From her height, could she not have spared him the scorn and
contempt of her question? Over and over, through the long hours he had
asked himself that, and, as he brooded, the idealization with which he
had adorned her fell like an enshrouding drapery to the dust; of the
vestment of fancy nothing but tatters remained.

A voice without, harsh, abrupt, broke in upon the jester's thoughts.
The prisoner started, listened intently, a gleam of fierce satisfaction
momentarily creeping into his eyes. If love was dead, a less exalted
feeling still remained.

"How does the fool take his imprisonment?" asked the arrogant voice.

"Quietly, my Lord," was the jailer's reply.

"He is inclined to talk over much?"

"Not at all," answered the man.

A brief command followed; a key was inserted in the lock, and, with a
creaking of bolts and groaning of hinges, the warder swung back the
iron barrier. Upon the threshold stood the commanding figure of the
free baron. A moment he remained thus, and then, with an authoritative
gesture to the man, stepped inside. The turnkey withdrew to a discreet
distance, where he remained within call, yet beyond the range of
ordinary conversation. Immovably the king's guest gazed upon the
jester, who, unabashed, calmly endured the scrutiny.

"Well, fool," began the free baron, bluntly, "how like you your
quarters? You fought me well; in truth very well. But you labored
under a disadvantage, for one thing is certain: a jester in love is
doubly--a fool."

"Is that what you have come to say?" asked the plaisant, his bright
glance fastened on the other's confident face.

"I came--to return the visit you once made me," easily retorted the
master of Hochfels. "By this time you have probably learned I am an
opponent to be feared."

"As one fears the assassin's knife, or a treacherous onslaught," said
the fool.

"Did I not say, when you left that night, the truce was over?" returned
the king's guest, frowning.

"True," was the ironical answer. "Forewarned; forearmed. And that
sort of warfare was to be expected from the bastard of Pfalz-Urfeld."

"Well," unreservedly replied the free baron, who for reasons of his own
chose not to challenge the affront, "in those two instances you were
not worsted. And as for the trooper who attacked you--I know not
whether your lance or the doctor's lancet is responsible for his taking
off. But you met him with true attaint. You would have made a good