e
by her side.'

In some degree Jean changed her opinion of the Duke, in consequence,
perhaps, of the very marked attention that he showed her when the supper
was spread. She had never been so made to feel what it was to be at once
a king's daughter and a beauty; and at the most magnificent banquet she
had ever known.

Durham had afforded a great advance on Scottish festivities; but in the
absence of its Prince Bishop, another Nevil, it had lacked much of what
was to be found at Fotheringay in the full blossoming of the splendours
of the princely nobility of England, just ere the decimation that they
were to perpetrate on one another.

The hall itself was vast, and newly finished in the rich culmination of
Gothic work, with a fan tracery-vaulted roof, a triumph of architecture,
each stalactite glowing with a shield or a badge of England, France,
Mortimer, and Nevil--lion or lily, falcon and fetterlock, white rose and
dun cow, all and many others--likewise shining in the stained glass of
the great windows.

The high table was loaded with gold and silver plate, and Venice glasses
even more precious; there were carpets under the feet of the nobler
guests, and even the second and third tables were spread with more
richness and refinement than ever the sisters of James II had known
in their native land. In a gallery above, the Duke's musicians and the
choristers of his chapel were ready to enliven the meal; and as the
chief guest, the Lady Joanna of Scotland was handed to her place by the
Duke of York, who, as she now perceived, though small in stature, was
eminently handsome and graceful, and conversed with her, not as a mere
child, but as a fair lady of full years.

Eleanor, who sat on his other hand beside the Earl of Salisbury, was
rather provoked with her sister for never asking after the fate of her
champion; but was reassured by seeing his red head towering among the
numerous squires and other retainers of the second rank. It certainly
was not his proper place, but it was plain that he was not in disgrace;
and in fact the whole affair had been treated as a mere pardonable
blunder of the rangers. The superior one was sitting next to the young
Scot, making good cheer with him. Grand as the whole seemed to the
travellers, it was not an exceptional banquet; indeed, the Duchess
apologised for its simplicity, since she had been taken at unawares,
evidently considering it as the ordinary family meal. There was ample
p