At the head of the staircase, followed more closely now by the Duke, the King turned into the little withdrawing room, from which the huge windows, above the main entrance of the palace, opened.
The windows had been flung wide open.
The King crossed the room, and stepped through the windows out on to the stone balcony, above the main entrance.
A great roar of cheers, a wild waving of flags and hands, from which he all but recoiled, greeted his appearance.
The Duke halted, behind him, out of sight, just inside the windows—
For the next twenty or thirty minutes, save for brief rests in a chair, placed in readiness for him in the little withdrawing room behind him, the King was out on the balcony, bareheaded, in the blazing noon sunshine, smiling and bowing in acknowledgment of the wild enthusiasm of the crowd.
The people were insatiable.
Over and over again, when he sought to prolong his all too short rests in the little room behind him, he was compelled to return to the balcony, in response to the insistent, the tumultuous demands of the crowd.
Once or twice, he made the Duke appear on the balcony, at his side. But the people clearly preferred his solitary appearances—
The little room behind him gradually filled. A number of the more important Court officials, and certain privileged members of the household staff, gathered there, and stood in little groups, well back from the windows.