e--I was present for the first time at the high supper in Whitehall,
which His Majesty gave to the Spanish Ambassador. I had never been at
such a ceremony before; and went out of curiosity only, being given
admission to one of the stands by the door, whence I might see it all.
It would have appeared very strange to me that the King could be so
merry, as he was that night, when so much innocent blood had been shed
upon his own warrant, and when such a man, as my Lord Stafford was, lay
in the Tower, expecting his death six days later;--had I not known the
nature of His Majesty pretty well by now. For, beneath all the
merriment, I think he was not very happy, though he never shewed a sign
of it.

I stood, as I said, upon a little scaffold to the right of the entrance;
and I was glad of it; for there was a great pack of people crowded in,
as the custom was, also to see the spectacle; and they were all about me
and in front, as well as in the gallery where the music was.

The Banqueting Hall had its walls all hung over with very rich tapestry,
representing all kinds of merry scenes of hunting and fighting and the
like, and there were great presses along the walls, piled with plate of
gold and silver. The music was all on the balusters above--wind-music,
trumpets and kettledrums, that played as Their Majesties came in, after
the heralds and Black Rod. I had not had before an opportunity of seeing
the Queen so well as I saw her now; and I watched her closely, for I was
sorry for the poor woman. She was very gloriously dressed in a pale
brocade, with quantities of Flanders lace upon her shoulders and at her
elbows, that set off her little figure very well. She was very handsome,
I thought, though so little; and her complexion and her face were both
very good, except that her teeth shewed too much as she smiled. She
had, however, nothing of that witty or brilliant air about her that
pleased the King so much in women; and she sat very quietly throughout
supper, beside the King, not speaking a great deal. But I thought I saw
in her at first a very piteous desire to please him; and he listened,
smiling, as a man might listen to a dull child; and, indeed, I think
that that was all that he thought of her. His Majesty himself appeared
very noble and gallant, in His Order of the Garter, and with the Golden
Fleece too, over his rich suit. Both Their Majesties wore a good number
of jewels.

Their Majesties sat at a little high table, u