"To tell me? Why should he do so?"

"I said I was not to be cross-examined any further. I tremble now with
apprehension lest I have let slip something I should not, therefore we
will change the subject to one of paramount importance; namely, our
midday meal. I intended to stop at Coblentz for that repast, but the
Archbishop of Treves, whose guests we are, was good enough to accept a
menu I suggested, therefore we will sit at table with him."

"You suggested a menu?"

"Yes; I hope you will approve of it. There is some excellent Rhine
salmon, with a sauce most popular in Treves, a sauce that has been
celebrated for centuries. Next some tender venison from the forest
behind Stolzenfels, which is noted for its deer. There are, beside,
cakes and various breads, also vegetables, and all are to be washed down
by delicate Oberweseler wine. How does my speis-card please you,
Countess?"

"I am committing it to memory, Guardian, so that I shall know what to
prepare for you when next you visit my Castle of Sayn."

"Oh, this repast is not in my honor, but in yours. I feared you might
object to the simplicity of it. It is upon record that this meal was
much enjoyed by a young lady some centuries ago, at this very Castle of
Stolzenfels, shortly after it was completed. Indeed, I think it likely
she was the noble castle's first guest. Stolzenfels was built by Arnold
von Isenberg, the greatest Archbishop that ever ruled over Treves, if I
may except Archbishop Baldwin, the fighter. Isenberg determined to have
a stronghold on the Rhine midway between Mayence and Cologne, and he
made it a palace as well as a fortress, taking his time about it--in all
seventeen years. He began its erection in 1242, and so was building at
the time your ancestress Matilda ceded Linz to the Archbishop of
Cologne, therefore I imagine Cologne probably wished to have a
stronghold within striking distance of Treves' new castle.

"One of the first to visit Stolzenfels was a charming young English girl
named Isabella, who was no other than the youngest daughter of John,
King of England. Doubtless she came here with an imposing suite of
attendants, and I surmise that the great prelate's castle saw impressive
pageants and festivities, for the chronicler, after setting down the
menu whose excellence I hope to test to-day, adds:

"'They ate well, and drank better, and the Royal maiden danced a great
deal.'

"Her brother then occupied the English throne. He w