oint and made a
compromise: the Queen received them at the summer palace,
Drottningholm, _en toilette de ville_. In this way the difficulty had
been temporarily overcome, but now it seemed they wished me to draw the
chestnuts out of the fire.

"What am I to do?" I asked. "The only thing I can see is to leave
Stockholm, my home, and my family, and come back in the summer when I
can wear a bonnet."

I meant this as a tremendous satire, but she took it quite seriously
and said, "That would be wiser."

I smiled and, handing her the letter I had in my hand, I said, "In this
letter from the _grande maitresse_ she said you were to present me."

"Of course I am to present you, but I refuse to wear the sleeves."

"If such is the case," I said, "what would you advise me to do?"

She answered: "I would advise you to avoid wearing the sleeves. You
will make a precedent which all the _Corps Diplomatique_ will resent."

"Why should the ladies object to the sleeves?" I ventured to ask. "Are
they so unbecoming?"

"It is not that they are unbecoming, but the Ministers' wives dislike
being dictated to. They say that they represent their sovereigns, and
object to be told what they shall wear and what they shall _not_ wear."

I remarked that at the Court of St. James's no lady ever dreamt of
objecting to wear the three plumes and the long tulle veil prescribed
by _that_ court, and I could not see any difference so long as it was
their Majesties' wish.

To this she replied, "I think you will regret it if you offend the
whole _Corps Diplomatique_."

On this I took my leave and drove straight to the _grande maitresse_.
My back was up, and even if the _Corps Diplomatique's_ back was up,
too, I was determined to do nothing to displease the Court of Sweden. I
explained the situation to the Baroness Axerhjelm, who already knew it,
of course, better than I did. I could see it was a sore point.

When I asked her to explain to me about the sleeves she offered to send
for them that I might see them, and to lend me her sleeves that I might
copy them.

When I looked at the offending sleeves I did not think they were so
appalling--only two white satin puffs held in with straps of narrow
black velvet ribbon. On a black corsage they could not be so dreadful,
especially as the fashion now is sleeves puffed to exaggeration. How
silly!

We received visit after visit and many letters from the now irate
Corps--so many that we were quite bewil