including a bishop,
dean, or canon for the Sunday service, two or three eminent statesmen,
and a sprinkling of musical, literary, and artistic celebrities. To this
list I will suppose you to belong.

You have found carriages and baggage vans awaiting what is known as the
"Royal train"--a special run just when the Prince is in residence--and
you and your fellow-visitors have driven up to the principal entrance.
There you alight, and are ushered by the footmen into a spacious hall or
saloon, where you are received with the distinguished grace and courtesy
for which your Royal host and hostess are so justly celebrated.

[Illustration: THE SALOON

_From A Photo. By Bedford Lemere._]

You have only time for a rapid glance at the massive oak carving and
valuable paintings (chief of which is one portraying the family at
afternoon tea, by Zichy) before you find yourself being conducted to the
handsome suite of apartments you will occupy during your visit. A cup of
tea and some light refreshment, and the dinner-hour being 7.30 it is
time to prepare. If you have not been here before, let me give you a
word of warning, or you will commit the dreadful sin of unpunctuality.
Every clock on the place, from the loud-voiced one over the stables to
the tiniest of continental masterpieces, is kept half an hour fast. The
ringing-out of the hour thirty minutes before you expect it is startling
in the extreme; and your maid or man has a bad time of it until you
discover the discrepancy.

At last, however, you are ready, and in due time find yourself amidst
the company in the grand dining saloon, where dinner is served in state,
although not with the frigid formality one is inclined to expect. A
certain degree of nervousness _must_ be felt by all on the first
occasion they dine with Royalty; but your host and hostess are so
extremely affable, and have such a happy gift of putting people at their
ease, that you insensibly forget their august position, and find
yourself chatting with comfort and enjoyment. You will notice the
splendid proportions of this saloon, and the priceless Spanish tapestry
with which it is hung--this was the gift of the King of Spain to the
Prince. There is also a magnificent display of plate, much of it
presentation. The tables are oblong, the Prince and Princess facing each
other at the centre; the floor--as are most of them--is of polished oak,
this one being freely scattered with costly Turkish rugs. I may here