"I left my dwelling but
an instant, for we were in sore straits for----"
"Bread?" asked Deodonato, a touch of sympathy in his voice.
"May it please your Highness, no--pins wherewith to fasten our
hair. And, as I ran to the merchant's, this aged man----"
"I am but turned of fifty," interrupted Fusbius.
"And have not yet learned silence!" asked Deodonato severely.
"Damsel, proceed!"
"Caught me by my gown as I ran, and----"
"I proposed marriage to her," said Fusbius.
"Nay, if you proposed marriage," she shall marry you," said
Deodonato. "By the crown of my fathers, she shall marry you!
But what said he, damsel?"
"May it please your Highness, he said that I had the prettiest
face in all the Duchy, and that he would have no wife but me; and
thereupon he kissed me; and I would have none of him, and I
struck him and escaped."
"Send for the Judges," said Duke Deodonato. "And meanwhile keep
this damsel and let no man propose marriage to her until Our
pleasure be known."
Now, when the Judges were come, and the maiden was brought in and
set over against them on the right hand, and the learned Doctor
took his stand on the left, Deodonato prayed the Judges that they
would perpend carefully and anxiously of the question--using all
lore, research, wisdom, discretion, and justice--whether Dr.
Fusbius had proposed marriage unto the maiden or no.
"Thus shall Our mind be informed, and we shall deal profitably
with this matter," concluded Duke Deodonato.
Pages:
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113