Page:An adventure (1911).pdf/166

 surrounded by thujas and pine trees! It had been one of the most charming of her inventions, and in fancy the Queen again saw every step of the way, and the trickling stream pouring over the rocks at her right hand, amidst ferns and moss, on its way into the grotto below the bridge.

Sitting under the north terrace near the door leading from the house to the Jeu de Bague, she had re-opened and re-read the minister's letter whilst waiting for the carriage. Womanlike, the Queen remembered that the dress she had been wearing that morning was one of the light skirts repaired during that summer, the green silk bodice made in July, a large white fichu, and a straw hat.

At that moment two of the many strangers