The King looked pleased. General Serrano, whom he hated so cordially, had left Madrid, and the Queen was waiting for him at the window. Brunelli was about to follow the royal couple as they walked away after their first meeting, but Narvaez said: “Whither away, Your Eminence? Let them be alone with their tears and kisses. These things are done better without witnesses.” The Queen arrived that day at her dwelling in the Calle de las Rejas. There was a family dinner-party in the evening at the palace, and, in a private interview with her daughter, Maria Cristina begged her to be more discreet in future; and she reminded her that although she had, as a widow, allowed herself to be captivated by a commoner, whilst she was the wife of the King she had never allowed her thoughts to wander beyond the circle of her rank and her duty. The reckless extravagance of the Queen excited much remark. Courtiers are still living who recollect seeing Isabella give her bracelets to the beggars who sometimes infest the courtyard of the palace. When Miraflores, who was considered the soul of truth, received a reckless order from the Queen to dispense a certain amount of money on some petitioner, he had the sum put in pieces on a table, and it was only the sight of the large sum which was thus laid before the Queen which showed her the extravagance of her command. A great influence was soon found to be at work in the palace in the person of Sister Patrocinio, whose brother, Quiroga, was one of the gentlemen-in-waiting. CHAPTER XI ATTEMPT ON THE LIFE OF QUEEN ISABELLA--THE OVERTHROW OF THE QUEEN-MOTHER, MARIA CRISTINA 1850-1854 There was much variety of feeling when it was known that an heir to the throne was expected. On the day of the birth, July 12, 1850, the clerics, Ministers, diplomats, officers, and other important personages of the realm, assembled at the palace to pay their respects to the expected infant. But the bells and cannon had hardly announced to the nation the birth of the girl-child when it expired. So the dead form of the infant, which had only drawn breath in this world for five minutes, was brought into the assembly of dignitaries, and after this sad display the gathering dispersed in silence. The kind-heartedness of the Queen was shown in her thoughtful generosity to the nurses who were disappointed of their charge. “Poor nurses, they must have felt it very much!” she exclaimed. “But tell them not to mind, for they shall be paid the same as if they had had my child.” In February, 1852, an heir to the throne was once more expected, and the birth of the Infanta Isabella was celebrated by the usual solemn presentation. When the King showed the infant to his Ministers, he said to the Generals Castaños and Castroterreño: “You have served four Kings, and now you have a Princess who may one day be your Sovereign.”