r Majesty and the
Ministers very plainly, and as my readers will see later, I made good
use of this.

CHAPTER THREE--A PLAY AT THE COURT

THIS day to me was a medley of brilliant impressions. I was a great
novelty among these exclusive Court ladies, brought up rigidly apart
from foreign life and customs, and I was subjected to a rapid fire of
questions. I soon found that these women were the same as others the
world over in point of curiosity and love of gossip. The fourth daughter
of Prince Ching (Sze Gurgur), a young widow and a strikingly handsome
woman, spoke to me. "Were you brought up in Europe and educated?" she
asked. "I am told that when people go to that country and drink the
water there, they quickly forget their own country. Did you really study
to acquire all those languages or was it drinking the water that gave
them to you?" I mentioned that I met her brother, Prince Tsai Chen, in
Paris on his way to London for the coronation of King Edward, and that
we should have liked to have gone also, as my father had a special
invitation, but were prevented from doing so by his urgent duties in
Paris in settling the Yunnan question, to which the Princess replied:
"Is there a king in England? I had thought that our Empress Dowager
was Queen of the world." Her sister, wife of the brother of the Young
Empress, a most intelligent, quiet and dignified lady, stood by smiling
and listening to the eager questions. After numerous questions had been
asked the Young Empress finally said: "How ignorant you are. I know that
each country has its ruler and that some countries are republics. The
United States is a republic and very friendly toward us, but I am sorry
that such a common class of people go there, as they will think we
are all the same. What I should like to see is some of our good Manchu
people go, as then they would see what we really are." She afterwards
told me she had been reading a history of the different countries,
which had been translated into Chinese, and she seemed to be very well
informed.

After the Audience was over, Her Majesty called us out from behind the
screen and told us to go with her to see the theatre. She said, as it
was such a beautiful day, she preferred to walk, so we started, walking
a little behind her, as is the custom. Along the way she pointed out
from time to time different places and things that were her particular
favorites, and as she had to keep turning around all the time,