ffection for the King. His speech of welcome when he
drank the King's health at lunch was very touching.

This afternoon the King came to take tea with us. I had not seen him
since the death of the Queen. It was a great pleasure to have him in
my house. He and I sat in the large _salon_, while Johan, the King's
adjutant, and a German gentleman attached to the King during his stay
here remained in the next room. The King only talked about the Queen.
I, who loved her so much, was all tears. His Majesty once in a while
would put his hand on mine and say, "You loved her." We had our tea
alone. He told me that the Queen's room in Amalienborg remains just as
she had left it. My photograph was on the mantelpiece in her boudoir,
and the cushion that I had embroidered for her was still on her
_chaise-longue_. Nothing there was to be disturbed.

As the King left I pointed to the portrait of himself he had given me,
which was hanging on the wall. I said:

"I prize this, your Majesty, more than anything I own, because you
gave it to me yourself."

"I was better-looking then than I am now. Is that not true?"

"Your Majesty is always handsome in _my_ eyes," I answered.

"Dear madame, you make me vain." And he took my hand, and the kind
King kissed it like a _preux chevalier_ of the old school.

As I followed him to the door he said, "Do not come any farther; you
will take cold. I will bid you good-by here." He is about eighty-five
years old, and as youthful in his movements as a young man.

J. said, "I am sorry we have no lift."

[Illustration:
QUEEN LOUISE OF DENMARK
From a photograph taken in 1878. She was the wife of King Christian
IX., and the mother of Queen Alexandra of England, Empress Dagmar of
Russia, King George of Greece, and various royalties.]

"I do not need a lift; I can still run down the stairs." Which he did
in a surprising manner.

The King left that evening; and as he begged me not to come to the
station, J. went without me.

_February, 1903._

As Johan is accredited to the Court of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, we were
invited to a great court ball which was to be given. We arrived at
Schwerin at twelve o'clock, and found the _marechal de la cour_, the
court servants and carriages at the station awaiting us. We were not
installed in the castle, but at the Grand Duchess Marie's palace in
the town itself. The _marechal_ who met us informed us that we were
expected to luncheon at one o'clock. We just had