“Morbleu, Monsieur, you give me too much Majesty,” said the Prince, who had now risen up and seemed to be looking to one of us to help him to his coat. But neither stirred.
“We shall take care,” says Esmond, “not much oftener to offend in that particular.”
“What mean you, my lord?” says the Prince, and muttered something about a guet-a-pens, which Esmond caught up.
“The snare, Sir,” said he, “was not of our laying; it is not we that invited you. We came to avenge, and not to compass, the dishonor of our family.”
“Dishonor! Morbleu, there has been no dishonor,” says the Prince, turning scarlet, “only a little harmless playing.”
“That was meant to end seriously.”
“I swear,” the Prince broke out impetuously, “upon the honor of a gentleman, my lords—”
“That we arrived in time. No wrong hath been done, Frank,” says Colonel Esmond, turning round to young Castlewood, who stood at the door as the talk was going on. “See! here is a paper whereon his Majesty has deigned to commence some verses in honor, or dishonor, of Beatrix. Here is 'Madame' and 'Flamme,' 'Cruelle' and 'Rebelle,' and 'Amour' and 'Jour' in the Royal writing and spelling. Had the Gracious lover been happy, he had not passed his time in sighing.” In fact, and actually as he was speaking, Esmond cast his eyes down towards the table, and saw a paper on which my young Prince had been scrawling a madrigal, that was to finish his charmer on the morrow.
“Sir,” says the Prince, burning with rage (he had assumed his Royal coat unassisted by this time), “did I come here to receive insults?”
“To confer them, may it please your Majesty,” says the Colonel, with a very low bow, “and the gentlemen of our family are come to thank you.”