"Did you while coming here see the meadows?" began again the old fellow.
"Yes," said she.
"Well, they are yours."
"Oh! Oh!" replied she laughing, "I shall amuse myself much there catching butterflies."
"That's a good girl," says her lord. "And the woods?"
"Ah! I should not like to be there alone, you will take me there. But," said she, "give me a little of that liquor which La Ponneuse has taken such pains to prepare for us."
"And why, my darling? It would put fire in your body."
"Oh! That's what I should like," said she, biting her lip with vexation, "because I desire to give you a child as soon as possible; and I'm sure that liquor is good for the purpose."
"Ah! my little one," said the seneschal, knowing by this that Blanche was a virgin from head to foot, "the goodwill of God is necessary for this business, and women must be in a state of harvest."
"And when should I be in a state of harvest?" asked she, smiling.