“It is a woman’s room,” he insisted. “No man could live in it.”
“No man does,” said the humble dame.
“And by merely entering I have ruined it already,” the king continued in a grievous tone; “I have kicked three rugs out of alignment,” he said ruefully.
“It is a small matter,” said Lavarcham.
“I am certain that your heart is ill at ease, and although your hands are folded they are twitching to restore these rugs; rearrange them if you must, my good friend.”
“If the king permits me,” she cried joyfully, and with a few deft touches she replaced the rugs.
“You may sit down,” said the king. “And now, where is this baby you deafen the world about?”
Lavarcham clapped her hands, and, to the servant who appeared in the doorway—
“Tell your mistress, Deirdre, that she is required immediately—and do not tell her that a visitor is with me, or woe betide you.”
The servant disappeared.