ng, and
walls hung with wonderful old tapestries. Standing about in groups were
numbers of picturesquely dressed pages, ladies-in-waiting, richly clad,
and Breton gentlemen gorgeous in velvets and lace ruffles, for a hundred
of these always attended Lady Anne wherever she went. At one end of the
hall was a dais spread with cloth of gold, and there, in a carved chair,
sat the Lady Anne herself. She wore a beautiful robe of brocaded crimson
velvet, and over her dark hair was a curious, pointed head-dress of
white silk embroidered with pearls and gold thread.

As Count Henri approached, she greeted him very cordially; and then,
kneeling before her, he said:

"My Lady, I have the happiness to deliver to your hands these bridal
gifts which our gracious sovereign, King Louis, did me the honour to
entrust to my care."

And then, as he handed to her the casket of jewels and the silken
package containing the hour book, she replied:

"Sir Count, I thank you for your courtesy in bearing these gifts to me,
and I am well pleased to receive them."

Then summoning a little page, she told him to carry the presents up to
her own chamber, where she might examine them at her leisure.

By and by, Count Henri withdrew, after asking permission to start the
next morning on his return to Paris; for he wished to report to the
king that he had safely accomplished his errand.

And then Lady Anne, having given orders that he and his followers be
hospitably entertained during their stay in the castle, mounted the
great stone staircase, and went to her own room, for she very much
wanted to look at the gifts from King Louis.

These she found on a table where the little page had placed them. The
casket was uncovered, while the book was still wrapped up in the piece
of silk, so that one could not tell just what it was.

[Illustration: "_Began slowly to turn over the pages_"]

Lady Anne opened the casket first, as it happened to be nearest to her;
and she drew in her breath, and her eyes sparkled with pleasure, as she
lifted out a magnificent necklace, and other rich jewels that gleamed
and glittered in the light like blue and crimson fires. She tried on all
the ornaments, and then, after awhile, when she had admired them to her
heart's content, she took up the silk-covered package, and curiously
unwrapped it. When she saw what it contained, however, her face grew
radiant with delight, and--

"Ah!" she exclaimed to herself, "King Louis's gi