appeared, in his wheeled chair, with that handsome white head and in the
blue uniform with epaulettes which the pictures of him have rendered so
familiar. He kissed each of us in our turn, without speaking to any of
us except my brother Nemours, whom he questioned about his Latin
lessons. Nemours began to stammer, and was only saved from disgrace by
the opportune entrance of the Prince de Carignan.

At dinner the Twelfth Night customs were duly observed, and when I broke
my cake I found the bean within it. I must confess the fact had not been
altogether unforeseen, and my mother had consequently primed me as to my
behaviour. This did not prevent me from feeling heartily shy when I saw
every eye fixed on me. I got up from the table, and carried the bean on
a salver to the Duchesse d'Angouleme. I loved her dearly even then, that
good kind Duchess! for she had always been so good to us, ever since we
were babies, and never failed to give us the most beautiful New Year's
gifts. My respectful affection deepened as I grew old enough to realize
her sorrows and the nobility of her nature, and I was always glad, after
we were separated by the events of 1830, to take every opportunity of
letting her know how unalterable my feelings for her were. She broke the
ice by being the first to raise her glass to her lips, when I had made
her my queen, and Louis XVIII. was the first to exclaim, "The Queen
drinks." A few months later the king was dead, and I watched his funeral
procession from the windows of the Fire Brigade Station in the Rue de la
Paix, as it passed on its way to Saint-Denis.

Then came the echo of the excitement caused by the coronation of Charles
X., that great ceremonial of which the Cathedral of Rheims was the
scene, and which, coming as it did after all the horrors of the
Revolution, gave rise to the sanguine hope that the ancient monarchy
would repair every disaster now, just as it had in the time of Charles