service of gold, and the most exquisite Venetian glass; the immense
pyramid in the middle of the table was a master-work of Benevenuto
Cellini, for which the count had paid in Rome one hundred thousand
thalers. There were but seven seats, for no one was to eat at this
table but the royal pair, the prince-elector and his wife, the
Prince Xavier, and the Count and Countess Bruhl. This was a new
triumph that the count had prepared for himself; he wished his
guests to see the exclusive royal position he occupied. And no one
could remain in ignorance of this triumph, for from every part of
the garden the royal tent could be seen, being erected upon a slight
eminence. It was like a scene from fairyland. There were rushing
cascades, beautiful marble statues, arbors and bowers, in which were
birds of every color from every clime. Behind a group of trees was a
lofty structure of the purest marble, a shell, borne aloft by
gigantic Tritons and mermaids, in which there was room for fifty
musicians, who were to fill the air with sweet sounds, and never to
become so loud as to weary the ear or disturb conversation. If the
tents, the rushing cascades, the rare flowers, the many colored
birds, were a beautiful sight by daylight, how much more entrancing
it would be at night, when illuminated by thousands of brilliant
lamps!

The count, having taken a last look at the arrangements and seen
that they were perfect, now retired to his rooms, and there, with
the aid of his twelve valets, he commenced his toilet. The countess
had already been in the hands of her Parisian coiffeur for some
hours.

The count wore a suit of blue velvet. The price of embroidery in
silver and pearls on his coat would have furnished hundreds of