with little Lorn, as he was called, his Christian name being
James; then Annaple and Johnnie hand-in-hand, Mary carrying
Andrew, and lastly old Ankaret, hobbling along with her stick,
and, when out of sight, a hand on Annaple's shoulder. In
public, nothing would have made her presume so far. The hall
was a huge, vaulted, stone-walled room, with a great fire on the
wide hearth, and three long tables--one was cross-wise, on the
dais near the fire, the other two ran the length of the hall.
The upper one was furnished with tolerably clean napery and a
few silver vessels; as to the lower ones, they were in two
degrees of comparison, and the less said of the third the
better. It was for the men-at-arms and the lowest servants,
whereas the second belonged to those of the suite of the King
and Chancellor, who were not of rank to be at his table. The
Lord Lion King-at-Arms was high-table company, but he was
absent, and the inferior royal pursuivant was entertaining two
of his fellows, one with the Douglas Bloody Heart, the other
with the Lindsay Lion on a black field, besides two messengers
of the different clans, who looked askance at one another.

Leaning against the wall near the window stood the young King
with two or three youths beside him, laughing and talking over
three great deer-hounds, and by the hearth were two elder men--
one, a tall dignified figure in the square cap and purple robe
of a Bishop, with a face of great wisdom and sweetness; the
other, still taller, with slightly grizzled hair and the
weather-beaten countenance of a valiant and sagacious warrior,
dressed in the leathern garments usually worn under armour.

As Jean emerged from the turret she was met and courteously