reeable. So he beckoned to the chief master of
ceremonies, and bade him open the door leading into the dining-room.
Then he ordered his "house equipage" to be brought up, and, seating
himself in it with the utmost stateliness, he had the sedan kept at the
queen's side, waiting impatiently till the presentation should at last
conclude, and Catharine accompany him to lunch.

The announcements of the maids of honor and female attendants had been
already made, and now came the gentlemen's turn.

The chief master of ceremonies read from his list the names of those
cavaliers who were, henceforth, to be in waiting near the queen, and
which names the king had written down with his own hand. And at each new
appointment a slight expression of pleased astonishment flitted across
the faces of the assembled courtiers, for it was always one of the
youngest, handsomest, and most amiable lords whom the master of
ceremonies had to name.

Perhaps the king proposed to play a cruel game at hazard, in surrounding
his consort with the young men of his court; he wished to plunge her
into the midst of danger, either to let her perish there, or, by her
avoiding danger, to be able to place the unimpeachable virtue of his
young wife in the clearest light.

The list had begun with the less important offices, and, ever ascending
higher, they now came to positions the highest and of greatest
consequence.

Still the queen's master of horse and the chamberlain had not been
named, and these were without doubt the most important charges at the
queen's court. For one or the other of these officers was always very
near the queen. When she was in the palace, the lord of the chamber
had to remain in the anteroom, and no one could approach the queen but
through his mediation. To him the queen had to give her orders with
regard to the schemes and pleasures of the day. He was to contrive
new diversions and amusements. He had the right of joining the queen's
narrow evening circle, and to stand behind the queen's chair when the
royal pair, at times, desired to sup without ceremony.

This place of chief chamberlain was, therefore, a very important
one; for since it confined him a large part of the day in the queen's
presence, it was scarcely avoidable that the lord chamberlain should
become either the confidential and attentive friend, or the malevolent
and lurking enemy of the queen!

But the place of master of horse was of no less consequence. For as so