ve, and who had made love in no small
degree in his day, wished both to satisfy his suspicions and to fully
understand so strange a business; and he therefore begged the gentleman
to take him, not as a master but as a companion, the next time he went
thither. To this the gentleman, having gone so far already, consented,
saying that he had an appointment for that very day; at which the Duke
was as glad as if he had gained a kingdom. Making pretence of retiring
to rest in his closet, he caused two horses to be brought for himself
and the gentleman, and they travelled all night long from Argilly, where
the Duke lived, to Le Vergier. (2)

2 At Argilly the Dukes of Burgundy had a castle, which was
destroyed during the religious wars at the close of the
sixteenth century. The place is now a small village in the
arrondissement of Nuits, Cote d'Or. As the crow flies, it is
some ten miles distant from the ruins of the castle of
Vergy, which stands on a steep height, at an altitude of
over 1600 ft., within five miles from Nuits. The castle,
which can only be reached on one side of the hill, by a
narrow, winding and precipitous pathway, is known to have
been in existence already in the tenth century, when the
Lords of Vergy were Counts of Chalons, Beaune, and Nuits.
They appear to have engaged in a struggle for supremacy with
the princes of the first Ducal house of Burgundy, but in
1193 Alix de Vergy espoused Duke Eudes III., to whom she
brought, as dower, the greater part of the paternal
inheritance. The castle of Vergy was dismantled by Henry
IV., and the existing ruins are of small extent. Some
antiquaries believe the fortress to have been originally
built by the Romans.--B.J. and L.

Then they left their horses without the wall, and the gentleman brought
the Duke into the garden through the little gate, begging him to remain
behind a walnut-tree, whence he might see whether he had been told the
truth or not.

They had been but a short time in the garden when the little dog began
to bark, and the gentleman walked towards the tower, where his lady
failed not to come and meet him. She kissed him, saying that it seemed
a thousand years since she had seen him, and then they went into the
chamber and shut the door behind them.

Having seen the whole of the mystery, the Duke felt more than satisfied.
Nor had he a great while to wait,