"Madame d'Etampes."
"Then we are on equal terms," said Ascanio.
"But suppose Messire d'Estourville refuses?"
"Master Benvenuto will take."
"And suppose Messire d'Estourville shuts himself up here as in a citadel?"
"Master Cellini will lay siege to it."
"Consider that the provost has twenty-four sergeants-at-arms."
"Master Benvenuto Cellini has ten apprentices: still we are on equal terms, you see, Dame Perrine."
"But Messire d'Estourville is personally a sturdy fighter. At the tournament which took place at the time of the marriage of François I., he was one of the challengers, and all those who dared measure swords with him were unhorsed."
"Ah well! Dame Perrine, then he is just the man for Benvenuto, who has never met his match, and who, like Messire d'Estourville, always unhorses his adversaries. But there is this difference between them: a fortnight afterward, they who have encountered your provost are on their legs again in good health and spirits, while they who have my master to deal with never raise their heads again, and three days after are dead and buried."