e word, not only
before the queen, but upon sundry other occasions at court, with an
accent which always implied something of a mystery--And as the court
of Margaret, as all the world knows, was at that time a mixture of
gallantry and devotion--and whiskers being as applicable to the one, as
the other, the word naturally stood its ground--it gained full as much
as it lost; that is, the clergy were for it--the laity were against
it--and for the women,--they were divided.

The excellency of the figure and mien of the young Sieur De Croix, was
at that time beginning to draw the attention of the maids of honour
towards the terrace before the palace gate, where the guard was mounted.
The lady De Baussiere fell deeply in love with him,--La Battarelle did
the same--it was the finest weather for it, that ever was remembered
in Navarre--La Guyol, La Maronette, La Sabatiere, fell in love with the
Sieur De Croix also--La Rebours and La Fosseuse knew better--De Croix
had failed in an attempt to recommend himself to La Rebours; and La
Rebours and La Fosseuse were inseparable.

The queen of Navarre was sitting with her ladies in the painted
bow-window, facing the gate of the second court, as De Croix passed
through it--He is handsome, said the Lady Baussiere--He has a good mien,
said La Battarelle--He is finely shaped, said La Guyol--I never saw an
officer of the horse-guards in my life, said La Maronette, with two such
legs--Or who stood so well upon them, said La Sabatiere--But he has no
whiskers, cried La Fosseuse--Not a pile, said La Rebours.

The queen went directly to her oratory, musing all the way, as she
walked through the gallery, upon the subject; turning it this way and
that way in her fancy--Ave Maria!--what can La-Fosseuse mean? said she,
kneeling down upon the cushion.

La Guyol, La Battarelle, La Maronette, La Sabatiere, retired instantly
to their chambers--Whiskers! said all four of them to themselves, as
they bolted their doors on the inside.

The Lady Carnavallette was counting her beads with both hands,
unsuspected, under her farthingal--from St. Antony down to St. Ursula
inclusive, not a saint passed through her fingers without whiskers;
St. Francis, St. Dominick, St. Bennet, St. Basil, St. Bridget, had all
whiskers.

The Lady Baussiere had got into a wilderness of conceits, with
moralizing too intricately upon La Fosseuse's text--She mounted her
palfrey, her page followed her--the host passed by--the Lady