"Oh, your Majesty!"
"Yes, yes, you are going to waltz once with me, and once with the princess."
"Oh, your Majesty!"
"What? Do you not know how to waltz?"
"Yes, your Majesty, a little."
"Eh bien, Gerard, waltz! Now, Clémentine, play a waltz."
The faithful Gerard could but obey, blushing, and shy and hardly daring to glance at his royal partner. The Queen then said laughingly:
"Don't be afraid, Gerard, I am not a sylphide."
Gerard then waltzed with my mother and also with me, and he waltzed well!
The next day he was once more the model servant—such as are loved and esteemed by their masters, whom they love and esteem in return, if those they serve only know how to merit their devotion.