John of Paris

LOREZZA,

Oh! On that matter, I am calm! For, according to what it seemed to me, the thing that the Grand Seneschal understands best is how to order a dinner.

You are wrong, my child; it is how to eat it. But let us not speak ill of it; if he eats well, he pays just as well; and I have as proof the money he gave me as compensation for the losses that the conditions he imposed on me might cause me.

Is it said that, following the invitation of the King of Navarre, our august sovereign, the Princess is returning to the Capital?

Without a doubt; she had only moved away from it to spend the first year of her widowhood on her lands; now her mourning is over; and the King, her brother, urged by all the princes of Europe to grant their wishes to such a celebrated beauty, is calling her back to his court, so that she may decide for herself in favor of the party that will suit her best; and I think it is quite flattering for this inn, the only one to be found on the road, that it is precisely this one that such a great personage has chosen to stop at.

I am of your opinion, father.

It is not that pride or interest have any hold on me; thank God! I am known; and people know that the traveler on foot and poorly dressed is welcomed