Note 18 — DISCOURSE V. MARGUERITE, QUEEN OF FRANCE AND OF NAVARRE, SOLE DAUGHTER NOW REMAINING OF THE NOBLE HOUSE OF FRANCE.[12]

The story goes that she refused to answer at the marriage ceremony; on which her brother, Charles IX., put his hand behind her head and made her nod, which was taken for consent. In after years, the ground given for her divorce was that of being married against her will. The marriage took place on a stage erected before the west front of the cathedral of Notre-Dame; the King of Navarre being a Protestant, the service could not be performed in the church. It was here, in view of the assembled multitude, that Marguerite’s nod was forcibly given when she resolutely refused to answer. Following Brantôme’s delight in describing fine clothes, the wedding gown should be mentioned here. It was cloth of gold, the body so closely covered with pearls as to look like a cuirass; over this was a blue velvet mantle embroidered with fleurs-de-lys, nearly five yards long, which was borne by one hundred and twenty of the handsomest women in France. Her dark hair was loose and flowing, and was studded with diamond stars. The Duc de Guise, le Balafré, with his family connections and all his retainers, left Paris that morning, unable to bear the spectacle of the marriage.—Tr.