ey came to order gowns, and she was very rude to me when
I went for my court dress. There was a ball at Versailles the day I was
presented, and my father told me that her Majesty wished to speak with
me. I was very much frightened. The Queen was standing with her back to
the mirror, the Duchesse de Polignac and some other ladies beside her,
when my father brought me up, and her Majesty was smiling.

"'What did you say to Bertin, Mademoiselle?' she asked.

"I was more frightened than ever, but the remembrance of the woman's
impudence got the better of me.

"'I told her that in dressing your Majesty's hair she had acquired all
the court accomplishments but one.'

"'I'll warrant that Bertin was curious,' said the Queen.

"'She was, your Majesty.'

"'What is the accomplishment she lacks?' the Queen demanded; 'I should
like to know it myself.'

"It is discrimination, your Majesty. I told the woman there were some
people she could be rude to with impunity. I was not one of them.'

"'She'll never be rude to you again, Mademoiselle,' said the Queen.

"'I am sure of it, your Majesty,' I said.

"The Queen laughed, and bade the Duchesse de Polignac invite me to
supper that evening. My father was delighted,--I was more frightened
than ever. But the party was small, her Majesty was very gracious and
spoke to me often, and I saw that above all things she liked to be
amused. Poor lady! It was a year after that terrible affair of the
necklace, and she wished to be distracted from thinking of the calumnies
which were being heaped upon her. She used to send for me often during
the years that followed, and I might have had a place at court near
her person. But my father was sensible enough to advise me not to
accept,--if I could refuse without offending her Majesty. The Queen was
not offended; she was good enough to say that I was wise in my request.
She had, indeed, abolished most of the ridiculous etiquette of the
court. She would not eat in public, she would not be followed around the
palace by ladies in court gowns, she would not have her ladies in the
room when she was dressing. If she wished a mirror, she would not wait
for it to be passed through half a dozen hands and handed her by a
Princess of the Blood. Sometimes she used to summon me to amuse her and
walk with me by the water in the beautiful gardens of the Petit Triano.
I used to imitate the people she disliked. I disliked them, too. I
have seen her laugh until the