And now he
lacks the money to pay his troops, and I am the wealthiest person
within his realm. I am a woman and alone in a foreign land. So I must
wait, and wait, and wait, Antoine, till he devises some trumped-up
accusation. Friend, I live as did Saint Damoclus, beneath a sword.
Antoine!" she wailed--for now the pride of Queen Jehane was shattered
utterly--"I am held as a prisoner for all that my chains are of gold."
"Yet it was not until of late," he observed, "that you disliked the
metal which is the substance of all crowns."
And now the woman lifted toward him her massive golden necklace,
garnished with emeralds and sapphires and with many pearls, and in the
sunlight the gems were tawdry things. "Friend, the chain is heavy, and
I lack the power to cast it off. The Navarrese we know of wore no such
perilous fetters. Ah, you should have mastered me at Vannes. You could
have done so, very easily. But you only talked--oh, Mary pity us! you
only talked!--and I could find only a servant where I had sore need to
find a master.
Pages:
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265