felt that the eye of the nation was on me, and, indeed, it was, as much of
the nation as happened to be there; but, proud as I was, I wished that
some one would relieve me of this responsibility. Suppose his Majesty
should fall!... Dreadful thought! The Emperor skated on silently, intent
on balancing himself, and I, you may be sure, was intent on keeping him
intent. He stumbled at every stroke; but as I was on his left side--the
weak one--we got along very nicely, and we felt that we were being admired
--_patineusement_. His hat fell off once (he skated in a tall hat), and I
had to pick it up for him while he clung to my hand and lifted his other
hand to put the hat on his head. In our course we came upon the Empress,
and we slowed down neatly. She was being supported by two very "trembling"
chamberlains, who almost knocked us down in their efforts to keep their
balance. When we had come to anchor the Emperor said to the Empress, "This
is Madame Moulton! Does she not skate beautifully?" I ought to have made a
courtesy, but how could I--on skates?

The Empress was dressed in a more suitable style than the other ladies,
who evidently were going on to some reception (the idea of combining
visiting and skating!), and had rather long dresses, high heels and hats.
The Empress, though crinolined and high-heeled, had a short skirt. I had a
short cloth dress bordered with fur and a little fur toque. The Empress
looked very kindly at me and said something to the Emperor which escaped
me. When--oh, when--should I say "Your Majesty"? But I forgot everything,
gazing at the Empress, who appeared as a vision of beauty, with a bright
color in her cheeks, her eyes sparkling with animation. The Emperor said
to her, "Tu devrais patiner avec Madame (You ought to skate with Madame),"
letting go my hands. With the sweetest smile she said to me, "Will
_you_ skate with _me_?" Of course I was only too enchanted. Could I uphold
the throne in which her Majesty was strapped? I took her two hands, and we
sped on our way as best we could. I had sometimes to dig my skates in the