surprise, studied the King's appearance more attentively,
and was surprised to find how differently he now construed his
deportment and features than he had done at their first interview.

These were not much changed in exterior, for Louis, always a scorner of
outward show, wore, on the present occasion, an old dark blue hunting
dress, not much better than the plain burgher suit of the preceding day,
and garnished with a huge rosary of ebony which had been sent to him by
no less a personage than the Grand Seignior, with an attestation that
it had been used by a Coptic hermit on Mount Lebanon, a personage of
profound sanctity. And instead of his cap with a single image, he now
wore a hat, the band of which was garnished with at least a dozen of
little paltry figures of saints stamped in lead. But those eyes, which,
according to Quentin's former impression, only twinkled with the love
of gain, had, now that they were known to be the property of an able and
powerful monarch, a piercing and majestic glance; and those wrinkles
on the brow, which he had supposed were formed during a long series of
petty schemes of commerce, seemed now the furrows which sagacity had
worn while toiling in meditation upon the fate of nations.

Presently after the King's appearance, the Princesses of France, with
the ladies of their suite, entered the apartment. With the eldest,
afterwards married to Peter of Bourbon, and known in French history by
the name of the Lady of Beaujeu, our story has but little to do. She was
tall, and rather handsome, possessed eloquence, talent, and much of her
father's sagacity, who reposed great confidence in her, and loved her as
well perhaps as he loved any one.

The younger sister, the unfortunate Joan, the destined bride of the Duke
of Orleans, advanced timidly by the side of her sister, conscious of a
total want of those external qualities which women are most desirous of
possessing, or being thought to possess. She was pale, thin, and sickly
in her complexion; her shape visibly bent to one side, and her gait was
so unequal that she might be called lame. A fine set of teeth, and eyes
which were expressive of melancholy, softness, and resignation, with
a quantity of light brown locks, were the only redeeming points which
flattery itself could have dared to number, to counteract the general
homeliness of her face and figure. To complete the picture, it was easy
to remark, from the Princess's negligence in dress