ng time, during which we were nearly frozen,
Her Majesty arrived, and we all knelt until she had passed, and then
followed her into the Palace. Her Majesty also complained of the cold
and ordered that fires should be brought into the hall. These fires were
built in brass portable stoves lined with clay, and were lighted outside
and brought into the hall after the smoke had passed off somewhat. There
were four stoves in all. All the windows and doors were closed, there
being no ventilation of any description, and very soon I began to feel
sick. However, I went on with my work getting Her Majesty's things in
order until I must have fainted, for the next thing I remembered was
waking up in a strange bed and inquiring where I was, but on hearing Her
Majesty giving orders in the next room, I knew it was all right. One of
the Court ladies brought me a cup of turnip juice which Her Majesty said
I was to drink. I drank it and felt much better. I was informed that Her
Majesty had gone to rest, and so I went off to sleep again myself. When
I awoke, Her Majesty was standing by my bedside. I tried to get up, but
found that I was too weak, so Her Majesty told me to lie still and keep
quiet and I would soon be all right again. She said that I had better
have a room close to her bedroom, and gave instructions for the eunuchs
to remove me there as soon as it was prepared. Every few minutes Her
Majesty would send to inquire how I was progressing and whether I wanted
anything to eat. It was the custom to stand up whenever receiving a
message from Her Majesty, but it was out of the question for me to do
so, although I tried, with the result that I made myself worse than
ever.

Towards evening the head eunuch came to see me and brought several
plates of sweetmeats. He was very nice, and told me that I was very
fortunate, as Her Majesty very rarely bothered herself about any of
the Court ladies and that evidently she had taken a fancy to me. He sat
talking for some little time, and told me to eat some of the sweetmeats.
Of course I was not able to eat anything at all, let alone sweetmeats,
so I told him to leave them and I would eat them later. Before leaving
he said that in case I wanted anything I was to let him know. This visit
was a great surprise to me, as usually he took very little notice of
any of us, but I was told afterwards that the reason he was so nice was
because Her Majesty showed such an interest in me.

The next morning I