Josserande had no difficulty in making Sylvestre Ker promise to go to
the midnight Mass, for he was a good Christian; and she bought for him
an iron armor to put on when he worked around his crucibles, so as to
preserve him from Satan's breath.
And it happened that, late and early, Pol Bihan now came to the tower,
bringing with him the laughing Matheline; for it was rumored that at
last Sylvestre Ker would soon find the fairy-stone and become a wealthy
man.
It was not only two new pearls that Matheline showed at the corners of
her rosy mouth, but a brilliant row that shone, and chattered, and
laughed, from her lips down to her throat; for Pol Bihan had said to
her: "Laugh as much as you can; for smiles attract fools, as the turning
mirror catches larks."
We have spoken of Matheline's lips, of her throat, and of her smile, but
not of her heart; of that we can only say the place where it should have
been was nearly empty; so she replied to Bihan,--
"As much as you will. I can afford to laugh to be rich; and when the
fool shall have given me all the gold of the earth, all the pleasures of
the world, I will be happy, happy.... I will have them all for myself,
for myself alone, and I will enjoy them."
Pol Bihan clasped his hands in admiration, so lovely and wise was she
for her age; but he thought: "I am wiser still than you, my beauty; we
will share between us what the fool will give--one-half for me, and the
other also; the rest for you. Let the water run under the bridge."
The day before Christmas they came together to the tower,--Matheline
carrying a basket of chestnuts, Pol a large jug, full of sweet
cider,--to make merry with the godmother.
They roasted the chestnuts in the ashes, heated the cider before the
fire, adding to it fermented honey, wine, sprigs of rosemary, and
marjoram leaves; and so delicious was the perfume of the beverage that
even Dame Josserande longed for a taste.
On the way thither, Pol had advised Matheline adroitly to question
Sylvestre Ker, to know when he would at last find the fairy-stone.
Sylvestre Ker neither ate chestnuts nor drank wine, so absorbed was he
in the contemplation of Matheline's bewitching smiles; and she said to
him,--
"Tell me, my handsome, lame, and one-eyed bridegroom, will I soon be the
wife of a wealthy man?"