rt of pleasantry; still, however, she has not yet regained the
confidence she placed in her Piedmontese women. I am astonished at this,
for I serve her better than they did, and I am certain that they would
not wash her feet or pull off her shoes as readily as I do."[23]

[23] Letter to the Marechale de Noailles, Dec. 1701. Recueil de M.
Geffroy.

How unlike a contemporary mistress of the robes in England, the haughty
Duchess of Marlborough!

Such a state of slavery weighed very lightly upon the Princess, for,
although it was conformable to the custom of a palace, in which a
solitary royalty seemed to exist without keeping up any relations with
the human race, nothing could have been more easy than for the _camerara
mayor_ to have provided substitutes for the performance of her
unbecoming duties. One of the recommendations of Louis XIV. to his
grandson had been, in fact, that whilst scrupulously respecting all
popular customs, to wage an implacable war in his court against the
monstrous etiquette which, under the last Austrian princes, had palsied
Spanish royalty. This was one of the labours to which the _camerara
mayor_ devoted herself; but she took good care not to reform anything
appertaining to her own functions, comprehending clearly enough the
policy of keeping to herself sole access to the royal personages, and
sacrificing without grudge her dignity to her power and influence. A
contrary policy, as will be seen, caused the downfall of Queen Anne's
potent favourite.

But we must pass over these domestic duties to speak of state affairs
and the gradual initiation therein by the Princess of this young couple.
During the campaign of Italy in which Philip V. was anxious to take
part, Madame des Ursins, suitably to the duties and prerogatives of her
charge, did not quit the Queen for a single moment. She was present with
her on every occasion at the sittings of the Junta, and, under pretext
of familiarising her with politics, she herself penetrated every state
secret. The Princess well knew how to make etiquette subserve her
purpose, to maintain it to the utmost, modify or slacken it according to
her interests. She understood what kind of concessions the genius of the
Spanish nation demanded, and also what reforms it permitted. She judged
at a glance of the disposition of the grandees, and yielded to no
illusion relative to the degree of support she might expect from them.
"With these sort of folks," she wr