"Quietly, my Lord," was the jailer's reply.
"He is inclined to talk over much?"
"Not at all," answered the man.
A brief command followed; a key was inserted in the lock, and, with a creaking of bolts and groaning of hinges, the warder swung back the iron barrier. Upon the threshold stood the commanding figure of the free baron. A moment he remained thus, and then, with an authoritative gesture to the man, stepped inside. The turnkey withdrew to a discreet distance, where he remained within call, yet beyond the range of ordinary conversation. Immovably the king's guest gazed upon the jester, who, unabashed, calmly endured the scrutiny.
"Well, fool," began the free baron, bluntly, "how like you your quarters? You fought me well; in truth very well. But you labored under a disadvantage, for one thing is certain: a jester in love is doubly—a fool."
"Is that what you have come to say?" asked the plaisant, his bright glance fastened on the other's confident face.
"I came—to return the visit you once made me," easily retorted the master of Hochfels. "By this time you have probably learned I am an opponent to be feared."
"As one fears the assassin's knife, or a treacherous onslaught," said the fool.
"Did I not say, when you left that night, the truce was over?" returned the king's guest, frowning.
"True," was the ironical answer. "Forewarned; forearmed. And that sort of warfare was to be expected from the bastard of Pfalz-Urfeld."