her toilet-chamber in advance of her lady-in-waiting, who followed,
sighing and shaking her head, and endeavored with her own hands to
loosen the stiff corset of her robe, and to free herself from the
immense crinoline which imprisoned her noble form.

"Off with these garments of state and royal robes," said Marie
Antoinette, gliding out of the stiff apparel, and standing in a
light, white undergarment, with bare shoulders and arms. "Give me a
white percale dress and a gauze mantle with it."

"Will your majesty appear again in this simple costume?" asked
Madame de Campan, sighing.

"Certainly, I will," cried she; "I am going to Trianon, to my much-
loved country-house. You must know, Campan, that the king has
promised to spend every afternoon of a whole week with me at
Trianon, and that there we are going to enjoy life, nature, and
solitude. So, for a whole week, the king will only be king in the
forenoon, and in the afternoon a respectable miller in the village
Trianon. Now, is not that a merry thought, Campan? And do you not
see that I cannot go to Trianon in any other than a light white
dress?"

"Yes, your majesty, I understand; but I was only thinking that the
trades-people of Lyons had just presented a paper to your majesty,
in which they complain of the decadence of the silk manufacture,
explaining it on the ground that your majesty has a preference for
white clothing, and stating that all the ladies feel obliged to
follow the example of their queen, and lay their silk robes aside."