A Bouquet On The Front Of FLEUR-DE-
LIS, Like The Coiffure, And A Cashmere Shawl, Completed My Array.
I
have had the diamond pin and earrings which you father gave me,
reset, and made into a magnificent brooch, and so arranged that I
can also wear it as a necklace or bracelet.
On this occasion it was
my necklace.
Miss Murray came to go with me, as she wished to be by my side to
point out everybody, and her badge as Maid of Honor would take her
to any part of the house. At half-past twelve she and I set out,
and after leaving us the carriage returned for your father and Mr.
Brodhead. But first let me tell you something of our equipage. It
is a CHARIOT, not a coach; that is, it has but one seat, but the
whole front being glass makes it much more agreeable to such persons
as have not large families. The color is maroon, with a silver
moulding, and has the American arms on the panel. The liveries are
blue and red; on Court Days they have blue plush breeches, and white
silk stockings, with buckles on their shoes. Your father leaves all
these matters to me, and they have given me no little plague. When
I thought I had arranged everything necessary, the coachman, good
old Brooks, solicited an audience a day or two ago, and began,
"Mistress, did you tell them to send the pads and the fronts and the
hand-pieces?" "Heavens and earth! what are all these things?" said
I. "Why, ma'am, we always has pads under the saddle on Court Days,
trimmed round with the colors of the livery, and we has fronts made
of ribbin for the horses' heads, and we has white hand-pieces for
the reins." This is a specimen of the little troubles of court
life, but it has its compensations. To go back to Miss Murray and
myself, who are driving through the park between files of people,
thousands and thousands all awaiting with patient, loyal faces the
passage of the Queen and of the State carriages. The Queen's was
drawn by eight cream-colored horses, and the servants flaming with
scarlet and gold. This part of the park, near the palace, is only
accessible to the carriages of the foreign ministers, ministers, and
officers of the household.
We arrive at the Parliament House, move through the long corridor
and give up our tickets at the door of the chamber. It is a very
long, narrow room. At the upper end is the throne, on the right is
the seat of the ambassadors, on the left, of their ladies. Just in
front of the throne is the wool-sack of the Lord Chancellor, looking
like a drawing-room divan, covered with crimson velvet. Below this
are rows of seats for the judges, who are all in their wigs and
scarlet robes; the bishops and the peers, all in robes of scarlet
and ermine.
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