appeared insupportable to her, if Désirée had been less prepossessed in favour of the Prince; but there are some feelings which can stifle nearly all the others. They built her a coach with green velvet outside ornamented with large plates of gold, and lined it with pink and silver brocade embroidered. There were no glass windows in it; it was very large; it shut closer than a box, and one of the first noblemen in the kingdom had charge of the keys which opened the locks they had placed on the doors.
Around her were the Graces seen,
And Love himself was fain
To follow with respectful mien,
A vassal in her train.
With the most majestic air
Heavenly softness blending,
All the willing captives were
Of beauty so transcending.
In brief, like charms, it may be said,
Did Adelaide reveal,
When hither Hymen led the maid,
The bond of peace to seal.[1]
They selected but a few officers to accompany her, that a numerous suite might not be a hindrance on the journey, and, after giving her the most beautiful jewellery in the world, and some very rich dresses,—after a leave-taking which, I may say, nearly choked the King, the Queen, and all the court, so violently did they weep—they locked her up in the coach, with her principal lady-in-waiting, Longue-épine and Giroflée.
Perhaps it has been forgotten that Longue-épine did not like the Princess at all; but she was much in love with Prince Guerrier, for she had seen his speaking likeness. The shaft of Cupid had wounded her so acutely, that upon the point of setting out she told her mother that she should die if the Princess's marriage took place; and that, if she wished her to live, she must absolutely find out some means to break it off. The lady-in-waiting begged she would not distress herself, that she would endeavour to relieve her pain and make her happy.
- ↑ Marie Adelaide, eldest daughter of Victor-Amadeus II., Duke of Savoy. A treaty of peace was concluded between France and Savoy on the 4th of July, 1696; one of the conditions of which was the marriage of the Princess Adelaide to the Duke of Burgundy, afterwards the Dauphin. The Princess was received at Montargis by Louis XIV., on the 5th of November, 1697, and the marriage was celebrated at Versailles on the 7th of December following. This allusion shows that "La Biche au Bois" was not written before the close of that year.
