"But what is the good of this breakfast, my dear friend? Go, believe me, and do not compromise a talent in which I am pleased to believe, by engaging in a foolish, impossible undertaking."
"Sir, will you give me a half-hour?"
"But I ask again, for what good?"
"To make you eat an excellent breakfast, sir, which will predispose you for a still better dinner."
"That is folly, I tell you; you are mad."
"Try, my lord; what do you risk?"
"Go on, then, you must be a magician."
"I am, sir, perhaps," replied the cook, with a strange smile.
"Very well, bear then the penalty of your own pride," cried Dom Diégo, ringing violently. "If you are instantly overwhelmed with humiliation, and are compelled to confess the impotence of your art, it is you who would have it. Take care, take care."
"You will eat, my lord," replied the artist, in a professional tone; "yes, you will eat, and much, and deliciously."