The most magnificent fete ever given to the Queen was one prepared for her by Monsieur, the King’s brother, at Brunoy.  That Prince did me the honour to admit me, and I followed her Majesty into the gardens, where she found in the first copse knights in full armour asleep at the foot of trees, on which hung their spears and shields.  The absence of the beauties who had incited the nephews of Charlemagne and the gallants of that period to lofty deeds was supposed to occasion this lethargic slumber.  But when the Queen appeared at the entrance of the copse they were on foot in an instant, and melodious voices announced their eagerness to display their valour.  They then hastened into a vast arena, magnificently decorated in the exact style of the ancient tournaments.  Fifty dancers dressed as pages presented to the knights twenty-five superb black horses, and twenty-five of a dazzling whiteness, all most richly caparisoned.  The party led by Augustus Vestris wore the Queen’s colours.  Picq, balletmaster at the Russian Court, commanded the opposing band.  There was running at the negro’s head, tilting, and, lastly, combats ‘a outrance’, perfectly well imitated.  Although the spectators were aware that the Queen’s colours could not but be victorious, they did not the less enjoy the apparent uncertainty.

Nearly all the agreeable women of Paris were ranged upon the steps which surrounded the area of the tourney.  The Queen, surrounded by the royal family and the whole Court, was placed beneath an elevated canopy.  A play, followed by a ballet-pantomime and a ball, terminated the fete.  Fireworks and illuminations were not spared.  Finally, from a prodigiously high scaffold, placed on a rising ground, the words ’Vive Louis!  Vive Marie Antoinette!’ were shown in the air in the midst of a very dark but calm night.

Pleasure was the sole pursuit of every one of this young family, with the exception of the King.  Their love of it was perpetually encouraged by a crowd of those officious people who, by anticipating the desires and even the passions of princes, find means of showing their zeal, and hope to gain or maintain favour for themselves.

Who would have dared to check the amusements of a queen, young, lively, and handsome?  A mother or a husband alone would have had the right to do it; and the King threw no impediment in the way of Marie Antoinette’s inclinations.  His long indifference had been followed by admiration and love.  He was a slave to all the wishes of the Queen, who, delighted with the happy change in the heart and habits of the King, did not sufficiently conceal the ascendency she was gaining over him.

The King went to bed every night at eleven precisely; he was very methodical, and nothing was allowed to interfere with his rules.  The noise which the Queen unavoidably made when she returned very late from the evenings which she spent with the Princesse de Gugmenee or the Duc de Duras, at last annoyed the King, and it was amicably agreed that the Queen should apprise him when she intended to sit up late.  He then began to sleep in his own apartment, which had never before happened from the time of their marriage.