The wedding-day had been originally fixed for the 10th June, but difficulties about the dispensation, and then the illness and death of Joan of Navarre, had caused the ceremony to be delayed. Pius V. had (as we have seen) constantly opposed the marriage, and refused to grant the dispensation required when the parties were of different religions, and also so nearly related. But the new pope, Gregory XIII., appears to have been more compliant, or the letter stating that the bull of dispensation was on the road must have been a forgery.[551] There were many reasons why the marriage should be put off no longer. As the young queen’s health was delicate, and she was soon to become a mother, it was advisable to get her away as early as possible from the noise and malaria of the capital.[552] It was therefore arranged that the wedding should take place on the 18th August. The betrothal was solemnized the day before at the Louvre, whence, after a supper and ball, the bride was conducted by the king and queen, the queen-mother, the Duchess of Lorraine, and other lords and ladies, to the palace of the Bishop of Paris, where, according to the ceremonial observed in such cases, she passed the night. On Monday the King of Navarre went to fetch her: he was accompanied by Anjou and Alençon and a host of other lords of both religions. Charles, Henry, and Condé were dressed alike to show their close affection. “Every body hates me but my brother of Navarre,” the king once said; “and he loves me, and I love him.” Their dress was of pale yellow satin, embroidered with silver, and adorned with pearls and precious stones. The other lords were richly dressed according to their fancy, and contemporaries speak with wonder of the costly ornaments they wore. Michieli, the Venetian embassador, says: “You would not believe there was any distress in the kingdom. The king’s toque, charger, and garments cost from five to six hundred thousand crowns. Anjou, among other jewels in his toque, had a set of thirty-two pearls bought for the occasion at the cost of 23,000 gold crowns of the sun. More than one hundred and twenty ladies dazzled the eyes with the brilliancy of their sumptuous silks, brocades, and velvets, thickly interwoven with gold or silver.” Margaret very complacently describes her own large blue mantle with its train four ells long. According to the custom observed on the marriage of a king’s daughter, the nuptial ceremony was to be performed in a pavilion constructed on the open space fronting the cathedral of Notre Dame. It was a beautiful summer day; cannons roared, the bells rang out cheerily from every steeple, and every roof, window, or spot of ground whence a view of the procession could be caught was densely crowded. But the spectators were not so joyous as they usually are when any great parade of state is to be exhibited. The marriage was not popular, and ominous murmurs against the heretics were heard from time to time. A raised covered platform