was enchanted with the young Dauphiness; all his conversation was about her graces, her vivacity, and the aptness of her repartees.

She was yet more successful with the royal family when they beheld her shorn of the splendour of the diamonds with which she had been adorned during the first days of her marriage.

When clothed in a light dress of gauze or taffety she was compared to the Venus dei Medici, and the Atalanta of the Marly Gardens.

Poets sang her charms; painters attempted to copy her features.

One artist's fancy led him to place the portrait of Marie Antoinette in the heart of a full-blown rose.