My own story . she and hercompanion would be out of a world in whichdisregard of the canaille, and attention to theconvenances were the only things that unfortunate tendency of the Habsbiirgto escape for a time from anything irksome,became with Marie-Antoinette a desire to playthe Fermiere at Trianon, and with me a wishto lead a free life; but unluckily Dresden didnot possess a Trianon, and, Frederick-Augustwas not strong-willed enough to call a substi-tute into existence, so I was kept in perpetualrestraint. I shall never blame my husbandfor the unwilling part he played in the tr
My own story . she and hercompanion would be out of a world in whichdisregard of the canaille, and attention to theconvenances were the only things that unfortunate tendency of the Habsbiirgto escape for a time from anything irksome,became with Marie-Antoinette a desire to playthe Fermiere at Trianon, and with me a wishto lead a free life; but unluckily Dresden didnot possess a Trianon, and, Frederick-Augustwas not strong-willed enough to call a substi-tute into existence, so I was kept in perpetualrestraint. I shall never blame my husbandfor the unwilling part he played in the tragedyof my life. The King of Saxony is an absolutelygood man; he is affectionate, upright, pure-minded, and his fatal weakness of characterin great crises is solely due to his inborn in-decision of temperament, and his fear of hisfather. Frederick-August can act well for him-self and others in the ordinary things of life,but directly he is confronted with a situationthat agitates or perplexes him, he loses his. MY husband: a snapshot taken by myself 195 MY OWN STORY 197 grip and relies on the opinions of strongerminds. My worries really began actively when thebicycle craze affected Dresden society. I wasvery anxious to learn, and asked my husbandwhether he had any objection to my doing was quite in favour of it, and I arrangedto take private lessons, always, of course,accompanied by a lady-in-waiting. I enjoyed myself thoroughly at first, but mypleasure was only fleeting, for one day I wassomewhat hastily summoned by King Albertand Queen Carola on a matter of private im-portance. They received me with markedcoldness, and the Queen said in displeasedtones, I hear, Louisa, that you are learningto ride the bicycle. Certainly, I replied. Well, said the King, bicycling is not anamusement for a princess, and you ought toknow it, Louisa. Yes, chimed in Queen Carola, and even ifyou had contemplated it, you should have askedmy permission before you took lessons. I had my husbands
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