Beside her sat King Philip in magnificent apparel, and wearing the Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Few guests were present, conspicuous among them being the Queen's half-sister, the Lady Elizabeth, lately restored to Court favour; next to her sat De Noailles, the French Ambassador, with whom the Princess kept up a lively conversation.
Don Renard and the Lords Paget, Pembroke, Arundel, and Clinton were there, all in splendid attire.
The hall was hung with the beautiful arras collected by King Henry the Eighth, and a soft pleasant light diffused from silver lamps fed with perfumed oil. Foreign minstrels provided sweet music, to which the guests seemed to pay little heed, for to-night the Queen was in unusually good spirits, and the Court, taking its cue from her, jested and laughed freely.
Later on, supper being ended, the Court (now largely augmented in numbers) met in the gorgeous salon which was adorned by some famous pictures of Titian, brought hither, perhaps, by Philip, whose father, Charles V, was the great patron of the painter.
On the walls also hung portraits by Holbein and many works of the Flemish and Italian schools.
The furniture of the room was of costly nature, being chiefly of ebony, richly inlaid with mother-of-pearl.
Here the light was given by hundreds of wax candles, set in silver sconces, and it shone upon the fairest dames which England had to show to the proud Castilian nobles who grouped around the King.
Here, also, great Churchmen were present—among whom the Cardinal stood pre-eminent in his scarlet robes.
Presently the Cardinal found his way to the side of Queen Mary, who welcomed him with a smile, though it was a faint and weary one. For Mary was growing feeble in health and broken in spirits, though, to-night, she had shown herself more like the Mary Tudor of former days.