ssible health and prosperity."--Ed

Just, however, when their sleep was at its soundest, they were awakened
by their door being opened from without, and the Duke drew the curtain
and looked to see who it might be, suspecting indeed that it was one of
his friends who was minded to surprise him. But he perceived a tall, old
bed-chamber woman come in and walk straight up to their bed, where, for
the darkness of the room, she could not recognise them. Seeing them,
however, quite close together, she began to cry out--

"Thou vile and naughty wanton! I have long suspected thee to be what
thou art, yet for lack of proof spoke not of it to my mistress. But now
thy vileness is so clearly shown that I shall in no sort conceal it; and
thou, foul renegade, who hast wrought such shame in this house by the
undoing of this poor wench, if it were not for the fear of God, I would
e'en cudgel thee where thou liest. Get up, in the devil's name, get up,
for methinks even now thou hast no shame."

The Duke of Vendome and the Princess hid their faces against each other
in order to have the talk last longer, and they laughed so heartily that
they were not able to utter a word. Finding that for all her threats
they were not willing to rise, the serving-woman came closer in order to
pull them by the arms. Then she at once perceived both from their faces
and from their dress that they were not those whom she sought, and,
recognising them, she flung herself upon her knees, begging them to
pardon her error in thus robbing them of their rest.

But the Duke of Vendome was not content to know so little, and rising
forthwith, he begged the old woman to say for whom she had taken them.
This at first she was not willing to do; but at last, after he had sworn
to her never to reveal it, she told him that there was a girl in the
house with whom a prothonotary (2) was in love, and that she had long
kept a watch on them, since it pleased her little to see her mistress
trusting in a man who was working this shame towards her. She then left
the Prince and Princess shut in as she had found them, and they laughed
for a long while over their adventure. And, although they afterwards
told the story they would never name any of the persons concerned.

2 The office of apostolic prothonotary was instituted by
Pope Clement I., there being at first twelve such officers,
whose duty was to write the lives of the saints and other
apostolic records.