Part 4 (1/2)
”You shall find no serpents there, my Julia,” said the queen, drawing the arm of the d.u.c.h.ess to herself. ”Lean upon me, my friend, and be persuaded that I will defend you against every serpent, and every low, creeping thing.”
”Oh, I fear the serpent more for my adored queen than for myself.
What is there in me to harm? But your majesty is exposed on every side to attack.”
”Oh, why, Julia,” sighed the queen-” why do you ad-dress me with the stiff, formal t.i.tle of majesty when we are alone together? Why do you not forget for a little etiquette when there is n.o.body by to hear us?”
”Your majesty,” laughed the d.u.c.h.ess, ”we are in Versailles, and the walls have ears.”
”It is true,” cried the queen, with quickly restored merriment, ” we are here in Versailles; that is your exculpation. Come, let us hasten to leave this proud, royal palace, and get away to the society of beautiful Nature, where there are no walls to hear us, but only G.o.d and Nature. Come, Julia.”
She drew the d.u.c.h.ess quickly out through the side door, which led to the little corridor, and thence to the adjacent staircase, and over the small court to one of the minor gates of the palace, leading to the park. The coupe of the queen was standing before this door, and the master of the stole and the lackeys were awaiting the approach of the queen.
Marie Antoinette sprang like a gazelle into the carriage, and then extended her hand to the d.u.c.h.ess to a.s.sist her to ascend. ”Forward, forward!” cried the queen to the coachman, ” and drive with all haste, as if the horses had wings, for I long to fly. Forward! oh, forward!”
CHAPTER III.
TRIANON
Fly, ye steeds, fly! Bear the Queen of France away from the stiff, proud Versailles; from the palaces of kings, where every thing breathes of exaltation, greatness, and unapproachableness; bear her to little, simple, pretty Trianon, to the dream of paradise, where all is innocence, simplicity, and peace; where the queen may be a woman, and a happy one, too, and where Marie Antoinette has the right to banish etiquette, and live in accordance with her inclinations, wishes, and humors.
Yes, truly, the fiery steeds have transformed themselves into birds; they cut the air, they scarcely touch the ground, and hardly can the driver restrain them when they reach the fence which separates the garden of Trianon from Versailles.
Light as a gazelle, happy as a young girl that knows nothing of the cares and burdens of life, Marie Antoinette sprang out of the carriage before the chamberlain had time to open the gate with its double wings, to let the queen pa.s.s in as a queen ought. Laughing, she glided through the little side gate, which sufficed for the more unpretending visitor of Trianon, and took the arm of her friend the d.u.c.h.ess de Polignac, in order to turn with her into one of the side alleys. But, before doing so, she turned to the chamberlain, who, standing in a respectful att.i.tude, was awaiting the commands of his mistress.
”Weber,” said she to him, in the pleasant Austrian dialect, the language of her early home” Weber, there is no need for you to follow us. The day is yours. You are free, as I am too. Meanwhile, if yon meet his majesty, tell him that I have gone to the small palace, and that, if it pleases his majesty, he may await me in my little village at the mill.
”And now, come, my Julia,” said she, turning to the d.u.c.h.ess, and drawing her forward with gentle violence, ” now let us be merry and happy. I am no longer a queen, G.o.d be thanked! I am neither more nor less than anybody else. That is the reason I was so well pleased to come through the small door just now. Through a narrow gate alone we can enter paradise, and I am entering paradise now. Oh, do you not see, my friend, that the trees, the flowers, the bushes, every thing here is free from the dust of earth; that even the heaven has another color, and looks down upon me brilliant and blue, like the eye of G.o.d?”
”It is just,” answered the d.u.c.h.ess de Polignac, ”because you are seeing every thing with other eyes, your majesty.”
”Your majesty!” cried Marie Antoinette. ”You love me no longer; your heart is estranged from me, since you address me with this cold t.i.tle. In Versailles, you had a valid plea; but here, Julia, what can you offer in justification? The flowers are not listeners, the bushes have not ears, like the walls of Versailles, to spy out our privacy.”
”I say nothing for my exculpation,” answered the d.u.c.h.ess, throwing her arm with a playful movement around the neck of the queen, and imprinting a kiss upon the lofty brow of Marie Antoinette. ”I only ask your pardon, and promise that I will be obedient and not disturb my friend's dream of paradise all day long by an ill-timed word. Now will you forgive me, Marie?”
”With all my soul, Julia,” answered the queen, nodding to her in a friendly way. ”And now, Julia, as we have a happy vacation day before us, we will enjoy it like two young girls who are celebrating the birthday of their grandmother after escaping from a boarding school. Let us see which of us is the swiftest of foot. We will make a wager on it. See, there gleams our little house out from the shrubbery; let us see which of us gets there first.”
”Without stopping once in the run?” asked the d.u.c.h.ess, amazed.
”I make no conditions; I only say, let us see who gets there first.
If you win, Julia, I will give you the privilege of nominating a man to have the first place in my Swiss guards, and you may select the protege in whose behalf you were pleading yesterday. Come, let us run. One!--”
”No, Marie,” interrupted the d.u.c.h.ess. ”Supposing that you are the first, what shall I give you?”
”A kiss--a hearty kiss--Julia. Now, forward! One, two, three!”
And, speaking these words in merry accents, Marie Antoinette sprang forward along the narrow walk. The round straw hat which covered her head was tossed up on both sides; the blue ribbons fluttered in the wind; the white dress puffed up; and the grand chamberlain of the queen and Madame Adelaide would have been horrified if they could have seen the queen flying along like a girl escaped from the boarding-school.