, and to advance to the centre of the floor. She had scarcely
done so when the tapestry hanging was drawn aside, and M. le Grand[118]
entered, followed by the impatient monarch. In an instant she was at his
feet, but in the next she found herself warmly and affectionately
welcomed; nor was it until he had spent half an hour in conversation
with her, that the King, weary and travel-worn as he was, withdrew to
partake of the refreshment which had been prepared for him. On the
following afternoon their Majesties, occupying the same carriage,
attended vespers with great pomp at the Abbey of Aisnay; after which
they passed the ensuing days in a succession of the most splendid
festivities, at which the whole of the Court were present (the cost of
those of the 13th being entirely at the expense of the monarch, in
celebration of his birthday), until the arrival of the Cardinal
Aldobrandini, whom the King had invited from Chambery to be present at
the public celebration of his nuptials, and who entered the city in
state, when preparations were immediately made for the august rite upon
which he was to confer his benediction.

At the close of a state dinner on the morrow (17th of December), the
royal couple proceeded, accompanied by all the princes and great nobles
of the Court, to the church of St. John; where the Papal legate,
surrounded by the Cardinals de Joyeuse,[119] de Gondy,[120] and de
Sourdis,[121] together with the prelates then residing in the city, were
already awaiting them. The royal bride retained her Tuscan costume,
which was overlaid with the splendid jewels that formed so considerable
a portion of her dowry; the most conspicuous among them being an
ornament serving as a stomacher, which immediately obtained the name of
"the Queen's Brilliant." This costly decoration consisted of an
octagonal framework of large diamonds, divided into sections by lesser
stones, each enclosing a portrait in enamel of one of the princes of her
house, beneath which hung three immense pear-shaped pearls. The King was
attired in a vest and haut-de-chausses of white satin, elaborately
embroidered with silk and gold, and a black cape;[122] and wore upon his
head the velvet _toque_ that had been introduced at the French Court by
Henri III, to which a string of costly pearls was attached by a star of
diamonds. Nor were the ladies and nobles of the royal retinue very
inferior in the splendour of their appearance even to the monarch and
his