'The proposition was not mine, my lord,' urged Saint-Pol.
'It could not be, sir,' Richard said sharply. 'I proposed it myself, because I consider that a lady has the right to dispose of her own person. She loved me once.'
'I believe that she is yours at this hour, sire.'
'That is what I propose to find out,' said Richard. 'Enough. What news have they in Paris?'
Saint-Pol could not help himself; he was bursting with a budget he had received from the south. 'They greatly admire a sirvente of Bertran de Born's, sire.'
'What is the stuff of the sirvente?'
'It is a scandalous subject, sire. He calls it the Sirvente of Kings, and speaks much evil of your Order.' Richard laughed.
'I will warrant him to do that better than any man alive, and allow him some reason for it. I think I will go to see Bertran.'
'Ha, sire,' said Saint-Pol with meaning, 'he will tell you many things, some good, and some not so good.'
'Be sure he will,' said Richard. 'That is Bertran's way.'