It was a royal present in price, for it had cost two thousand livres.
The famous dispute between Lady Castlemaine and Miss Stuart, afterwards
Duchess of Richmond, arose about this _caleche_. The Queen and the
Duchess of York appeared first in it in Hyde Park, which had then
recently been fenced in with brick. Lady Castlemaine thought that the
_caleche_ showed off a fine figure better than the coach; Miss Stuart
was of the same opinion. Both these grown-up babies wished to have the
coach on the same day, but Miss Stuart prevailed.
The Queen condescended to laugh at the quarrels of these two foolish
women, and complimented the Chevalier de Grammont on his present. 'But
how is it,' she asked, 'that you do not even keep a footman, and that
one of the common runners in the street lights you home with a link?'
'Madame,' he answered, 'the Chevalier de Grammont hates pomp: my
link-boy is faithful and brave.' Then he told the Queen that he saw she
was unacquainted with the nation of link-boys, and related how that he
had, at one time, had one hundred and sixty around his chair at night,
and people had asked 'whose funeral it was? As for the parade of coaches
and footmen,' he added, 'I despise it.
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