His hair, bright and glossy as the raven's plume, curled back from the lofty and commanding brow, which, save by one deep wrinkle between the eyes, was not only as white but as smooth as marble.

His features were aquiline and regular; and the deep olive of his complexion seemed pale and clear when contrasted by the rich jet of the moustache and pointed beard.

The lightness of his tall and slender but muscular form made him appear younger than he was; and had it not been for the supercilious and scornful arrogance of air which so seldom characterises gentle birth, Calderon might have mingled with the loftiest magnates of Europe and seemed to the observer the stateliest of the group.

It was one of those rare forms that are made to command the one sex and fascinate the other.

But, on a deeper scrutiny, the restlessness of the brilliant eye--the quiver of the upper lip--a certain abruptness of manner and speech, might have shown that greatness had brought suspicion as well as pride.