356 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



by the splendour of her jewels. The hour of recep- 

 tion by the archduke had arrived. The exterior of 

 the spacious edifice was illuminated from end to end 

 by numerous torches, and the capacious staircase was 

 lighted by a double rank of torch-bearers in splendid 

 apparel. In the interior of the vast apartment huge 

 waxen tapers were fixed above the chevron, or zigzag 

 moulding, which ran round the walls and connected 

 the casement of each window. Large crystal lamps, 

 pendant from the point of each inverted pinnacle 

 on the lofty roof, diffused a flood of brilliant 

 light, and imparted life and colour to the rich 

 tapestries, portraying stirring scenes from the Cru- 

 sades, which covered the walls from floor to window. 

 Complete suits of armour, exhibiting every known 

 device of harness, and numerous weapons, fancifully 

 arranged, decorated the spaces between the windows. 

 And now began to appear in this scene of splendour 

 groups of knights and nobles, arrayed in velvet and 

 cloth-of-gold, and attending upon fair dames, spark- 

 ling with jewels, and bearing nodding plumes upon 

 their braided hair. Conspicuous amidst these, and 

 towering above all in stature, appeared the haughty 

 mistress of Strasolda, attired in a robe of dark-green 

 velvet, which well relieved the fairness of her com- 

 plexion, and displaying upon her finely moulded 

 neck and arms a collar and bracelets of large and 

 lustrous oriental pearls. Her fingers were bedecked 

 with costly rings, and upon her head she wore an 



