chamber, wherein sat (I think) near a hundred in cloth of gold, and then into the chamber where his grace sat, and there, I think, were more than in the other chamber, also in cloth of gold; and we did our duty, and showed his grace our Queen’s grace’s letters, with a note of your present which was left in Vologda, and then his grace did ask how our Queen’s grace did, calling her cousin, saying that he was glad that we were come in health into his realm, and we went one by one unto him and took him by the hand, and then his grace did bid us go in health, and come to dinner again; and we dined in his presence, and were set with our faces towards his grace, and none in the chamber sat with their backs towards him, being, I think, near a hundred at dinner then, and all served with gold as platters, chargers, pots, cups, and all not slender, but very massive, and yet a great number of platters of gold, standing still on the cupboard, not moved. And divers times in the dinner-time his grace sent us meat and drink from his own table; and when we had dined we went up to his grace and received a cup with drink at his own hand, and the same night his grace sent certain gentlemen to us with divers sorts of wine and medow, to whom we gave a reward. And afterwards we were by divers Italians counselled to take heed whom we did trust to make the copy of the privileges that we would desire to have for fear it should not be written in the Russian tongue, as we did mean. So first, a Russian did write for us a breviate to the Emperor, the tenour whereof was, that we did desire a stronger privilege. And when the secretary saw it he did deliver it to his grace; and when we came again his grace willed us to write our minds, and he would see it, and so we did. And his grace is so troubled with preparations to wars that as yet we have no answer. But we have been required of his secretary, and of the under-chancellor, to know what wares we have brought into the realm, and what wares we do intend to have that are or may be had in this realm. And we showed them; that they showed the Emperor thereof. And then they said his grace’s pleasure was that his best merchants of the Moscow should be spoken to to meet and talk with us. And so a day was appointed, and we met in the secretary his office, and there was the under-chancellor, who was not past two years since the Emperor’s merchant, and not his chancellor. And then the conclusion of our talk was that the chancellor willed us to bethink us where we would desire to have a house or houses, that we might come to them as to our own house, and for merchandise to be made preparation for us, and they would know our prices of our wares and frise. And we answered, that for our prices they must see the wares before we could make any price thereof, for the like in goodness had not been brought into the realm, and we did look for an example of all sorts of our wares