l, in fact nobody
appeared to know what to do with herself. Her Majesty spoke a few words
of welcome and thanked them for the presents they had sent her.

I would like to say here that, contrary to the general idea which
exists, Her Majesty always expressed her thanks for any present or
service rendered, no matter how insignificant.

Her Majesty could see plainly that everybody was embarrassed and ordered
the head eunuch to show them to their respective rooms, and told them
to make themselves at home and to go and take a rest. They hesitated a
moment, not knowing whether to go or not, until Her Majesty said to us:
"Take them and present them to the Young Empress."

When we arrived at the Palace of the Young Empress they were duly
presented and were not nearly so shy as before. The Young Empress
informed them that in case they desired to know anything or to be put
right on any point of Court etiquette, the Court ladies would be pleased
to give them all necessary information and she decided that the best way
would be for each Court lady to have charge of so many of the visitors,
as it would not be nice to have any mistakes occur during the ceremony,
on the tenth. So we each were allotted so many guests and had to look
after them and instruct them how to act on the different occasions.

During Her Majesty's afternoon rest I paid a visit to the guests I was
to take charge of. Among them was the bride referred to by Her
Majesty. So I went and made myself agreeable to her and found her very
interesting. She had evidently received a good education, unlike the
majority of Manchu ladies, as I found she could read and write Chinese
exceptionally well. I then explained to all of them what they would have
to do, and how to address Her Majesty, should it be necessary to do
so. I don't know whether I have mentioned it previously, but whenever
anybody spoke to Her Majesty, they always addressed her as "Great
Ancestor," and when referring to themselves, instead of the pronoun "I,"
they would say "Your slave." In all Manchu families a similar rule is
observed, the pronouns "You" and "I" being dispensed with and the titles
"Mother" and "Father" and the son's or daughter's first name being
substituted.

Her Majesty was very particular about this rule being strictly observed.

For the next four days, until the day of the ceremony, these visitors
passed their time in learning the Court etiquette and going to the
theatre.

Every morn