and that I would decline it. I told her any
situation which placed me near her would be flattering to me, but
that these situations were sought for by many persons who had better
claims than myself; and that, besides, I never solicited any thing,
and could not expect that such an office would be offered to me
without my asking for it. She again (and apparently in earnest)
expressed her wish that it should be, and said it would be of
infinite use to her to have a person near her she was used to, and
whom she had confidence in."

On another occasion, when the Princess renewed her desire, Lord Malmesbury
is more significant--

"She again urges me to accept a place about her court at my return. I
avoid an explicit answer, but earnestly entreat her not to solicit
any thing on my behalf; _I had the Duke of Suffolk and Queen Margaret
in my thoughts_!"

When Lord Malmesbury's years and grave functions are considered, the touch
of vanity, which in this latter paragraph peers through his diplomatic
caution, is somewhat amusing.

An anonymous letter, which arrived from England, led to the following
conversations:--"At dinner I found the Duchess and Princess alarmed,
agitated, and uneasy at an anonymous letter from England, abusing the
Prince, and warning them, in the most exaggerated terms, against Lady
----, who is represented as the worst and most dangerous of profligate
women. The Duchess, with her usual indiscretion, had shown this letter to
the Princess, and mentioned it to every body. I was quite angry with her,
and could not avoid expressing my concern, first, at paying _any_
attention to an anonymous letter, and secondly, at being so very imprudent
as to bruit forth its contents. The Duke, on being acquainted with it,
thought as I did, but was more uneasy than he ought. Mademoiselle
Hertzfeldt again talks to me as before about the Princess Caroline. "Il
faut la gouverner par la peur, _par la terreur meme_. Elle s'emancipera si
on n'y prend pas garde--mais si on la veille soigneusement et severement,
elle se conduira bien." The King of England, in a letter to the Duchess,
says--"Qu'il espere que sa niece n'aura pas trop de vivacite, et qu'elle
menera une vie sedentaire et retiree." These words shock Princess
Caroline, to whom the Duchess very foolishly reads the letter.

"Princess Caroline shows me the anonymous letter about Lady ----,
evidently writ