"How now, sirrah!" he exclaimed, addressing the soldiers beneath the gateway in a loud and angry tone, "do you keep the King of France waiting before the gates like a lackey? Throw open the gates! Down with the drawbridge! My lord king," he continued, with bated breath, "I regret exceedingly that these men should have detained you; but they are faithful fools, and take no orders but from me or my dear nephew. Had your majesty hinted your intention, orders to admit you instantly would have been long since given. I proposed to introduce you to-morrow to the duke, with due ceremony; but you are always determined to take your servants by surprise." Charles coloured a little, and felt himself rebuked; but when the regent sprang to the ground and would have held his stirrup, he would not permit him, taking the arm of De Vitry, and bowing his head courteously, but without reply. At the gates, De Vitry drew back, suffering the king and Ludovic to pass on; but they had hardly reached the second gates, when the archway of the barbican and the drawbridge were taken possession of by the French soldiers, who began gaily talking to the Italians, though the latter understood not a word they said. The Lombard nobles looked sullen and discontented; but they sat still on their horses, little accustomed to the dashing impudence of the French, and not knowing well what demeanour to assume toward men who came as their friends and allies, but who so soon showed that they considered themselves their masters. In the mean time, each followed only by a page, the king and the count regent walked on through several dim passages and lofty, ill-lighted halls. Few attendants were observed about, and Ludovic took notice of none of them till he reached a large and apparently more modern saloon, where an old man, somewhat richly dressed, stood at a door on the other side. Him he beckoned up, saying, "Tell my dear nephew, Franconi, that I am bringing his Majesty the King of France to visit him. This royal lord, considering the duke's ill health, dispenses with the first visit. Will your majesty take a cup of wine after your long ride? It will just give the old seneschal time to announce your coming, lest such an unexpected honour should agitate the poor boy too much." "I thank you, my lord, I am not thirsty," answered the king, drily, "and, for certain reasons given by my physicians, I drink but little wine." A slight and somewhat mocking smile passed over the hard features of Ludovic, as if he suspected some fear in the mind of Charles, and gloried, rather than felt shame, in an evil reputation. Both remained silent; and in a few minutes the old man returned to usher them into the presence of the young duke.