his quarters with Mercy in Paris, and at a
hotel, for the few days which he passed at Versailles.

However, though by his conduct in this matter he to some extent
disappointed the hope which his sister had conceived of an uninterrupted
intercourse with him during his stay in France, in every other respect the
visit passed off to the satisfaction of all the parties principally
concerned. Fortunately, at their first interview Marie Antoinette herself
made a most favorable impression on him. She had been but a child when he
had last seen her. She was now a woman, and he was wholly unprepared for
the matured and queenly beauty at which she had arrived. He was not a man
to flatter any one, but almost his first words to her were that, had she
not been his sister, he could not have refrained from seeking her hand
that he might secure to himself so lovely a partner; and each succeeding
meeting strengthened his admiration of her personal graces. She, always
eager to please, was gratified at the feeling she had inspired; and thus
an affectionate tone was from the first established between them, and all
reserve was banished from their conversation. It was not diminished by the
admonitions which, as he conceived, his age and greater experience
entitled him to address to her, though sometimes they took the form of
banter and ridicule, sometimes that of serious reproof;[5] but she bore
all his lectures with unvarying good humor, promising him that the time
should come when she would make the amendment which he desired; never
attempting to conceal from him, and scarcely to excuse, the faults of
which she was not unconscious, nor the vexations which in some particulars
continually disquieted her.

It was, at least, equally fortunate that the king also conceived a great
liking for his brother-in-law at first sight. His character disposed him
to receive with eagerness advice from one who had himself occupied a
throne for several years, and whose relationship seemed a sufficient
warrant that his counsels would be honest and disinterested. Accordingly
those about him soon remarked that Louis treated the emperor with a
cordiality that he had never shown to any one else. They had many long and
interesting conversations, sometimes with Marie Antoinette as a third
party, sometimes by themselves. Louis discussed with the emperor his
anxiety to have a family, and his hopes of such a result; and Joseph
expressed his opinion freely on all subjects