Miriamele made an anguished sound, trying to bury her face in her long blue veil, then leaped up to dash past on velvet-slippered feet into her bedchamber.

The presence of huge crowds on the streets, and reports of other fatalities, appeared to dash earlier predictions that the unrest of the past three days would fade away.

There is just enough space between the ditch and the wall for a steady stream of schoolchildren and commuters to squeeze past and make a dash for their bus.