The solemnity ended, the royal couple returned to the choir, where a cloth of estate had been prepared for them, beneath which they sat while _Te Deum_ was solemnly sung. Here the picture was even grander than that exhibited in the Lady Chapel, because it comprehended so much more of the cathedral. Fortunately, it could be seen by the vast crowd in the nave. All being concluded, the royal couple quitted the sacred edifice, walking hand in hand beneath the canopy. Before them marched the Earls of Pembroke and Derby, each bearing a sword of state. In this manner, amid the thunder of artillery, the sounding of trumpets, and the shouts of the crowd, they returned to Wolvesey Castle, where a grand banquet was given, followed by a state ball. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration] CHAPTER VI. HOW PHILIP, WITH FOUR-AND-TWENTY NOBLE GUESTS, DINED AT ARTHUR’S ROUND TABLE IN WINCHESTER CASTLE; AND HOW THE FEAST ENDED. The royal couple sojourned at Wolvesey Castle for a week, and during that time a series of grand entertainments were given to all the nobility who had attended the marriage ceremony. Pageants were exhibited in the city, and in the pleasant meads beyond the South-gate sports and pastimes of various kinds took place—to wit, archery, horse-races, foot-races, throwing of heavy weights, wrestling, rowing and swimming matches in the Itchen, bear-baiting, badger-baiting, bull-running, cock-fighting, duck-hunting in the river, and other diversions, in which our ancestors delighted. These sports, many of which were novel to them, afforded much amusement to Philip and the Spanish nobles. Mindful of his promise to the Duke of Norfolk to feast his grace at Arthur’s Round Table in Winchester Castle, Philip appointed the day before his departure for the banquet. Twenty-four guests were invited, half of whom were English nobles, and the other half Spanish grandees. In the midst of the great hall of the castle, which was more than a hundred and fifty feet long, and with a lofty roof of open rafters, richly sculptured, was placed “——the pride of warlike years, Old Arthur’s board—” in other words, the famous Round table, at which King Arthur and his illustrious knights had often feasted.