'g afu 225 



vision, now in brightness and in beauty, and now in shade 

 and sadness. 



Observe that gallant gentleman, holding a lady by the 

 hand, in a large and antique apartment, for the scene has 

 changed from Grafton Castle to the old palace of Reading. 

 That gentleman is Edward IV., and standing round, are 

 peers and princes of the realm, adherents of the house of 

 York, whom the king has convened in council, that he 

 may present to them the lady Elizabeth as his rightful 

 queen, one whom he had wedded because of her 

 exalted worth, for he could never hope to espouse a 

 foreign princess, on account of the house of Lancaster,* 

 The queen is apparently little more than twenty-eight 

 years of age, and her delicate and modest beauty is not 

 impaired by either time or sorrow. Her head is encircled 

 with a high crown of peculiar richness, the numerous 

 points of which are finished by fleur-de-lis. Rich pearls, 

 strung in an elaborate pattern, encircle her beautiful 

 neck, while a small ring, in the middle of her forehead, 

 divides her pale yellow tresses, which descend in waving curls 

 of great length and profusion. Her face is exceedingly 

 fair, and her eyes are timidly cast down. She is royally 

 attired in a splendid kind of gold brocade, woven in 

 stripes of blue and gold, of which the wearing is restricted 

 to the royal reigning family, with a close boddice and tight 

 sleeves, and ermine robings, turned back over the shoul- 

 ders, and the whole dress is girded round the waist with 



* The Sprott. Chronicle. 



L5 



