“That reminds me of the old song,” said the Justice, “which they sang in France when I made my first essay in arms there, the King was young then.

“‘Apotre de Luthere,

Si l’on brule ta chair,

C’est seulement que tu saches d’avance

Les tourments d’enfer.’”[33]

“Well, for the witch and for the heretic a faggot is the best cure. What else is going on?”

“They say that an ingenious mechanist has invented a machine to move the King upstairs and down in his chair without difficulty; he is so corpulent that little trace is left of the princely gallant of the Cloth of Gold.”

“Queen Catharine has a hard time of it?”

“She is a good nurse, but she is careful not to cross the royal temper.”