Hugh shook his head stiffly.
"You mock me. Before I go hence, may I present to you my comrade, Messer Matteo of Antioch?"
"The jongleur? Ay, that may you! I have heard reports of his skill."
Matteo bowed low before her when Hugh beckoned him forward.
"May the Virgin guard you, lady," said the jongleur. "It is right pleasant for me to meet so staunch a friend of Hugh's—and those who are friends to him are friends to me."
"Is he so true a friend, this Hugh, Messer Matteo?" she asked.
Matteo's face lighted with the glow of an affection that was almost feminine in its intensity.
"He is as true a friend as the Lord God may give to a poor wanderer on this earth," he said simply.
"I hear great things of him," replied Edith. "I would all I heard came from lips like yours. You——"
The trumpets of the Court heralds brayed to announce the return of the Emperor and the chiefs of the host.