"He's in a temper! look! Ay, but I like him the better for that. He hath spirit. What led him to help the girl out of prison?"
"Is she to be brought here at the same time? It would be better sport so."
"He looks ready to fight any man here."
"What do you think the king will do with him?"
And so on. They knew I could hear much of what they said, and yet they discussed me as though I were the king's spaniel which I saw sat upon his Majesty's knee.
After a few minutes there was another hush, and looking towards the door I saw Mistress Constance enter. The light of the candles did not make the great apartment very bright; but I saw that she had been in the hands of a tiring woman, who had dressed her with great care. She was attired more plainly than they, although I doubt if any were dressed with more beauty. Her hair, moreover, was carefully arranged after the fashion of the times, and I saw it gleam in the candlelight.
Every eye in the room was upon her, and no wonder. Fair as were many of the court dames who had gathered there, not one of them could compare with Mistress Constance. Her face was flushed, half I thought with anger, for she as well as I must have realized that she was brought there to give the king pleasure as well as to be judged for what she had done. In truth the whole matter seemed to me at that moment as mere play-acting. This was no judgement hall at all. It was a gathering of the king's friends, and the king thought to entertain himself and them by what should take place.
Nevertheless, I saw that she was in no mood to be trifled with. Her eyes shone with a steady light, and I knew by her compressed lips that she meant to bear whatever ordeal through which she had to pass, without fear. Her movements, moreover, showed no excitement. She walked steadily into the compartment, carrying herself as though she were a queen. The women there saw this as well as I, and if they envied her it was no wonder, for a more beauteous face, or a nobler formed maiden surely never stood before a king.
I turned and took one look at Charles, and I noted that his eyes were opened wider than was their wont, and there was a look in them for which I would gladly have killed him. His pale, fleshy face was eager, too, as though he were vastly enjoying himself. For a moment he seemed to forget the dog he had been fondling, as well as the handsome woman to whom he had been speaking.
"Lucy Walters must have been fair indeed if she were fairer than she."