A close-fitting robe of palest blue outlined the perfections of her body.

A single fleur-de-lys in gold was embroidered on the breast of her white bodice, and the same device appeared again and again on the white housing of her palfrey.
She sat in the saddle, gently smiling, and looking down with a sweetness which was either the perfection of finished coquetry or the expression of the finest natural modesty.
Strangely enough, the first thought which came to the Earl Douglas after his surprise was one in which triumph was blended with mirth.
"What will the Abbot and Malise think of this ?" he said, half aloud.
And he turned him about in order to look upon the face of his master armourer.
He found Malise MacKim ashen-pale and drawn of countenance, his mouth open and squared with wonder.

His jaw was fallen slack, and his hands gripped one upon the other like those of a suppliant praying to the saints.
The Earl smiled, and bidding Malise unlace his helmet in compliment to his guests, he stood presently bareheaded before them, his head appearing above the blackness of his armour, bright as a flower with youth and instinct with all the fiery beauty of his race.
It was James the Gross who came forward to act as herald.

"My well-beloved nephew," he began in somewhat whining tones, "I bring you two royal embassies, one from the King of France and the other from the King of Scotland.

I have the honour to present to you the Marshal Gilles de Retz, ambassador of the most Christian King, Charles the Seventh, who will presently deliver his master's message to you." The marshal, who till now had kept his visor down, slowly raised it, and revealed a face which, being once seen, could never afterwards be banished from the memory.
It was a large grey-white countenance, with high cheek-bones and colourless lips, which were continually working one upon the other.
Black eyes were set close together under heavy brows, and a long thin nose curved between them like the beak of an unclean bird.
"Earl William," said the marshal, "I give you greeting in the name of our common liege lord, Charles, King of France, and also in that of his son, the Dauphin Louis.