this is affronting to the house of les Medici. Look,
monsieur, the supper is on the table, and I venture to say
that it is not a bad one."

The unknown asked for a glass of wine, broke off a morsel of
bread, and did not stir from the window whilst he ate and
drank.

Shortly after was heard a loud flourish of trumpets; cries
arose in the distance, a confused buzzing filled the lower
part of the city, and the first distinct sound that struck
the ears of the stranger was the tramp of advancing horses.

"The king! the king!" repeated a noisy and eager crowd.

"The king!" cried Cropole, abandoning his guest and his
ideas of delicacy, to satisfy his curiosity.

With Cropole were mingled, and jostled, on the staircase,
Madame Cropole, Pittrino, and the waiters and scullions.

The cortege advanced slowly, lighted by a thousand
flambeaux, in the streets and from the windows.

After a company of musketeers, a closely ranked troop of
gentlemen, came the litter of monsieur le cardinal, drawn
like a carriage by four black horses. The pages and people
of the cardinal marched behind.

Next came the carriage of the queen-mother, with her maids