Page:Margaret of Angoulême, Queen of Navarre (Robinson 1886).djvu/190

Rh we had never hoped to feel it; and for its sake we pardon a multitude of sins.

A great many details, quite absurd and trivial, which the Queen merely introduced because they really happened, surprise and delight us. From the very first novel of all we seem plunged in a strange world of contrasts; a world of beautiful light—minded ladies, who spend their time in broidering red silk counterpanes, in reading La Belle Dame sans Merci, in devising interviews with their lovers, or in visiting the magician of the town to watch the wasting of wax effigies of those whom they would slay. Galléry was this wizard's name. It gives us a little shock to meet him in such modern and cultured society; but we find stranger flaws in this sumptuous civilisation. Torture is still used in the civic trials of Alençon, where the Duke has absolute power of life and death, like any Duke in Shakespeare's plays. Ten crowns is the proper wage for a hired assassin; and we are delighted to know the exact amount that we should pay him. Sanctuary is still given in palaces and churches; and the orthodox way to secure the ends of justice is by starving out the refugees. All this seems out of date beside the general spread of wealth and comfort. Even among the lower bourgeoisie, servants are to be found in every house: engaged by the quarter, not by the year as in England. There is abundance of rich tapestries; in the humblest households the beds, even of the servants, are finely curtained; and the lit d'honneur is large enough to hold four or five persons. It is still considered a mark of esteem to invite a distinguished guest to share the couch of the host and hostess. Yet, in other respects, there is no lack of privacy. The wives of the small burghers—of the