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'Queen Mary's Court was not considered a gay one by those who remembered Whitehall during the last reign; but to me, who had never seen any town larger than Taunton, the life of a maid of honour seemed a whirl of gaiety. State balls, receptions, visits to the play-houses, and attendance on Her Majesty whenever she went into public! All these I enjoyed extremely. Even to learn the various little ceremonial observances which my position required was amusing enough at first. The Queen, my mistress, was gentle and kind; and having got over my first alarm at her exceedingly dignified manner, I became, like most of her ladies, very heartily fond of her. Even when Whitehall was deserted for the comparative quiet of Hampton Court, I was not dull. The loss of the theatres and the Mall was more than compensated for by the purer air, the greater freedom from restraint, and the merry hunting and hawking parties which were carried on when the season permitted. I had plenty of employment, companions of my own age, and more compliments and admiration than I had ever received in my life before. No wonder the thought of Algernon faded more and more out of my mind now there was no Oliver to talk about and pity him. I never even heard myself called by his name. It was not a popular one at that Court, and my father had ordained that I should be received there as his daughter, not as the wife of an exiled Jacobite. To all intents and purposes I was free, and might, if I chose, carry on as many love affairs as Lady Beatrice Falkland herself, the fairest and most coquettish of all her Majesty's waiting-women.
'But I see you think I am telling a very dull, long, rambling story, so I will not trouble you with a minute description of our way of life at Hampton Court. You would not care to hear how many hours I and my companions spent every morning working the life of Moses in tent-stitch, under the direction of the Queen herself; and you would be more shocked than interested to be told of the amount of time and money we wasted every evening at the card-tables, absorbed in the fascination of Ombre, Basset, or Spadille. I will pass on at once to an event which was very interesting to me, and which I hope, therefore, will prove so to you.
'One day, about six months after my arrival at the Palace, I was sitting in my own chamber in a very melancholy frame of mind. News had been received that morning of a great victory gained over the French in Flanders. Great were the rejoicings of the Court in consequence; but the messenger who had brought the tidings, and who had quite a budget of letters from absent husbands and brothers to their relations in the Palace, had none for me. I was just making up my mind that Oliver was either badly wounded or killed outright—for I knew his company had been engaged several times—when a tap at the door aroused me from my dismal conjectures, and Lady Beatrice Falkland, without waiting for permission, tripped into the room.
'"Your pardon, Mistress Frances, for my want of ceremony," she said; "but I knew you would fret about your brother till you brought on a fit of the vapours, if you were left alone, love, so I made bold to storm your fortress, and come in. Why, child, you are not the only one who has had no news. Do you suppose officers have nothing else to do the instant a battle is over but sit down and write long letters home? I have not had a line from my father since he landed at the Hague; but I am not going to cry my eyes out, and imagine all kinds of disasters, just because of that. I'll wager all my winnings last night that Mr. Dalrymple is alive and merry at this present moment. So cheer up, my dear, and listen to me; I've something very important to tell you."
'Lady Beatrice was so good-natured and light-hearted herself, that she raised one's spirits whether one would or no. I forgot my worst fears while listening to her cheerful voice, and was able, by the time she had finished speaking, to smile and ask, with some show of interest, what the very important matter was.
'"Important to you, I suppose you mean, Beatrice? I don't feel as if anything was of much importance to me now, except news of Oliver, and that I know you cannot have got."
'"You don't know anything of the sort, my dear," replied her Ladyship mischievously. "Perhaps I have, and perhaps I have not. There, don't look so wild. You shan't hear the story at all unless you let me tell it in my own way."
'I leant back in my chair, sighing impatiently; and Lady Beatrice went on:
'"You know that yesterday the Lady Derby, one or two others, and myself, went up to London to see the merry-making at St. James's Fair. My Lord Chamberlain escorted us, and as he was the only gentleman, he nearly ruined himself in buying fairings for us all. Oh! we had the merriest day, I assure you, I ever spent. I wish you had been there. However, if you had, I should not have met with the little adventure I am about to relate to you. It would have fallen to your share. Ah, you have no idea of what you missed! I must show you the shoe-buckles; they are of a new design, and very elegant. But to return to the stranger gallant I was talking about."