"Ay, love," said the Earl, "if thou wilt share my state with me."
"Not so," said the Countess; "I will sit on this footstool at thy feet,
that I may spell over thy splendour, and learn, for the first time, how
princes are attired."
And with a childish wonder, which her youth and rustic education
rendered not only excusable but becoming, mixed as it was with a
delicate show of the most tender conjugal affection, she examined and
admired from head to foot the noble form and princely attire of him who
formed the proudest ornament of the court of England's Maiden Queen,
renowned as it was for splendid courtiers, as well as for wise
counsellors. Regarding affectionately his lovely bride, and gratified by
her unrepressed admiration, the dark eye and noble features of the Earl
expressed passions more gentle than the commanding and aspiring
look which usually sat upon his broad forehead, and in the piercing
brilliancy of his dark eye; and he smiled at the simplicity which
dictated the questions she put to him concerning the various ornaments
with which he was decorated.
"The embroidered strap, as thou callest it, around my knee," he said,
"is the English Garter, an ornament which kings are proud to wear. See,
here is the star which belongs to it, and here the Diamond George, the
jewel of the order. You have heard how King Edward and the Countess of
Salisbury--"
"Oh, I know all that tale," said the Countess, slightly blushing, "and
how a lady's garter became the proudest badge of English chivalry."
"Even so," said the Earl; "and this most honourable Order I had the good
hap to receive at the same time with three most noble associates, the
Duke of Norfolk, the Marquis of Northampton, and the Earl of Rutland.
I was the lowest of the four in rank--but what then? he that climbs a
ladder must begin at the first round."
"But this other fair collar, so richly wrought, with some jewel like a
sheep hung by the middle attached to it, what," said the young Countess,
"does that emblem signify?"
"This collar," said the Earl, "with its double fusilles interchanged
with these knobs, which are supposed to present flint-stones sparkling
with fire, and sustaining the jewel you inquire about, is the badge of
the noble Order of the Golden Fleece, once appertaining to the House
of Burgundy it hath high privileges, my Amy, belonging to it, this most
noble Order; for even the King of Spain himself, who hath now succeeded
to the honours and demesnes of Burgundy, may not sit in judgment upon
a knight of the Golden Fleece, unless by assistance and consent of the
Great Chapter of the Order."