Frederick the Great and His Court | Page 5

give a ball, and the world should see that
the queen and her daughters were gay and happy.
The queen was indeed really gay to-day; she was free. It seemed as if
the chains which bound her bad fallen apart, and the yoke to which she
had bowed her royal neck was removed. To-day she was at liberty to
raise her head proudly, like a queen, to adorn herself with royal apparel.
Away, for to-day at least, with sober robes and simple coiffure. The
king was fastened to his arm-chair, and Sophia dared once more to

make a glittering and queenly toilet. With a smile of proud satisfaction,
she arrayed herself in a silken robe, embroidered in silver, which she
had secretly ordered for the ball from her native Hanover. Her eyes
beamed with joy, as she at last opened the silver-bound casket, and
released from their imprisonment for a few hours these costly brilliants,
which for many years had not seen the light. With a smiling glance her
eyes rested upon the glittering stones, which sparkled and flamed like
falling stars, and her heart beat high with delight. For a queen is still a
woman, and Sophia Dorothea had so often suffered the pains and
sorrows of woman, that she longed once more to experience the proud
happiness of a queen. She resolved to wear all her jewels; fastened,
herself, the sparkling diadem upon her brow, clasped upon her neck and
arms the splendid brilliants, and adorned her ears with the long
pendants; then stepping to the Venetian mirror, she examined herself
critically. Yes, Sophia had reason to be pleased; hers was a queenly
toilet. She looked in the glass, and thought on bygone days, on buried
hopes and vanished dreams. These diamonds her exalted father had
given when she was betrothed to Frederick William. This diadem had
adorned her brow when she married. The necklace her brother had sent
at the birth of her first child; the bracelet her husband had clasped upon
her arm when at last, after long waiting, and many prayers, Prince
Frederick was born. Each of these jewels was a proud memento of the
past, a star of her youth. Alas, the diamonds had retained their
brilliancy; they were still stars, but all else was vanished or dead--her
youth and her dreams, her hopes and her love! Sophia had so often
trembled before her husband, that she no longer loved him. With her,
"perfect love had not cast out fear." Fear had extinguished love. How
could she love a man who had been only a tyrant and a despot to her
and to her children? who had broken their wills, cut off their hopes, and
trodden under foot, not only the queen, but the mother? As Sophia
looked at the superb bracelet, the same age of her darling, she thought
how unlike the glitter and splendor of these gems his life had been;
how dark and sad his youth; how colorless and full of tears. She kissed
the bracelet, and wafted her greeting to her absent son. Suddenly the
door opened, and the Princesses Ulrica and Amelia entered.
The queen turned to them, and the sad expression vanished from her
features as her eyes rested upon the lovely and loving faces of her

daughters.
"Oh, how splendid you look, gracious mamma!" exclaimed the Princess
Amelia, as she danced gayly around her mother. "Heaven with all its
stars has fallen around you, but your sweet face shines out amongst
them like the sun in his glory."
"Flatterer," said the queen, "if your father heard you, he would scold
fearfully. If you compare me to the sun, how can you describe him?"
"Well, he is Phoebus, who harnesses the sun and points out his path."
"True, indeed." said the queen, "he appoints his path. Poor sun!-- poor
queen!--she has not the right to send one ray where she will!"
"Who, notwithstanding, assumes the right, gracious mamma," said
Amelia, smiling, and pointing to the diadem, "for I imagine that our
most royal king and father has not commanded you to appear in those
splendid jewels."
"Commanded," said the queen, trembling; "if he could see me he would
expire with rage and scorn. You know he despises expense and
ornament."
"He would immediately calculate," said Amelia, "that he could build an
entire street with this diadem, and that at least ten giants could be
purchased for the Guard with this necklace." She turned to her sister,
who had withdrawn, and said:
"Ulrica, you say nothing. Has the splendor of our mother bewildered
you? Have you lost your speech, or are you thinking whom you will
command to dance with you at the ball this evening?"
"Not so," replied the little Ulrica, "I was thinking that when I am to be