ay in the magnificent
banqueting-room of Montacute Castle, feasting, amid pyramids of gold
plate, on the masterpieces of Leander, there was not a single individual
who did not possess one of the two great qualifications: they were all
of them cousins of the Duke of Bellamont, or proprietors in his county.

But we must not anticipate, the great day of the festival having hardly
yet commenced.

CHAPTER VI.

_A Festal Day_

IN THE Home Park was a colossal pavilion, which held more than two
thousand persons, and in which the townsfolk of Montacute were to dine;
at equal distances were several smaller tents, each of different colours
and patterns, and each bearing on a standard the name of one of the
surrounding parishes which belonged to the Duke of Bellamont, and to
the convenience and gratification of whose inhabitants these tents were
to-day dedicated. There was not a man of Buddleton or Fuddleton; not a
yeoman or peasant of Montacute super Mare or Montacute Abbotts, nor
of Percy Bellamont nor Friar's Bellamont, nor Winch nor Finch, nor of
Mandeville Stokes nor Mandeville Bois; not a goodman true of Carleton
and Ingleton and Kirkby and Dent, and Gillamoor and Padmore and Hutton
le Hale; not a stout forester from the glades of Thorp, or the sylvan
homes of Hurst Lydgate and Bishopstowe, that knew not where foamed and
flowed the duke's ale, that was to quench the longings of his thirsty
village. And their wives and daughters were equally welcome. At the
entrance of each tent, the duke's servants invited all to enter,
supplied them with required refreshments, or indicated their appointed
places at the approaching banquet. In general, though there were many
miscellaneous parties, each village entered the park in procession, with
its flag and its band.

At noon the scene presented the appearance of an immense but
well-ordered fair. In the background, men and boys climbed poles or
raced in sacks, while the exploits of the ginglers, their mischievous
manoeuvres and subtle combinations, elicited frequent bursts of
laughter. Further on, two long-menaced cricket matches called forth all
the skill and energy of Fuddleton and Buddleton, and Winch and Finch.
The great throng of the population, however, was in the precincts of the
terrace, where, in the course of the morning, it was known that the duke
and duchess, with the hero of the day and all their friends, were to
appear, to witness the sports of the people, and