One moment Betty saw them thus. Then, the whole scene vanished, and instead of standing in the sunlight in the Park under the trees, she found herself in a gorgeous ball-room, lighted by hundreds of wax candles in sconces against the gilded walls. It was filled with men and women beautifully dressed in the costume of Stuart days, which Betty recognized from portraits she had seen of people belonging to Restoration times. The men carried in their hands big felt hats with sweeping feathers, and they all wore wigs with long curls to the shoulders, while the ladies were gay in rich brocades, and sparkled with jewels. A buzz of talk and laughter almost drowned the music played in a gallery above. [Illustration] “They are waiting for the King and Queen to come in and open the ball,” Godmother said. “Do you see Mr. Pepys in that corner under the musicians’ gallery? He is talking to his friend Mr. Povey, a member of Parliament, who has brought him here to-night to see this particular ball.” Presently the doors at one end of the room were flung open and the King, leading the Queen by the hand, entered, followed by his brother, the Duke of York, who led the Duchess. Then the dancing began. At first it was a stately dance called the _Brantle_, in which the couples followed one another round the room, keeping step to the music. “That’s the Duke of Monmouth bowing low to Lady Castlemaine,” Godmother said, seeing that Betty was watching a very handsome young man whose partner was a pretty lady in a wonderful gown of blue and silver. “You will read about his tragic end in your history. But now he is young and gay and in high favour with the King.” “Look! the King and a lady are dancing alone!” cried Betty. “Doesn’t he dance well?” “That dance is called a _Coranto_. You see that every one in the room stands up when the King dances. There! He is calling to the musicians for a merrier tune, and now we shall see a country dance, very different from these stately measures.” In a moment or two indeed the whole gay throng was jigging to a lively air such as Betty had heard the fiddler play for the milkmaids in Drury Lane. “It’s a Morris dance,” she exclaimed. “We learn it at school.” “Yes, there’s a fashion in our day to bring back the old-fashioned country dances that were common in England two or three hundred years ago. See how the King is enjoying it,” she added. “You can understand why, in spite of his failings as a ruler, he is so popular with his subjects. They love his free and easy ways, and his lazy good-nature.” “I suppose Mr. Pepys will write about this ball?” Betty suggested. [Illustration: THE KING ENTERED, LEADING THE QUEEN BY THE HAND] “Oh yes. The ‘Diary’ says, ‘_Mr. Povey and I to Whitehall: he taking me thither on purpose to carry me into the ball this night before the King_,’ and a few lines further on we read, ‘_Then to country dances; the King leading the first, which he called for_.’”