of purple velvet fringed with gold, with a canopy and curtains of the
same rich materials, the latter being looped back with a massive cord
and tassels. The constable supported one side of the throne, and
the seneschal the other. Below these were the cup-bearer and grand
huntsman. Six pages were placed about the steps of the throne, and
the same number of ladies in waiting were also there. Yet Marguerite
herself wanted not the surrounding magnificence to mark her superior
dignity of "Countess by the grace of God," then accorded to only one
county besides her own; for there was a sort of fearful majesty about
her towering height, unbowed either by the weight of years (and she
had already passed what the Psalmist has declared to be the age of
man) or luxurious indulgence. Her face was pale and marked by deep
furrows, indicating an unlimited indulgence of the strong passions
which had rendered her life so unquiet. Her eye was black, and
retained all the fire of lively feeling, yet it was sunken. Her
forehead was low, yet there was an inflexibility of resolve in
its deep lines that added much to the majestic character of her
appearance. Her teeth too were perfect, and her thin and colourless
lips left them visible to attract the painful admiration excited by
their contrast with the unlovely expression of her features; her chin
was small. Her hair was all drawn from her face to the crown of her
head and concealed under the black lace veil, which concealing the
upper part of her forehead, fell over each shoulder even to her feet.
Her upper garment was a long mantle of black velvet lined with ermine,
which, opening in front, fell over the arms of her throne, and
discovered a dress of crimson cloth of Bruges of that beautiful sort
called _ecarlate_. The boddice was drawn tightly to her shape by
rich gold cord, the ends of which, finished by heavy tassels, fell
downwards to the edge of her robe. The crimson tunic reached only to
her knees, and discovered an under dress of white Syrian silk, on