Although J. had been Secretary of Legation, and had been groomsman at the marriage in Stockholm of the Crown Prince of Denmark to Princess Louise (niece of King Oscar), and was very well known to the King, all the regular formalities had to be gone through with. J. made his traditional official speech to the King, both standing; and the King solemnly answered with an elaborate assurance that the relations between Sweden and Denmark had always been of the best and that they would remain so. When the ceremonious utterances were ended, the King put his arm on J.'s shoulder and said: "Now let us sit down and have a good talk together of old times." The King "thee-and-thoued" Johan, and said, "_Her, du. Naar kommer din husfru?_" which in English means, "Listen thou. When is thy wife coming?" It is so strange that the Swedish language has no word for _you_. One must either address people by their title, which is sometimes very awkward, or else say _thou_. I was dreadfully puzzled when I first came here. Right opposite my window was a sign, "_Dam Bad Rum!_" I said: "How queer! People generally cry up their wares, not down. Who ever heard of a seller saying that his rum was as bad as that?" I found out afterward that the sign was merely to let people know that a ladies' bath-room was to be found there. The next excitement was my audience with the Queen, and thereby hangs, if not a tale, a teapot with a tempest in it. I must tell you all about it. I hope you will appreciate the tremendously complicated position in which I was placed. It seems that in the time of Queen Christina of Sweden, one hundred and fifty years ago, the ladies of her court wore black silk or satin dresses and sleeves of a certain pattern. The court has seen no reason to make any change of dress since that time. To-day it wears the same style of dress and the same _sleeves_--the cause of the tempest! In answer to my request for an audience I received a letter from the _grande maîtresse_, saying that the Queen would receive me on Thursday next; the _doyenne_ of the _Corps Diplomatique_ would present me. Then followed instructions: my dress was to be a black satin ball-dress, a train of four meters, lined with black silk, _décolleté_, white _glacé_ gloves, _et les manches de cour_. I had no idea what _les manches de cour_ were, and, naturally, I went to the _doyenne_ to find out. If I had announced that I intended to throw a bomb under the King's nose the effect could not have been more startling than when I said those fatal words, "_Les manches de cour_." _Madame la doyenne_ was so overcome that for a moment speech left her. She proceeded to tell me that in order to keep on the right side of the colleagues it would be advisable _not_ to wear the sleeves. "Why not?" I asked, perplexed. "My husband says it is only on this one occasion that a foreign minister's wife is required to wear the sleeves."