The de Lavals were known as a great house far beyond the confines of France.
"You contemplate another voyage ?" The brown man nodded.

"I am here on the quest of maps, for these Venetians are the princes of mapmaking.

Then I sail again." "To Cathay ?" A sudden longing had taken Philip.

It was as if a bright strange world had been spread before him compared with which the old was tarnished and dingy.
Battista shook his head.

"Not Cathay.