“We were speaking of Nüremburg gingerbread,” answered the princess, softly.
The duchess also seemed troubled, looked up to heaven, and said, “Yes, there is something truly divine in that Nüremburg gingerbread.”
“To-morrow I shall have the honor of bringing you some,” replied I, hastily, as I bethought me of the wishing-cap. At this moment I heard a scornful chuckling near me; I looked up, and the pale stranger stood at my side. He looked contemptuously down upon me, then turned his head, and seemed to whisper something to the air. This behavior I considered assumed to mock me; but I determined not to heed the man, for how could he harm me, the possessor of the cap and purse of Fortunatus.
Suddenly a stir arose in the assembly. Exclamations of astonishment were heard from all sides, and a lackey, richly dressed, pressed forward to where the ladies were, with a large silver plate of fresh Nüremburg gingerbread in his hands. I stood amazed; the stranger smiled contemptuously. A stranger, the lackey said, had brought him the salver in the anteroom, with the express command to carry it directly to the Duchess of Silvio Cremonio. As they were about to question him, he unaccountably disappeared. A quiet joy lighted up Angelica’s charming countenance, her mother glanced inquiringly at the stranger, who answered her by a bow of acknowledgment.
“Doctor Joannes, of Ingolstadt,” said the princess, introducing the stranger to me. “Doubtless we must thank him for the beautiful present, which has so enriched our fête to-night. He knows how to prize the treasures of his fatherland, and has foreseen, with his usual tact, that here also he would find friends who would value the productions of his country.”
The doctor bowed smilingly to both ladies. The impertinent fellow hardly looked at me as the princess introduced him. And he was only a doctor and I a marquis. “There is, fortunately, a to-morrow,” thought I; “and although your gingerbread may gratify the taste of the moment, their eyes will be dazzled, and their souls enraptured with the exquisite jewelry, that I intend purchasing for them to-morrow at Rundell & Bridges, in London.” There was witchcraft in the appearance of the gingerbread—that was beyond a doubt. I now observed the man more closely as he conversed with the ladies. His manner toward them was humble and modest, but the diabolical expression about the mouth was not to be concealed.
“Let us make up a party for a game of marriage,” said the glorious Angelica, in her most dulcet tones, as she took my arm. “There is the card saloon. The rest are busy with roulette and faro, but I love marriage beyond every thing.”
“It is also my favorite game,” I replied, full of love for this beautiful creature. “For its sake have I come hither from Constantinople upon the Bosphorus.”
The princess gave me a significant look, and secretly pressed my hand. As I looked up, I saw Joannes gazing upon me with a threatening expression of hate. He then leaned over Angelica, and smilingly whispered something in her ear. Impertinence! He imagined himself all-engrossing with his gingerbread. I gingled the one hundred-franc pieces in my pocket—and the sound made a favorable impression upon the duke’s daughter.
“Yes, we will play marriage,” said she, looking tenderly at me. “Come, marquis every moment of delay is lost.”