As we had spent most of the time looking at each other, hers was a remark which made me laugh, which she had probably intended.
Some twenty minutes later, Irma and I appeared on the terrace where the men had assembled. They were to my mind very brave, and tried manfully to hide their nervousness. One of them, who wore the sash of Mayor, advanced towards us with many bows.
He was, he informed us, the Mayor of the village, and had been begged by a number of citizens to head a deputation, which desired to express their joy at our escape, and to thank us for the honour we did them by choosing their province, and their part of the province to stay in, etc., etc.
He ended a speech, which must have taken him a long time to learn by heart, by very gracefully begging us to accept a trifling token of their loyalty, in the shape of two small silver articles made by the village metal worker.
He handed me two boxes, in one of which was a really beautiful brooch of silver and turquoise matrix, and in the other a box, almost equally beautiful, of the same materials.
Both Irma and myself were absolutely amazed at the artistic merit of these things, as well as at the cleverness of the workmanship.
I turned to the Mayor, who stood by seeking to read in our faces our opinion of the gift; he could not have found much difficulty, for both of us were literally astounded.
"Did you say these were made in your village?"
"Yes, your Majesty, by my nephew, a young man who does nothing else."
"I should like to see him, these works of his are very good indeed."