He could not sit quietly by the discovered leaves, but paced thoughtfully up and down. He heard voices in the court-yard; hasty running in the passages; and at last a lackey announced the arrival of the Sovereign, and that he wished to see the Professor at breakfast.
The table was spread among blooming bushes on the side of the tower that faced the rising sun. When the Professor entered under the roof which protected the place from rain and the rays of the sun, he found there, besides the household and Marshal, the forest officials and the Lord High Steward, who thought, with more anxiety than the Professor, of the sudden arrival of the Sovereign. The old lord approached the Scholar, and spoke on indifferent subjects.
"How long do you think of remaining here?" he asked, politely.
"I shall request permission to return to the city in an hour; I have accomplished what I had to do."
It was a long time before the princely party appeared. When the Sovereign approached them, all present were struck by his ill appearance: his movements were hurried, his features disturbed, and his looks passed unsteadily over the company. He turned first to the forester, who was in attendance, and asked him, harshly:
"How can you tolerate the disagreeable screaming of the daws on the tower? It was your business to remove them."
"Her Highness the Princess last summer requested that the birds be left."
"The noise is insupportable to me," said the Sovereign; "bring out the weapons, and prepare yourself to shoot among them."
As the practice of shooting was one of the regular country pleasures of the Court, and the Sovereign had, even in the neighborhood of the castle, frequently used his gun on birds of prey or other unusual objects, the Court thought less seriously of this commission than did the Scholar.
The Sovereign turned to the Lord High Steward.