He was seconded by furious cries of—
“Knipperdolling!”
“Traitor!”
“Down with the MM. de Witt!”
They swarmed after the Prince to the Peacock Inn, where the frightened landlord, overwhelmed at the honour, prostrated himself before His Highness.
In the fine dining-room on the ground floor a meal was hastily but sumptuously prepared.
William, still wearing his hat, took the head of the table.
The magistrates, white and flustered, seated themselves, giving anxious glances towards the door and the long windows that overlooked the street.
“Your citizens,” said William to the burgomaster, “seem to be of a noisy disposition.”