bride; feathers waved and jewels flashed on every side; silks and
velvets swept the marble floor; and the brilliant uniforms of the royal
guard were seen in startling contrast with the uncovered shoulders of
the Court dames, which were laden with gems; while, to complete the
gorgeousness of the picture, the high altar blazed with light, and
wrought gold, and precious stones; and the magnificent robes of the
prelates and priests who surrounded the shrine, formed a centre worthy
of the rich framework by which it was enclosed.

At the termination of the ceremony, gold and silver coins were thrown to
the crowd, and the procession returned to the palace in the same order
as it had reached the church.

Great, however, as was the satisfaction which Henri IV had publicly
expressed at his marriage, and lavish as were the encomiums that he had
passed upon the grace and beauty of his wife, it is, nevertheless,
certain that he by no means permitted this legitimate admiration to
interfere with his passion for Madame de Verneuil, to whom he constantly
despatched couriers, charged with both letters and presents; and whom he
even permitted to speak of the Queen in her replies in a disrespectful
manner. But the crowning proof of the inequality of the struggle which
was about to ensue between the wife and the mistress, was the departure
of the King from Lyons on the 18th of December, the second day after his
marriage;[123] when, announcing his intention of travelling post to
Paris, he left the Queen and her suite to follow at their leisure. That
the haughty spirit of Marie de Medicis was stung by this abrupt
abandonment, and that her woman-pride revolted, will admit of no doubt;
nor is it wonderful that her indignation and jealousy should have been
aroused when she discovered that, instead of pursuing his way to the
capital, where the public arrangements necessitated by the peace with
Savoy, which he had just concluded, required his presence, the King had
embarked at Roanne, and then proceeded from Briare, where he landed, to
Fontainebleau, whence on the morrow, after dining at Villeneuve, he had
travelled at once to Verneuil, and remained there three days before he
entered Paris. Nor even after his arrival in the capital was his conduct
such as to reassure her delicacy; for Bassompierre has left it upon
record that the newly-wedded sovereign took up his abode with M. de
Montglat, at the priory of St. Nicolas-du-Louvre, where he constant