ounds of
martial music exhilarated the spirits.

Nor was the view presented by the interior of the pavilion without its
charms. A number of ladies, some of them young and handsome, and all
remarkably well-dressed, gave to the benches ranged along it the
appearance of a rich _parterre_, among the flowers of which the
beautiful Duchesse de Guiche shone pre-eminent.

I was seated next to a lady, with large lustrous eyes and a pale olive
complexion, whose countenance, from its extreme mobility, attracted my
attention; at one moment, lighting up with intelligence, and the next,
softening into pensiveness.

A remarkably handsome young man stood behind her, holding her shawl,
and lavishing on her those attentions peculiar to young Benedicts. The
lady proved to be the Marchioness de Loule, sister to the King of
Portugal; and the gentleman turned out to be her husband, for whose
_beaux yeux_ she contracted what is considered a _mesalliance_.

The simplicity of her dress, and unaffectedness of her manner, invested
her with new attractions in my eyes; which increased when I reflected
on the elevated position she had resigned, to follow the more humble
fortunes of her handsome husband.

How strange, yet how agreeable too, must the change be, from the most
formal court, over which Etiquette holds a despotic sway, to the
freedom from such disagreeable constraint permitted to those in private
life, and now enjoyed by this Spanish princess!

She appears to enjoy this newly acquired liberty with a zest in
proportion to her past enthralment, and has proved that the daughter of
a King of Portugal has a heart, though the queens of its neighbour,
Spain, were in former days not supposed to have legs.

During the evolutions, a general officer was thrown from his horse; and
a universal agitation among a group of ladies evinced that they were in
a panic. Soon the name of the general, Count de Bourmont, was heard
pronounced; and a faint shriek, followed by a half swoon from one of
the fair dames, announced her deep interest in the accident.

Flacons and vinaigrettes were presented to her on every side, all the
ladies present seeming to have come prepared for some similar
catastrophe; but in a few minutes a messenger, despatched by the
general, assured Madame la Comtesse of his perfect safety; and tears of
joy testified her satisfaction at the news.

This little episode in the review shewed me the French ladies in a very
amiable point