mers and the plain housings of their
chargers, when the curt voice of the jester recalled him sharply from
this forward occupation.

With a shade less of disrespect, the proprietor bade them follow him;
rooms were given them, and, in the larger of the two chambers, the
_plaisant_, desiring to avoid the publicity of the dining and tap-room,
ordered their supper to be served.

During the repast the girl scarcely spoke; the capon she hardly
touched; the claret she merely sipped. Once when she held the glass to
her lips, he noticed her hand trembled just a little, and then, when
she set down the goblet, how it closed, almost fiercely. Beneath her
eyes shadows seemed to gather; above them her glance shone ominously.

"Oh," she said at length, as though giving utterance to some thought,
which, pent-up, she could no longer control; "the irony; the tragedy of
it!"

"What, Jacqueline?" he asked, gently, although he felt the blood
surging in his head.

"'_Morbleu_! A merry monarch'--"

she began, and broke off abruptly, rising to her feet, with a gesture
of aversion, and moving restlessly across the room. "After all these
years! After all that had gone before!"

"What has gone before, Jacqueline?"

"Nothing," she answered; "nothing."

For some time he sat with his sword across his knees, thinking deeply.
She went to the window and looked out. When she spoke again her voice
had regained its self-command.

"A dark night," she said, mechanically.

"Jacqueline," he asked, glancing up from the blade, "why in the crypt
that day we escaped did you pause at that monument?"

Quickly she turned, gazing at him from the half-darkness in which she
stood.

"Did you see to whom the monument was erected?" she asked in a low
voice.

"To the wife of the constable. But what was Anne, Duchess of Dubrois,
to you?"

"She was the last lady of the castle," said the girl softly.

Again he surveyed the jeweled emblem on the sword, mocking reminder of
a glory gone beyond recall.

"And how was it, mistress, the castle was confiscated by the king?" he
continued, after a pause.

"Shall I tell you the story?" she asked, her voice hardening.

"If you will," he answered.

"Triboulet's description of the scene where the constable braved the
king, insisting on his rights, was true," she observed, proudly.

"But why had the noble wearer of this sword been deprived of his
feudality and tenure?"

"Because he was strong and grea