"Then," continued the Marshal, "there is to be dinner for two at the pavilion; apartments for two, and a room for a lackey without livery."
"That is enough," said the Sovereign; "for the rest, we shall see. If the Professor's wife visits our ladies, I assume they will return the civility. We will leave the rest to the Princess."
"What is the history of these strangers?" asked the Marshal of the Chamberlain. "You know the people."
"As one knows people in a strange city," replied the Chamberlain.
"But you arranged their coming?"
"I only wrote according to the Sovereign's orders. The Professor is a learned man of reputation, and a thorough gentleman."
"But what has his wife to do here."
The Chamberlain shrugged his shoulders. "He could not be got without his wife," he replied, cautiously.
"Yet the Sovereign made a point of her coming."
"Did that strike you?" asked the Chamberlain. "I, for my part, did not remark it. He made it appear as if it were a matter of indifference to him; and, furthermore, she is a country-woman of his."