The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1577 part 2 | Page 3

with female domestics. These, with
the guards and other attendants, made up the retinue. On meeting the
Queen's litter, Don John sprang from his horse and presented his
greetings. The Queen returned his salutation, in the French fashion, by
offering her cheek to his embrace, extending the same favor to the

Duke of Aerschot and the Marquis of Havre. The cavaliers then
remounted and escorted the Queen to Namur, Don John riding by the
side of the litter and conversing with her all the way. It was late in the
evening when the procession arrived in the city. The streets had,
however, been brilliantly illuminated; houses and shops, though it was
near midnight, being in a blaze of light. Don John believing that no
attentions could be so acceptable at that hour as to provide for the
repose of his guest, conducted the Queen at once to the lodgings
prepared for her. Margaret was astonished at the magnificence of the
apartments into which she was ushered. A spacious and stately hall,
most gorgeously furnished, opened into a series of chambers and
cabinets, worthy, in their appointments, of a royal palace. The tent and
bed coverings prepared for the Queen were exquisitely embroidered in
needlework with scenes representing the battle of Lepanto. The great
hall was hung with gorgeous tapestry of satin and velvet, ornamented
with columns of raised silver work, and with many figures in antique
costume, of the same massive embroidery. The rest of the furniture was
also of satin, velvet, cloth of gold, and brocade. The Queen was dazzled
with so much magnificence, and one of the courtiers could not help
expressing astonishment at the splendor of the apartments and
decorations, which, as he observed to the Duke of Aerschot; seemed
more appropriate to the palace of a powerful monarch than to the
apartments of a young bachelor prince. The Duke replied by explaining
that the expensive embroidery which they saw was the result, not of
extravagance, but of valor and generosity. After the battle of Lepanto,
Don John had restored the two sons, who had been taken prisoners, of a
powerful Turkish bashaw. The father; in gratitude had sent this
magnificent tapestry as a present to the conqueror, and Don John had
received it, at Milan; in which city, celebrated for the taste of its
upholsterers; it had been arranged for furniture.
The next morning a grand mass with military music was performed,
followed by a sumptuous banquet in the grand hall. Don John and the
Queen sat at a table three feet apart from the rest, and Ottavio Gonzaga
served them wine upon his knees. After the banquet came, as usual; the
ball, the festivities continuing till late in the night, and Don John
scarcely quitting his fair guest for a moment. The next afternoon, a
festival had been arranged upon an island in the river. The company

embarked upon the Meuse, in a fleet of gaily-scarfed; and painted
vessels, many of which were filled with musicians. Margaret reclined
in her gilded barge, under a richly embroidered canopy. A fairer and
falser Queen than "Egypt," had bewitched the famous youth who had
triumphed not, lost the world, beneath the heights of Actium. The
revellers landed on the island, where the banquet was already spread
within a spacious bower of ivy, and beneath umbrageous elms. The
dance upon the sward was protracted to a late hour, and the summer
stars had been long in the sky when the company returned to their
barges.
Don John, more than ever enthralled by the bride of St. Bartholomew,
knew not that her sole purpose in visiting his dominion had been to
corrupt his servants and to undermine his authority. His own purpose,
however, had been less to pay court to the Queen than to make, use of
her presence to cover his own designs. That purpose he proceeded
instantly to execute. The Queen next morning pursued her voyage by
the river to Liege, and scarcely had she floated out of his sight than he
sprang upon his horse and, accompanied by a few trusty attendants,
galloped out of the gate and across the bridge which led to the citadel.
He had already despatched the loyal Berlaymont, with his four equally
loyal sons, the Seigneurs de Meghen, Floyon, Hierges, and
Haultepenne to that fortress. These gentlemen had informed the
castellan that the Governor was about to ride forth hunting, and that it
would be proper to offer him the hospitalities of the castle as he passed
on his way. A considerable number of armed men had been concealed
in the woods and thickets of the neighbourhood. The Seigneur de
Froymont, suspecting nothing, acceded to the propriety of the
suggestion made by the Berlaymonts. Meantime, with a blast of his
horn, Don John appeared