ins or as nymphs. They would not dance the quadrille nor any other
stately measure, but would be free to romp and play such jokes as might
occur to them. When he heard these plans Lafayette shook his head
doubtfully.

"What will the lords in waiting say to this?" he asked, "and your
Majesty's own ladies of the court?"

The Queen laughed and shrugged her pretty shoulders. "Who cares?" she
said. "As long as Louis is king I shall do what pleases me."

Then she clapped her hands as a new idea occurred to her. "I shall go to
Louis," she added, "and have him issue an order commanding every one who
attends the fete to dress either as a goblin or a nymph. He will do it
for me, I know."

When the King heard her request he good-humoredly agreed, for he found
it hard to deny his pretty young wife anything, and so the order was
issued. Imagine the horror of the grown-up courtiers when they heard the
command! Unbend sufficiently to dress as goblins and nymphs? Never! The
saucy young Queen and her friends must be taught a lesson. As soon as
she knew of their disapproval she would of course give up her scheme.

On the contrary, the Queen did nothing of the sort. She made Lafayette
master of ceremonies, and gave strict orders that no one should be
admitted to the gardens on the night of the fete unless they were
dressed as commanded. In the meantime the boys and girls were planning
the costumes they would wear and rehearsing the play they were to act.

But the court party was not to be beaten so easily, and the Royal
Chamberlain and the Queen's Mistress of the Robes hunted up the King in
his workshop and told him that such a performance as was planned would
shame the French court in the eyes of the whole world. Louis listened to
them patiently and said he would consider the matter. Then he sent for
his wife and Lafayette and the other ringleaders. Between them they
described how absurd the courtiers would look with such good effect that
Louis laughed until he cried. Then he dismissed the whole matter from
his mind and went back to the tools on his work-table, which were the
only things that seriously concerned him.

Now that the garden party was at its height, Lafayette was the
undisputed leader of the youths. It was he who swooped down upon the
stately Mistress of the Robes and ordered his band of hobgoblins to
carry her off to the summer-house on the edge of the woods, and keep her
a prisoner there, while they sang her the lat