le the other is eaten by the
_maitre d'hotel_. Afterward the gentleman servant takes the first dish,
the second is taken by the controller, and the other officers of the
Kitchen take the rest. They advance in this order: the _maitre d'hotel_,
having his baton, marches at the head, preceded some steps by the usher
of the hall, carrying his wand, which is the sign of his office, and in
the evening bearing a torch as well. When the Meat, accompanied by three
of the body-guards with carbines on their shoulders, has arrived (that
is, in the first antechamber, where the King is to dine), the _maitre
d'hotel_ makes a reverence to the _nef_. The gentleman servant, holding
the first dish, places it upon the table where the _nef_ is, and having
received a trial portion from the gentleman servant in charge of the
trial table, he makes the trial himself and places his dish upon the
trial table. The gentleman servant having charge of this table takes the
other dishes from the hands of those who carry them, and places them also
on the trial table. After the trial of them has been made they are
carried by the other gentlemen servants to the table of the King.

"The first course being on the table, the _maitre d'hotel_ with his
baton, preceded by the usher of the hall with his wand, goes to inform
the King; and when His Majesty has arrived at table the _maitre d'hotel_
presents a wet napkin to him, of which trial has been made in the
presence of the officer of the Goblet, and takes it again from the King's
hands. During the dinner the gentleman servant in charge of the trial
table continues to make trial in the presence of the officers of the
Goblet and of the Kitchen of all that they bring for each course.

"When His Majesty desires to drink, the cup-hearer cries at once in a
loud tone, 'The drink for the King!' makes a reverence to the King, and
goes to the sideboard to take from the hands of the chief of the
Wine-cellars the salver and cup of gold, and the two crystal decanters of
wine and water. He returns, preceded by the chiefs of the Goblet and the
Wine-cellars, and the three, having reached the King's table, make a
reverence to His Majesty. The chief of the Goblet, standing near the
King, holds a little trial cup of silver-gilt, into which a gentleman
servant pours a small quantity of wine and water from the decanters. A
portion of this the chief of the Goblet pours into a second trial cup
which is presented by his as