]

The royal remains were then embalmed, and placed in a sumptuous coffin
upon a bed of state, in one of the most spacious apartments of the
Louvre, which was hung with the richest tapestry appertaining to the
crown. A magnificent canopy of cloth of gold surmounted the bier, and on
either side of the catafalque were placed two temporary altars; ten
others having been erected in the state-gallery, at which the bishops
and the cures of the several metropolitan parishes daily performed six
high and one hundred low masses. Platforms covered with cloth of gold
had been prepared for the cardinals and prelates; and at the foot of the
royal body, cushions of black velvet were arranged for the Princes of
the Blood and the higher nobility. A golden crucifix and a silver vase
containing holy water were deposited on a table of carved oak; and at
the extremity of the room were grouped enormous tapers of wax, near
which stood two heralds-king-at-arms, in their splendid state costume,
leaning upon their swords. The face of the corpse was exposed, the head
covered by a cap of crimson velvet laced with gold, and the body attired
in a vest of white satin, over which was flung a drapery of cloth of
gold, having in the centre a cross elaborately embroidered in
silver.[25]

On the day which succeeded the embalmment, while the clergy were praying
in suppressed voices at the several altars, a distant sound was heard,
which gradually approaching nearer and nearer to the death-chamber,
became ere long blent with their murmured orisons; and as they looked
towards the entrance of the apartment, they saw the young King standing
upon the threshold, attended by a numerous suite of Princes and nobles.
Louis XIII was wrapped in a mourning cloak of violet-coloured velvet;
his vest was of dark silk; and his pale and melancholy face was
half-hidden by the hood which had been drawn over his head. The high
dignitaries who composed his retinue wore mantles of black velvet, and
were entirely without arms. The two younger sons of France, the Ducs
d'Orleans and d'Anjou, walked on either side of the new-made sovereign,
each grasping a fold of his heavy cloak; and immediately behind them
came the Cardinals de Joyeuse and de Sourdis. The Prince de Conde, the
Comte de Soissons, the Duc de Guise, the Prince de Joinville, and the
Duc d'Elboeuf bore the royal train; and were in their turn succeeded by
the prelates who assisted at the ceremony, each wearing his mitre