w a good balance she would compliment us
on our good management. Thus under Her Majesty's tuition we learned to
be careful and tidy against such time as we might be called upon to look
after homes of our own.

About this time my father began to show signs of breaking down and asked
for permission to withdraw from public life. However, Her Majesty would
not hear of this and decided to give him another six months vacation
instead. It was his intention to go to Shanghai and see the family
physician, but Her Majesty did not approve of this, maintaining that
her own doctors were quite as good as any foreign doctor. These doctors
therefore attended him for some time, prescribing all kinds of different
concoctions daily. After a while he seemed to pick up a little but was
still unable to get about on account of having chronic rheumatism. We
therefore again suggested that it would be better for him to see his own
doctor in Shanghai, who understood my father thoroughly, but Her Majesty
could not be made to see it in that light. She said that what we wanted
was a little patience, that the Chinese doctors might be slow, but they
were sure, and she was convinced they would completely cure my father
very soon. The fact of the matter was she was afraid that if my father
went to stay in Shanghai the rest of the family would want to be there
with him, which was not in her programme at all. So we decided to remain
in Peking unless my father showed signs of getting worse.

In due course the time arrived on which it had been arranged to hold the
Spring Garden Party for the Diplomatic Corps, and as usual one day was
set apart for the Ministers, Secretaries and members of the various
Legations, and the following day for their wives, etc. This year very
few guests attended the Garden Party but among those who did come were
several strangers. About half a dozen ladies from the Japanese Legation
came with Madame Uchida, wife of the Japanese Minister. Her Majesty
was always very pleased to see this lady whom she very much admired
on account of her extreme politeness. After the usual presentation we
conducted the ladies to luncheon, showed them over the Palace grounds,
after which we wished them good-bye and they took their leave. We
reported everything to Her Majesty, and as usual were asked many
questions. Among the guests there was one lady (English so far as I
could make out) dressed in a heavy tweed travelling costume, having
enormous pock