m

"Your ever spoiled

"Irma.

"P. S.--The queen's brother, the hereditary prince of ----, was at the
christening, and his wife was also present. She rarely utters a word,
but is beautiful. It is reported that the hereditary prince intends to
seek a divorce from her, as she is childless. If, as really seems to be
the case, she loves her husband, how terribly the poor thing must feel.
She must have noticed my interest in her, for she treats me with marked
favor, and has more to say to me than any one else. She wishes me to
ride with her. The christening ceremonies were impressive and
beautiful. At church, I wore a white moire dress, and a veil fastened
to my _coiffure_.

"At the banquet, Baron Schoning, the chamberlain, escorted me to the
table. I am regarded here as of a highly poetic temperament, and the
chamberlain has already presented me with a copy of his poems. (You
know them. He has disguised his sublime emotions in the Highland
dialect.) He affects my company and, while at table, told me lots of
fearfully silly stuff. Well, as I was going to say, at the banquet I
wore a dress of sea-green silk, cut out square _a la madonna_, and in
my hair a simple wreath of heather. They all said that I looked very
well, and I am inclined to believe that they told the truth."

BOOK II.

CHAPTER I.

Life at the palace again moved in its wonted channel. Bulletins as to
the condition of the queen and the crown prince, were no longer issued.
The amnesty which had been proclaimed in consequence of the happy
event, had been received with satisfaction throughout the land.

Irma spent much of her time in the crown prince's apartments, and
endeavored to enter into the feelings of the peasant woman who had been
transplanted into a world that was entirely new and strange to her. She
was greatly amused by the droll conceits that this new life awakened in
Walpurga. Her peculiar way of looking at things was frequently in
accord with Walpurga's simple-minded notions, and when Irma was absent,
the nurse would speak to the child for hours, endeavoring, as it were,
to outdo herself with all sorts of droll expressions which, eccentric
as they were, failed to satisfy her.

A strong and deep spring of happiness and content, earnest resolve and
all that makes men true, welled up from Wal