noon
Thousands of citizens , open-mouthed , gazed down the long arenas of green festooned with every sort of decoration and picturesque invention . Cages of large birds from the Indies , fruits , corn , fishes , grapes hung in the trees , players perched in the branches discoursed sweet music , and poets recited their verses from rustic bridges or on platforms with weapons and armor hung trophywise on ragged staves . Upon a small lake a dolphin , four-and-twenty feet in length , came swimming , within its belly a lively orchestra ; Italian tumblers swung from rope to bar ; and crowds gathered at the places where bear and bull baiting were to excite the none too fastidious tastes of the time . All morning the gay delights went on , and at high noon the cry was carried from mouth to mouth , `` The Queen ! The Queen ! '' She appeared on a balcony , surrounded by her lords and ladies , and there received the diplomatists , speaking at length to the French envoy in a tone of lightness and elusive cheerfulness which he was at a loss to understand , and tried in vain to pierce by cogent remarks bearing on matters of moment involved in his embassage . Not far away stood Leicester , but the Queen had done no more than note his presence by a glance , and now and again with ostentatious emphasis she spoke to Angèle , whom she had had brought to her in the morning before chapel-going .