MARIE ANTOINETTE AND HER SON

by Louise Muhlbach




BOOK I.


CHAPTER I.

A HAPPY QUEEN.


It was the 13th of August, 1785. The queen, Marie Antoinette, had at
last yielded to the requests and protestations of her dear subjects.
She had left her fair Versailles and loved Trianon for one day, and
had gone to Paris, in order to exhibit herself and the young prince
whom she had borne to the king and the country on the 25th of March,
and to receive in the cathedral of Notre Dame the blessing of the
clergy and the good wishes of the Parisians.

She had had an enthusiastic reception, this beautiful and much loved
queen, Marie Antoinette. She had driven into Paris in an open
carriage, in company with her three children, and every one who
recognized her had greeted her with a cheerful huzzah, and followed
her on the long road to Notre Dame, at whose door the prominent
clergy awaited her, the cardinal, Prince Louis de Rohan, at their
head, to introduce her to the house of the King of all kings.