In its entirety the one hundred and sixty foot length of the complete tapestry was far too much even for the considerable capacity of the great hall walls, so René had selected only the last of its six panels, which showed the concluding triumph of Good over Evil, progressing from left to right in a double row of fourteen framed scenes of unfolding narrative. Predominant colours of blue, red and gold glowed in the sunlight and caused the fantastic figures of angels, beasts, dragons and saints almost to leap from the canvas. The crowd of courtiers attending this historic occasion could hardly fail to draw sense and significance from such vivid imagery.

As I waited for the arrival of the two main parties, I took the opportunity of examining the tapestry in detail and formed the fanciful notion that King René might be seen as the scholarly observer depicted reading from St John’s gospel at the start of the panel, whereas secretly and probably heretically, I compared King Louis to the figure in the final scenes where God in his Heaven, previously invisible, ultimately revealed his face to the Christian Elect as they received their reward of admittance to Paradise in the New Jerusalem. At the final trump Good did prevail over Evil but I could not help noticing that the weavers had not made the Righteous look very joyful about it. I wondered how favourable a portent it offered for the outcome of the day’s events.

Queen Marguerite arrived first, accompanied by her entourage, which included her loyal and venerable counsellor and Chancellor, Sir John Fortescue, a number of her other faithful courtiers and ladies and her beloved son, Prince Édouard. During the six years that the young prince had been in exile in France he had matured from a skinny boy into a muscular youth, obviously well acquainted with the arms practice-yard. Whether Sir John, as his governor, had managed to develop his intellect to a similar extent had yet to be demonstrated but as he took his place behind his mother’s throne the arrogant expression on his beardless face did not give me substantial grounds for hope.

Warwick timed his arrival perfectly to allow Marguerite to settle herself in her father’s velvet-draped throne and exchange greetings with Louis’s representative and me. The French king had made a point of departing Angers the previous day, leaving one of his closest advisers to witness and report on the meeting. I assumed that by absenting himself he hoped to ensure that if necessary the French crown could deny all involvement in any resulting English insurgency. With similar intent, I made a point of moving some distance away from Marguerite as a flurry of activity at the hall entrance indicated the approach of her protagonist.