r own house,
Mademoiselle d'Este would not submit to the unroyal indignity of
being waited upon after her guests at her own table by her own
servants.

When the preparations for the fancy ball at the Palace were turning
half the great houses in London into milliners' shops, filled with
stuffs, and patterns, and pictures, and materials for fancy dresses,
and drawings of costumes, and gabbling, shrieking, distracted women,
Mademoiselle d'Este consulted me about her dress, and we passed a
whole morning looking over a huge collection of plates of historical
personages and picturesque portraits of real or imaginary heroines.
Among these I repeatedly put aside several that I thought would be
especially becoming to her dark beauty and fine figure; and as often
was surprised to find that among those I had thus selected she had
invariably rejected a certain proportion, among which were two or
three particularly beautiful and appropriate, one or other of which
I should certainly have chosen for her above the rest. I couldn't
imagine upon what theory of selection she was guiding her
examination of the prints until, upon closer examination, I
perceived that the only portraits from which she had determined to
make her choice of a costume were those of princesses of blood
royal. Poor woman!

I once saw a curious encounter between her and the Marchioness of
L----, in which the most insolent woman of the London society of
that day was worsted with her own peculiar weapon, by the princess
"claimant," and ignominiously beaten from the field.

The occasion of my being presented to the Queen Dowager was this: I
had been dining one day with Mademoiselle d'Este, when the
Marchioness of Londonderry came in, and read me a note she had
received from the Duke of Rutland, in which the latter said that the
Queen had asked him why I had not been presented at Court. After
Lady Londonderry was gone, I expressed some surprise at this
unexpected honor, and some dismay at finding that it was considered
a matter of course that, under these circumstances, I should go to
the Drawing-room. I felt shy about the ceremony, and sordidly
reluctant to spend the sum of money upon my dress which I knew it
must cost me. All this I discussed with Mademoiselle d'Este, and
expressing my surprise at the Queen's having con