Can you read Latin ?" "Yes," said Laurence, "and write it too." "Read this, then," said the marshal, and handed him a book.
Laurence had been well instructed in the humanities by Father Colin of Saint Michael's Kirk by the side of Dee water, and he read the words, which record the cruelties of the Emperor Caligula with exactness and decorum.
"You read not ill," said his auditor; "you have been well taught, though you have a vile foreign accent and know not the shades of meaning that lie in the allusions.
"You say that you came to Machecoul with desire to serve me," the marshal continued after a pause for thought.

"In what manner did you think you could serve, and why went you not into the house of some other lord ?" "As to service," said Laurence, "I came because I was invited by your henchman de Sille.

And as to what I can do, I profess that I can sing, having been well taught by a master, the best in my country.

I can play upon the viol and eke upon the organ.

I am fairly good at fence, and excellent as any at singlestick.