of every one of this young family, with the
exception of the King. Their love of it was perpetually encouraged by a
crowd of those officious people who, by anticipating the desires and even
the passions of princes, find means of showing their zeal, and hope to
gain or maintain favour for themselves.

Who would have dared to check the amusements of a queen, young, lively,
and handsome? A mother or a husband alone would have had the right to do
it; and the King threw no impediment in the way of Marie Antoinette's
inclinations. His long indifference had been followed by admiration and
love. He was a slave to all the wishes of the Queen, who, delighted with
the happy change in the heart and habits of the King, did not sufficiently
conceal the ascendency she was gaining over him.

The King went to bed every night at eleven precisely; he was very
methodical, and nothing was allowed to interfere with his rules. The
noise which the Queen unavoidably made when she returned very late from
the evenings which she spent with the Princesse de Gugmenee or the Duc de
Duras, at last annoyed the King, and it was amicably agreed that the Queen
should apprise him when she intended to sit up late. He then began to
sleep in his own apartment, which had never before happened from the time
of their marriage.

During the winter the Queen attended the Opera balls with a single lady of
the palace, and always found there Monsieur and the Comte d'Artois. Her
people concealed their liveries under gray cloth greatcoats. She never
thought she was recognized, while all the time she was known to the whole
assembly, from the first moment she entered the theatre; they pretended,
however, not to recognise her, and some masquerade manoeuvre was always
adopted to give her the pleasure of fancying herself incognito.

Louis XVI. determined once to accompany the Queen to a masked ball; it was
agreed that the King should hold not only the grand but the petit coucher,
as if actually going to bed. The Queen went to his apartment through the
inner corridors of the palace, followed by one of her women with a black
domino; she assisted him to put it on, and they went alone to the chapel
court, where a carriage waited for them, with the captain of the Guard of
the quarter, and a lady of the palace. The King was but little amused,
spoke only to two or three persons, who knew him immediately, and found
nothing to admire at the masquerade but Punches and Harl