"He is very young to be thinking of such things," said Marguerite coldly.
"When you come to age, he is no younger than your noble brother, who is to wed the Princess Juana; or the young heir of Spain, who is to wed a certain princess of my acquaintance, a lady not quite sixteen. Let us suppose that Philibert had his mind fixed upon some maiden, who was in his own rank when he was simply to be a count, then, suddenly, he pops up into the circle of dukes, where he must look down upon her. It is enough to make any man gloomy."
"Sometimes you talk in a very sensible manner, Le Glorieux," said the Lady Marguerite, frowning, "but to-day you speak nothing but nonsense." And she walked away with her head held high as was always the case when she was out of temper.
Looking after her slender figure as it disappeared through an archway, the jester muttered to himself, "Not to contradict a princess of the blood royal, I want to say that I never was more sensible than I am at this very moment."
One summer day a gallant armada set sail for the coast of Flanders. It consisted of one hundred and thirty fine vessels, and it was manned by hundreds of sailors; it carried the chivalry of Spain, and it was commanded by the Admiral of Castile. Never had so beautiful a fleet sailed from the Spanish coast, for it brought to Philip of Flanders, the son of Maximilian, his bride, the Infanta Juana.
The people were eager to see the bride of their prince, but if they had expected a beauty, they were disappointed. Juana was pale and delicate in appearance, and, as a French writer of the time expresses it, "a somber fire seemed to burn in her eyes."
"We shall send Spain a far handsomer bride than she sent to us," said Le Glorieux exultantly.
The wedding of Philip and Juana took place in Lille with great pomp and ceremony, and the fleet waited, for it was to take another royal bride on its return trip! But many of the vessels needed repairs after their stormy voyage, and it was some time before they were ready to sail.
Philibert de Bresse, in the meantime, had received news of the death of his father; and, taking leave of his friends at court, he returned to his own country, of which he was now the ruler.