"It is very thoughtful of you to be so willing to sacrifice yourself," said the housekeeper, with all the sarcasm in her voice that she could manage and be understood at the same time; "but do leave that jug alone! It is my business to see to such things." "I do not deny that statement, but until I took it up, this jug was as dull as the sun behind a fog. Look at it now! A lady could see to rouge her face by it." "There is no difference in it to what it was before you touched it. But I must go and look after the cook, for the supper to-night must be the triumph of our lives. I hope that we shall not have to wait for our guest, or the dishes may be spoiled." "He will not mind; he was as gay and easy to please as a burgher when he visited here before," said the seneschal; adding, "I wonder if they have succeeded in keeping the secret from the Lady Marguerite?" "Oh, yes; all understand that she is not to know." "I am surprised," said the seneschal, "that a secret so important can be kept by a lot of cackling women." "Dame Cunegunda says her Highness, the princess, is all impatience to be away," said the housekeeper, who scorned to make any reply to this last taunt. "She will be almost out of her mind with delight when _he_ comes." [Illustration: "Hush! we were told not even to mention his name"] "Hush! we were told not even to mention his name, for the very walls have ears when a secret is to be kept." "I am not mentioning any names." "The friar who stayed the night here," said the seneschal, "told me something about _him_. The friar was at Ulm when he whom we expect was at that city. The cathedral at Ulm has a very tall tower, and nearly four hundred steps lead to the top of it. Well, he whom we expect climbed to the top of the tower and stood on one leg on the top of it and turned around! The friar said if any other man had attempted such a feat he surely would have fallen and have been dashed to pieces. But he whom we expect is as brave as a lion, and it was one of his pranks, for he is gay and full of fun." "How wonderful!" exclaimed the housekeeper, looking up from the silver bowl she was polishing. "Yes, indeed. And the friar said that while none could be more gracious, none knows better than he how to keep upstarts in their places." "Than the friar?" asked the housekeeper. "No, Mrs. Stupid, than he whom we expect. The friar told how an ambassador from the King of Denmark came. The ambassador was very high and mighty. In his opinion no ruler was so good as the King of Denmark, and out of respect to his own ruler the ambassador delivered the message sitting. Then he whom we expect rose to his feet and remained standing during the interview, and the ambassador was obliged to stand also from very shame." "I am glad that you are forced to acknowledge that something good can come out of my country," said the housekeeper, who was an Austrian, and ended her remarks with a chuckle of delight, for the seneschal was Flemish.