
 at last with the remainder of the fleet in safety at 
 the port of Santander. 
 
 229 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 AN AUSTRIAN PRINCESS AT THE SPANISH COURT 
 
 Up from the south came the young Prince of 
 the Asturias to meet his Austrian bride. His greet- 
 ing was in accordance with the strictest rules of 
 Spanish etiquette, but all were favorably impressed 
 by his gracious affability and by the gentle dignity 
 of his manner. 
 
 Under the eye of his thoughtful mother, this 
 prince had been carefully educated to be the ruler 
 of his country. As a child he was attended by 
 pages of his own age, and they formed mimic coun- 
 cils and played at being grown-up rulers. He had 
 been taught fencing by a celebrated swordsman, 
 and at night his sword always hung at the head of 
 his bed. When only twelve years of age he had 
 been knighted on the battlefield by King Ferdi- 
 nand, his father. He could paint and draw, and he 
 could play on several different instruments, for 
 Queen Isabella was determined that her son should 
 be one of the most accomplished princes of his 
 time. 
 
 The prince was accompanied by his royal father, 
 and the Lady Marguerite and her suite were 
 escorted in great state to the old city of Burgos. 
 
 230 
 
Never had preparations so grand been made Page 2JJ 
 
AT THE SPANISH COURT 
 
 Here they were met by the queen and the Spanish 
 court. 
 
 The steed ridden by Queen Isabella was covered 
 with crimson cloth richly embroidered with gold. 
 Her saddle was like a chair of state, and she 
 seemed as if seated on a moving throne. She was 
 still a handsome woman, with gold-tinted hair and 
 soft, earnest eyes. Following her, and mounted 
 on richly-caparisoned mules, were scores of court 
 ladies who seemed to have competed with each 
 other in the magnificence of their costumes. With 
 other high dignitaries of the church came the 
 queen's confessor, Ximenes, Archbishop of Toledo. 
 This stern man was clothed in all the splendor of 
 his office, but underneath these elegant robes, we 
 are told, was haircloth which scraped his flesh, 
 already bruised by the frequent beatings which he 
 gave himself Vv'ith a whip. 
 
 History tells us that Queen Isabella had taken 
 great pains to arrange the meeting of the royal 
 family with the Austrian princess, and that she 
 had planned just who was to kiss and who was to 
 embrace the young stranger, but however this may 
 be, the ceremony passed off in a satisfactory man- 
 ner, and the Lady Marguerite was quite charmed 
 with her new mother. 
 
 Never had preparations so grand been made for 
 royal nuptials as were arranged for the wedding of 
 the Prince of the Asturias with the Lady Margue- 
 rite of Hapsburg. There were present grandees 
 
 231 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 representing the chivalry of Spain, men who had 
 distinguished themselves on the battlefield and in 
 the tournament; there were ambassadors from the 
 courts of all the civilized world; there were dig- 
 nitaries from all the cities of Spain, there were 
 great ladies in glittering apparel, and the king and 
 queen in their mantles of state; but most interest- 
 ing of all was the young prince, whom his people 
 already loved, and his fair young bride. 
 
 Dressed in his gayest suit, Le Glorieux stood 
 where he could obtain the best view of. his young 
 mistress. At the most interesting moment, just as 
 the ceremony was about to begin, there was a buzz 
 of excitement around him, and Don Geronimo 
 whispered in his ear, "Will you stand aside? I 
 am looking for the pomander-box of Doiia Clo- 
 tilde, which has dropped to the floor." But the 
 fool folded his arms and pretended not to hear. 
 
 And then followed days of fetes and tourneys 
 and tilts. The Spanish people enjoyed these 
 amusements in a dignified and even a serious man- 
 ner, and when the princess and her suite laughed 
 and clapped their hands at some particularly clever 
 feat, the courtiers of Ferdinand and Isabella were 
 shocked at such levity. 
 
 When the public rejoicings were over the prince 
 and princess went to their palace at Salamanca, a 
 city of beautiful creamy stone, built on three hills 
 and in a horse-shoe shape, which, with its stately 
 college of seventeen thousand students, gave many 
 
 232 
 
AT THE SPANISH COURT 
 
 fetes and outdid itself in bull-fights to celebrate the 
 coming of the youthful pair. 
 
 It is said that one of the first acts of Prince Juan 
 was to engage professors and performers of music, 
 both instrumental and vocal, who, with fiddles, 
 organs, cymbals, hautboys, and other instruments, 
 played the lively airs of Spain. He also had a 
 large military band, and one afternoon when Le 
 Glorieux was lounging in the window listening to 
 its music, the princess entered the room. She 
 wore a splendid gown with a very long train, and 
 she looked quite tall and stately. It was the first 
 time the jester had seen her alone since their ar- 
 rival in this country, and he sprang to his feet, ex- 
 claiming, " Little Cousin " just as he had 
 
 addressed her since the beginning of their ac- 
 quaintance. But the Princess of the Asturias held 
 her head higher and eyed him coldly, without mak- 
 ing a reply. 
 
 Very much chagrined at this treatment, for she 
 ever had been most gracious in her manner toward 
 him, the fool turned and was about to leave the 
 room without another word, when he was startled 
 by a merry laugh. 
 
 " Did I do it well? " she asked gayly. 
 
 "You did it too well! I was already homesick, 
 and if you had turned to ice like the people of 
 this country, I should have been broken-hearted. 
 Never was there a place so stiff and cold as this 
 Spanish court. The king is shorter than the queen 
 
 233 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 and is not very big to look at when you come to 
 stature, but I would no more think of jesting with 
 him, as I always did with Max, than I would think 
 of sitting down to have a little fun with my grand- 
 mother's tomb. And I am not a man who is easily 
 chilled, either!" 
 
 '' I am told," said the princess, " that I am too 
 careless and gay, and that I must be like the ladies 
 of Spain. And although I am allowed to retain 
 my own people about me, they must all conduct 
 themselves in a grave and ceremonious manner." 
 
 "Thank fortune that I am a fool," said Le Glo- 
 rieux, " for who ever heard of a jester who was 
 grave and ceremonious? But I shall be sad and 
 mournful, my Princess, if you freeze up as you did 
 just now, and continue to stay frozen." 
 
 " I must try to please my husband's people," re- 
 plied Marguerite seriously. " If I am one day to 
 be Queen of Spain I must learn to be like a Span- 
 ish woman. And I hope that my own people will 
 not ofifend by showing too much levity and 
 frivolity." 
 
 " One of your suite has become a thorough Span- 
 iard," said Le Glorieux, " and that is Brutus. He 
 follows the prince everywhere." 
 
 "Yes," replied Marguerite, "the prince loves 
 him and Brutus is fond of his new master. In this 
 he shows good judgment, for the prince is very, 
 very good." 
 
 The princess sighed as she spoke and gazed 
 
 234 
 
The Prince took a seat on a marble bench Page 2JS 
 
AT THE SPANISH COURT 
 
 dreamily out of the window. " I wonder if she, 
 too, is homesick," thought the jester. "Well, as 
 for me, I have seen the bull-fights, the flowers, and 
 oranges of Spain, and I wish I could take my little 
 princess and go home to Max." 
 
 From the window they could see Prince Juan 
 walking in the garden, and by his side stepped 
 Brutus, the master occasionally pausing to pat the 
 dog's head or to stroke his silky ears. " He is a 
 good man," remarked the jester, " or Brutus would 
 not be so fond of him." 
 
 Now the prince took a seat on a marble bench 
 beside the fountain and turned his pale face, with 
 its thoughtful brow, toward the sinking sun, still 
 absently drawing the hound's ears through his thin 
 white fingers. " I said something to him this morn- 
 ing that used to make the emperor laugh, but the 
 prince only smiled in that far-ofT way, as if his 
 mind were traveling through the moon," said Le 
 Glorieux. "He is younger than Philibert, and 
 Philibert is always ready to laugh. And how 
 cheerful and gay Max always was, though some- 
 times " 
 
 " Do not, oh, do not I " cried the princess. " Let 
 us not talk of my father, or any of the people at 
 home! I am going to weep; I shall be as tearful 
 as poor Cunegunda," she went on, half-laughing, 
 as she brushed the tears from her eyes. "What 
 would her Majesty, Queen Isabella, say were she 
 to see me weeping with my jester — she who always 
 
 235 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 is so careful never to betray her emotions, and who, 
 even when she is ill, never utters a moan? The 
 prince will come soon and we are to give an audi- 
 ence to some persons of distinction, and it will not 
 do for me to be seen with swollen eyes." 
 
 "There, there," said the jester, taking her 
 handkerchief and wiping her eyes as if she had 
 been a little child. "Your lashes are long and 
 thick, you see, and the tears hang to them and 
 make them seem like more tears than they really 
 are. They will spoil your pretty eyes. And you 
 are not really sad, you know, for why should you 
 be, when you will one day be queen of one of the 
 great nations of the earth?" 
 
 " Somehow I do not care about that part of it, 
 Le Glorieux, and I hope King Ferdinand and dear 
 Queen Isabella will live to be very, very old. But 
 I can be dignified when I like, can I not, Le 
 Glorieux? " 
 
 " Most certainly you can, my little lady. That 
 night when you were brought a prisoner before 
 Anne of Brittany you were as dignified as a woman 
 of forty." 
 
 " And as I grow older it will be easier for me to 
 be silent and cold. I am only sixteen now." 
 
 " Of course it will be. The older people grow, 
 the more silent and cold they are. That is to say, 
 as a rule. Clotilde, now, is old and cold, but she is 
 not always silent. There you are smiling, and 
 your tears are all gone; do not get into the habit 
 
 2^6 
 
' AT THE SPANISH COURT 
 
 of weeping. As I understand it, you are expected 
 neither to smile nor weep, but get into a humor 
 half-way between the two and you will be just 
 right." 
 
 " Le Glorieux," said the princess, " if you are 
 not happy in Spain, there is no reason why you 
 should stay here. I will send you home to my 
 father, who will be glad to have you with him. 
 You have plenty of friends there and you will be 
 contented." 
 
 "And you would be willing to have me go, you 
 could spare me, little Cousin?" asked the fool 
 sadly. 
 
 " I am not thinking of myself. I should miss 
 you sorely. But I want you to live where you will 
 be happiest:" 
 
 " Then that will be where you are, little Prin- 
 cess. No matter if Ferdinand commands me to be 
 as sour and grave as one of the dried-up professors 
 in the university, here do I remain." 
 
 Prince Juan entered. He bent gracefully and 
 pressed Marguerite's fingers to his lips, then he 
 offered his arm, and thus they left the room. 
 
 The jester wandered to the garden, where he re- 
 mained for a long time on the seat vacated by the 
 prince. He plucked a branch of pomegranate 
 blossoms and fastened it to the front of his yellow 
 coat. " Bright colors help to make one cheerful," 
 murmured he, and rising, he went down to the 
 river, and leaning ever the old stone bridge, he 
 
 237 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 looked into the dingy waters. '' They tell me that 
 the waters of the Tormes River will make one 
 forget all he knows if he drinks of them," thought 
 the fool. " They have a saying here if any one for- 
 gets anything, ' He has been drinking of the waters 
 of the Tormes.' " Twilight had closed in around 
 him when he became conscious of some one stand- 
 ing beside him. It was a tall man in a long black 
 cloak, and wearing a tall pointed black hat. He 
 was very thin and his small eyes were like black 
 beads. 
 
 " You were gazing into the waters of the Tormes, 
 Senor," said the stranger, in a melancholy voice. 
 
 " If you are telling me that as a piece of news 
 you must not mind if I am not surprised at it," re- 
 plied the fool. 
 
 " Do you know the effect produced upon those 
 who drink of this water, Senor?" asked the 
 stranger, ignoring the flippancy of the jester's 
 reply. 
 
 *' Judging from the color of the water, I should 
 say the effect would be gritty," replied Le Glo- 
 rieux. 
 
 "They are the waters of oblivion," went on the 
 tall man; " those who drink of them forget all they 
 know." 
 
 "That would not be a great effort for some peo- 
 ple," said Le Glorieux. 
 
 " One cup of this water and the past is completely 
 forgotten," repeated the stranger. 
 
 238 
 
AT THE SPANISH COURT 
 
 "Some people might be glad to forget their 
 past," remarked the fool. 
 
 " But all wisdom is forgotten, too," the tall man 
 urged in reply. 
 
 " Have you tried it?" 
 
 Without noticing the rather uncomplimentary 
 character of this question, the stranger clutched the 
 lower corner of his long mantle in his hand and 
 folding his arms looked down into the river for a 
 few minutes before he replied, "No, I have not 
 tasted of these waters, for I need all of my wisdom. 
 I am the most learned doctor of all the learned 
 ones in the University of Salamanca." 
 
 " Retiring and modest of you to say so," replied 
 the jester. 
 
 "The whole world has heard of Don Velerio 
 de Farrapos," said that gentleman. 
 
 " Then I do not live in the world, for this is 
 the first time I have heard that name." 
 
 " Do not lie to me," said the other, frowning, 
 "you have heard it." 
 
 "Very well, if you insist upon it," said Le Glo- 
 rieux. " In order to be easy and comfortable to- 
 gether, we will say that my father had a black cat 
 of that name. But do not ask me to remember it, 
 if you please. I already have the name of one 
 Spaniard fixed in my mind, and I am not going to 
 have it crowded out by yours. But what have you 
 done that makes you talked about by all the 
 world?" 
 
 239 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 " I have made a great discovery." 
 
 " What is it? " 
 
 "The elixir of life." 
 
 " You do not mean it? " 
 
 " The savants of the Orient," v^ent on the Span- 
 iard, "claimed that there are one hundred and one 
 ways in which a man may lose his life. He may 
 die by poison, by drowning, bad living, a stroke of 
 lightning, or in ninety-six other ways. But if he 
 dies before he is one hundred years old, it is the 
 result of accident, or of his own ignorance or wil- 
 fulness. So you see it is not so very easy to die, 
 when all is said and done." 
 
 "But you can not convince people of that; they 
 will keep on dying," said the fool. 
 
 " But they need not, now that I have discovered 
 the elixir of life," replied Don Velerio, in a deep 
 voice. 
 
 Le Glorieux now surveyed him with a feeling 
 of awe. Men were searching at this v6ry time for 
 the elixir of life, and why should it not have been 
 discovered by this learned doctor of Salamanca? 
 
 " It is only necessary to take it once in fifty 
 years," observed Don Velerio carelessly. 
 
 "That seems a long while between doses," re- 
 sponded the fool. " But while you are about it, I 
 should think you would add something to the 
 medicine to put flesh on your bones," he con- 
 tinued, looking at Don Velerio's thin legs, which, 
 clad in black hose, looked like slender iron rods. 
 
 240 
 
" I have discovered the elixir of life " Page 24Q 
 
AT THE SPANISH COURT 
 
 " Flesh," said the learned man, " is nothing." 
 
 " It certainly is not much in your case," returned 
 the jester. 
 
 " But life, life is everything," went on Don Ve- 
 lerio, waving the hand which still clutched the cor- 
 ner of the mantle, a gesture which gave him the 
 appearance of a large bat. " I expect to live to the 
 age of five thousand five hundred and fifty-seven 
 years," said he. 
 
 " I am afraid you are just a trifle ambitious," 
 said the jester. 
 
 "The composition of my elixir is a great secret," 
 said the Spaniard. " It is made from serpents' 
 broth," and he raised his voice exultantly. 
 
 " It must be a great secret since you bawl it out 
 like that." Le Glorieux had now lost all faith in 
 the wisdom of this "learned doctor." 
 
 " He doubts me! He dares to doubt me!" cried 
 Don Velerio, in a shrill voice, and before he had 
 time to realize what was happening, the jester was 
 pushed over the low balustrade of the bridge and 
 into the dark waters below, where he fell with a 
 loud splash. 
 
 This piece of treachery on the part of Don 
 Velerio would not have been a very serious matter, 
 for the jester was a good swimmer, had not the 
 victim of it struck an abutment of the bridge as he 
 went down, which stunned him and prevented him 
 from making any effort to save himself. He would 
 have drowned had not two men in a rowboat not 
 
 241 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 far away succeeded in dragging the unconscious 
 fool into their boat. 
 
 When he returned to his senses he was in his own 
 room, and a nun, with a kind and gentle face, was 
 sitting beside him. 
 
 "Why do you come here to watch me sleep?" 
 he asked, and was surprised to find that his voice 
 was so weak. 
 
 "You must be quiet; you have been very ill," 
 said she. 
 
 " I ill? Now that is a queer thing, a very queer 
 thing I What made me ill ? " 
 
 "Do not trouble your head about it. It is best 
 for you to remain perfectly silent." 
 
 " I will not be quiet until you have answered 
 my questions. If anybody ought to be interested 
 in this affair, it seems to me I ought to be the one." 
 
 The nun reflected a moment, then she said 
 thoughtfully, "Perhaps it might be better to tell 
 you, after all. You fell off of the bridge into the 
 river. You were saved by two boatmen, but you 
 seemed to be in a stupor." 
 
 " I remember all about it now," cried the jester. 
 "It was that old black spider of a doctor who 
 pushed me in. Let me up and I will break every 
 bone in his body! " 
 
 The sister put her hand to his breast and pushed 
 him back to his pillow again, and he was astonished 
 to find how easily this delicate woman could man- 
 
 242 
 
AT THE SPANISH COURT 
 
 age him. "You must not grow excited," she said 
 gently. 
 
 " He came there and talked to me about his old 
 elixir of life," said Le Glorieux. "Did it of his 
 own accord; I never invited him; then he said I 
 doubted him, which I did, and he pushed me 
 over." 
 
 " Don Velerio is very sensitive about his dis- 
 covery," said the nun, " but he did not intend really 
 to harm you." 
 
 " He did a queer thing for a man who did not 
 intend anything by it." 
 
 " Don Velerio is flighty at times, and he was 
 sorry for what he had done. He has sent J'-qu a 
 vial of his elixir of life." 
 
 " Send it straight back to him and tell him, with 
 my compliments, to take it himself and see if it will 
 make him " 
 
 The door opened before he had finished the 
 sentence, and the princess entered, followed by a 
 page who bore a torch to light the way along the 
 corridors. She was dressed as if for a grand fete. 
 A coronet rested on her hair, gems flashed about her 
 throat, her arms, and her slender waist. In all her 
 gorgeous array she knelt on the floor and took in 
 both her own the hand of the jester. 
 
 " Little Cousin," said he. 
 
 "Oh, he is conscious!" she cried. "I am so 
 rejoiced to know it! Now you are going to recover 
 right away, are you not, my poor Le Glorieux? " 
 
 243 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 "The sight of you, as you look now, ought to 
 make even the broken statue of a man pull himself 
 together," he replied, smiling faintly. 
 
 "Oh, it is so good to hear you talk," she ex- 
 claimed, laughing, though her eyes were full of 
 teafs. 
 
 " I did not know that it was so strange a thing 
 to hear me talk," said he. 
 
 "Why, you have not said one word for more 
 than two weeks!" she said impulsively. "But 
 perhaps I ought not to have told you." 
 
 " I did not think it best to tell the patient too 
 much, your Highness," said the nun almost re- 
 proachfully. " He seemed so anxious to talk that 
 I allowed him to ask some questions, but I was just 
 about to bid him be quiet when your gracious 
 Highness entered the room." 
 
 " I am always blundering, even with you, Le 
 Glorieux," said the princess, rising, " but now I 
 will go. Try to sleep, try to get well as soon as 
 possible. And now good-by for the present." She 
 smiled down upon him, took her long train over 
 her arm, and motioning to the page to open the 
 door, went from the room. 
 
 " She is a great princess; she is the future Queen 
 of Spain, yet she does not forget the poor jester," 
 murmured the sick man, while to himself his 
 words sounded as if they had been uttered by some 
 one else and he seemed to sail away into a silent 
 sea. 
 
 244 
 
AT THE SPANISH COURT 
 
 When he once more became conscious the bright 
 sun was streaming in at the open window, and 
 standing beside his bed and looking down at him 
 with coldly blinking eyes, was the Lady Clotilde. 
 
 " I thought I had died and gone to Heaven," said 
 the jester weakly, " but this is only purgatory." 
 
 " I do not know that you ought to talk," said the 
 Lady Clotilde. " I wish you had not returned to 
 consciousness while Sister Barbara is out. I never 
 know what to do with sick people." 
 
 " I have been talking all my life, and it has not 
 killed me yet," said the jester. 
 
 " I came on behalf of her Highness, the Princess 
 of the Asturias," said the Lady Clotilde. "Not 
 being able to come in person, she sent me to see 
 that you were well cared for and had everything 
 that you needed." 
 
 "She was here last night," said he; "she said 
 she was so glad to hear me talk again," 
 
 " Oh, that was some time ago. She has been here 
 since, but you did not recognize her. You have 
 been raving with fever for six weeks." 
 
 "Fever?" he asked, considerably puzzled. 
 "Why, I thought I was pushed over a bridge." 
 
 "And so you were, but it terminated in a fever. 
 The leeches do not know whether the accident 
 brought on the fever, or whether the malady was 
 already in your system. They have had several 
 consultations about it." 
 
 " I do not see the sense of consulting about a 
 
 245 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 thing like that. What difference does it make 
 what gave me the fever, since it is very evident 
 that I have it? How long have I been here al- 
 together?" 
 
 "Just eight weeks ago this night, for I remem- 
 ber I ordered a gown from the best tailor of Sala- 
 manca, and he promised it in a week, and it has not 
 come yet, and it was the night of your accident, for 
 I heard about it just as the tailor was leaving the 
 palace, where he had come to take my order. Eight 
 weeks, think of it, and that gown no nearer finished, 
 I will warrant, than it was the day it was fitted! 
 These Spanish tradesmen are the slowest people 
 in this world." And the Lady Clotilde became 
 very much excited about her wrongs. 
 
 "Well, I think that your situation was better 
 than mine during those eight weeks," said the 
 jester, " but I dare say I was in no higher fever 
 than you were throughout that time. I do not sup- 
 pose I have missed anything by being ill, except, 
 perhaps, several dozen bull-fights. I would I were 
 back in Vienna again," he continued, with a sigh. 
 
 "Vienna? I would not return there for the 
 world," said the lady. "The climate of Spain is 
 simply glorious." 
 
 " I am not especially fond of climate by itself," 
 said the fool. 
 
 " I really do think you ought not to talk," said 
 the Lady Clotilde. " I do wish you had not re- 
 turned to consciousness while Sister Barbara is out." 
 
 246 
 
AT THE SPANISH COURT 
 
 " You said that before," said the fool fretfully. 
 "Why would it not be just as easy to wish that 
 Sister Barbara had been in when I did return to 
 consciousness?" 
 
 " I see that you are inclined to be captious," re- 
 turned the Lady Clotilde calmly. " They say 
 Prince Juan is like an angel." 
 
 "What has that to do with me?" asked Le Glo- 
 rieux wearily. " He is not a near relative of mine." 
 
 " I forgot that you were ignorant of the fact that 
 his Highness is very, very ill." 
 
 "111? His Highness ill?" 
 
 "Yes, he also has the fever, the same that you 
 have, but the leeches are confident that they can 
 cure him." 
 
 The fever had now spent itself, and Le Glorieux, 
 being naturally of a strong constitution, made rapid 
 progress toward recovery. Marguerite came no 
 more, for every moment was spent beside the couch 
 of the prince, who was making a brave fight for his 
 life. 
 
 But one morning the bells began to toll, and it 
 seemed as if a pall had settled over the land, for 
 the Prince of the Asturias, the hope of Spain, was 
 no more! The heir to the throne of a great king- 
 dom had bowed his young head meekly to the 
 divine will, and gladly had exchanged the splen- 
 dors of earth for the joys of Heaven. History says, 
 " All the nations mourned, and the court, instead of 
 being hung with white serge, was draped in sack- 
 
 247 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 cloth. . . . Brutus, a beautiful hound belonging 
 to the prince, could not be induced to leave his 
 body, but went to his tomb and died there." 
 
 It was a pale and sorrowful queen whom Le Glo- 
 rieux beheld when next he went to court. The 
 fairy-like columns and sparkling fountains of her 
 palaces were no longer a delight to Queen Isa- 
 bella; for her the roses in the Alhambra gardens 
 had lost their fragrance, and she thought with in- 
 difference of her new possessions across the sea, for 
 she had lost the dearest treasure of all, and the 
 great queen had become the sorrowing mother. 
 
 248 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 TRIPPING THE MEASURES OF THE EGG-DANCE 
 
 Ferdinand and Isabella were very kind to the 
 young Princess of the Asturias, and insisted that 
 she should remain with them. Some writers see 
 a selfish motive in this invitation, saying that the 
 royal couple feared to have Austria's daughter es- 
 cape from their influence, that they wished to con- 
 trol her future, lest she should make a marriage 
 directly opposed to the interests of Spain. But 
 why not give them the credit of being really kind- 
 hearted, and of wanting the society of the girl- 
 widow, whom they must have loved for their son's 
 sake if not for her own? 
 
 But Marguerite longed for her home and for 
 her father, and one day Le Glorieux found her 
 weeping in one of the myrtle walks of the Alcazar 
 gardens. "You are crying in this beautiful twi- 
 light," said he, "when the nightingales are just 
 beginning to sing, and you are close beside roses 
 which could not be any redder and which have a 
 fragrance that almost makes one drunk. Look at 
 the goldfishes in that fountain, look at that tree 
 loaded down with oranges, which, though they 
 are of a kind that is not good to eat, make a fine 
 show. Look through the trees at that beautiful 
 
 249 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 palace where you have but to utter a word and 
 your wish is granted, and then have the heart to 
 weep!" 
 
 But the princess continued to sob. 
 
 " We did not have half so many comforts in your 
 father's empire," he went on. " The time we went 
 to hunt the chamois with Max we found no lux- 
 uries in The Hunter's Rest. We were warm and 
 comfortable and that was about all ; all you could 
 do was to run about with your ladies and work at 
 your embroidery while the men hunted. Do you 
 remember how gay Max was when he came back, 
 and how he told about the chamois, and " 
 
 " Oh, do not talk of it! " cried the princess, inter- 
 rupting him. " Why must you make me more 
 wretched than I was before you came?" 
 
 Cunegunda came along the walk with a mantilla 
 of fine black lace over her arm; this she threw, 
 Spanish fashion, over the head and shoulders of 
 her young mistress. "You have been making her 
 cry!" she said reproachfully, to the jester. 
 
 "That is a fine thing to say, when I have been 
 talking myself hoarse to keep her from crying! 
 But, of course, you always blame me with every- 
 thing." 
 
 " You were making her cry; I heard you, and I 
 heard what she said," insisted the woman. " You 
 were talking about the inn in the Tyrol." 
 
 " I do not deny it. I did it for the purpose of 
 contrast. Think of that mean little inn and the 
 
 250 
 
THE EGG-DANCE 
 
 cold snow, then think of this marble palace and 
 these flowers." 
 
 " If one is right on the inside, it does not 
 much matter what is on the outside," replied the 
 woman. "When the heart is comfortable every- 
 thing is bright to the eyes." 
 
 " You do not weep as much as you used to 
 do, Cunegunda," said the jester, looking at her 
 thoughtfully. " Even the sight of me does not 
 make you cry any more." 
 
 " I control my tears for the sake of my young 
 mistress, who weeps so much," returned Cune- 
 gunda with dignity. 
 
 "You have some good points, I must say," re- 
 plied the fool. 
 
 The princess had now dried her eyes, and had 
 drawn the folds of the mantilla closer about her 
 face. " I want to go home," said she. " All of my 
 ladies and gentlemen want to go home. They hate 
 the restraint of the Spanish court; and I want to 
 see my father." 
 
 "This is the first time I have mentioned it," 
 said the fool, " but I also want to go home. I want 
 to see Max and I want to see that little wretch of 
 an Antoine, and Pittacus, and Pandora." 
 
 "And we will go," cried Marguerite, rising to 
 her feet with a new light sparkling in her eyes. " I 
 will write to the emperor, my father, at once, and 
 we will set out at the earliest possible moment." 
 
 And again did the daughter of Maximilian re- 
 
 251 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 turn to him, still only a princess, for it was destined 
 that she should never wear the crown of a queen. 
 But when she beheld her native land, and the hand- 
 some, kindly face of her father once more, she was 
 as happy as one whose most ambitious dreams had 
 been realized. 
 
 Le Glorieux said, "At last we really have left 
 Clotilde behind, and as Don Geronimo Bartolomeo 
 Zurriago y Escafusa says he never will go out of his 
 native land again, we may safely conclude that 
 Clotilde Is a fixture in Spain." The jester was af- 
 fectionately embraced by Antoine, who declared 
 himself overjoyed to see his old friend again, but 
 their master was disgusted to find that Pandora and 
 PIttacus received him with their usual cold In- 
 difference. 
 
 One day, In the following spring time, Margue- 
 rite said to Le Glorieux: 
 
 " Cunegunda is once more suffering from mi- 
 graine, and thinks that nothing will cure her but 
 another pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Roch. 
 She thinks that when she was there before she did 
 not give enough time to her prayer, being in too 
 great haste to leave ; otherwise she would have been 
 cured permanently. I am often depressed and 
 weary, and I think the journey will benefit me. 
 So I shall go with such of my household as I shall 
 need." 
 
 " It Is a long journey to make for Cunegunda's 
 sake," observed the jester. 
 
 252 
 
THE EGG-DANCE 
 
 " Cunegunda has been one of my best friends 
 throughout my life," replied the princess, " so why 
 should I not strive to please her? But as I said be- 
 fore, it is not altogether upon her account that I 
 want to go. I wish to be taken out of myself. The 
 world is not so happy a place as it used to be." 
 
 " Little Cousin, I do not often ask a favor of 
 you, do I?" asked the fool. 
 
 "No, Le Glorieux, a fact which would make me 
 the more inclined to grant you one now." 
 
 " I want you to let me have a man and a horse," 
 he replied. 
 
 " For what purpose? " 
 
 " I wish to send a message to the young Duke of 
 Savoy. He lost a valuable jewel when he was with 
 us, and I want to tell him where he can find it." 
 
 " Perhaps it is between the leaves of his prayer- 
 book," said the princess, smiling. " But if you have 
 an idea where this wonderful jewel is, why can 
 you not find it and send it to him? " 
 
 "There are certain reasons why such an act on 
 my part would be out of the question," returned the 
 jester. " But if you do not want to let me have 
 the man and the horse, we will say nothing more 
 about it." 
 
 " I do not object in the least, Le Glorieux. Send 
 as many messengers as you like to Savoy." 
 
 They set out from the historic city of Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, where the court was staying at the time, 
 and even at the end of the first day's travel the 
 
 253 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 princess expressed herself as being wonderfully 
 benefited with the journey. 
 
 Late on the following afternoon as they ap- 
 proached a hostelry where they expected to stay 
 the night, they noticed a queer-looking animal 
 painted on the sign-board and before they were 
 sufficiently near to read the name beneath it, they 
 began to speculate as to what it could be. 
 
 " I should say it was a horse," said the princess. 
 
 " And I," said the jester, who rode at her side, 
 " should call it a calf in convulsions." 
 
 Coming nearer they read the sign, which was 
 "The Flying Fawn." So many things had hap- 
 pened since she had heard the name that the prin- 
 cess had forgotten it, but as they drew up and the 
 pretty landlady came to the door, Le Glorieux ex- 
 claimed, "Cimburga!" 
 
 Yes, it was Frau Obermeister, as Cimburga was 
 now called, and she was followed by her tall hus- 
 band, both almost doubting the evidence of their 
 senses when they beheld the princess. Even before 
 the latter alighted from her mule Cimburga ran 
 out and was about to press the hem of Marguerite's 
 robe to her lips when the princess reached out her 
 hand, which the landlady kissed, saying, " Oh, gra- 
 cious lady, I never have forgotten your face, which 
 is now more beautiful than ever. And never have 
 I ceased to offer the prayer I told you of, and my 
 little daughter, although she can scarcely lisp the 
 words, offers petitions to the Blessed Virgin for 
 
 254 
 
They approached a hostelry Page 2^ J. 
 
THE EGG-DANCE 
 
 your health and happiness, for she has learned that 
 it is to your goodness that we owe all that we now 
 have." 
 
 " Happiness is a strange thing," remarked Le 
 Glorieux afterward to Cimburga. "You and Karl 
 living in this snug inn, with your two chubby chil- 
 dren, have plenty of it, while the Lady Margue- 
 rite, even when she wedded the Prince of the As- 
 turias, had not found it." 
 
 " It will yet come to her; she is still very young, 
 and my prayers will be answered," replied Cim- 
 burga simply. 
 
 Castle Hohenberg was a good many miles north 
 of The Flying Fawn, but Cimburga had heard one 
 piece of news from that hospitable household 
 which, when she told it to him, surprised the fool 
 greatly. The seneschal had married the house- 
 keeper shortly after the visit of the emperor. 
 
 "I can not believe it!" cried Le Glorieux. 
 "Why, those two were always quarreling!" 
 
 " And so they were," she agreed, " but now, I am 
 told, they never speak an unpleasant word to each 
 other." 
 
 Speaking of this marriage to his mistress, when 
 they had resumed their journey, the jester said, 
 " For a couple who were ready to scratch each 
 other's eyes out before marriage, to be perfectly 
 angelic afterward, is nothing less than a miracle." 
 
 She replied, " Hohenberg is the place for mira- 
 cles. Think of Saint Monica." 
 
 255 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 "Which was not a miracle, after all," replied 
 the fool ; and then he told her the truth regarding 
 that night's strange occurrence, as it had been re- 
 lated to him by Philibert, adding, " He did it 
 because you had prayed for her, little Cousin." 
 
 It tvas, as the jester had said, a long journey, but 
 at length they reached the end of it, and Cunegunda 
 made frequent visits to the shrine of Saint Roch, de- 
 claring even after the first one that the pain was 
 much less severe than it had been. 
 
 Everything about the old inn was much as it 
 had been at their first visit, though the little Mary 
 had become a great chatterbox, and this time was 
 able to thank the princess for the present of a gold 
 piece. 
 
 Anne, the queen-duchess, was staying for a 
 time in one of her castles in the province of Brit- 
 tany, it being her custom to visit her domain as 
 often as she could make it convenient to do so. 
 Hearing of the presence at the inn of the Princess 
 of the Asturias, she sent to her an invitation, offer- 
 ing the hospitality of her roof for the Easter season. 
 Although the King of France and the Emperor of 
 Austria had been enemies, the princess and the 
 queen had not shared the ill feeling, and history, 
 which as a rule makes out people to have been 
 worse than they really were, admits that the two 
 ladies ever were friendly to each other and that 
 they sometimes exchanged presents. 
 
 The King of France was away with hi? soldiers, 
 
 256 
 
THE EGG-DANCE 
 
 and as the royal little ones had remained in the 
 palace of Amboise, it was not difficult to imagine 
 that time had remained stationary and that the fair 
 chatelaine of the castle was still simply the Lady 
 Anne, Duchess of Brittany. 
 
 Fetes and entertainments were arranged in honor 
 of the guest, and happy were the hours that Anne 
 and Marguerite spent together. 
 
 On Easter Monday the people for miles around 
 met in the valley to engage in the customary games 
 of the season. The married men entertained them- 
 selves with archery, the prize for the best shot be- 
 ing considered worth winning. The archers shot 
 at a cask of wine, and he who was so fortunate as 
 to pierce the wood was permitted to put his lips 
 to the aperture thus made, and to drink of the 
 amber liquid until he was satisfied, the others tak- 
 ing their turn when he had finished. But the 
 young people craved something more exciting than 
 the mere drinking of wine, and their gay laughter 
 rang out joyously and vigorously as they went 
 through their native dances. 
 
 The princess from her place beside her royal 
 hostess enjoyed the scene thoroughly. Finally be- 
 gan the most exciting dance of the day. A hun- 
 dred eggs were scattered over the ground and two 
 youths chose their partners and began the figure. 
 Although on the surface a trivial matter and one 
 to provoke laughter, this dance was a very serious 
 affair to those who engaged in it; for the couple 
 
 257 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 who could skip over the eggs, glide between them, 
 twirl about them in the many turns required by the 
 dance, without breaking or cracking an egg, might 
 marry each other in spite of the opposition of par- 
 ents or guardians. Each couple was allowed three 
 trials, and the dance being successfully concluded, 
 none had a right to say " Nay" to the union. 
 
 While the merrymaking was at its height the 
 sound of a hunter's horn was heard ringing 
 through the forest, and soon there appeared a com- 
 pany of men on horseback and in brilliant uni- 
 forms. At their head rode a beautiful youth 
 attired in the rich costume affected by the nobles of 
 the time, who, leaping from his horse, bent a 
 graceful knee to the queen, requesting her hospi- 
 tality. It was granted at once, for this was Phili- 
 bert the Handsome, Duke of Savoy! 
 
 He bowed low before the princess and gave a 
 friendly greeting to the others, but to Le Glorieux 
 he murmured, " The jewel about which you wrote 
 me I have come to claim." 
 
 The dance, which had ceased when the hunters 
 appeared upon the scene, was now resumed with 
 greater merriment than before, and after watching 
 them intently for a while Marguerite said wist- 
 fully, "Would that I might try that dance." 
 
 Then Philibert once more inclined his graceful 
 figure and said, " Madame, will you permit me to 
 be your partner?" 
 
 This was equivalent to an offer of marriage, and 
 
 258 
 
The Princess placed her hand in his P^ige zjn 
 
THE EGG-DANCE 
 
 his followers and her own became wildly enthu- 
 siastic. Cries were heard of " Austria and Savoy! " 
 and it seemed to Le Glorieux that in his joy his 
 own cry must have rung to the very skies, while 
 cheer upon cheer rent the air. 
 
 The princess placed her hand in his and the 
 comely pair took their places. There was a serious 
 task before them. They must dance around and 
 over and between those eggs without breaking any, 
 and that, too, with many eyes intently watching 
 them. The members of noble families were ac- 
 customed to dance; the little feet of the lady could 
 poise as lightly as thistle-down, while the knight 
 was graceful in every step. When the dance was 
 ended not a single egg had been touched! 
 
 Exercise in the open air had deepened the tint on 
 the cheek of the princess. Philibert bent his head 
 and whispered something in her ear. 
 
 " Yes," said she, smiling brightly, " let us follow 
 the custom of the country." 
 
 " Philibert has found his jewel," said Le Glo- 
 rieux, " and I have helped him to get it." 
 
 "What jewel do you mean?" asked the princess. 
 
 "What should I mean, but yourself, fair lady? 
 You are the jewel he always has admired. I am 
 nothing but a fool, but I am not blind." 
 
 One year from that day the two were married. 
 To their guests they gave as souvenirs gold and 
 silver eggs filled with spices, which they called 
 Easter eggs, and which the natives of Savoy claim 
 
 259 
 
THE COURT JESTER 
 
 was the origin of the pleasant custom of giving 
 eggs at that season. 
 
 And Philibert and Marguerite never had occa- 
 sion to regret that happy day in the forest, when, 
 forgetting everything save that their hearts were 
 beating with the joy of youth, they together tripped 
 the measures of the egg-dance. 
 
 THE END 
 
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