Page:Catherine of Bragança, infanta of Portugal, & queen-consort of England.djvu/115

 MMEDIATELY the Duke of York had this message brought him by his secretary he prepared to put off for the Royal Charles. He got into his private barge, accompanied by the Duke of Ormonde, Master of Charles's household, the Earl of Chesterfield, who had just been appointed Chamberlain, and the Earl of Carlingford, Catherine's new Master of Ceremonies, together with the Earl of Suffolk and other gentlemen of the Court. Every one wore full court dress, and they must have presented a glittering appearance as they rowed rapidly to the side of the Royal Charles. There, on the deck, the Marquez de Sande, in company with other fidalgos, stood to receive him.

Catherine, at the first intimation of his coming, had put on an English dress of white cloth, trimmed with silver lace, and sat in the innermost cabinet of her cabin to receive him. The little room had been fitted up magnificently with a throne and canopy for the new Queen, and it formed a presence-chamber for her. With what tumult of expectation and hope did Catherine sit and wait to see the first of her new relatives! Whatever emotions stirred her, she was too well trained in state etiquette to betray them.

The Duke, having been received above, was shown