heads bent until the sovereign had taken her seat upon the throne.

One of these subjects had bent his head with the rest, but he had
ventured to raise it again, and he at least met the glance of royalty.
This bold subject was Kaunitz, the youngest of the councillors.

He gazed at the advancing empress, and for the first time a smile
flitted over his stony features. And well might the sight of his
sovereign lady stir the marble heart of Kaunitz; for Maria Theresa was
one of the loveliest women of her day. Though thirty-six years of age,
and the mother of thirteen children, she was still beautiful, and the
Austrians were proud to excess of her beauty. Her high, thoughtful
forehead was shaded by a profusion of blond hair, which lightly powdered
and gathered up behind in one rich mass, was there confined by a golden
net. Her large, starry eyes were of that peculiar gray which changes
with every emotion of the soul; at one time seeming to be heavenly-blue,
at another the darkest and most flashing brown. Her bold profile
betokened great pride; but every look of haughtiness was softened away
by the enchanting expression of a mouth in whose exquisite beauty no
trace of the so-called "Austrian lip" could be seen. Her figure, loftier
than is usual with women, was of faultless symmetry, while her graceful
bust would have seemed to the eyes of Praxiteles the waking to life of
his own dreams of Juno.

Those who looked upon this beautiful empress could well realize the
emotions which thirteen years before had stirred the hearts of the
Hungarian nobles as she stood before them; and had wrought them up to
that height of enthusiasm which culminated in the well-known shout of

"MORIAMUR PRO REGE NOSTRO!"