“Yolande is one of the most lovely creatures anybody could imagine.” So wrote grim old Juvenal des Ursins, the chatty chronicler of Courts. She brought to her royal spouse a rich dowry--much of the private wealth of her father and many art treasures, among them great lustred dishes and vases of Hispano-Moorish potters’ work, with the royal arms and cipher thereon. Four baronies, too, passed to the Sicily-Anjou crown: Lunel in Languedoc--famed for vintages of sweet muscatel wines--Berre, Martignes, and Istres, all bordering the salt Étang de Berre, in Provence, each a Venice in miniature, and rich in salt, salt-dues, and works. The royal bride’s splendid marriage-chests were packed full of costly products of King Juan’s kingdoms: table services in gold from Zaragoza and finely-cut gems; delicate glass _arruxiados_, or scent-sprinklers, and crystal tazzas from Barcelona--more famous than Murano; great brazen vessels from Valencia and richly-woven textiles. The same veracious historian has painted a picture in words of the youthful Yolande. “Tall,” he says, “slim, erect, well proportioned in her frame, her features of a Spanish cast, dark lustrous hair, the Queen-Duchess has an intrepid heart and an elevated spirit, which give animation and distinction to her charming personality. She is remarkable for decision, and commands obedience by her authoritative manner.” The Court did not tarry long at Arles, for, in spite of the beauty of the women and the gallantry of the men and its other notable attractions, it was, after all, somewhat of a dull, unhealthy place. A move was accordingly made,--before, indeed, the festivities were quite exhausted,--to the comfortable and roomy _manoir_ of Tarascon, a very favourite country residence of all the Provence Princes. The gardens were famous, and laid out in the Italian manner, and the extensive park and fresh-water lakes were well stocked with game and fish. The _fêtes galants_ of Louis XV. and “La Pompadour” here had their model. The bridal couple, with their guests and retainers,--often as not in the guise of shepherds and shepherdesses,--thus kept there state for three merry months, until the warmer spring weather hurried them off to Angers, in the north. [Illustration: FAVOURITE RECREATIONS 1. A DIGNIFIED MUSIC PARTY. 2. HAND-BALL AND CHESS Both from Miniatures in MS., Fourteenth Century, “Valeur Maxime” British Museum _To face page 50_]