ival in Paris he died.

As the year wore on, Marie Antoinette was fully occupied in making
arrangements for the child whose coming was expected with such impatience.
Her mother is of course her chief confidante. She is to be the child's
godmother; her name shall be the first its tongue is to learn to
pronounce; while for its early management the advice of so experienced a
parent is naturally sought with unhesitating deference. Still, Marie
Antoinette is far from being always joyful. Russia has made an alliance
with Prussia; Frederick has invaded Bohemia, and she is so overwhelmed
with anxiety that she cancels invitations for parties which she was about
to give at the Trianon, and would absent herself from the theatre and from
all public places, did not Mercy persuade her that such a withdrawal would
seem to be the effect, not of a natural anxiety, but of a despondency
which would be both unroyal and unworthy of the reliance which she ought
to feel on the proved valor of the Austrian armies.

The war with England, also, was an additional cause of solicitude and
vexation. The sailors in whom she had expressed such confidence were not
better able than before to contend with British antagonists. In an
undecisive skirmish which took place in July between two fleets of the
first magnitude, the French admiral, D'Orvilliers, had made a practical
acknowledgment of his inferiority by retreating in the night, and eluding
all the exertions of the English admiral, Keppel, to renew the action. The
discontent in Paris was great; the populace was severe on one or two of
the captains, who were thought to have taken undue care of their ships and
of themselves, and especially bitter against the Duke de Chartres, who had
had a rear-admiral's command in the fleet, and who, after having made
himself conspicuous before D'Orvilliers sailed, by his boasts of the
prowess which he intended to exhibit, had made himself equally notorious
in the action itself by the pains he took to keep himself out of danger.
On his return to Paris, shameless as he was, he scarcely dared show his
face, till the Comte d'Artois persuaded the queen to throw her shield over
him. It was impossible for him to remain in the navy; but, to soften his
fall, the count proposed that the king should create a new appointment for
him, as colonel-general of the light cavalry. Louis saw the impropriety of
such a step: truly it was but a questionable compliment to pay to his
hussars