She is more. She is a duchess."

The carriage disappeared: The rumbling of its wheels died away in the

distance.

Ursus remained some moments in an ecstasy, holding the gold piece

between his finger and thumb, as in a monstrance, elevating it as the

priest elevates the host.

Then he placed it on the table, and, as he contemplated it, began to

talk of "Madam."

The innkeeper replied,--

"She was a duchess." Yes. They knew her title. But her name? Of that

they were ignorant. Master Nicless had been close to the carriage, and

seen the coat of arms and the footmen covered with lace. The coachman

had a wig on which might have belonged to a Lord Chancellor. The

carriage was of that rare design called, in Spain, cochetumbon, a

splendid build, with a top like a tomb, which makes a magnificent

support for a coronet. The page was a man in miniature, so small that he

could sit on the step of the carriage outside the door. The duty of

those pretty creatures was to bear the trains of their mistresses. They

also bore their messages. And did you remark the plumed cap of the

page? How grand it was! You pay a fine if you wear those plumes without

the right of doing so. Master Nicless had seen the lady, too, quite

532

The Man Who Laughs