"
"You are, then, disposed to dispute the fish with me?" cried the duke.
"Should I dispute it," smilingly responded the cardinal, "that would
be the equivalent to a recognition of your right to it, which I have no
idea of making. Besides, my friend, what does this quarrel of our cooks
concern us, and what has Spain and France to do with these disputes of
our servants? They may fight out their own quarrels with each other; let
us give them leave to do so, and if they give each other bloody heads,
very well, we will bind them up, that is all!"
"You take the affair with your usual practical indifference," said the
duke with bitterness, "and I can only regret being compelled to look
at it in a different light. The question here is not of a difficulty
between our servants, but of an insult which Spain has received from
France in the face of all Rome. Yes, all Rome has witnessed this insult,
and these miserable Romans have even dared to dishonor us with irony and
satire, and to mock and deride Spain, while they overload you with their
praises!"
"The good Romans, as you know, are like children. This contest of our
cooks has delighted them, and they shouted a _viva_ to the conqueror.
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