"Why should I go to Court? As for the Duke of Brunswick, I do not care to know him. All I have got to do is to go to Amsterdam, where my credit is sufficiently good for anything. I am fond of the King of France; there's not a better man in the kingdom." "Well, come and dine at the high table, the company is of the best and will please you." "You know I never eat; moreover, I never sit down at a table where I may meet persons who are unknown to me." "Then, my lord, farewell; we shall see each other again at Amsterdam." I went down to the dining-roam, where, while dinner was being served, I conversed with some officers. They asked me if I knew Prince Piccolomini, to which I answered that he was not a prince but a count, and that it was many years since I had seen him. When the count and his fair wife (who only spoke Italian) came down, I shewed them some polite attentions, and we then sat down to dinner.