ire and sings to me.

"When warriors return, and one
That went returns no more;
When dusty is the road we run,
And garners have no store;
One ingle-nook right warm shall be
Where my heart hath good company.

"When man shall flee and woman fail,
And folly mock and hope deceive,
Let cowards beat the breast and wail,
I'll homeward hie; I will not grieve:
I'll draw the blind, I'll there set free
My heart's beloved boon company.

"When kings shall favour, ladies call
My service to their side;
When roses grow upon the wall
Of life, with love inside;
I'll get me home with joy to be
In my heart's own good company!"

"Oh, fool, oh, beneficent fool, well done! 'Tis a song for a
man--'twould shame De Carteret of St. Ouen's to his knees," cried
Lempriere.

"Oh, benignant fool, well done! 'twould draw me from my meals," said a
voice behind the three; and, turning hastily about, they saw, smiling
and applausive, the Duke's Daughter. Beside her was Angele.

The three got to their feet, and each made obeisance after his
kind-Buonespoir ducking awkwardly, his blue eyes bulging with pleasure,
Lempriere swelling with vanity and spreading wide acknowledgment of
their presence, the fool condescending a wave of welcome. "Oh! abundant
Amicitia!" cried the fool to the Duke's Daughter, "thou art saved by so
doing. So get thee to thanksgiving and God's mercy."

"Wherefore am I saved by being drawn from my meals by thy music, fool?"
she asked, linking her arm in Angele's.

"Because thou art more enamoured of lampreys than of man; and it is
written that thou shalt love thy fellow man, and he that loveth not is
lost: therefore thou art lost if thou lingerest at meals."

"Is it so, then? And this lady--what thinkest thou? Must she also
abstain and seek good company?"

"No, verily, Amicitia, for she is good company itself, and so she may
sleep in the larder and have no fear."

"And what think you--shall she be happy? Shall she have gifts of fate?"

"Discriminately so, Amicitia. She shall have souvenirs and no suspicions
of Fate. But she shall not linger here, for all lingerers in Delicio's
Court are spied upon--not for their soul's good. She shall go hence,
and--"

"Ay, princely lady, she shall go hence," interposed Lempriere, who had
panted to speak,