I replied with a message pleading for a delay, for the purpose of dancing before Queen Victoria.
I received simply the following laconic telegram:
“Impossible. Leave at once. Time is money.”
That’s why I did not dance before Queen Victoria.
I stop the Queen of the Belgians in the Street.
I was engaged for some performances at Spa. The evening of my first appearance the Queen and Princess Clementine were in the royal box. That was a gala evening, one on which the hall was resplendent with magnificent gowns and jewels.
Everything went off perfectly.
Next morning I went for a walk with my mother. We were crossing the causeway when a carriage, drawn by two spirited horses driven by a middle-aged woman, bore down upon us.
Frightened on account of my mother, I threw up my arms in front of the carriage, which stopped.
The lady allowed us to pass and, while thanking her, I remarked to myself that a woman ought not to drive such lively horses.