"Maréchal-ferrant?' the man repeated, squinting in his direction. Jack reckoned that he, Jack, was visible only as a silhouette against the bright fire, and so the collar might not be obvious. He cupped a hand to his ear – smiths were notorious for deafness. That seemed to answer the question – the 'Scot' led his horse toward the forge, nattering on about a fer à cheval and going so far as to check his pocket-watch. Jack was irritated. Fer meant 'iron,' fer à cheval as he knew perfectly well meant 'horseshoe.' But he had just understood that the English word 'farrier' must be derived somehow from this – even though 'horseshoe' was completely different. He was aware, vaguely – from watching certain historical dramas, and then from roaming round la France listening to people talk – that French people had conquered England at least one time, and thereby confused the English language with all sorts of words such as 'farrier,' and 'mutton,' which common folk now used all the time without knowing that they were speaking the tongue of the conquerors. Meanwhile, the damned French had a tidy and proper tongue in which, for example, the name of the fellow who put shoes on horses was clearly related to the word for horseshoe. Made his blood boil – and now that James was King, Katie bar the door!