On the east side of the Fountain Court stood an arched cloister; and on the ground-floor there was a spacious hall, paved with marble, and embellished with a curiously-carved ceiling.  Adjoining it were the apartments assigned to the Earl of Salisbury as Keeper of Theobalds, the council-chamber, and the chambers of Sir Lewis Lewkener, Master of the Ceremonies, and Sir John Finett.  Above was the presence-chamber, wainscotted with oak, painted in liver-colour and gilded, having rich pendents from the ceiling, and vast windows resplendent with armorial bearings.  Near this were the privy-chamber and the King’s bed-chamber, together with a wide gallery, one hundred and twenty-three feet in length, wainscotted and roofed like the presence-chamber, but yet more gorgeously fretted and painted.  Its walls were ornamented with stags’ heads with branching antlers.  On the upper floor were the rooms assigned to the Duke of Lennox, as Lord Chamberlain, and close to them was one of the external leaded walks before alluded to, sixty-two feet long-and eleven wide, which, from its eminent position, carried the gaze to Ware.

In the Middle-court were the Queen’s apartments, comprising her chapel, presence-chamber, and other rooms, and over them a gallery nearly equal in length to that reserved for the King.  In this quadrangle, also, were Prince Charles’s lodgings.  Over the latter was the Green Gallery, one hundred and nine feet in length, and proportionately wide.  And above the gallery was another external covered walk, wherein were two “lofty arches of brick, of no small ornament to the house, and rendering it comely and pleasant to all that passed by.”

The gardens were enchanting, and in perfect keeping with the palace.  Occupying several acres.  They seemed infinitely larger than they were, since they abounded in intricate alleys, labyrinths, and mazes; so that you were easily lost within them, and sometimes wanted a clue to come forth.  They contained some fine canals, fountains, and statues.  In addition to the great gardens were the priory-gardens, with other inclosures for pheasants, aviaries, and menageries; for James was very fond of wild beasts, and had a collection of them worthy of a zoological garden.  In one of his letters to Buckingham when the latter was at Madrid, we find him inquiring about the elephant, camels, and wild asses.  He had always a camel-house at Theobalds.  To close our description, we may add that the tennis-court, manege stable kennels, and falconry were on a scale of magnitude proportionate to the palace.

Beneath the wide-spreading branches of a noble elm, forming part of the great avenue, and standing at a short distance from the principal, entrance to the palace, were collected together, one pleasant afternoon in May, a small group of persons, consisting almost entirely of the reader’s acquaintances.  Chief amongst them was Jocelyn Mounchensey, who, having dismounted and fastened his horse to the branch, was