"I had it from a magician, who at the same time foretold your coming."
"The guest?" timidly inquired Andrea.
"Is he the stranger who discreetly withdrew when I arrived?"
"The same; but continue your story, Philip."
"Perhaps we had better make something ready," hinted the lady.
"No," said her father, staying her; "the more we do, the more ridiculous we shall appear."
"I returned to the city with the news, and all the military marched to receive the new princess. She listened absently to the governor's speech and said suddenly: 'What is the name of this young gentleman who was sent to meet me?' And her governess wrote on her tablets my name, Chevalier Philip Taverney Redcastle. 'Sir,' she said, 'if you have no repugnance to accompany me to Paris, your superior will oblige me by relieving you of your military duties here, for I made a vow to attach to my service the first French gentleman met by me in setting foot in France; and to make him happy, and his family the same, in case princes have the power to do so.'"
"What delightful words!" said Andrea, rubbing her hands.
"Hence, I rode at the princess's coach door to Nancy, through which we marched by torchlight. She called me to her to say that she meant to stop a while at Taverney, though I said our house was not fit to receive so mighty a
princess.