The king was at first unusually cheerful and humorous, and he commanded me to ride near him, and tell him something from the chronique scandaleuse of our court.

He laughed at my spiteful remarks, and the worse I calumniated, the merrier was the king.

Finally, we halted; the king had talked and laughed so much that he had at last become hungry.

So he encamped under an oak, and, in the midst of his suite and his dogs, he took a breakfast, which pleased him very much, although he had now become a little quieter and more silent, and sometimes turned his face toward the direction of London with visible restlessness and anxiety.

But suddenly was heard from that direction the dull sound of a cannon.