"Is it true," she asked, "Master Pivois, that you have ordered the dais room to be got ready, as Mariette declares?"
Master Pivois drew himself up.
"What did Mariette tell you?" he enquired, sternly.
"Well, she told me to prepare the best bedroom."
"Which is the best bedroom, Dame Tiphaine?"
"The dais room, master, since it is the one in which His Majesty—"
"In that case," mine host interrupted her, in a peremptory tone, "prepare the dais room."
"Still, master," Dame Tiphaine ventured—who possessed a certain amount of credit in the house, in the first place, as legitimate spouse of the landlord himself, and then, again, through sundry very marked traits of character—"with all the respect I owe you, it seems to me—"
"With all the respect I owe you," he exclaimed, stamping his foot passionately, "you're a fool, my good creature, obey my orders, and do not trouble me further!"
Dame Tiphaine comprehended that her lord and master was not in a humour that evening for being contradicted. Like a prudent woman, she bowed her head and withdrew, reserving to herself the right of taking a startling revenge at a future date for the sharp reprimand she had received.