apartment to be repaired at a cost of 30,000 francs. On his return the
King made Versailles resound with complaints against M. d'Augivillers:
"With that sum I could have made thirty families happy," he said.]




CHAPTER IX.


From the time of Louis XVI.'s accession to the throne, the Queen had been
expecting a visit from her brother, the Emperor Joseph II. That Prince
was the constant theme of her discourse. She boasted of his intelligence,
his love of occupation, his military knowledge, and the perfect simplicity
of his manners. Those about her Majesty ardently wished to see at
Versailles a prince so worthy of his rank. At length the coming of Joseph
II., under the title of Count Falkenstein, was announced, and the very day
on which he would be at Versailles was mentioned. The first embraces
between the Queen and her august brother took place in the presence of all
the Queen's household. The sight of their emotion was extremely
affecting.

The Emperor was at first generally admired in France; learned men,
well-informed officers, and celebrated artists appreciated the extent of
his information. He made less impression at Court, and very little in the
private circle of the King and Queen. His eccentric manners, his
frankness, often degenerating into rudeness, and his evidently affected
simplicity,--all these characteristics caused him to be looked upon as a
prince rather singular than admirable. The Queen spoke to him about the
apartment she had prepared for him in the Chateau; the Emperor answered