gned promptly to introduce
her.

Now rumour of the king's liason had spread beyond the English nation,
and had been whispered even at the secluded court of Portugal, into the
ears of the bride elect. And the queen regent, dreading the trouble
this might draw upon her daughter, had counselled her never to admit
his majesty's mistress into her presence. This advice the young queen
determined to act upon; and accordingly when Charles, a couple of days
after their marriage, presented her with a list of those appointed to
her household--amongst whom was my Lady Castlemaine--her majesty drew a
pen across the name of the dreaded favourite. The king, if surprised
or indignant, made no remark at the time, but none the less held to
the resolution he had taken of appointing the countess a lady of the
bedchamber. No further attempt of intruding his mistress's presence upon
his wife was made until Lady Castlemaine came to Richmond.

It happened on the afternoon of the day on which the favourite arrived
her majesty sat in the great drawing-room, surrounded by a brilliant
throng of noble and beautiful women and gay and gallant men. The windows
of the apartment stood open; outside fountains splashed in the sun;
music played in a distant glade: and all the world seemed glad. And
as the queen listened to pleasant sounds of wit and gossip, murmuring
around her, the courtiers, at sound of a well-known footstep, suddenly
ceasing their discourse, fell back on either side adown the room. At
that moment the king entered, leading a lady apparelled in magnificent
attire, the contour of whose face and outline of whose figure
distinguished her as a woman of supreme and sensuous loveliness.

His majesty, suceedingly rich in waving feathers, glittering satins, and
fluttering ribbons, returned the gracious bows of his courtiers to
right and left; and, unconscious of the curious and perplexed looks they
interchanged, advanced to where his wife sat, and introduced my
Lady Castlemaine. Her majesty bowed and extended her hand, which the
countess, having first courtesyed profoundly, raised to her lips. The
queen either had not caught the name, or had disassociated it from that
of her husband's mistress; but in an instant the character of the woman
presented, and the insult the king had inflicted, flashed upon her mind.
Coming so suddenly, it was more than she could bear; all colour fled
from her face, tears rushed to her eyes, blood gushed from her nost