The King was very gay. He asked me how I was getting on with my Danish. I told him some of my mistakes, at which they all laughed. COPENHAGEN, _February, 1878_. Dear Mother,--After our music and luncheon the other day at the palace the Queen asked me if I would like to drive with her to see Bernstorff Castle, where they spend their summers. I accepted the invitation with delight. To drive with her was bliss indeed. Bernstorff is about an hour's drive from Copenhagen. When the open landau appeared in the _porte-cochère_ the Queen got in; I sat on her left and the lady of honor sat opposite. The Danish royal livery is a bright red covered with braid. The coachman's coat has many red capes, one on top of the other, looking like huge pen-wipers. J. had told me it was not etiquette for any one driving with the Queen to bow. We happened to pass J. walking with a friend of his, and it seemed odd that I was obliged to cut him dead. When people see the Queen's carriage coming they stop their own, and the ladies get out on the sidewalk and make deep courtesies. Gentlemen bow very low and stand holding their hats in their hands until the royal carriage has passed. The castle of Bernstorff is neither large nor imposing, but looks home-like and comfortable. The Queen showed me all over it--her private rooms, and even upstairs where her _atelier_ is; she paints charmingly--as well as she plays the piano. She pointed out on the window-panes of a room over the principal _salon_ different things that her daughters had written with their diamond rings on the glass: "Farewell, my beautiful clouds!--Alexandra." "Till the next time.--Dagmar." "_A bientôt_--Willie" (the young King of Greece).[1] [1] King George of Greece who was assassinated in 1913. She told me that Bernstorff was the first home she and the King had lived in after their marriage, when he was Prince, and they love it so much that they prefer it to the larger castles. They go to Fredensborg in the autumn. The Grand-Duchess Dagmar and the Princess of Wales, when they come to Bernstorff in the summer, sleep in the room which they shared as children. I cannot tell you how nice the royal family are to me. We were present at a state ball at Christiansborg. On arriving we passed up a magnificent staircase and went through many large _salons_, the walls of which were covered with fine tapestries and old Spanish leather, and a long gallery of beautiful pictures, before we reached the _salon_ where I belonged according to my rank (every one is placed according to the rules of the protocol). Their Majesties entered. The Queen looked dazzlingly brilliant. She wore all the crown jewels and had some splendid pearls on her neck. The King looked superb in his uniform. They were followed by the Princess Thyra (the young and sympathetic Princess with eyes like a gazelle), and the youngest son, Prince Valdemar.