the young dauphine, Marie Antoinette, bore the well-merited reputation of
being the most charming woman at the court of the king, Louis the
Fifteenth. Count and countess, wealthy as they were and happy as they
seemed to be, were not overmuch so, because of their desire for a son; for
one thing, which is not seen in this country, you will not doubt, dear
girls, exists in France and other countries of Europe: it is the eldest
son, and never the daughter, who inherits the fortune and titles of the
family. And in case there were no children, the titles and fortune of the
Morainvilles would have to revert in one lump to the nephew of the count
and son of his brother, to Abner de Morainville, who at that time was a
mere babe of four years. This did not meet the wishes of M. and Mme. de
Morainville, who wished to retain their property in their own house.

But great news comes to Morainville: the countess is with child. The
steward of the château receives orders to celebrate the event with great
rejoicings. In the avenue long tables are set covered with all sorts of
inviting meats, the fiddlers are called, and the peasants dance, eat, and
drink to the health of the future heir of the Morainvilles. A few months
later my parents arrived bringing a great company with them; and there
were feasts and balls and hunting-parties without end.

It was in the course of one of these hunts that my mother was thrown from
her horse. She was hardly in her seventh month when I came into the world.
She escaped death, but I was born as large as--a mouse! and with one
shoulder much higher than the other.

I must have died had not the happy thought come to the woman-in-waiting to
procure Catharine, the wife of the gardener, Guillaume Carpentier, to be
my nurse; and it is to her care, to her rubbings, and above all to her
good milk, that I owe the capability to amuse you, my dear girls and