ks, he thrust himself ostentatiously at different points into
their sight, professing to disguise himself by throwing a mantle over his
shoulders, but taking care that his scarlet stockings should prevent any
uncertainty from being felt as to his identity. That he should have
presumed to intrude into the queen's presence in her own palace without
permission was in itself an insult; but those behind the scenes believed
that he had a deeper design, and that he wished to diffuse a belief that
Marie Antoinette secretly regarded him with a favor which she was
unwilling to show openly, and that he had not obtained admission to her
garden without her connivance.

The princes of the blood, too, the Prince de Conde and the Duke de
Bourbon, invited Paul and his archduchess to an entertainment at
Chantilly, which far surpassed in splendor the display at Trianon. But the
queen was willing, on such an occasion, to be eclipsed by her subjects.
"The princes," she said, "might well give festivities of vast cost,
because they defrayed the charges out of their private revenues; but the
expenses of entertainments given by the king or by herself fell on the
national treasury, of which they were bound to be the guardians in the
interest of the poor tax-payers."

Not that, in all probability, Paul and his archduchess noticed the
inferiority. Court festivities at St. Petersburg were as yet neither
numerous nor magnificent, and they soon showed themselves so wearied with
the round of gayety which had been forced upon them, that some of the
diversions which had been projected at other royal palaces besides
Versailles were given up to avoid distressing them.[11] The sight which
pleased them most was the play, to which, at their own special request,
the queen accompanied them, and where they were greatly struck by the
magnificence of the theatre and every thing connected with the
performance, as well as with the reception which the audience gave the
queen. Much as they had admired what they had seen, it was her grace and
kind solicitude for their gratification which made the greatest impression
on them; and the archduchess kept up a correspondence with her during the
rest of their travels, especially dwelling on the scenes which pleased her
most in Germany, and on the persons she met who were known to and regarded
by the queen.

Political affairs were at this time causing Marie Antoinette great
anxiety. One of her most frequently expressed wish