Much relieved, Duncan rubbed his eyes free of the sleep which stuck to them, and looked about for some wine, but seeing none, he resigned himself to watching the land pass by his window.

The rough, rutted road bounced and jogged the carriage as it turned along the Thames, and headed through the crowded, noisy streets.

On reaching the king's castle, the coach slowed to a stop at the high, iron gates. Two beefeaters stood to attention and held their pikes cross-ways to bar the horses, but when lord Smythe showed them his documents, signed by the king himself, they quickly stood aside. The horses clattered over the smooth cobblestones as lord Smythe's coachman took them to a wide stone staircase within the walls of the castle.

"This be a grand place!" said Duncan as he climbed from the coach, "Much grander than my house!"

Several armed guards escorted Duncan and lord Smythe up the stairs and through many even grander hall-ways, until two royal doors stood before them. They were decorated with gold, like a grape-vine, with expensive tendrils entwining the tops and sides. Duncan tried to imagine how many iron soup-pots he could buy with just one of the tendrils.

Two well dressed men opened the doors, ushering the visitors into the King's Room. It was the grandest room of all, thought Duncan. The king sat at one end, facing him, with a retinue of servants gathered on either side. A Cardinal, in overlapping crimson gowns, stood on one side, and several resplendent bishops were clustered on his other side. The rest of the room was cluttered about with expensive furniture, lords and ladies, and many wall-hangings.

Introductions being made, the king asked for the parchment, which lord Smythe handed to him, bowing several times more than he needed to as he passed it over. The king called for a table, and a carved, polished, inlaid, ornate table was immediately placed before him. The king unrolled me newspaper and spread the pages before his highly educated and learned eyes. He then read carefully, in total silence, making a sound only when he came to the lingerie advertisement.

"Read with me!" he commanded the bishops and the Cardinal.

They were already as full with curiosity as goat-skins full of fresh wine, with eyes straining from where they stood some distance away to see more than just the headlines, so they came right speedily to the king's shoulder.