The Knight of the Golden Melice A Historical Romance
CHAPTER I. Come on, Sir! now you set your foot on shore, _In novo orbe_. BEN JONSON'S _Alchemist_. Our tale begins within a few years after the end of the first quarter of the 17th century, at Boston, in Massachusetts, then in the infancy of its settlement. On an evening in the month of May, were assembled some seven or eight men around a table, in a long, low room, the sides only of which were plastered, the rough beams and joists overhead being exposed to view; the windows were small, and the floor without a carpet; and the furniture consisted of the table, over which was spread a black cloth, whereupon stood several lighted candles in brass candlesticks, of a dozen chairs, covered with russet-colored leather, and of some wooden benches, ranged against the walls, and which were occupied by various persons. At one end of the apartment the floor was raised a few
"Wait, my dear fellow," said Montefiore, "and we will go together to
Bordeaux. In all conscience, I am rich enough to-day not to wish to
take the money of an old comrade."
Three days later Diard and Montefiore were in Bordeaux at a gambling
table. Diard, having won enough to pay his hundred thousand francs,
went on until he had lost two hundred thousand more on his word. He
was gay as a man who swam in gold. Eleven o'clock sounded; the night
was superb. Montefiore may have felt, like Diard, a desire to breathe
the open air and recover from such emotions in a walk. The latter
proposed to the marquis to come home with him to take a cup of tea and
get his money.
"But Madame Diard?" said Montefiore.
"Bah!" exclaimed the husband.
They went down-stairs; but before taking his hat Diard entered the
dining-room of the establishment and asked for a glass of water. While
it was being brought, he walked up and down the room, and was able,
without being noticed, to pick up one of those small sharp-pointed
steel knives with pearl handles which are used for cutting fruit at
dessert.
"Where do you live?" said Montefiore, in the courtyard, "for I want to
send a carriage there to fetch me."
CHAPTER I. Come on, Sir! now you set your foot on shore, _In novo orbe_. BEN JONSON'S _Alchemist_. Our tale begins within a few years after the end of the first quarter of the 17th century, at Boston, in Massachusetts, then in the infancy of its settlement. On an evening in the month of May, were assembled some seven or eight men around a table, in a long, low room, the sides only of which were plastered, the rough beams and joists overhead being exposed to view; the windows were small, and the floor without a carpet; and the furniture consisted of the table, over which was spread a black cloth, whereupon stood several lighted candles in brass candlesticks, of a dozen chairs, covered with russet-colored leather, and of some wooden benches, ranged against the walls, and which were occupied by various persons. At one end of the apartment the floor was raised a few