"'Because,' he replied, 'I have fallen in love with you.'
"'Why so? My sister, who is coming after me, is much handsomer than I am. Go and make love to her.'
"The man turned back, and saw a woman with an ugly face, and, being greatly displeased, returned, and said:
"'Why should you tell me a falsehood?'
"The woman answered 'Neither did you tell me the truth; for, if you were in love with me, why did you look back for another woman?'"
FLASHES OF ROYAL REPARTEE.
While there is no royal road to cleverness, the real road, such as it is, frequently is traveled by royal feet. In these days the functions of royalty are not of a nature that is likely to develop merry dispositions.
Rich in sly humor was the reply of Henry IV of France, who one day reached Amiens after a prolonged journey. A local orator was deputed to harangue him, and commenced with a lengthy string of epithets:
"Very great sovereign, very good, very merciful, very magnanimous——"