Heavy curtains were drawn before the deep bay windows,
increasing the gloom. The chamber was lighted by a brass lamp suspended
from the moulded ceiling, the ribs of which were painted, and the
bosses, at the intersections, gilded. Near the concealed entrance where
the lady stood was placed a large curiously-carved ebony cabinet,
against which leaned a suit of tilting armour and a lance; while on its
summit were laid a morion, a brigandine, greaves, gauntlets, and other
pieces of armour. On the right of the cabinet the tapestry was looped
aside, disclosing a short flight of steps, terminated by the door of an
anti-chamber.
Almost as the lady set foot within the room, which she did after a brief
deliberation, dropping the arras noiselessly behind her, the young man
arose. Her entrance had not been perceived, so violently was he
agitated. Crushing the letter which had excited him so much between his
fingers, and casting it furiously from him, he gave vent to an
incoherent expression of rage. Though naturally extremely handsome, his
features at this moment were so distorted by passion that they looked
almost hideous. In person he was slight and finely-formed; and the
richness of his attire proclaimed him of rank.
The lady who, unperceived, had witnessed his violent emotion was
remarkably beautiful. Her figure was superb; and she had the whitest
neck and arms imaginable, and the smallest and most delicately-formed
hands. Her features derived something of haughtiness from a slightly
aquiline nose and a short curled upper lip.
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