Then Isabel said: “I am the Queen.”
“The Queen! the Queen!” cried the people with delight; and cider, fruits, and cakes, were pressed upon the royal party.
The Queen and her sister received constant signs of affection in the neighbourhood of Guipuzcoa. They went to Pampeluna to receive the Duke and Duchess of Nemours and the Duke of Aumale, the arrival of the distinguished French guests was celebrated in the city by a magnificent banquet and bull-fight, and the distinguished Frenchmen stayed with the Count of Ezpeleta.
The fall of Miraflores, the able Prime Minister, was heralded by the evident desire of both the Queens for a change of Ministry, and those who wished to compass the fall of the Prime Minister were listened to by the royal ladies.
Miraflores found Queen Isabella alone one day in the palace, and Her Majesty said to the Minister:
“I have heard that the scandal this afternoon in the Congress has been so great that the President of the Congress put on his hat in his want of consideration for the Court.”
Miraflores explained that this act proceeded from no want of respect for the Cortes.
“Nevertheless it must be dissolved to-morrow,” was the reply.
Narvaez became Minister of War as well as President of the Congress. The part played at the palace in the change of Ministries is seen in the scene between Pacheco and the Queen-mother.
Maria Cristina remarked to the Minister that the Government would not last long. Upon this Pacheco placed two ounces of gold upon the mantelpiece, saying: