New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1885-09-09
PRESENTED AT COURT.


a Wonan's story 81 aPrese ntationa ~ 8
Royal Drawing Room.
Do you think you can go to a
drawing room" Withou learning how
to make a proper reverence? No, in
deed. You must go to a coy little
house in the West End, where a very
elegant and quaint little old French
lady will show you all you have to do
for a guinea a lesson, and then on the
afternoon before the great day you go
to see the lady who is to present you
to get the important tickets, and to
receive explicit Instructions as to your
line OF conduct, for, as the lady belongs
to the diplomatic circle, she viii be in
the room with her royal highness, and
you must enter alone. At her house
you meet some gentlemen, and one
tells you that when he was presented
was the only moment. in slife thathe
has known what fear was, and that he
was in agony lest he should trip over
his sword, and you think Of your
three or four yards of train, and you
are sure that it will be much worse
than a sword. And another tells you
that the young ladies usually are white
and trembling with fear, and that often
they make terrible fiasco; they tell
you OF one poor unfortunate, who, in
stead OF kissing the queens hand when
it was extended to her, shook it vigor-
ously, then realizing what she had
done, lost her head completely, and,
forgetting all the great line of person
ages, turned her back and incontinent-
" fled. Is
By the time you leave your instruct-
ress' house, you are trembling in every
limb, and you spend all the rest of the
evening making courtesies to the chairs
and sofas, and fervent]y hoping that
you may not disgrace your country
on the morrow.
Your landlords daughter devotes
herself to you for the next day, and
makes th; most helpful and obliglng
Of little dressing maids, and at last
you are ready, all pearls, lace and
shining silk. 1t is quite a long driveto
the park, but suddenly you see the
Horse Guards and then you know you
have arrived, and inside the gates
you find hundreds and hundreds
Of people waiting to see the car
riages pass and standing on tiptoe to
catch a glimpse OF you. All the way
UP the long drive the Horse Guards, in
their long pl11mes and brilliant scarlet,
are stationed at right and left, and in
side the palace gates is q long row Of
horsemen standing close together, and
you alight to the sound Of martial
music. When you haveleft yourwrap
IN a room near theentrance you go up
a very grand stairway, past men with
spears call" Beef-eaters, /" dressed inred
and yellow; you hand one of your
tickets to the queens page, and are
ushered with a great many ladies into
q huge room, all red and gold, and
there you sit for quite long time gaz-
ing at the lovely views of the park
through the wide windows, and study
ing the dresses.
AS you pass the door to the presence
chamber you drop your train from
your arm, and the two cham erlains
or whatever they arecalled quickly
and deity straighten it to its full
length as you walk slowly forward, at
the door of the throne room some one
takes your second card; and then YOU
hear the lord chamberlain pronounc-
ing your name i'm a very loud voice,
and now you are bowling to the
princess, you wish the ladies behind
you would not come quite so fast, for
you feel hurried and are conscious you
are not making your the way
you were taught;;.you courtesy to the
ladies next the princess: but how many
there are, or what they look like, you
haven t theleast idea;you see the prince
quite distinctly, and you walk sideways
and make q series of little diminish
ing bows to the row of dukes or prin-
ces or whatever they may be, but OF
them you retain not the faintest i'm
preston Suddenly you feel your
train hustled on to your arm, for in
your confusion youihave forgotten to
hold your arm out properly, and the
great deed is done! It has lasted in all
about fifteen seconds; you haven
seen anything very distinctly, and you
retain only one idea, that her royal
highness was dressed in light yellow
but you have been presented at court,
and surely ought to be satisfied. The
next day your name appears in the
Court Circular--Christian Union.