The low-backed chairs, of which there were but four, carved in ebony, had cushions of velvet with fringes of massive gold; a small cupboard, or beaufet, covered with carpetz de cuir (carpets of gilt and painted leather), of great price, held various quaint and curious ornaments of plate inwrought with precious stones; and beside this--a singular contrast--on a plain Gothic table lay the helmet, the gauntlets, and the battle-axe of the master.

Warwick himself, seated before a large, cumbrous desk, was writing,--but slowly and with pain,--and he lifted his finger as the Nevile approached, in token of his wish to conclude a task probably little congenial to his tastes.

But Marmaduke was grateful for the moments afforded him to recover his self-possession, and to examine his kinsman.
The earl was in the lusty vigour of his age.

His hair, of the deepest black, was worn short, as if in disdain of the effeminate fashions of the day; and fretted bare from the temples by the constant and early friction of his helmet, gave to a forehead naturally lofty yet more majestic appearance of expanse and height.

His complexion, though dark and sunburned, glowed with rich health.