Maria Carolina was supposed to be concealing her chagrin and drowning her cares in a turmoil of pleasure, with a questionable entourage made more questionable by the prominence of My Lady. But all this elaborate frivolity, besides serving the immediate purpose of passing the time agreeably, left My Lady in constant attendance on the Queen. They might be for hours together on a water picnic to eat the fine oysters fattened in the Lucrine Lake of the ancients, and the making up of the party might involve My Lady driving up to the Palace twice or thrice in the course of a few hours to consult with the Queen for a few minutes. Never for an instant did the French party suspect that My Lady was the go-between from the Queen to the British Ambassador or British naval officers; but we know now that this was in progress for many months. And the assumed intimacy led to a real and deep friendship, for the Queen was astonished with My Lady's masculine capacity and still more masculine courage in this difficult business, and touched by her devotion to the Royal House of Naples. Accordingly she lost no opportunity of showing her attachment to her friend by lending her presence to My Lady's entertainments, especially when the Admiral's victory allowed her to throw off the mask and display openly her sympathies for the English against the French. At this birthday ball given in honour of the Admiral, she was present for the greater part of the evening, surrounded by a glittering bevy of courtiers; and her presence gave My Lady the opportunity of showing her brilliant courage and resourcefulness. I learn from the Journals, in a passage full of admiration for the well-bred serenity with which she met such a terrible ordeal, that no sooner had she left the Admiral after she had recovered from her emotion at the outrageous accusations of Lieutenant Nisbet, than he received a summons from the Queen graciously commanding his attendance. Not having any sufficient excuse to decline, he went, and found My Lady tattling with Her Majesty as if nothing had happened.