Page:Francesca Carrara 1.pdf/297

Rh which is the key to her whole character. Some one was talking to her of her grandmother, Madame do Guise, when she exclaimed, 'She is my grandmother at a distance—she is not Queen.'"

On Madame de Mercœur's arrival at the palace she found the carriage and guards in waiting, the Queen having decided that she would do her niece the honour of going to meet her.

"As we have deemed a reconciliation expedient," said Anne to Madame de Mercœur, as they passed down the steps, "we must do it with a good grace; a flourish of trumpets, and a few extra guards, are a ready way to Mademoiselle's heart."

The cortège proceeded about a mile, when a courier announced the Princess's approach, who arrived almost as soon. The carriage, which was at full gallop, stopped suddenly; the guards deployed round, and Mademoiselle alighted. She advanced with the step of an empress, till she came beside the Queen, when, dropping on her knee, she kissed the hem of her robe, and then the royal hand. This, however, Anne would scarcely permit, and, raising the penitent, embraced her with seeming cordiality, exclaiming, "I am very glad to see you; you know I was