Her daughter's explanation was as frank as it deserved to be accounted sufficient, while her letter is interesting also, as showing her constant eagerness to exculpate herself from the charge of indifference to her German countrymen, an eagerness which proves how firmly she believed the notion to be fixed in the empress's mind.
"I expect, my dear mamma, that people must have told you more about my rides than there really was to be told.

I will tell you the exact truth.
The king and the dauphin both like to see me on horseback.

I only say this because all the world perceives it, and especially while we were absent from Versailles they were delighted to see me in my riding-habit.

But, though I own it was no great effort for me to conform myself to their desires, I can assure you that I never once let myself he carried away by too much eagerness to keep close to the hounds; and I hope that, in spite of all my giddiness, I shall always allow myself to be restrained by the experienced hunters who constantly accompany me, and I shall never thrust myself into the crowd.

I should never have supposed any one could have reported to you as an accident what happened to me in Fontainebleau.