CHRISTMAS WITH QUEEN BESS 195

The ambassadors of Venice and France were there, with
their courtly trains. The Lord High Constable of England
was come to sit below the Queen. The earls, too, of South-
ampton, Montgomery, Pembroke, and Huntington were
there ; and William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, the Queen’s High
Treasurer, to smooth his care-lined forehead with a Yule-
tide jest.

Up from the entry ports came shouts of “Room! room!
room for my Lord Strange! Room for the Duke of Devon-
shire!” and about the outer gates there was a tumult like
the cheering of a great crowd.

The palace corridors were lined with guards. Gentle-
men pensioners under arms went flashing to and fro.
Now and then through the inner throng some handsome
page with wind-blown hair and rainbow-colored cloak
pushed to the great door, calling: “Way, sirs, way for my
Lord—way for my Lady of Alderstone!” and one by one,
or in blithe groups, the courtiers, clad in silks and satins,
velvets, jewels, and lace of gold, came up through the
lofty folding-doors to their places in the hall.

There, where the Usher of the Black Rod stood, and the
gentlemen of the chamber came and went with golden
chains about their necks, was bowing and scraping with-
out stint, and reverent civility; for men that were wise
and noble were passing by, men that were handsome and
brave; and ladies sweet as a summer day, and as fair to
see as spring, laughed by their sides and chatted behind
their fans, or daintily nibbled comfits, lacking anything
to say.