Thus gloriously apparelled, I must on standing up have presented a truly noble and imposing appearance, and I say so without shame of conceit or vanity. I was many inches taller than the tallest of my companions; thanks to my bath in the Fountain of Rejuvenation I had a clear white skin, a sparkling eye, and an elegance of carriage that have rarely been seen by mortal man; whilst the extreme fairness of my complexion and the sheen of my long locks in contrast with so many dusky skins and black heads of hair seemed to attract to themselves some kind of shadowy semi-divine aureole, such as Benvenuto Cellini describes as investing his person after his colloquy with the Blessed Virgin and St Peter in his cell of the castle of Sant'Angelo. I was well aware of the sensation I aroused in all present, even in the Arch-priest; and a thrill of elation, of confidence in the future, possessed me through and through. Whether or no these saturnine priests of the Temple of the Sun chose to regard me as their puppet, their slave, what was that to me? I realised that my marvellous beauty at this moment was an asset whereof nothing they could say or do would lessen my influence in the eyes of the mass of the people I was about to face. All misgivings and tremors left me, as I prepared boldly to move forward and take my part in the coming pageant. To a terrific blast of trumpets and to the explosions of some antiquated-looking mortars that stood on the temple parapet, our procession filed through a narrow doorway on to a broad marble platform. First emerged the nobles attached to the Court in their crimson gala robes, then the priests, a long sinuous line of snowy white; behind them walked the Arch-priest, whilst last of all appeared myself, a tall commanding majestic figure with my equerries to uphold my glittering mantle. My entry into sight of the vast multitude that thronged the courtyard below the platform on which we stood was first greeted by a spell of perfect silence, which in time changed to a long low murmur of approval and awe, and finally to a resounding roar of satisfied delight. Slowly did our long train of nobles, priests, choristers and attendants unwind and fall into proper groups in their assigned places, the whole scene reminding me of some wonderful ballet on an immense stage, with its blending and massing and dividing of the colours of white, red, gold and blue, like the intricate movements of some stately dance.