It was the very plainest raiment.

For doublet I wore a buff brigandine, quilted and dagger-proof, and caught at the waist by a girdle of hammered steel; my wine-coloured hose was stout and serviceable, as were my long boots of untanned leather.

Yet prouder was I of this sober apparel than ever king of his ermine.
It may have been an hour or so past noon when, at last, my solitude was invaded by a soldier who came to order me into the presence of the Governor.

I had been sitting at the window, leaning against the bars and looking out at the desolate white landscape, for there had been a heavy fall of snow in the night, which reminded me--as snow ever did--of my first meeting with Madonna Paola.
I rose upon the instant, and my fears rose with me.

But I kept a bold front as I went down into the hall, where Ramiro and the blackguards of his Court were sitting, with three or four men-at-arms at attention by the door.