h us; but when the
king is there, we go after supper to their rooms, waiting there for the
king, who usually comes about a quarter to eleven; and I lie down on a
grand sofa and go to sleep till he comes. But when he is not there, we go
to bed at eleven o'clock."

The play-table which is alluded to in these letters was one of the most
curious and mischievous institutions of the court. Gambling had been one
of its established vices ever since the time of Henry IV., whose enormous
losses at play had formed the subject of Sully's most incessant
remonstrances. And from the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV., a
gaming-table had formed a regular part of the evening's amusement. It was
the one thing which was allowed to break down the barrier of etiquette. On
all other occasions, the rules which regulated who might and who might not
be admitted to the royal presence were as precise and strict as in many
cases they were unreasonable and unintelligible. But at the gaming-table
every one who could make the slightest pretensions to gentle birth was
allowed to present himself and stake his money; [5] and the leveling
influence of play was almost as fully exemplified in the king's palace as
in the ordinary gaming-houses, since, though the presence of royalty so
far acted as a restraint on the gamblers as to prevent any open explosion,
accusations of foul play and dishonest tricks were as rife as in the most
vulgar company.

Marie Antoinette was winning many hearts by her loveliness and affability;
but she could not scatter her kind speeches and friendly smiles among all
with whom she came into contact without running counter to the prejudices
of some of the old courtiers who had been formed on a different system; to
whom the maintenance of a rigid etiquette was as the very breath of their
nostrils, and in whose eyes its very first rule and principle was that
princes should keep all the world at a distance. Foremost among these
sticklers for old ideas was the Countess de Noailles, her principal "lady
of honor," whose uneasiness on the subject speedily became so notorious as
to give rise to numerous court squibs and satirical odes, the authors of
which seemed glad to compliment the dauphin and to vex her ladyship at the
same time, but who could not be deterred by these effusions from lecturing
Marie Antoinette on her disregard of her rank, and on the danger of making
herself too familiar, till she provoked the young princess into giv