the long table below hosted a string of lords and ladies , all in the requisite burgundy-red cloth , the color of blood , not wine , as i had believed , and before them glared the bare wood , with not a plate of food nor a cup of wine , but all were content and watching with cheerful eyes , as they chattered , the dancers who covered the great floor , dancing deftly on thick carpets as though they liked this padding beneath their slippered feet .