supper and a ball. After the conclusion of the
festivities Marguerite was, in accordance with the custom of the
princesses of the blood, escorted by her brothers and a large
retinue to the Bishops' Palace adjoining the Cathedral, to pass the
night before her wedding there.

The ceremony upon the following day was a most gorgeous one. The
king, his two brothers, Henri of Navarre, and Conde were all
dressed alike in light yellow satin, embroidered with silver, and
enriched with precious stones. Marguerite was in a violet velvet
dress, embroidered with fleurs de lis, and she wore on her head a
crown glittering with gems. The queen and the queen mother were
dressed in cloth of gold.

Upon a lofty platform, in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame,
Henri of Navarre with his train of Protestant lords awaited the
coming of the bride; who was escorted by the king, and all the
members of his court. The ceremony was performed, in sight of an
enormous concourse of people, by the Cardinal Bourbon, who used a
form that had been previously agreed upon by both parties. Henri
then led his bride into the cathedral; and afterwards, with his
Protestant companions, retired to the Episcopal Palace while mass
was being said. When this was over, the whole party sat down to
dinner in the Episcopal Palace.

In the evening an entertainment was given, in the Louvre, to the
notabilities of Paris; and after supper there was a masque of the
most lavish magnificence. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday there
was a continuation of pageants and entertainments. During these
festivities the king had shown marked courtesy to the Admiral and
the Huguenot lords, and it seemed as if he had again emancipated
himself from his mother's influence; and the hopes of the
Protestants, that he would shortly declare war with Spain, were
raised to the highest point.

Although the question was greatly debated at the time, and the
belief that the massacre of the Protestants was deliberately
planned long beforehand by the king and queen-mother is still
generally entertained, the balance of evidence is strongly the
other way. What dark thoughts may have passed through the scheming
brain of Catharine de Medici none can say, but it would certainly
appear that it was not until after the marriage of Henri and
Marguerite that they took form. She was driven to bay. She saw
that, in the event of a war with Spain, the Huguenots would become
all powerful in France. Already th