bright on turret and spire; its walls were white and glistening;
its outlines, graceful and airy as a fabric of imagination.

"And yet it was a handsome cavalcade," continued the proprietor, his
predilection for pomp overcoming his churlishness. "The princess on a
steed with velvet housings, set with precious stones. Her ladies
attired in eastern silks. Behind the men of arms; Francis' troops in
rich armor; the duke's soldiers more simply arrayed. At the head of
the procession rode--"

"Have the horses brought out at once."

Thus brusquely interrupted, the innkeeper stared blankly at his guest,
who had left the window and now stood in the center of the room
confronting him. "And the breakfast?" asked the man.

"I have changed my mind and do not want it," was the curt response.

The host shrugged his shoulders disagreeably, as the plaisant turned
and ascended the stairs. "Unprofitable travelers," muttered the
landlord, following with his gaze the retreating figure.

Hastily making his way to the room of the young girl, the jester
knocked on the door.

"Are you awake, Jacqueline?"

"Yes," answered a voice within.

"We must ride forth as soon as possible. The duke is at the chateau."

"At the chateau!" she exclaimed in surprise. Then after a pause: "And
Triboulet saw us. He will tell that you are here. I will come down at
once. Wait," she added, as an afterthought seized her.

He heard her step to the window. "I think the gates of the chateau are
open," she said. "I am not sure; it is so far."

"Do you see any one on the road leading down?"

"No," came the answer.

"Nor could I. But perhaps they have already passed."

Again the jester returned to the tap-room, where he found the landlord
polishing the pewter tankards.

"The horses?" said the fool sharply.

"The stable boy will bring them to the door," was the response, and the
innkeeper held a pot in the air and leisurely surveyed the shining
surface.

"The reckoning?"

Deliberately the man replaced the receptacle on the table, and,
pressing his thumbs together, began slowly to calculate: "Bottle of
wine, ten sous; capon, twenty sous; two rooms--" when the jester took
from his coat the purse the young girl had given him, and, selecting a
coin, threw it on the board. At the sight of the purse and its golden
contents the countenance of the proprietor mollified; his price
forthwith varied with his changed estimate of his guest's conditi