The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-10-02
CHAPTER VlI.-Contlnued.
The Court Of Love.

The Court Of Love.
IT thought, Sire. your duke was timor-
Gus, bashful as boy?" murmured the
Countess dEtampes to the king.
HE was-on the road" answered the
king thoughtfuly.
Then has he marvelously recovered his
assurance
|In love. Madam, as in battle, the zest
grows with the fray" said Francis with
meaning.
"And the duke is reputed a brave SOL
der. He looks very strong, as if-almost
he might succeed with any woman he
were minded to carry off,.
'"To carry off, laughed the monarch.
'"Tis he, Madam, who will be bound IN
tethers! At heart he's shame-faced as a
callow younker.''
She wilfully shook her head. mo wo-
man could keep him in leading-strings,
your majesty. There is something dom
neering savage crushing, in his hand.
Look at it, on the table there. Is it not
mighty as an iron gauntlet? What other
man at the board has such a brutal hand?
The strength in it makes me shudder. Will
she not bend to 1t; kiss it?'
With amused superiority Francis re-
garded his fair neighbor on the left.
Women, Madam, are but hasty judges
of men, he said, dryly, land then tits
fancy more than reason which governs
their verdict If the duke should seem
over confident, It's to hide a certain mod
esty, and not to appear out Of confidence
in so large a company.
"And yet, Sire, at their first meeting he
did not comport himself like one easily
put out" persisted the favorite. "''Tis
with cold hand you welcome me, prin-
cess he said. noticing her insensibility
of manner Then rising, he gazed upon
her long and Deep as a soldier might sur
vey a battlefield. And yet said he,
still holding her fingers, I'll warrant me
warm blood could course thru this little
hand At that the color rose in her
cheek; behold the statue was touched
with life and she looked at him as drawn
against her will. If my hand be cold,
my lord she answered. courteously, 1T
bellies the character of your welcome
Whereupon he laughed like one who has
had a victory.' .
"Beshrew me-" said the king. modify
ing his last observation, eff women are
not all eyes and ears 1 neither heard
nor all that. A little constraint-a
natural blush to punctuate their talk
the meeting seemed conventional enough.
IT'S thru your own romantic heart you
looked Anne!" ....s.
Quicker circulated the goblets Of silver,
gold and crystal; faster babbled the pref
ty lips; brighter grew the eyes beneath
the stupendous towers that crowned the
heads of the court ladies. All talked at
once without disturbing the king, who
now whispered soft nothings in the ear
of the countess. From the other tables
in the hall arose a varying cadence of
clatter and laughter. which increased with
the noise and din Of the kings own board;
a clamor always just subservient to the
deeper chorus of the royal party; an ac-
compartment, as 1T were, full yet unob-
trusive. to the hubbub from the more ex-
allied company. But the princely uproar
growing louder, the grand masters, grand
chamberlain, gentlemen Of the chamber
H11,f 81 f1o oh, ,ol,
abled to carol and make merry with less
restraint. The pungent smell Of roses
permeated the hall. arising from screen
Of shrubbery at one end Of the room
wherein sang a hundred silver-toned birds
At the kings table Caillette recited a
merry roundelay, and Triboulet roared out
tale after tale, each more full favored
than the one that went before it, flingtns
smart sayings at marriage, and drawing
ludicrous picture of the betrayed hus-
band. Villott, lily In his hand, which
he regarded ever sentimentally, carolec
the boisterous espousals of a yokel and q
cinder- wench, while Marot and a bishop
contended in a heated argument regard
ing the translation of a certain passage
Of Ovid's art of Love-" .,.
Singularly pale, unusually TRANQUIL, the
dukes fool furtively watched his master
and the princess. In contrast to his com
posture Jacquelines merriment seemed
witch; her hands flashed with pretty ges
lures, and she had tossed her head, he
hair fioated around her, wild and dis
ordered.
''Why are you so quiet?" she Whispered
to the dukes fool.
us there not enough merriment, mis-
tress?' he answered. gravely.
There can never be any to spare sh
said. "And you do well to remember you
office"
What do you mean?" he asked alb
sent1y.
THAT you have many enemies: that yol
can not live at court with iaundice,
countenance. Heighho! Alackaday! Yo1
should HE yourself back to the wood
and barren wa stes of Friedwald, Maste
Fool
Her sparkling glance returned to TIL
exhiaratinS scene. Well had the assem-
blage been called a court of love NOV
soft eyes invited burning gances, an,
graceful heads sWayed allIrifgly towar
the handsome cavaliers who momentaril
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