When their Imperial Majesties came out of the great room, I saw Madame do Rio Seco in earnest conversation with them; and soon I saw her and Lady Cochrane kissing hands, and found they had both been appointed honorary ladies of the Empress; and then the Viscountess told me she had been speaking to the Empress about me. This astonished me, for I had no thought of engaging in any thing away from England. Six months before, indeed, I had said that I was so pleased with the little Princess, that I should like to educate her. This, which I thought no more of at the time, was, like every thing in this gossiping place, told to Sir T. Hardy: he spoke of it to me, and said he had already mentioned it to a friend of mine. I said, that if the Emperor and Empress chose, as a warm climate agreed with me, I should not dislike it; that it required consideration; and that if I could render myself sufficiently agreeable to the Empress, I should ask the appointment of governess to the Princess; and so matters stood when Sir Thomas Hardy sailed for Buenos Ayres. I own that the more I saw of the Imperial family, the more I wished to belong to it; but I was frightened at the thoughts of Rio, by the impertinent behaviour of some of the English, so that I should probably not have proposed the thing myself. It was done, however: the Empress told me to apply to the Emperor. I observed he looked tired with the levee, and begged to be allowed to write to her another day. She said, "Write if you please, but come and see the Emperor at five o'clock to-morrow." And so they went out, and I remained marvelling at the chance that had brought me into a situation so unlike any thing I had ever contemplated; and came home to write a letter to Her Imperial Majesty, and to wonder what I should do next. _Monday, October 13th._--I wrote my letter to the Empress, and was punctual to the time for seeing the Emperor. He received me very kindly, and sent me to speak to Her Imperial Majesty, who took my letter, and promised me an answer in two days, adding the most obliging expressions of personal kindness. And this was certainly the first letter I ever wrote on the subject; though my English _friends_ tell me that I had a memorial in my hand yesterday, and that I went to court only to deliver it, for they saw it in my hand. Now I had a white pocket-handkerchief and a black fan in my hand, and thought as little of speaking about my own affairs to their Imperial Majesties, as of making a voyage to the moon. But people will always know each other's affairs best.