ice to prevent too much speed, and to keep us both on our legs, one pair
of which were Imperial. "How strange!" said her Majesty, in a moment of
breath-taking, "that I should have never seen you before, and yet, as the
Emperor says, you live in Paris!"

I replied: "Your Majesty [at last I said it], I spent last winter in the
country taking care of my health, and last summer I was in Dinard."

"Ah, je comprends," with a lovely smile, "and now?"

"Now, your Majesty [I was getting on nicely], I am going to be presented
to society in due form by my mother-in-law."

"You will then come to the Tuileries?"

"Of course, your Majesty [now I had complete court manners], I shall come
there first. My mother-in law will take the necessary steps."

"But you will not need to go through all those steps," she said,
smilingly, "now that we know you"; and added, most kindly, "To-morrow you
must come and skate with us again."

After this little breathing spell we went off on another tour, and as all
is well that ends better than you expect, I was thankful to bring her
Majesty back safely. We were hailed with enthusiasm. Charles, coming back
with the coupe, was duly complimented by both their Majesties on the
prowess of his spouse. And so we drove home.

Here endeth the first chapter and my first appearance in Parisian society.