added the emperor.
"I will tell you now, but be courageous and brave, my daughter, and
remember that you must obey me unconditionally."

"I shall not forget to do so, your majesty."

"Well, then, did I not, on entering this room, hear the children rejoice
at your having hit the heart of the Emperor Napoleon?"

"I was playing with the children, your majesty, and--"

"And your play is to become earnest now, and you are to take pains to
conquer Bonaparte's heart, that he may love and trust you. For, my
daughter, this miniature, which you pronounced so fine-looking, is a
correct likeness of the Emperor Napoleon, who will become your husband."

The Archduchess Maria Louisa uttered a cry, and tottered to the wall.

Her father clasped her in his arms, and placed her gently on the
easy-chair standing in the niche. The cheeks of Maria Louisa had turned
livid, her eyes were closed, and her arms hung down by her side.

"It is strange how easily women faint!" muttered the emperor. "I found
that to be the case with all my wives. When they do not know how to do
any thing better, they faint. All four of mine did, but they always
revived, and so will Louisa. I like it much better that she should faint
than that she should weep. She knows now what she had to know, and will
act accordingly." He opened the curtain, and stepped back into the room.
"Leopoldine!" he shouted to the archduchess, "step in here to your
sister, Maria Louisa. She has swooned, but it is of no consequence! Tell
her to wake up, and conduct her to her room. She will tell you what has
happened to her."

CHAPTER LVI.

THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY.

There were great rejoicings in Berlin. It was the 10th of March, the
queen's birthday, and she celebrated it again at the capital for the
first time in three years. Every one hastened to manifest his love and
sympathy for the queen, and all classes had sent in requests for
permission to choose committees to present their congratulations to her
majesty. The queen had cheerfully granted these requests, and the
deputations of the old aristocracy, the states, the clergy, the
municipality, the academy, the painters, and other artists, the
mechanics, and citizens, were assembled in the large hall of the royal
palace, waiting her arrival.

The folding-doors at length opened, and the queen, preceded by the
grand-marshal of the court, entered. She looked pale and exhausted, but
received with affability and grace the chee