"
"My lord," cried the countess, smiling, "those are very high-
sounding words, but they are no proofs."
"We will now give the proofs," answered the attorney-general,
turning to one of the guards. "Let the lady enter who is waiting in
the room outside."
The officer gave a sign to one of the men who stood near the door
leading to the witness-room; he entered the adjoining apartment, but
soon after returned alone and whispered something in the officer's
ear.
"The lady asks the court's indulgence for a few moments," said the
officer, aloud. "As she must be separated some hours from her child,
she asks permission to suckle it a few moments."
The president cast an inquiring look at the judges, who all nodded
affirmatively.
The law was silent before the voice of Nature; all waited
noiselessly till the witness had quieted her child.
And now the door of the witness-room opened, and upon the threshold
was seen a woman's figure, at whose unexpected appearance a cry of
amazement rose from the lips of all the spectators on the tribune,
and all eyes were aflame with curiosity.
It was the queen--no one but the queen who was entering the hall! It
was her slim, fine figure, it was her fresh, voting, rosy
countenance, with the fair, charming oval of her delicately-tinted
cheeks; it was her finely-cut mouth, with the full, lower lips;
there were her large, grayish-blue eyes; her high forehead; her
beautiful, chestnut-brown hair, arranged in exactly the manner that
Leonard, the queen's hair-dresser, was accustomed to dress hers.
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