have done so if the audience had not seen that their Majesties sat calmly in their seats.  It was very realistic.  The Emperor told me afterward in the foyer that the flames were nothing but chiffon, lighted with electric lights, and blown up with a fan from beneath.  When the fire had done its work there was nothing left upon the stage but red-hot coals and smoldering debris.  It was all very well, if we only had been spared the lugubrious man with the beard made of tight black curls, who did the talking.

The next day the luncheon in honor of their English Majesties at the English Ambassador’s, Sir Edward Goschen, was full of emotion.  King Edward wore the uniform belonging to his German regiment, which, besides being buttoned tightly and apparently much padded, has a high and tight collar.  He had received a deputation of most of the English colony and already looked wearied before we went in to luncheon.  This was served in the ballroom, and was a long and elaborate affair.  The King sat opposite the Queen, and Sir Edward and Lady Goschen sat at either end of the table.  All the princes, the German nobility, and ministers of state were present.

The King apparently had a good appetite, and talked with his neighbors right and left and opposite, and seemed to enjoy himself.  When we re-entered the drawing-room the King lit an enormous cigar and, seating himself on a low sofa, talked and smoked, when suddenly he threw his head back against the sofa, as if gasping for breath.  The Queen, who was on the other side of the room, rushed instantly to the King and quickly unbuttoned his collar and opened his coat.  The two English physicians who had come with the King were finishing luncheon in another room.  They were instantly called in, and they begged the guests to leave the salon in order that the King might have more air.  The King had not fainted, but on account of the tight collar, the heat of the room, the big cigar, and the violent fit of coughing, it was almost impossible for him to get his breath.  The physicians helped him up from the low sofa into a high chair, and took away the cigar; but the King, as soon as he could speak, said, “Give me another cigar.”  The physicians protested, but the King insisted upon the cigar, which they were obliged to give him.  The guests returned, and the conversation rallied for a while, but the emotion of the few moments before could not be easily calmed.

The King left the room quietly, hardly any one seeing him, reached the automobile, and drove to the castle.  The Queen followed him a few moments later.

We were prepared to receive notice at any moment that the ball fixed for that evening would be countermanded.  But it was not, and at eight o’clock—­the hour one goes to court balls here—­found every one assembled.  As usual, we took our places on the platform reserved for the ladies of the Corps Diplomatique, and then, with the ceremonial which I have so often described, their Majesties, preceded by the pages and court notables, entered.  The Emperor gave his arm to Queen Alexandra, and the Empress entered with King Edward.  It is customary for the Emperor and the Empress to make a tour of the invited guests, but this evening the royal persons stayed on the throne and did not move during the dances.