s conceived
by the ingenuity of the Emperor. It enabled him, from his observatory,
to see with all the greater ease all that happened in these wall-less
apartments. Several long corridors, profusely ornamented with richly
sculptured columns and porticos after the fashion of Rome, connected
with another set of buildings. A square pavilion, raised considerably
above ground, dominated the system of structures. Octave called
Vortigern's attention to a sort of balcony located in front of the
pavilion. It was the Emperor's observatory. Everywhere a general stir
announced the approaching arrival of Charles. Clerks, soldiers, women,
officers, rhetoricians, monks and slaves crossed one another in great
haste, while several bishops, anxious to present the first homages to
the Emperor, were speeding towards the peristyle of the palace. So
instantly was the Emperor expected and such was the hurly at the event,
that when the cavalcade, of which Vortigern and his grandfather were a
part, entered the court, several people, deceived by the martial
appearance of the troupe, began to cry: "The Emperor!" "Here is the
Emperor's escort!" The cry flew from mouth to mouth, and in an instant
the spacious court was filled with a compact mass of servitors and
pursuivants, through which the escort of the two Bretons was hardly able
to break its way in order to reach a place near the principal portico.
Hildebrad had chosen the spot in order to be among the first to meet
Charles and to present to him the hostages whom he brought from
Brittany. The crowd discovered its mistake in acclaiming the Emperor,
but the false rumor had penetrated the palace and immediately the
concubines of Charles, his daughters and grand-daughters, their servants
and attendants, rushed out and grouped themselves on a spacious terrace
above the portico, near which the two Bretons, together with their
escort, had taken their stand.

"Raise your eyes, Vortigern," Octave said to his companion. "Look and
see what a bevy of beauties the Emperor's palace contains."

Blushing, the young Breton glanced towards the terrace and remained
struck with astonishment at the sight of some twenty-five or thirty
women, all of whom were either daughters or grand-daughters of Charles,
together with his concubines. They were clad in the Frankish fashion,
and presented the most seductive variety of faces, color of hair, shapes
and beauty imaginable. There were among them brunettes and blondes,