Spanish in her style of beauty, with an abundance of fair hair which she wore in ringlets about her face.  On her arrival in France she retained the national costume; and discarding the tapestried chests common at the period, made use of a pile of cushions as her seat.  The Marquise de Morny (quoted by Madame de Motteville) described her on the occasion of her own presentation as reclining upon this Moorish sofa in the midst of her attendants, habited in a dress of green satin embroidered with gold and silver, with large hanging sleeves looped together at intervals by diamond buttons; a close ruff, and a small cap of green velvet with a black heron-feather.[232]

[Illustration:  ANNE OF AUSTRIA.]

At once regal and elegant as such a costume must have been, it is deplorable to contrast it with those which she adopted in after-years, when the most monstrous caprices were permitted at her Court; and when it was by no means uncommon to see women of the highest rank, about to ride on horseback, present themselves in the royal circle in dresses reaching only to the knee, with their legs encased in tight pantaloons of velvet, or even in complete haut-de-chausses; while the habitual attire of the sex was equally bizarre and exaggerated.  There were the vasquines or rollers which encircled the waist and extended the folds of the petticoats, thus giving additional smallness to the waist; the brassards-a-chevrons or metallic braces for expanding the sleeves; and the affiquet of pearls or diamonds coquettishly attached to the left breast, and entitled the assassin.  Added to these absurdities there were, moreover, bows of ribbon, each of which had its appropriate name and position; the galant was placed on the summit of the head; the mignon on the heart; the favori under and near the assassin; and the badin on the handle of the fan.  Short curls upon the temples were designated cavaliers; ringlets were garcons; while a hundred other inanities of the same description compelled the great ladies of the period to adopt a slang which was perfectly unintelligible to all save the initiated; and when we add to these details the well-authenticated fact that the royal apartments were fumigated with powdered tobacco (then a recent and costly importation into France), in lieu of the perfumes which had previously been in use for the same purpose, it will scarcely be denied that caprice rather than taste dictated the habits of the Court under Louis XIII.

To revert, however, to the earlier years of Anne of Austria, it would appear that the troubles of the royal bride did not await her womanhood.  Like Marie de Medicis, she clung to all which appeared to link her to her distant home, and caused her to forget for a time that it was hers no longer; and under this impulse it was by no means surprising that she attached herself with girlish affection to the individuals by