" Here
follows a whole-length portrait of this specimen of black-letter
majesty.]
In the tapestried room into which the brothers were conducted, sat
the Black Lady of Brabant on a throne elevated considerably above
the floor. The dais was covered with the same rich tapestry as the
hangings which covered the walls, for even in this early age Bruges
was celebrated for such manufactures. The draperies of the throne were
of purple velvet fringed with gold, with a canopy and curtains of the
same rich materials, the latter being looped back with a massive cord
and tassels. The constable supported one side of the throne, and
the seneschal the other. Below these were the cup-bearer and grand
huntsman. Six pages were placed about the steps of the throne, and
the same number of ladies in waiting were also there. Yet Marguerite
herself wanted not the surrounding magnificence to mark her superior
dignity of "Countess by the grace of God," then accorded to only one
county besides her own; for there was a sort of fearful majesty about
her towering height, unbowed either by the weight of years (and she
had already passed what the Psalmist has declared to be the age of
man) or luxurious indulgence. Her face was pale and marked by deep
furrows, indicating an unlimited indulgence of the strong passions
which had rendered her life so unquiet.
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