Page:The Queens of England.djvu/524

 474 THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. has given a laughable picture of the royal retinue, which con- sisted of an old duenna ( guarda damas), "more hideous than all her damsels, as stiff as pride and buckram could make her ; six almoners, a confessor, a Jewish performer, and an officer whose functions seem to have afterwards puzzled the whole court and who was entitled the 'queen's barber'!" Catherine gracefully explained to her guest who the persons were that had accompanied her, and they were treated most graciously by the duke, who departed with a favorable impression of the royal bride. Catherine, on this her first appearance in public, spoke to all the officers of the ship, and not only permitted them to kiss her hand, but presented the pilot and master with money for themselves and their crew. James, perceiving at subsequent interviews that Catherine still wore the English costume which she had adopted in compliment to her new coun- try, requested permission to behold her in her national costume, which Catherine having complied with, received a compliment on her appearance. It was, perhaps, this circumstance that led to her afterwards adopting the Portuguese attire, to which she was strongly advised to adhere by her own attendants, who wished her neither to learn English nor to adopt the fashion of this country, but to adhere to her own. Catherine's Portuguese dress was a great novelty to the English, consisting of a full-bottomed wig, with a high bodice, ruff, and farthin- gale ; notwithstanding which, Pepys, who joined in the general amusement at her expense, in ridiculing so odious a fashion, describes the queen as having a good, modest, and innocent look, though not as being "very charming;" and Clarendon thought she had quite enough wit and beauty even to please Charles, had not her bigotry, the result of her ill-education, spoiled her. Catherine, who had arrived on the 14th, and had been con- ducted, on her landing at Portsmouth, to the king's house, there to await her affianced husband who had been detained in London, maintained a strict seclusion for some days, according to etiquette, during which period she was attacked with a sore throat and fever, which not only confined her to her bed, but even placed her life in danger. Of this Charles was not ap- prised, as her recovery was speedy ; but the first interview with Catherine, on the 2Tst of May, took place in her apartment, she being still unable to leave her bed from the effects of suf- fering. A letter from Charles himself describes the impres-