Thirty-One: Of the Feast, and of the Hunt of Stags

The feast in the Grand Tinel begins with opulent displays—armadas of birds and fish—and a ritual poison check by the steward’s coral-and-tooth charm. Thomas, posing as the Comte d’Évreux, sits beside a Valois duke while Delphine, shorn and bound as a boy-page, warns him off the wine. Thomas drinks anyway.

An Aragonese viol player, the same from the Norman night tourney, performs and moves guest to guest. Thomas fears exposure but is not recognized beneath his disguise, and he relaxes. The hall shifts to entertainments: bear, acrobats, dimmed torches, and a “golden forest” rolled in with precious fruits and hidden couches.

A procession of nude women in stag masks enters, prompting nobles and cardinals into a staged “hunt.” Drawn by scent and touch, Thomas is nearly overcome by desire but pulls away before climax, choosing instead to pluck an ivory comb from a tree and withdraw. Pope Clement arrives, gracious to Thomas, and pointedly leads a “stag” himself, signaling the papal blessing of the revel.

Thomas and Delphine slip out. Delphine, desperate to relieve herself, uses a dark alley while Thomas shields her. They trade barbs about the spectacle and experience. Then Delphine notices movement on Thomas’s thigh: a maggot, an ominous and disgusting sign, capping the chapter’s contrast between gilded excess and creeping corruption.