The doors of these chambers were constantly kept open--even the queen's bed was inspected.

Every place, the most sacred, was suspected; female modesty was in no wise respected.
The gestures, looks, and words of the king and queen all were watched, spied, and noted.

They were obliged to manage by stealth some secret interviews.

An officer of the guard passed twenty-four hours at a time at the end of a dark corridor, which was placed behind the apartment of the queen's,--a single lamp lighted it, like the vault of a dungeon.
This post, detested by the officers on service, was sought after by the devotion of some of them; they affected zeal, in order to cloak their respect.

Saint Prix, a celebrated actor of the Theatre Francais, frequently accepted this post,--he favoured the hasty interviews of the king, his wife, and sister.
In the evening one of the queen's women moved her bed between that of her mistress and the open door of the apartment, that she might thus conceal her from the eyes of the sentinels.