The Midnight Queen [61]
followed her, and entered the salle a manger with the rest, and
Sir Norman and his keepers were left in the hall of state,
monarchs of all they surveyed. Notwithstanding he knew his hours
were numbered, the young knight could not avoid feeling curious,
and the tapestry having been drawn aside, he looked through the
arch with a good deal of interest.
The apartment was smaller than the one in which he stood - though
still very large, and instead of being all crimson and gold, was
glancing and glittering with blue and silver. These azure
hangings were of satin, instead of velvet, and looked quite light
and cool, compared to the hot, glowing place where he was. The
ceiling was spangled over with silver stars, with the royal arms
quartered in the middle, and the chairs were of white, polished
wood, gleaming like ivory, and cushioned with blue satin. The
table was of immense length, as it had need to be, and flashed
and sparkled in the wax lights with heaps of gold and silver
plate, cut-glass, and precious porcelain. Golden and crimson
wines shone in the carved decanters; great silver baskets of
fruit were strewn about, with piles of cakes and confectionery -
not to speak of more solid substantials, wherein the heart of
every true Englishman delighteth. The queen sat in a great,
raised chair at the head, and helped herself without paying much
attention to anybody, and "the remainder were ranged down its
length, according to their rank - which, as they were all pretty
much dukes and duchesses, was about equal.
The spirits of the company - depressed for a moment by the
unpleasant little circumstance of seeing one of their number
beheaded - seemed to revive under the spirituous influence of
sherry, sack, and burgundy; and soon they were laughing, and
chatting, and hobnobbing, as animatedly as any dinner-party Sir
Norman had ever seen. The musicians, too, appeared to be in high
feather, and the merriest music of the day assisted the noble
banqueters' digestion.
Under ordinary circumstances, it war rather a tantalizing scene
to stand aloof and contemplate; and so the guards very likely
felt; but Sir Norman's thoughts were of that room in black, the
headsman's axe, and Leoline. He felt he would never see her
again - never see the sun rise that was to shine on their bridal;
and he wondered what she would think of him, and if she was
destined to fall into the hands of Lord Rochester or Count
L'Estrange. As a general thing, our young friend was not given
to melancholy moralizing, but in the present case, with the
headsman's axe poised like the sword of Damocles above him by a
single hair, he may be pardoned for reflecting that this world is
all a fleeting show, and that he had got himself into a scrape,
to which the plague was a trifle. And yet, with nervous
impatience, he wished the dinner and his trial were over, his
fate sealed, and his life ended at once, since it was to be ended
soon. For the fulfillment of the first wish, he had not long to
wait; the feast, though gay and grand, was of the briefest, and
they could have scarcely been half an hour gone when they were
all back.
Everybody seemed in better humor, too, after the refection, but
the queen and the dwarf - the former looked colder, and harder,
and more like a Labrador iceberg tricked out in purple velvet,
than ever, and his highness was grinning from ear to ear - which
was the very worst possible sign. Not even her majesty could
make the slightest excuse for delaying the trial now; and,
indeed, that eccentric lady seemed to have no wish to do so, had
she the power, but seated herself in silent disdain of them all,
and dropping her long lashes over her dark eyes, seemed to forget
there was anybody in existence but herself.
His highness and his nobles took their stations of authority
behind the green table, and summoned the guards to lead the
prisoner