Candide was rather disturbed by these frank, original estimates of the literary greats but was convinced that his host was a great genius: "Nothing can please him." When he and Martin left, Candide remarked that they had indeed met the happiest of all men, one who was above everything he possessed. But insisting that Pococurante was disgusted with everything he possessed, Martin argued that their host was nothing of the sort. So Candide concluded that only he was a happy person — or he would be if and when he saw Cunégonde again. But weeks passed with no sign of Cacambo. Depressed as he was, the youth did not even notice that Paquette and the Friar had not bothered to come and thank him.
One evening Candide, followed by Martin, went to a hotel to dine. Before they could sit down, a man with a very dark complexion came up to him and told him to be ready to leave. It was Cacambo. Candide learned that his valet was now the slave of a man who awaited him and that Cunégonde was in Constantinople. He told the young man to have supper and then be ready for their departure.
In a state of great excitement and mixed emotions, Candide joined the calm Martin at a table with six foreigners who had come to spend the Carnival in Venice. Cacambo was pouring a drink for one of them. He and the other servants or slaves informed their masters that their ships were ready for departure; each left promptly after delivering his message. But the sixth slave had another kind of intelligence for his master. "Your Majesty," he said, "they won't give you any more credit, nor me either. You and I could be imprisoned. I'm going to look after myself. Farewell." Those seated at the table remained silent for a time. Finally, Candide asked how it happened that all six were kings. Each identified himself. They were Achmet III, one-time Grand Sultan, who had been deposed by his nephew; Ivan, former emperor of all the Russias, dethroned when still an infant; Charles Edward, king of England, whose dethroned father had ceded his rights to his son; the king of the Poles, whose father had had similar experiences; another king of the Poles, one who had twice lost his kingdom; the now destitute king of Corsica, to which royal position he had been elected. The sixth kings' stories so moved the others that they gave him money for clothes. Candide gave him a diamond worth 2,000 sequins, much to the surprise of their Royal Highnesses, who wondered how a commoner was able to be so generous. Candide assured them that he was not a king and had no desire to be one. As all prepared to leave, four other Most Serene Highnesses who had lost their states by the fortunes of war arrived. But now Candide was concerned only with going to find his dear Cunégonde in Constantinople.
