This condition of mind was maintained, and even more excited, by the continued reports and repulsive representations which the queen received of everything that occurred. The object of her repugnance, however, was not the king, but solely Count Holck, whom she regarded as the originator of all the unpleasantness that befell her. What she personally suffered from the king did not affect her greatly; and she merely tried to protect herself against it by a greater reserve, which, however, only heightened their mutual coldness and estrangement. My situation, under these circumstances, was extremely embarrassing; while, on the one hand, the queen confided to me her dissatisfaction, on the other I was a constant witness of the discontent, anger, and desire of the king to free himself from everything that was repulsive to him. I therefore followed the principle which I have ever entertained, that their mutual felicity depended on their union; for I was obliged to give them both advice, and I considered myself bound to do everything that lay in my power to promote their satisfaction. Although I had but little hope of effecting it, I acted accordingly. I sought to make the queen understand, and firmly impress on her mind, that it was to her own good, and the sole way of making her situation agreeable, if she strove to acquire the king's confidence, and this could only be effected by kindness, counsel, attention, and exertion to make her company as pleasant as possible to the king. I begged the queen not to listen to insinuations against the king, however slight they might be, and though made with a good purpose, but to be quiet, and watch and examine for herself. I strove to reduce, or entirely remove, her repugnance to Count Holck. The latter, also, did all he knew to render himself agreeable to the queen; but his exertions generally produced an opposite effect, and the prejudice against him was so strong that nothing could overpower it. On the other hand, I strove to induce the king to be polite to the queen, without considering it necessary to be so ceremonious and respectful with her as he had grown to be since his return from the foreign tour, and which often degenerated into irony, to which the queen was more susceptible than to want of attention and of familiarity between them. There was one point on which the inclinations of the king and queen agreed, and this aided the most to maintain the concord in which they afterwards lived. This consisted in the circumstance that both were excessively wearied of their mode of life at the time, and wished that they could lay aside their rank. This was the reason of many of the alterations introduced at court eventually. Count Holck had lost his credit long before the journey to Holstein, and only maintained himself by old associations, and because no one exactly tried to injure him with the king. He dealt himself the last blow, when he appointed young Hauch as