"Do you find any difficulty, Master Nicholas?"

"God forbid, your Excellency, but--"

"Well, what is it?"

"Because, if my lord will permit, because there is only one person in
Naples who possesses that dowry your Excellency mentions."

"And so?"

"And she," stammered the notary, embarrassed more and more, "--she is
the queen's sister."

"And in the contract you will write the name of Marie of Anjou."

"But the young maiden," replied Nicholas timidly, "whom your Excellency
would marry is destined, I thought, under the will of our late king of
blessed memory, to become the wife of the King of Hungary or else of the
grandson of the King of France."

"Ah, I understand your surprise: you may learn from this that an uncle's
intentions are not always the same as his nephew's."

"In that case, sire, if I dared--if my lord would deign to give me
leave--if I had an opinion I might give, I would humbly entreat your
Excellency to reflect that this would mean the abduction of a minor."

"Since when did you learn to be scrupulous, Master Nicholas?"