It was to this door that Sir Amyas went, acknowledging with a lift of
the finger the salute of his men. (It was plain that this place was
under strict military discipline.) With the two, the real and the false
physician following him, he pulled aside the curtain and rapped
imperiously on the door. It was opened after a moment's delay by a
frightened-faced woman.
"Her Grace?" demanded the officer sharply. "Is she still abed?"
"Her Grace is risen, sir," said the woman tremulously; "she is in the
inner room."
Sir Amyas strode straight on, pulled aside a second curtain hanging over
the further door, rapped upon that, too, and without even waiting for an
answer this time, beyond the shrill barking of dogs within, opened it
and passed in. Mr. Bourgoign followed; and Robin came last. The door
closed softly behind him.
III
The room was furnished with more decency than any he had seen in this
harsh house; for, although at the time he thought that he had no eyes
for anything but one figure which it contained, he found himself
afterwards able to give a very tolerable account of its general
appearance. The walls were hung throughout with a dark-blue velvet
hanging, stamped with silver fleur-de-lys. There were tapestries on the
floor, between which gleamed the polished oak boards, perfectly kept, by
the labours (no doubt) of her Grace's two women (since such things would
be mere "fiddle-faddle" to the honest soldier); a graceful French table
ran down the centre of the room, very delicately carved, and beneath it
two baskets from which looked out the indignant heads of a couple of
little spaniels; upon it, at the nearer end, were three or four cages of
turtle-doves, melancholy-looking in this half-lit room; old,
sun-bleached curtains of the same material as that which hung on the
walls, shrouded the two windows on the right, letting but a half light
into the room: there was a further door, also curtained, diagonally
opposite that by which the party had entered; and in the centre of the
same wall a tall blue canopy, fringed with silver, rose to the ceiling.
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