fashionable form, but
in absolute earnest, it will not be feared that any indelicacy in the
feasters contrasted with the taste and splendour of the feast.[7]

The wines filled by Guillaume, who waited particularly on the Count,
besides the fashionable vin d'Ai of the district,[8] included the vin
de Beaume of Burgundy, the vin d'Orleans, so much prized by Louis le
Jeune, and the powerful vin de Rebrechien (another Orleans wine) which
used formerly to be carried to the field by Henry I. to animate his
courage.[9]

After dinner the guests partook of the amusement of the chase, which
afforded Arthault an opportunity of exhibiting, in all its extent, his
newly-acquired estates--and which, indeed, comprehended a great part of
the family property of Sansavoir; although the Count did not observe,
and therefore no one else was so ill-bred as to do so, an old blackened
building mouldering near the garden-wall, which Sir Launcelot had still
preserved, and where he continued to reside in a kind of dogged defiance
of his enemy.

The festivities of the day were closed by a splendid supper, attended by
music and minstrel songs; and when the sleeping cup had passed round,
the Count Henri retired to the chamber prepared for him, which he found
to be not at all inferior to his own in luxury and magnificence. Vessels
of gold, filled with rose-water, were placed on his dressing-table;
the curtains of the ample bed were ornamented with partridge plumes,
supposed to ensure to the sleeper a long and peaceful life; and, in
short, nothing was wanting that might have been deemed pleasing either
to the taste or superstition of the age.

We halt for the present with this foretaste of the gratification we
may calculate on receiving from nearly every page of the whole Series.
By the way, "the references to authorities for manners, &c. have been
introduced throughout the work, and occasionally, illustrative and
literary notes," at the request of the publisher; and we must not lose
this opportunity of complimenting the sense and good taste of the
suggestion.

[4] Gerard de Rousillon, MS. cited in Tristan le Voyageur.

[5] The paste formed of these materials was spread upon broad
cabbage leaves, which came out of the oven covered with a slight
golden crust, composing the mias cakes.--Tristan le Voyageur.

[6] Tristan le Voyageur. Boiled radishes, it may be important to
know, are an excellent substitute for