lted having assured her that she was about
to become the mother of a Prince. The citizens of Paris were, however,
delighted, as no royal child had been born in the capital for a great
length of time;[318] while the princes and nobles, throughout the whole
of the following month, vied with each other in their efforts to
entertain their Majesties, and to cause them to forget their
disappointment. It would appear, indeed, that Marie herself soon became
reconciled to the sex of the infant Princess, as Bassompierre has left
it upon record that even before she was sufficiently recovered to leave
her room she used to send for him to play cards with her, an invitation
which was always welcome to the handsome and dissipated courtier.[319]
She no sooner appeared in public, however, than other and more brilliant
amusements were provided for her, consisting of jousts and banquets,
Italian comedies and Court balls; but all these were exceeded in
interest by a ballet that was performed on horseback in the great court
of the Louvre, which had been thickly strewn with sand and surrounded by
barriers, save at one opening opposite the seats prepared for their
Majesties, through which the four nobles by whom the entertainment had
been devised were to enter with their respective trains from the Hotel
de Bourbon.

The balconies and windows of the palace were crowded with splendidly
dressed nobles and courtiers of both sexes, while a dense mass of people
occupied every available spot of ground beyond the enclosure, where
platforms had also been erected for the more respectable of the citizens
and their families. The King and Queen were seated in the balcony of
the centre window, which was draped with crimson velvet, having on their
right and left several of the Princes of the Blood and ladies of the
highest rank, while immediately behind them were placed the great
officers of the Crown and the captains of the bodyguard. The hour
selected for this novel and extraordinary exhibition was ten at night,
and hundreds of lamps and double the number of torches were affixed to
the _facade_ of the palace, towards which every eye was upturned from
the compact crowd below. The ballet was designed to represent the four
primary Elements, and the appointed moment had no sooner arrived than a
flourish of trumpets announced the approach of the Due de Bellegarde,
who with his party were to personate Water. The procession was opened by
twenty-four pages habite