uting bread and wine to the
people, the hunts in nearby forests, the dances, musicales and informal
assemblages of the royal family in the intimate apartments of the chateau.

"Our life here is perpetual movement," wrote the Dauphine to her sister;
and to her mother she sent this quaint epistle a few weeks after her
arrival in France: "You wish to know how I spend my time habitually. I
will say, therefore, that I rise at ten o'clock or nine, or half-past
nine, and after dressing I say my prayers; then I breakfast, after which
I go to my aunts' (Madame Adelaide, Victoire and Sophie), where I usually
meet the King. At eleven I go to have my hair dressed. At noon the
Chambre is called, and any one of sufficient rank may come in. I put on
my rouge and wash my hands before everybody; then the gentlemen go out;
the ladies stay, and I dress before them. At twelve is mass; when the
King is at Versailles I go to mass with him and my husband and my aunts.
After mass we dine together before everybody, but it is over by half-past
one, as we both eat quickly. (Marie Antoinette always found the custom
of eating in public most distasteful.) I then go to Monsieur the
Dauphin; if he is busy I return to my own apartments, where I read, I
write, or I work, for I am embroidering a vest for the King, which does
not get on quickly, but I trust that, with God's help, it will be
finished in a few years! At three I go to my aunts', where the King
usually comes at that time. At four the Abbe (her literary mentor) comes
to me; at five the master for the harpsichord, or the singing-master,
till six. At half-past six I generally go to my aunts' when I do not go
out. You must know that my husband almost always comes with me to my
aunts'. At seven, card-playing till nine. When the weather is fine I go
out; then the card-playing takes place in my aunts' apartments instead of
mine. At nine, supper; when the King is absent my aunts come to take
supper with us; if the King is there, we go to them after supper, and we
wait for the King, who comes usually at a quarter before eleven; but I
lie on a large sofa and sleep till his arrival; when he is not expected
we go to bed at eleven. Such is my day.

"I entreat you, my very dear mother, to, forgive me if my letter is too
long. I ask pardon also for the blotted letter, but I have had to write
two days running at my toilet, having no other time at my disposal."

In the winter the Court made m