by two Mousquetaires. In the spring of 1775 a popular insurrection had
taken place in consequence of the high price of bread. M. Turgot's new
regulation, which permitted unlimited trade in corn, was either its cause
or the pretext for it; and the King's household troops again rendered the
greatest services to public tranquillity.

I have never be enable to discover the true cause of the support given to
M. de Saint-Germain's policy by the Queen, unless in the marked favour
shown to the captains and officers of the Body Guards, who by this
reduction became the only soldiers of their rank entrusted with the safety
of the sovereign; or else in the Queen's strong prejudice against the Duc
d'Aiguillon, then commander of the light-horse. M. de Saint-Germain,
however, retained fifty gens d'armes and fifty light-horse to form a royal
escort on state occasions; but in 1787 the King reduced both these
military bodies. The Queen then said with satisfaction that at last she
should see no more red coats in the gallery of Versailles.

From 1775 to 1781 were the gayest years of the Queen's life. In the
little journeys to Choisy, performances frequently took place at the
theatre twice in one day: grand opera and French or Italian comedy at the
usual hour; and at eleven at night they returned to the theatre for
parodies in which the best actors of the Opera presented themselves in
whimsical parts and costumes. The celebrated dancer Guimard always took
the leading characters in the latter performance; she danced better than
she acted; her extreme leanness, and her weak, hoarse voice added to the
burlesque in the parodied characters of Ernelinde and Iphigenie.

The most magnificent fete ever given to the Queen was one prepared for her
by Monsieur, the King's brother, at Brunoy. That Prince did me the honour
to admit me, and I followed her Majesty into the gardens, where she found