The evening before guests had come to the lodge his excellency the Lord
Justice Wigelois von Wolfstein, and Master Besserer of Ulm. Now we had
to make ready in all haste for dinner, and never had Ann made such
careful and diligent use of our little mirror. As it fell, we could be
alone together for a few minutes only, and had no chance of speaking to
each other privily. This was likewise the case at table, and then, as my
uncle had prepared for a hunt in the afternoon, in honor of his guests,
and as the supper afterwards lasted until midnight, the not over-strong
thread of my good patience was not seldom in danger of giving way. But
many things were going forward which gave me matter for thought, and
increased the distress I already felt. Ann threw herself into the sport
with all her heart, and on the way back fell behind with Herdegen in such
wise that they did not reach home till long after the door closed on the
last of us.

At supper she nodded to me many times with much contentment; except for
that I might have been buried for aught she noted, for she hearkened only
to Herdegen's tales as though they were a revelation from above. For his
part, he now and again stole a hasty, fiery glance at her; otherwise he
of set purpose made a show of having little to do with her. He often lay
back as though he were weary; and yet, when their Excellencies questioned
him of any matter, he was ever ready with a swift and discreet answer.
He had lost nothing of his wonderfully clear and shrewd wit;
nevertheless, I was not so much at my ease with him as of old time.
When my uncle said in jest that the wise owl from Padua seemed to wear
a motley of gay feathers, his intent was plain as soon as one looked at
my brother; and in the fine clothes he had chosen to wear at supper the
noble lad was less to my mind than in the hunting weed which he had
journeyed in, inasmuch as the too great length of the sleeves of his
mantle was in his way when eating, and the over-long points to his shoes