king, was satisfied.

After the grand presentation, at which all the great and noble of
the realm had passed in formal procession before the royal pair, the
king had, according to the court etiquette of the time, given his
hand to his consort, led her down from the throne and conducted her
to the middle of the hall, in order to present to her the personages
in waiting at her court.

But this walk from the throne to the centre of the hall had greatly
fatigued the king; this promenade of thirty steps was for him a very
unusual and troublesome performance, and the king longed to change
to something else more agreeable. So he beckoned to the chief master
of ceremonies, and bade him open the door leading into the dining-
room. Then he ordered his "house equipage" to be brought up, and,
seating himself in it with the utmost stateliness, he had the sedan
kept at the queen's side, waiting impatiently till the presentation
should at last conclude, and Catharine accompany him to lunch.

The announcements of the maids of honor and female attendants had
been already made, and now came the gentlemen's turn.

The chief master of ceremonies read from his list the names of those
cavaliers who were, henceforth, to he in waiting near the queen, and
which names the king had written down with his own hand. And at each
new appointment a slight expression of pleased astonishment flitted
across the faces of the assembled courtiers, for it was always one
of the youngest, handsomest, and most amiable lords whom the master
of ceremonies had to name.