“3. Item, a ‘chamber’[54] in gold, silk, and wool, with a device of little children on a river bank, with birds flying overhead. There are three hangings to match, bed-furniture and sofa-cover. The counterpane is embroidered with a group of children, their heads meeting in the middle. Item, three other hangings, with a cherry-tree, and a dame and a squire gathering cherries in a basket--which go with the aforesaid chamber-hangings to make up (_pour fournir_). “4. Item, another ‘chamber,’ of a brownish green, _sans_ gold, with a lady holding a harp; and there are six hangings to match, with bed-furniture, and a quilt for the couch. “17. Item, a great tapestry, with the history of the destruction of Troy the Great. “Item, two wall hangings, with the victories of Theseus. “Item, a green velvet cover for a couch, and a long cushion covered with green velvet, and two chair cushions, also of green velvet. “19. Item, a white ‘chamber,’ sown with gladiolus; bed-furniture, quilt for couch, and four rugs. “20. Item, a set of green tapestries de haute lisse, with the Fountain of Youth and several personages; with bed-hangings, counterpanes, sofa-covers, and six wall-hangings, all worked with gold, without guards (linen coverings or _housses_). “Item, a ‘chamber,’ representing a lady playing with a knight at the game of chess. “Item, a set of hangings of cloth of gold, including bed-curtains, counterpane, and two large cushions.” These tapestries must have been as marvellous as those exquisite rose-grey hangings which still adorn the upper gallery of the Musée Cluny. The smaller curtains were stretched over screens of wicker, or served to drape the great roofed and cushioned settle near the fire, while cloths of gold and silver curtained the throne-like faldestuil reserved for the master of the house. Mats of plaited rushes, not unlike our India matting, were laid in winter on the floors under the delicate rugs of wool, imitated from the industry of the East; but in summer a strew of fresh rushes, mint, and gladiolus (that flower so dear to mediæval eyes), covered the pavement with a cool fragrance, while a bough of some green tree or flowering bush filled the hearth.[55] Great soft cushions, “carreaux” or “couettes,” were placed, sometimes on the chairs and benches, sometimes on the floor itself, according to their size. They served, like the tabourets of Saint Simon, for people of lesser dignity, seated on occasions of ceremony, in presence of their lord. There were also _bankers_, or stuffed backless benches (divans, as we should say), placed against the wall; _dossiers_, a sort of short sofa with a back and cushions; and armchairs provided with _pavilions_, or tester and curtains to keep off the draughts. There were always carpets in rich halls or chambers; long, narrow ones in front of the bankers and the settle, and larger thicker “tapis velus” in the middle of the room. Rugs of embroidered Hungarian leather, and skins of leopard