I am sorry, and this I confess with the most heart-felt compunction, to have, through artifice and malice, robbed the K--g of the love of his people, for he really was a good man, and his humanity extended to all the creation. Oh! what a source of happiness this love proved to his feeling heart, and how often have I heard him exclaim, “Thank God, my people are happy, and so am I through their happiness!” This, however, was no more than a deception, for I, and those that were about him, never would give him an opportunity to cast a look into the most interior recesses of the system of government, and thus he was deceived, and actually thought that his subjects were happy; but it was not his fault, it was mine, for his heart was benevolence itself. The vile creatures who flocked to my train, through the most infamous windings, attempted to deprive him of the love of his people, and became, in the fullest extent of the word, his rulers. But I must return to my own story. I was now possessed of princely palaces, and the pomp of royalty was displayed in all my apartments. Ministers, generals, princes, and noblemen, crowded my levees and courted my smiles. What could be more natural than that the invidious should watch every step I took? The privilege of being thus noticed by a great prince could not fail to excite jealousy, and an opportunity soon offered to lay the foundation of my ruin. The K--g, who was fond of variety in love, conceived a violent passion for Miss V----, a young lady of the Court, a lady endowed by nature with the most exquisite charms she could bestow upon a favourite mortal. The name of Miss V----, till this very hour, is never mentioned but with the highest respect. At the first outset her virtue withstood every attack; but, when the K--g became more pressing, and the nobility joined him in his pursuit, she yielded at last, but on condition of a left-handed marriage. The K--g lived, during the space of one full year, in the greatest happiness with Miss V----, and I might, perhaps, have been entirely slighted and forgotten, had not a dish of chocolate, administered at a proper time, rid me of a detested rival, and the K--g of a love-sick enthusiast. I now once more was the toast, and the sovereign-arbitratrix of my Royal Lover’s mind. Whatever did not suit my plan, or harmonize with my views, was removed from the sight of the monarch, and none but those who were of my party had access to the closet. My husband had likewise been put in the way of exercising the power of influence, and of laying by treasures. Yet I was often vexed when I saw that certain men, who could not possibly be denied, got admission to the K--g; for I was always afraid, lest, some time or other, they might have the assurance to paint me in my true colours.